Fodera Club Part X

[Lugzy]

I gotta believe that's thumpin's bass. Super killer lookin', to me!

Now, introducing MY newly ordered Garrison shape 5-string....

Chestnut...and Brazilian. Waddya all think???

Arrrgh!...Oh I feel better now. Man, the shop say's it's clean out if Chestnut, and you come up with a beautiful piece like that; You found Vinnie's secret stash, didn't you.

I hope it sounds as good as it looks, because that's an eye catching combination for sure. Good luck.

 

[nostatic]

Specs:

Imperial Matt Garrison Shape, 5 string
No Inlay Brazilian Rosewood fret board
34” Scale
Neck Through (Elite)
24 Large Frets
Seymour Duncan Dual Coil Pickups (60s Spacing) Matching Wood Covers
Solid Chestnut Top
5 piece Maple neck, Walnut stringers
Walnut Body, Alder Toneblock
17.5mm bridge
Black Hardware
Ramp (Braz Board)
Standard Size Headstock

heh, you got it bad.

I'd think a bit about the fret size. While I'm fine with the large frets on my YYS, I have to say that the Nordstrand I had with vintage size frets was probably the most "easy playing" bass I've owned. This is one thing that attracts me to the stock Garrison spec - small frets. And I'm curious about the 33" scale. I do my best to duck tendonitis, and my brief forays with 30" scale Mouses made me appreciate a smaller scale length.

Were I to spec a Garrison, I'd go 33" scale, 26 small frets, 18mm spacing, and dual coils. But hard to go wrong either way.

 

[Just Thumpin']

Yes, the rumors are true. The gorgeous Monarch with the Brazilian Rosewood top is indeed mine. I just played it in a band setting for the first time last night...actually I was out with Joey, Vinny and Joe (all from the shop) and a couple of other guys playing the blues. Sounded killer..amazingly deep, rich, warm tone...but I will leave the full description to the Newborn site. It's sister..."Olive #3" will be posted to the site later this morning. Today I will be doing the write-ups on the past 9 Newborns...including these two.

I took BOTH out to play last night and it was a split decision. Half of the guys liked the Alder bodied one (the Brazilian top) and the other half liked the Ash body (Olive top). I cannot choose...they both sound and play extraordinarily well...but are different. I need a LOT more time with both in gigging situations to learn more. In my home studio I prefer the Alder bodied one...but, as we all should know, out on the gig is what matters...

Now, in terms of looks, yes, I do (humbly) think that we hit the ball out of the park with both of these basses. The Brazilian top was a gift from a long time friend of ours that has supplied us much of the outstanding Brazilian we have built with over the years. The funny thing is that it came about following my conversation with him about his recently completed bass...

http://www.fodera.com/Main/NewBornDetails.aspx?FeaturedItemID=235

More on the story later this morning. Woke up way late and have to get the kids off to school!!

J

 

[Just Thumpin']

So, anyway, I had a similar (but slightly less spectacular) Brazilian Rosewood top with sapwood picked out for this bass that had been filed away for well over a year. Shortly after we delivered the Koa topped Monarch to our friend and customer, we got into a conversation about the two Monarchs that I had on order for myself. Lo and behold he offered to send me a piece of his personal "old stash" of Brazilian to use for my bass. The stunning top is all thanks to him...

Other questions that have been rasied in recent posts...

1. There is really nothing that you can do to keep an instrument in "ideal" conditions if you are living on a tropical island. In areas with really high humidity, try your best to avoid frequent, massive changes in temperature and humidity. So, after you have finished a gig outside when it was 100 degrees and 95% humidity, wipe down the entire instrument with a clean, lightly damp (very lightly damp) cloth followed by a dry cloth to remove all of the sweat from it -- this will help avoid finish pitting on the metal parts. Then put the instrument back in its case before bringing it home to your air conditioned house.

In general it is a good idea to leave the bass in its case or gigbag (a good, solid, quality one) anytime you are subjecting it to radically differing environments as being in the case significantly slows the acclimation process...

2. About our necks "staying buttery" -- I assume that you meant the back of the neck and not the fingerboard. For the back of the neck, to regain the "as-new" feeling, a light rub down with 0000 Steel Wool (and I mean a LIGHT rub) will do the trick followed by a light coat of Butcher's wax immediately rubbed off with a soft, dry rag. That's how they leave the shop. That said, every time you are doing this you are removing finish material and if you do it enough you'll get down to the bare wood. Since every Fodera is completely hand finished and hand rubbed, every bass has a varying amount of finish on it...so there is no way to tell how many times you can rub down the neck before you break through to bare wood...so be careful!

3. About Curt's amazing piece of Chestnut -- We literally discovered this piece last Thursday behind Vinny's bench as part of our ongoing clean-up / organization work in the shop. Curt happened to be the first person to speak with me about a new instrument after we discovered it and so he got first dibs. Since then we had a line of four customers waiting to take it if he did not...we thought that we had no more great solid Chestnut tops to offer. So, at least for now, this is the last one...of course we haven't cleaned Vinny's garage yet...LOL.

 

[gai113]

2. About our necks "staying buttery" -- I assume that you meant the back of the neck and not the fingerboard. For the back of the neck, to regain the "as-new" feeling, a light rub down with 0000 Steel Wool (and I mean a LIGHT rub) will do the trick followed by a light coat of Butcher's wax immediately rubbed off with a soft, dry rag. That's how they leave the shop. That said, every time you are doing this you are removing finish material and if you do it enough you'll get down to the bare wood. Since every Fodera is completely hand finished and hand rubbed, every bass has a varying amount of finish on it...so there is no way to tell how many times you can rub down the neck before you break through to bare wood...so be careful!

Actually I meant the fingerboard... On the site it says something about mineral oil every 6 months? I got the chance to play Janeks fodera a few days ago and man that FB felt sweet!!

 

[CH Design]

I'm surprised nobody has re-posted this yet. Must be a busy Wednesday in the bass playing world.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Lennard III.]

No I got it - Olive Nr. 1 - Nr. 3 have tops from the same crotch and the Imperial that I thought that would be Nr. 3 (the Olive Imperial on Newborn side Nr.1) is just a regular Olive Imperial ? Or is that a crotch Olive top too ?

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Just Thumpin']

So this is the fraternal twin to the Brazilian topped bass...

J

I'm surprised nobody has re-posted this yet. Must be a busy Wednesday in the bass playing world.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[jakkkk]

DAAAAMMNNN JASON!!!!!

 

[Lennard III.]

question :

what does the 5 piece neck really do ? make the neck more stable ? the sound brighter ? faster attack ? only cosmetic ?

what do you think ?

 

[Just Thumpin']

The primary difference is cosmetic although there IS some structural benefit. That said, since our 3-piece necks are already plenty stable, I cannot honestly say that the extra stability is needed 95% of the time...

J

question :

what does the 5 piece neck really do ? make the neck more stable ? the sound brighter ? faster attack ? only cosmetic ?

what do you think ?

 

[Lennard III.]

THANKS J.

And big congrats on your new basses ! You deserve to get sth. special for all what you have done for this company !

And please let me know when you have cleaned Vinnys garage

The primary difference is cosmetic although there IS some structural benefit. That said, since our 3-piece necks are already plenty stable, I cannot honestly say that the extra stability is needed 95% of the time...

J

 

[Just Thumpin']

Thanks! For full disclosure, when any of us here at the shop gets an instrument (myself, Vinny and Joey included), we pay Dealer Price and we wait in line just like everybody else. So, just like all of the amazing customers we work with, we know what it is like to wait on your dream bass becoming a reality. These two are well worth the wait!!

J

THANKS J.

And big congrats on your new basses ! You deserve to get sth. special for all what you have done for this company !

And please let me know when you have cleaned Vinnys garage

 

[jakkkk]

Now I'm getting all excited about my pending delivery.....

 

[narud]

question :

what does the 5 piece neck really do ? make the neck more stable ? the sound brighter ? faster attack ? only cosmetic ?

what do you think ?

the 5 piece neck was a total pain in the ass for me. i got it based on cosmetic reasons only. every time the cold came around the finish would shrink or the wood would react to the climate or whatever and you would end up feeling the laminates when you ran your thumb over them. i was advised to do the 0000 steel wool wax thing and eventually went through the finish. i ended up sending the bass to michael dolan and he resprayed the section of the neck i went through and it was seemless when compared to the rest of the neck.

it eventually ended up happening again a year or so later and i just dealt with it. bugged me every time i played that thing.

 

[Lennard III.]

the 5 piece neck was a total pain in the ass for me. i got it based on cosmetic reasons only. every time the cold came around the finish would shrink or the wood would react to the climate or whatever and you would end up feeling the laminates when you ran your thumb over them. i was advised to do the 0000 steel wool wax thing and eventually went through the finish. i ended up sending the bass to michael dolan and he resprayed the section of the neck i went through and it was seemless when compared to the rest of the neck.

it eventually ended up happening again a year or so later and i just dealt with it. bugged me every time i played that thing.

I remeber that story....

I made nearly the same experience with a Smith bass I used to own for some years

 

[steubig]

question :

what does the 5 piece neck really do ? make the neck more stable ? the sound brighter ? faster attack ? only cosmetic ?

what do you think ?

i'll chime in.

i have 5-piece necks from the 80s/90s/00s.

not had problem with any of them. quite like them. i've tended to prefer them because that's what i started with.

3-piece necks have likewise not been a prob for me. not sure there's any discernible sound dif, but i have different strings and woods involved, so it would be hard to say.

 

[Lugzy]

So, anyway, I had a similar (but slightly less spectacular) Brazilian Rosewood top with sapwood picked out for this bass that had been filed away for well over a year. Shortly after we delivered the Koa topped Monarch to our friend and customer, we got into a conversation about the two Monarchs that I had on order for myself. Lo and behold he offered to send me a piece of his personal "old stash" of Brazilian to use for my bass. The stunning top is all thanks to him...

Other questions that have been rasied in recent posts...

1. There is really nothing that you can do to keep an instrument in "ideal" conditions if you are living on a tropical island.

2. About our necks "staying buttery" -- For the back of the neck, to regain the "as-new" feeling, a light rub down with 0000 Steel Wool (and I mean a LIGHT rub) will do the trick followed by a light coat of Butcher's wax immediately rubbed off with a soft, dry rag. Be careful!

3. About Curt's amazing piece of Chestnut -- We literally discovered this piece last Thursday behind Vinny's bench as part of our ongoing clean-up / organization work in the shop. So, at least for now, this is the last one...of course we haven't cleaned Vinny's garage yet...LOL.

Sir, that's one Beautiful bass, correction; two beautiful basses. I can only imagine that your "less spectacular" must've been pretty amazing..If your buddy should call again, remember me, please..

1. Thanks Jason, and all points noted.

3. I had a good laugh when I read that.....
Olive-Fodera aka "The Bloodhound" and I joke about how he manages to find such great pieces when he visits the shop, and that if anyone could find the secret stash, he could. Well who would guess that there's still great pieces hidden around that bench. Mr Fodera waves that chisel like a wand and out pops another.. LoL

NB: The Garage???

 

[CH Design]

Jason,
What is the determining factor between the wood pickup cover designs? I've noticed some match the top (like your BR topped Monarch), some look like they are from a different piece of the top (like your olive topped bass) and some match the fretboard (often with the grain running in the opposite direction).

 

[Just Thumpin']

Actually, my Olive bass has pups that are made from Birdseye Maple, not Olive...

It depends on what material we have available to us when building the bass, the customer's desires and what looks best artistically. By way of example, on my Olive bass, the top was so unique that we just had no material that could really match it. So, rather than having poorly matched Olive pup covers, I / we opted for Birdseye covers that tied in with the FB...

J

Jason,
What is the determining factor between the wood pickup cover designs? I've noticed some match the top (like your BR topped Monarch), some look like they are from a different piece of the top (like your olive topped bass) and some match the fretboard (often with the grain running in the opposite direction).