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Fodera Club Part VII

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#582
Wow, that truly sucks, hopefully way before the 11th hour his Foderas are hand delivered to him at the hotel or at the venue prior to downbeat.

Even though this is a Fodera thread and Vic exclusively plays them... I'd bet he could make wires nailed to a 2 by 4 plank sing, the music is definitely in him.
 
#583
Actually I've never heard Victor play anything but a Fodera--might be interesting to see what he can do. I'm sure somebody's got a Squier Vintage Modified jazz bass over there that he can borrow...


Mike--how would you describe koa as a tonewood? Yours is one of the only basses I know of with a solid koa body. Think it would work well as a tone block paired with ash (maple fb)?
 
#584
climb said:
Actually I've never heard Victor play anything but a Fodera--might be interesting to see what he can do. I'm sure somebody's got a Squier Vintage Modified jazz bass over there that he can borrow...
Click to expand...

I've seen Vic play quite a few non-Fodera basses (besides Alembic, and his Compito fretless, of course)....in fact, some very inexpensive basses that we raffle off at Bass At The Beach...not quite Fodera sounding, but on a $225 bass he still sounds like Vic! (FWIW, I've also heard quite a few people play Vic's Yin-Yang bass, my self included....and none of them sounded like Vic!)

Garey
 
#585
We received literally HUNDREDS of responses from all over the world including two Fodera players that were very close to Oslo, but just too far away from the Gig to make it happen. So, at the end of the day he sourced a Marcus Miller Jazz Bass from someone local and did the gig on that.

Now, a note on why he wanted a Fodera...yes Vic CAN play a two by four with two strings and play significantly better on it than many of us, however, on his solo gigs (especially when he is out JUST with JD Blair and its only the two of them), there are a number of his techniques that are very much intertwined with his having played a Fodera for over 20 years. Many of his riffs ARE above the 21st fret and a lot of the hammer-on techniques that he uses require incredibly low action and active pickups in order to achieve the desired result.

Although I am 100% certain that Vic, as the consummate professional, killed it earlier today even without his bass (or another Fodera for that matter), as a true professional who is putting on a show for people that may never have seen him before (or ever have a chance to see him again), I know that he wanted to put his best foot forward and play as comfortably as he possibly could...

Thanks again to so many of you for trying your best to help!!

Jason
 
#588
climb said:
Actually I've never heard Victor play anything but a Fodera--might be interesting to see what he can do. I'm sure somebody's got a Squier Vintage Modified jazz bass over there that he can borrow...


Mike--how would you describe koa as a tonewood? Yours is one of the only basses I know of with a solid koa body. Think it would work well as a tone block paired with ash (maple fb)?
Click to expand...

To my ears, Koa has a particular kind of midrange that is always there no matter what you do. It won't be effectively suppressed with electronics, and it can take up a lot of space in a mix. Since you're asking, if you don't KNOW you want the koa sound, I don't think I'd recommend getting it as a body wood. The Koa bass has a very "thick" sound. Like a little push around 180Hz or so. It's nice and warm...warm, warm, warm. Combined with my sweaty hands (read: soft calluses) that can make it really hard to get that bass to "jump" out of a mix.
As a tone block wood....I just don't have enough experience with tone blocks and how they affect sound to be able to speak with any authority on that. Jason can probably advise you better on that.
I can tell you, and I've basically said this to you in person, and here on TB...but I'll say it again...that my Koa bass has a complexity of sound that my Viceroy does not. Same time, that complexity appears as an overlay on everything that bass does. It's part of the personality of the instrument. Personally, I would not buy another Koa bass for that reason. Same time, I will PROBABLY not ever get rid of my Koa bass for that reason.
It's a strong flavor. It's like the curry of bass. If you don't like it, don't put ANY in the recipe. That's my gut feeling.
 
#590
thepontif said:
The Koa bass has a very "thick" sound. Like a little push around 180Hz or so. It's nice and warm...warm, warm, warm.
Click to expand...

I agree. But I found that there are two different characteristics of sounds coming out of Koa instruments. I played several acoustic guitars and electric basses with Koa tops, and still own an Imperial 5 with a Koa body. Although they all provide the warmth mentioned by Mike - the Koa seems to have some kind of attack in it which could be waken up by other parts or woods. My Imperial has a full warm tone but with an exceptional fat attack, supporting a wonderful big and round slap tone - you can hear it unplugged. I played a Fender-like bass with a full Koa body, same neck woods, bolt-on (!) and it sounded very smooth - hard to get some dynamics out of it.

I made similar experiences with acoustic guitars and I found out that all Koa tops supported a quite smooth and warm sound, but some of the guitars developed a very nice percussive attack - others not, but both keeping the warmth in the sound. But IF for whatever reason a particular instrument develops more attack it completely changes the characteristics of the instrument - it becomes fat and responsive in my ears, but never thin or harsh or treble-oriented. Very nice.

There are several discussions in acoustic guitar forums about that. Koa tops are warm and kind of woolly for the ones, warm yet percussive for the others.
 
#591
Just Thumpin' said:
Although I am 100% certain that Vic, as the consummate professional, killed it earlier today even without his bass (or another Fodera for that matter), as a true professional who is putting on a show for people that may never have seen him before (or ever have a chance to see him again), I know that he wanted to put his best foot forward and play as comfortably as he possibly could...

Thanks again to so many of you for trying your best to help!!

Jason
Click to expand...

That's so true!!!!
And btw. love it when I see how we all stick together as one, when help is needed!!! :bassist::bassist::bassist:
 
#592
Just Thumpin' said:
We received literally HUNDREDS of responses from all over the world including two Fodera players that were very close to Oslo, but just too far away from the Gig to make it happen. So, at the end of the day he sourced a Marcus Miller Jazz Bass from someone local and did the gig on that.

Now, a note on why he wanted a Fodera...yes Vic CAN play a two by four with two strings and play significantly better on it than many of us, however, on his solo gigs (especially when he is out JUST with JD Blair and its only the two of them), there are a number of his techniques that are very much intertwined with his having played a Fodera for over 20 years. Many of his riffs ARE above the 21st fret and a lot of the hammer-on techniques that he uses require incredibly low action and active pickups in order to achieve the desired result.

Although I am 100% certain that Vic, as the consummate professional, killed it earlier today even without his bass (or another Fodera for that matter), as a true professional who is putting on a show for people that may never have seen him before (or ever have a chance to see him again), I know that he wanted to put his best foot forward and play as comfortably as he possibly could...

Thanks again to so many of you for trying your best to help!!

Jason
Click to expand...

Cool... finally! Pictures and videos please! ;)
 
#593
mrbassman_de said:
I agree. But I found that there are two different characteristics of sounds coming out of Koa instruments. I played several acoustic guitars and electric basses with Koa tops, and still own an Imperial 5 with a Koa body. Although they all provide the warmth mentioned by Mike - the Koa seems to have some kind of attack in it which could be waken up by other parts or woods. My Imperial has a full warm tone but with an exceptional fat attack, supporting a wonderful big and round slap tone - you can hear it unplugged. I played a Fender-like bass with a full Koa body, same neck woods, bolt-on (!) and it sounded very smooth - hard to get some dynamics out of it.

I made similar experiences with acoustic guitars and I found out that all Koa tops supported a quite smooth and warm sound, but some of the guitars developed a very nice percussive attack - others not, but both keeping the warmth in the sound. But IF for whatever reason a particular instrument develops more attack it completely changes the characteristics of the instrument - it becomes fat and responsive in my ears, but never thin or harsh or treble-oriented. Very nice.

There are several discussions in acoustic guitar forums about that. Koa tops are warm and kind of woolly for the ones, warm yet percussive for the others.
Click to expand...

This is the "midrange thing" I was referring to. I didn't elaborate, and instead talked about the upper bass/very low mid thing.
My Koa Fodera (and my old warmoth koa J bass which has been in pieces for years now) definitely had an attack that was like a complex and less annoying version of what an unusually honky piece of ash sounds like. That's the best way I can think of to describe it, anyway.
 
#595
I think that the attack of the sound may actually be what I find most important in some ways. Rainer, sounds like you feel that koa tops affect tone pretty significantly in comparison to other tops--any ideas why some are punchier in the attack vs. others? Mike, thanks for your descriptions--a tone block is a pretty small amount of wood compared to the rest of the neck/body, but I want to get it right for my build. I'm also considering a koa top for sheer beauty, but I definitely wonder about the tonal impact. I want a punchy, throaty, deep, articulate, yet non-honky attack--and my bass will be ash/maple. Too much to hope for??

As far as the emperor II on Bass NW, not sure I see pickup routing. I do see what's probably protective plastic over the 'slap' area, if that's what you're referring to?
 
#597
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