Bryan R. Tyler
TalkBass: Usurping My Practice Time Since 2002
Staff member
Administrator
Gold Supporting Member
Supporting Member
- May 3, 2002
- 28,948
- 20,934
- Disclosures
- Reviewer: Bass Player Magazine
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Fodera Club Part VI
- Thread starter Bryan R. Tyler
- Start date
-
- Tags
- club
- Status
Just Thumpin'
Commercial User
- Mar 7, 2008
- 4,534
- 1,664
- Disclosures
- Manager and Partner, Fodera Guitars (10/14/09 - 12/16/19)
Just Thumpin'
Commercial User
- Mar 7, 2008
- 4,534
- 1,664
- Disclosures
- Manager and Partner, Fodera Guitars (10/14/09 - 12/16/19)
There used to be a whole bunch of different variations and options however we are now building them much more simply. Standards have painted bodies and Deluxes have wooden tops. That's it in terms of differences. They are also all currently one-piece necks with flat pegheads and 21 frets...
i always thought this one looked 3D, but not as colorful
Attachments
Oh ok, can you just see part of the truss rod under the removable FB section? Or am I seeing something else?
by the way. while at namm-age, i talked with mike at some length about the moveable pickup and tried moving it a little. it seems to be very well engineered and moves very smoothly and easilybut i don't think it would move by accident.
that and the fact that it gets some really nice tonal variations make it a really great feature.
- Apr 24, 2004
- 1,359
- 53
- Disclosures
- Designer Fodera Guitars/Michael Pope Design, Inc., Trickfish Amplification
Steuart,
I'm glad I got to see you a bit at NAMM. I knew if there was anyone who could fully appreciate all the subtlties of the PU assembly it was you. Looking forward to checking out Pomegranite. David Yates ran off with it and says he'll mail it shortly. He was trying to get it on his computer and had trouble so he asked if he could just take it ad do it at home and mail it to me.
I got to play the bass at home a bunch today. I gotta say, with that movable PU thing it makes it one of the "coolest f#@&ing things I've ever played". I can be doing "my thing" just like always, but I can dial in the NASTIEST slap sound at will. And the tonal variations are HUGE. Never mind with the bridge PU soloed. You REALLY hear it when both PU's are on.
It is incredibly even. The B string is totally killer. There are a lot of 5 and 6 string basses that feel to me like they go so far in trying to make the B sound good that it's too much. Like it feels like a regular bass and then there's this demonic B thing at the bottom that doesn't sound anything like the rest of the bass. I personally don't have time for that approach. The Viceroy just sounds like the same bass in every register. The B string sounds like the E sounds like the A and so on. Sustain is beautiful and the neck feels incredible under my fingers. Balance is perfect, of course, and the weight is just right. I'm already totally used to the Viceroy. I don't miss the old one at all with one exception. The Viceroy doesn't have quite so much juicy color in it's sound naturally. It's more of a blank slate which leaves the sound more in your hands. If you know what you're doing you can go in ANY direction with it. It really can do almost any idiom if played correctly, and that was my goal.
Steuart is right about the PU assembly. It is easy to move and does NOT move when you don't want it to, with the exception of when you set it down on a stand or something. If you give it a "shake" the PU will slide toward the bridge. But there's little that most people would do in the normal course of playing that would make it move.
I can honestly say, this bass has meet nearly every expectation I had for it and a few I didn't think of. No doubt it is a keeper.
I'm glad I got to see you a bit at NAMM. I knew if there was anyone who could fully appreciate all the subtlties of the PU assembly it was you. Looking forward to checking out Pomegranite. David Yates ran off with it and says he'll mail it shortly. He was trying to get it on his computer and had trouble so he asked if he could just take it ad do it at home and mail it to me.
I got to play the bass at home a bunch today. I gotta say, with that movable PU thing it makes it one of the "coolest f#@&ing things I've ever played". I can be doing "my thing" just like always, but I can dial in the NASTIEST slap sound at will. And the tonal variations are HUGE. Never mind with the bridge PU soloed. You REALLY hear it when both PU's are on.
It is incredibly even. The B string is totally killer. There are a lot of 5 and 6 string basses that feel to me like they go so far in trying to make the B sound good that it's too much. Like it feels like a regular bass and then there's this demonic B thing at the bottom that doesn't sound anything like the rest of the bass. I personally don't have time for that approach. The Viceroy just sounds like the same bass in every register. The B string sounds like the E sounds like the A and so on. Sustain is beautiful and the neck feels incredible under my fingers. Balance is perfect, of course, and the weight is just right. I'm already totally used to the Viceroy. I don't miss the old one at all with one exception. The Viceroy doesn't have quite so much juicy color in it's sound naturally. It's more of a blank slate which leaves the sound more in your hands. If you know what you're doing you can go in ANY direction with it. It really can do almost any idiom if played correctly, and that was my goal.
Steuart is right about the PU assembly. It is easy to move and does NOT move when you don't want it to, with the exception of when you set it down on a stand or something. If you give it a "shake" the PU will slide toward the bridge. But there's little that most people would do in the normal course of playing that would make it move.
I can honestly say, this bass has meet nearly every expectation I had for it and a few I didn't think of. No doubt it is a keeper.
Steuart, I've gotta talk to you about that giant pickup in your bass sometime. I think my next bass will have just on magnetic pickup with a piezo bridge (thick body and chambered). I've been curious about yours for some time.
Mike, I can't wait to hear you record with the new bass. Congrats.....and I'm sure you'll dig Pomegranate......so good. I was really impressed.
i've said this sort of thing in the past and some people have given me grief about it, but i'll risk saying it again.
it's my experience that a bass just gets juicier as i play it. i've had basses that took me three years of playing for them to really come into their ownand for them to become more "me."
so . . . my guess is that your viceroy is gonna open up as time goes by. it's great that it's killer now . . . my guess is that it will just become moreso as you you really get into it.
andy, in certain ways, the way mike has gone may be more to the point. (tho, i might do it with mixed p and j coils).
my pickup is made up of 6 coils (see the picture, it's small tho').
2 front p-bass
2 middle p-bass
2 back j-bass
the p-bass coils can be used in 5 different configurations: front 2, middle 2, split p, reverse split p and all 4 (vaguely musicman-ish). i control that with a 5-position rotary switch.
then there's a 3-position toggle that can be only p coils, only j coils or a combination of the j coils and p coils (variations decided by the rotary).
all complete passive.
i don't use the split p/reverse split sounds very much. not counting them, i can get 7 combinations of sounds that i thing are pretty different.
hopefully this makes sense.
Attachments
- Apr 24, 2004
- 1,359
- 53
- Disclosures
- Designer Fodera Guitars/Michael Pope Design, Inc., Trickfish Amplification
I whole-heartedly agree with you and have already committed myself to doing that. This bass is still young and the wood hasn't vibrated. Because I play a lot of acoustic bass, I play with fairly high strings and I make them move. It will open up and I have no doubt it will get "juicier". I'm just gonna enjoy it!
- Apr 24, 2004
- 1,359
- 53
- Disclosures
- Designer Fodera Guitars/Michael Pope Design, Inc., Trickfish Amplification
I think I played this at NAMM a year or two ago, didn't I? Seems like I thought it was really cool.
yeah, you did. unfortunately, it was in the early stages of the switching and i had the toggle backwards (as i remember), so i wasn't able to really show off all the variations.
joey was kinda floored by how present the p/up sounded, with no preamp (don't have one right now). kept saying, "it's passive." the p/up is seriously overwound.
Thanks so much for the explanation! I've been meaning to ask you about that. What a great idea.
Lemme in the club! 
Just got myself a nice '06 Fodera NYC deluxe 5-string!
Im still on a "honeymoon" with this bass, but i cannot understand where all the "bashing" came for this series some time ago... Mine is really serious instrument! ... Pics coming soon.
Just got myself a nice '06 Fodera NYC deluxe 5-string!
Im still on a "honeymoon" with this bass, but i cannot understand where all the "bashing" came for this series some time ago... Mine is really serious instrument! ... Pics coming soon.
- Status
