Fodera Club Part III

[Bassflute]

the reverse hockey stick headstock on some 80's ear heavy metal guitars...they wanted more 'sustain' out of the low notes, so they went with a longer length on the low E string side...

We're now all about to be attacked by slide-rule yielding engineers...screaming 'heresy'...


Cheers,
Cameron

I agree there are tangible benefits. Speaking scientifically, I can cite phenomena that might cause that benefit. I just can't quantify it. So for me it remains a "belief" which is something I hate to have to defend. It's easier for us believers to try to prove the existence of something than it is for non-believers to make a case for something's non-existence. I know the B on my bass is killer...really killer...especially with the most recent strings which seem to be even better than they used to be. Imagine that!

At any rate, it doesn't increase static string tension at pitch. What it does dynamically is up for debate. Personally, I'm with Joey and Vinny in that I believe it's worthwhile to do. But I don't want to get into a discussion about why unless we want to start an endless tit for tat discussion about things none of us can definitively prove.

 

[tomika]

Hello everybody !
These are my fodera basses:

Akos

Congrats! Cool basses Akos!

 

[ZolkoW]

hey, Hungarian boys!
nice to meet you at TB!

 

[AkosBass]

Congrats! Cool basses Akos!

thx bro! ...

 

[funkydanbass]

I'm intending on modifying the ramp on my Imperial. I want to flatten it, to remove the radius and be flush with the pickups. What is the best way to remove the ramp?

Just pull it off?

 

[Just Thumpin']

Gently pull it off. If it was installed by us, it was done using two-sided tape...

Cheers.

I'm intending on modifying the ramp on my Imperial. I want to flatten it, to remove the radius and be flush with the pickups. What is the best way to remove the ramp?

Just pull it off?

 

[funkydanbass]

Thanks to Jason and Laura @ Fodera for prompt and helpful replies regarding my ramp and truss rod queries. I've been very impressed by Fodera's customer service improvements of late!

 

[jclone]

Hello. I have some questions related woods.

There were many debate related multi-piece woods.
I want opinion form Fodera Fan & crews.

1) What is the ideal piece of neck that Vinny feels that the tone / stability balance is optima?
Most company called High-End make their neck multi-piece.
Most "Standard" are 5piece and They make 7piece 9piece neck.
Contrarely Fodera is "standard" is 3piece Neck. they no use stringers.
and Sometimes make 5 piece neck cause costumer asked. (of cousre they made 7.9piece neck but relatively not regular.)
Is there certain reason why Fodera make less-number of piece neck?
I think more piece is good at stability but not good at tone.

2) What do you think about "Back Top"?
Does it affect a tone? Of course It affect a tone. My concern is wheter its effect is good or not. Many company called high end use Back Top because of tone & look. But it is not common that fodera use back-top.
Do they consider back-top bad for tone?

3)Why is price of brazilian Rosewoods soooo expensive?
Of course Brazilian Rosewood is VERY rare woods. and It is expensive every company. But Just Fingerboard options, Fodera is one of the most expensive company.
However, I certain that there is "rational" reason. What is cause?

Thanks!!!

 

[thepontif]

I don't know about most of this, but I can offer that my bass has a ONE PIECE (plus the fingerboard of course) neck, is very stable and sounds fantastic. I have to adjust it MAYBE twice a year about a 1/4 turn each time...once tighter, once back.

I imagine the age of the wood and how they prepare it over a long period of time must play into that a lot.

I don't know if FODERA does this, but often times a 3 piece neck is actually all the same piece of wood but it's cut in thirds, the center section is flipped over, and the 3 are glued back together. Supposedly this is because a given piece of wood will tend to warp in one direction or the other, so the warpage offsets itself to some degree. And since it's all the same piece, the resonant qualities would, I suppose, be more likely to be the same throughout. That's what I've always understood, anyway.

 

[rb1]

Jclone,

I believe question #3 was answered here:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8638431&postcount=364

and here:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8640216&postcount=365

When a species of wood becomes endangered, it becomes very expensive to acquire.

 

[rb1]

often times a 3 piece neck is actually all the same piece of wood but it's cut in thirds, the center section is flipped over, and the 3 are glued back together.... And since it's all the same piece, the resonant qualities would, I suppose, be more likely to be the same throughout.

This statement got me wondering if there is any directional quality to sound propagation which would be changed by reversing the center section which would then change the tonal quality.

 

[Just Thumpin']

These are all great questions and, undoubtedly, different builders will have their own take on them, but this is the way we see things here at Fodera...

1. Our standard neck is a 3-pc. neck because Vinny feels that this is the sweet spot where tone and stability are in the best balance. Any additional laminates that we add are purely cosmetic. To a certain extent, the more laminates (and therefore the more glue) in a neck, the LESS the neck's ability to transmit sound...

2. Tops and backs are generally chosen on Foderas for purely cosmetic reasons. The body wood, neck and Fingerboard all play a larger role in the sound of our instruments than do the tops and/or backs. Where to draw the line between form and function is a highly personal decision, but 90%+ of our customers opt for a top only...

3. Stay tuned on this point. Our prices for Brazilian have been very high because all of the Brazilian that we have in stock was purchased before 1990 and much of it is material that is over 100 years old. Unfortunately, we have been unable to source CITES Certified Brazilian Rosewood (required for wood purchased after 1991) in any significant quantity that has met our criteria for quality, so it is a supply and demand thing. The good news is that we are in the final stages of acquiring a parcel of fabulous, instrument grade Brazilian that will enable us to lower our prices for Brazilian...let's hope that it comes through!

Hello. I have some questions related woods.

There were many debate related multi-piece woods.
I want opinion form Fodera Fan & crews.

1) What is the ideal piece of neck that Vinny feels that the tone / stability balance is optima?
Most company called High-End make their neck multi-piece.
Most "Standard" are 5piece and They make 7piece 9piece neck.
Contrarely Fodera is "standard" is 3piece Neck. they no use stringers.
and Sometimes make 5 piece neck cause costumer asked. (of cousre they made 7.9piece neck but relatively not regular.)
Is there certain reason why Fodera make less-number of piece neck?
I think more piece is good at stability but not good at tone.

2) What do you think about "Back Top"?
Does it affect a tone? Of course It affect a tone. My concern is wheter its effect is good or not. Many company called high end use Back Top because of tone & look. But it is not common that fodera use back-top.
Do they consider back-top bad for tone?

3)Why is price of brazilian Rosewoods soooo expensive?
Of course Brazilian Rosewood is VERY rare woods. and It is expensive every company. But Just Fingerboard options, Fodera is one of the most expensive company.
However, I certain that there is "rational" reason. What is cause?

Thanks!!!

 

[narud]

id stick with the 3 piece neck. i got the purpleheart stringers because i thought it looked cool. turned out to be a pain in the ass. the purpleheart would shrink with the weather and you could feel the laminates in the neck. the finish is so thin that the slightest shift would make it "feelable" under the thumb.

i had it fixed twice and then gave up and just got used to it.

 

[thepontif]

This statement got me wondering if there is any directional quality to sound propagation which would be changed by reversing the center section which would then change the tonal quality.

I'm sure any change makes a change. At least things like density and exposure would be similar if it's all the same hunk of wood. I'd think adding the glue joints where there were none has an effect too. I dunno...

 

[jclone]

I didnot expected I got answer directly from Fodera also sooo quick!!
Every answer is VERY helpful and Perfect
Very thanks Mike Pope, Jason, rb-1 and narud.!!!!

 

[cnltb]

I don't know about most of this, but I can offer that my bass has a ONE PIECE (plus the fingerboard of course) neck, is very stable and sounds fantastic. I have to adjust it MAYBE twice a year about a 1/4 turn each time...once tighter, once back.

I imagine the age of the wood and how they prepare it over a long period of time must play into that a lot.

I don't know if FODERA does this, but often times a 3 piece neck is actually all the same piece of wood but it's cut in thirds, the center section is flipped over, and the 3 are glued back together. Supposedly this is because a given piece of wood will tend to warp in one direction or the other, so the warpage offsets itself to some degree. And since it's all the same piece, the resonant qualities would, I suppose, be more likely to be the same throughout. That's what I've always understood, anyway.

I personally tend to prefer simple one piece plus board necks.
So far no problems.

 

[jclone]

Wow ,Jason, I saw revised price list. Do you cut the price of Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboards? It is $1,050. Good News
How do you deal customers who placed an order in 2009 or early 2010 so bought it for $1,300 or $1,750 and of course does not receive their instrument yet?

 

[Just Thumpin']

For better, or worse, prices are always subject to change. Two points...

1. The old pricing was for our stash of 100 year old Brazilian, the new pricing is for replacement stock which, although very, very good sonically, we have no idea how old it is -- only that it sounds good and is CITES certified. We will not intermingle the two batches and the new prices are for this new stash...we will keep the few pieces of 100 year-old left for ourselves and anyone else that's as nuts as us and inquires...

2. Anyone that has an instrument on order with a Brazilian FB that has yet to be built is welcome to have us reprice the ENTIRE instrument as per the current Price List. What we won't do is let them keep a 2009 (or earlier) price for everything but the fingerboard and then ask for the new price on the Brazilian FB...

Good question!

Wow ,Jason, I saw revised price list. Do you cut the price of Brazilian Rosewood Fingerboards? It is $1,050. Good News
How do you deal customers who placed an order in 2009 or early 2010 so bought it for $1,300 or $1,750 and of course does not receive their instrument yet?

 

[Just Thumpin']

Actually, the two "outside" pieces of our 3-pc. necks are actually book-matched pieces cut from the same piece of wood with a quartersawn piece in the middle. This provides maximum dimensional stability as when the outside pieces move, because they were book-matched to start with, they tend to move in OPPOSITE directions and counteract one another.

I don't know if FODERA does this, but often times a 3 piece neck is actually all the same piece of wood but it's cut in thirds, the center section is flipped over, and the 3 are glued back together. Supposedly this is because a given piece of wood will tend to warp in one direction or the other, so the warpage offsets itself to some degree. And since it's all the same piece, the resonant qualities would, I suppose, be more likely to be the same throughout. That's what I've always understood, anyway.

 

[jclone]

Thanks,
I want check wether or not I correctly understand.

1)You have 2 kinds of Brazilian Rosewood. One is "old" stash that you bought pre-1990 and the other is "new" stash.

2)You will use "old"stash when you build bass for them that bought it $1,300 or $1,750.

3)You will NEVER use "old stash" for someone who pay $1.050.

4)If there is one who wants "old" stash, Price is still $1,750.

conclusion is that two stash have own price.
right?

I have one more question. "IF" there is one who want "new" price but do not want to drop old stash, I agree with your opinion (second point you mention)

For anyone who wants new price and agrees to change their brazilian Rosewood from old stash into those from "new" stash, Can you reprice?

Thanks!

For better, or worse, prices are always subject to change. Two points...

1. The old pricing was for our stash of 100 year old Brazilian, the new pricing is for replacement stock which, although very, very good sonically, we have no idea how old it is -- only that it sounds good and is CITES certified. We will not intermingle the two batches and the new prices are for this new stash...we will keep the few pieces of 100 year-old left for ourselves and anyone else that's as nuts as us and inquires...

2. Anyone that has an instrument on order with a Brazilian FB that has yet to be built is welcome to have us reprice the ENTIRE instrument as per the current Price List. What we won't do is let them keep a 2009 (or earlier) price for everything but the fingerboard and then ask for the new price on the Brazilian FB...

Good question!