Yeah! This is definitely one of the greatest bass shops in Europe!
Just bought an acoustic fretless there and Joaquín was very supportive.
I guess he has sold quite a bunch of Foderas so far.
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Fodera Club Part VII
- Thread starter Bryan R. Tyler
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Yeah! This is definitely one of the greatest bass shops in Europe!
Just bought an acoustic fretless there and Joaquín was very supportive.
I guess he has sold quite a bunch of Foderas so far.
I think Jason let Richard Bona own my bass for about ten minutes before he shipped it.
Just Thumpin'
Commercial User
- Mar 7, 2008
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- Manager and Partner, Fodera Guitars (10/14/09 - 12/16/19)
I know of the following...
1. The Monarch 4 that he played with The Zawinul Syndicate (I owned it for 2-3 years).
2. The Imperial II that is presently for sale on eBay.
3. His first 34" scale Olive-topped Imperial (he still has this);
4. The 33" scale Primavera (looks a lot like Olive) topped Imperial that he did not keep because he did not love 33" scale;
5. His newest 34" scale Olive-topped Imperial that is the same specs-wise as #3 above (he still has this).
I believe that there may have been one other and that's it...
J
1. The Monarch 4 that he played with The Zawinul Syndicate (I owned it for 2-3 years).
2. The Imperial II that is presently for sale on eBay.
3. His first 34" scale Olive-topped Imperial (he still has this);
4. The 33" scale Primavera (looks a lot like Olive) topped Imperial that he did not keep because he did not love 33" scale;
5. His newest 34" scale Olive-topped Imperial that is the same specs-wise as #3 above (he still has this).
I believe that there may have been one other and that's it...
J
I just had a new chrome bridge and tuners installed on my Emperor . This was intended to be a cosmetic change from black to chrome as I also wanted to install the black bridge on my old AJ5. More on this later.
The new chrome bridge is different. Some info - the screw layout is different. Joey advised me two install the bridge with the top two screws and then drill new holes for the bottom 5 screws. This was not a problem. The bridge is slightly heavier. I had to raise the saddles higher than on the old bridge, so I am assuming that the bridge plate is shallower.
The new bridge sounds a little better and is very easy to adjust and string. There is a little more punch and sustain but the difference is very slight. The main thing that I noticed is that I had a minor dead spot at D on the G string. This is now pretty much eliminated, or at least no longer noticeable.
The new chrome bridge is different. Some info - the screw layout is different. Joey advised me two install the bridge with the top two screws and then drill new holes for the bottom 5 screws. This was not a problem. The bridge is slightly heavier. I had to raise the saddles higher than on the old bridge, so I am assuming that the bridge plate is shallower.
The new bridge sounds a little better and is very easy to adjust and string. There is a little more punch and sustain but the difference is very slight. The main thing that I noticed is that I had a minor dead spot at D on the G string. This is now pretty much eliminated, or at least no longer noticeable.
Attachments
My AJ5 had some surgery last week. Here is a link to it as it was.Steve York bassist ~ Fodera Anthony Jackson 5 String
I wanted to replace the piezo bridge and install the new Fodera preamp. Joey came up with a great configuration for me using the existing holes.. The controls are (top to bottom) balance between pu coils, concentric master volume and tone, concentric bass and treble, low mids, high mids. The switches are standby and active/passive.
The new bridge came from my Emperor.
I haven´t gigged or recorded with the new hardware yet, but I am very happy with the result.
I now have the piezo bridge and Mike Pope preamp for sale.I will be posting it to the TB classifieds soon.
I wanted to replace the piezo bridge and install the new Fodera preamp. Joey came up with a great configuration for me using the existing holes.. The controls are (top to bottom) balance between pu coils, concentric master volume and tone, concentric bass and treble, low mids, high mids. The switches are standby and active/passive.
The new bridge came from my Emperor.
I haven´t gigged or recorded with the new hardware yet, but I am very happy with the result.
I now have the piezo bridge and Mike Pope preamp for sale.I will be posting it to the TB classifieds soon.
Attachments
Steve,
This bass looks fantastic! I would love to know how it sounds passive with its new setup.
Bryan
Thanks Bryan. That´s a good question and one that may take a few months to answer! There is quite a change in the passive sound as the old tone pot had a different taper.
The Seymour Duncan pu is very hot and has some nasty mids. I have owned the bass for five years and used it in passive mode most of the time. The original tone pot functioned much like a P Bass. I generally used it almost all the way "off", cutting highs and mids. The new tone pot does not cut mids in the same way. I cannot describe the taper but if you have a newer Fodera you will know how it works.
With the new setup I find that I can tame the nasty mids in passive mode by using the the balance control to favour either pu coil. The best result comes from favouring the bridge coil. This comes as somewhat of a surprise to me as I thought the balance control would be of little use, but it actually makes big difference. I have some recordings of the bass with the old setup and they are all in passive mode. I will have to record with the new setup and compare the tone.
The main difference is that previously I had to cut mids in both passive and active mode which made it pretty much a one sound bass. Now I am able to cut the nasty mids and add sweet mids in active mode and to use the coil balance to smooth things out in passive mode. This gives me a lot more tone options.
It took me about a year to figure out the old set up with the piezo. It´s going to take me a while to figure this one out!
Thanks for asking!
Steve,
Thanks for the information. Let us know how it goes with the new setup...after you've had some time getting to know the ins and outs of it.
In the meantime, do you have a recording that you feel best represents your old setup with the magnetic pickup soloed in passive mode?
Bryan, If you go to my website at Website of Steve York bassist / bass player music should start automatically. There´s a player near the bottom of the index page with about 12 tracks. The tracks are just myself with my wife on keys and vocals so the bass is easy to hear. The bass sound varies a little from track according to my touch and the state of the strings but all tracks were recorded in passive mode with the tone control wound all the way back.
I took a D/I out of the back of a Phil Jones Briefcase with the eq set flat. No eq or compression was used.
There are short solos on "Corcovado" and "Everyday I Have The Blues". The tracks were recrded as a demo for my wife and I to get hotel, restaurant and cruise work so the song selection is a pretty conservative choice of covers.
There are videos of my playing some Latin music at YouTube - Son De La Loma - Paco Barajas & The Celebrators and YouTube - Yo Me Llamo Cumbia - Paco Barajas & The Celebrators Same settings on the bass, through an Ampeg SVT set to whatever the bassist before me had dialed up!
Thanks for asking!
I played this one at the Atlanta Bass Gallery a while back, now it is at The Low End bass shop.
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Hey guys, this is my first post so be easy on me. Got a question that only you guys can answer. I'm playing a Dingwall super J 4 string right now. I love this bass but have a little issue with the neck. The g string keeps slipping off the neck if your not playing perfectly. Meaning if you slightly bend the string downward your off the neck. Here's the question. I'm really liking the NYC Empire 4. Do I go with the Fodera or do I try to make the Dingwall work for me? Mind you I've never played on in my life, but from what you guys say, it's the best bass bar none.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Thanks in advance for your help.
The top of this bass seems to look different to other AJ basses I have seen. Does it not have that "carved top"?
I may be wrong of course.
You are correct. No carved top. I´m really not sure how much the design had in common with Anthony Jackson´s basses of that time except for the body shape . I would prefer if it had a different name to avoid direct comparison.
KoaFodera
Commercial User
Welcome to the Fodera Club. I used to have a bass (not a Fodera) with the same problem. Sounds like a case of the string too close to the edge of the f/b(maddening!
). If that's the reason, you can remedy the G string issue by having a new nut made, slotting the G away from the edge. The trade-off is that you will have a slightly narrower string spacing with the D and G strings. That's the least expensive option. However, if you do choose one of the Fodera NYC basses(or a Custom), you are in for a treat. Great playability, tone and build quality.
Let us know how things work out.
I did mention it to Sheldon but I don't think I got my point across. He mentioned string gauge and did offer to send me his new string tree at no cost (which he did). I've tried different gauge strings but it's still the same. Never thought about changing out the nut though, that's a big help! I just need the excuse of getting the Fodera. I'll get in touch with my luthier and take it from there.
Thanks guys!
Thanks guys!
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