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jim777 said:
maybe. there was one in l.a. that was around for a month or two before the guy who sold it and i came to an agreement.
and as jason has pointed out, 6-strings aren't as popular as 4-/5-strings.
plus there's the lefty 6 that has gone down in asking price considerably over the last five months or so (yes, i know, lefty).
anyway, a boy can dream, can't he?
DELACIUS said:
Wow, I just spotted it too, glad you like it, that's my new MG6.
Unfortunately I'll have to wait a couple of weeks before I get her, but it looks wicked. Many many thanks to Vinnie, Joey, Jason, Vadim, Olive Fodera and all at Fodera Guitars for making it happen. I'm so proud to be a Fodera owner.
See ya soon..
Cheers
sweet, and congratsbut how can you stand it with the "halo" around the bass in the picture?
;-)
Haha!! You got me..
Easy really, Fodera basses are stunning no matter the background, they always rise to the fore.. Btw I love your Macassar ebony 6..
Mulebagger said:
Many thanks for all of the insight... I have a sadowsky rv-5 that is my main bass (which I doubt I'll ever sell) and I was planning on a jazz style sadowsky NYC when I happened to stop by a store that had some foderas on the wall... Looks like the fodera "standard" bolt ons are about double a sadowsky NYC... I guess my real question is: is a fodera really worth twice or three times (neck through / custom) as much as a sadowsky NYC... Which looks like most of you are saying it is. Guess I'll be spending some more time trying each of them out before deciding... Thanks again.
Not quite right. The latest price list I saw from Sadowsky (Jul 2012) had the cheapest NYC bass at $4075 and they went up from there with some over $5K. For Fodera:
Yin Yang Std: $4750
Emperor Std: $5750
Nowhere near double the price. But really they are different beasts. Sadowsky is a 21 fret bolt-on "Fenderish" bass with the Sadowsky preamp (yes, they have some 24-fret variants). The Fodera standards are 24 fret with 3-band Pope. Workmanship is great on both, but they have different vibes. I think Fodera is worth 2x/3x the price for their customs but ymmv. However for the standards, you're not paying much (if any) premium for Fodera vs Sadowsky.
nostatic said:
Right, a top end sadowsky is 4k to 5k. A top end fodera is 8k to 15k.
But ur right, very different beasts. Thanks for the info.
Correct. But you also said:
"Looks like the fodera "standard" bolt ons are about double a sadowsky NYC"
Which is not the case at all. They are pretty comparably priced. And just for the record actually a "top end" Fodera can get to $24K
The thing is, the Fodera standards are built in the same shop by the same guys as the customs. So you get a "real" Fodera for about the same price as a "real" Sadowsky. But as I said, I find them to be very different beasts. You may not dig Foderas - plenty of players out there that have played them and had them not be "the one" for them. But there also are people who "don't like Foderas" that have never owned or even played one. And that often is based solely on the price and perceived value. The reality is that value is in the eye of the beholder and no one can tell you if something is worth the asking price. Since you're local you should go check them out and see if you dig it. You might, or you might not. There is no absolute "best" and no right or wrong answer. But I can say I have no regrets with the money I've spent on my three current Foderas because they speak to me in a way that none of my previous instruments has, and I really respect the people behind the instrument. The good thing is there are quite a few builders who are similarly great people and make a great bass. Just gotta find the ones that speak to you.
"Looks like the fodera "standard" bolt ons are about double a sadowsky NYC"
Which is not the case at all. They are pretty comparably priced. And just for the record actually a "top end" Fodera can get to $24K
The thing is, the Fodera standards are built in the same shop by the same guys as the customs. So you get a "real" Fodera for about the same price as a "real" Sadowsky. But as I said, I find them to be very different beasts. You may not dig Foderas - plenty of players out there that have played them and had them not be "the one" for them. But there also are people who "don't like Foderas" that have never owned or even played one. And that often is based solely on the price and perceived value. The reality is that value is in the eye of the beholder and no one can tell you if something is worth the asking price. Since you're local you should go check them out and see if you dig it. You might, or you might not. There is no absolute "best" and no right or wrong answer. But I can say I have no regrets with the money I've spent on my three current Foderas because they speak to me in a way that none of my previous instruments has, and I really respect the people behind the instrument. The good thing is there are quite a few builders who are similarly great people and make a great bass. Just gotta find the ones that speak to you.
- Apr 24, 2004
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- Disclosures
- Designer Fodera Guitars/Michael Pope Design, Inc., Trickfish Amplification
True! I just don't play two basses. It sat here for a year and didn't get played. So I figured, why not pass it along to the next nutcase?
That's an epic number of megabasses, dude. I envy you the financial security to be able to experiment like that.
For me, I'm good with P and J body shapes, and the upper part of my 55-02 is clearly an homage to the Stingray, and I like that one as well. I couldn't get over the feel of my old Godin A5 nor of any Rickenbacker I've ever played, so I guess I have my limits.
I can also find something to love with nearly any pickup combo, so long as it doesn't hiss. I do, however, pick my basses with an eye toward not having overlap. So I have one with a P pup (my P, of course), one with humcancelling J pups (the Sadowsky, of which I think you've seen pix), and one with an MM and a J (The Lakland). If I had my way and was ordering my Emperor right now, I'd want it with the dual coils.
I really need an 18 or preferably 19mm string spacing, though. The Godin was 16, and it was just too cramped. Ditto for the spacing on the Stingray 5s I've failed to love.
I've never had a 24-fret instrument. Being a real non-virtuoso, it's never been an issue. Now that I'm starting to explore chording a little, I can see the benefit to a 24-fret bass, though.
Oh yeah, definitely has to be a 5. And aside from these Foderas and MTDs, it's gotta be a Fender variant with cloverleaf tuners in black or chrome, virtually *never* gold. Not much into singlecuts, either.
So maybe I'm as picky as you, but on different aspects.
DELACIUS said:Man that's beautiful, if you ever consider to sell it or trade it, I'm your man
Congrats. ...
Thanks D, if the unthinkable happens and I don't bond, your 1st in line..
Easy.
Honestly, I don't think the 'worth' question is the way to see a purchase like this, because you'll never find a way in which these basses or our Sadowskys, are empirically 'worth it.'
Where they become worth it is in the intangibles: the excitement you get from picking up a premium bass, the experience of interacting with the builder and picking what goes into your new axe, the cachet of being in a very select family... the list goes on.
My $5,000 Sadowsky is better than my $1250 Fender, but not necessarily $3750 better, unless you take all those intangibles into consideration. It's the same thing here, unless an owner can tell me that his bass was made from the powdered tears of virgin angels...
Also, the Emperor Standard 5, at $5750 or whatever it costs, isn't even quite twice the cost of a Sadowsky Metro 5ver. You can clearly max out a *lot* higher on a Fodera--though I'm not so sure, once you take a look at some of those Sadowsky Select basses--but you're really getting into status-buy stuff like fancier top woods and so on.
All that to say, don't worry about whether or not it's worth it. It's not *about* the worth. It's about the magic.
The ES5 is made in Brooklyn, the Metro is made in Japan. That isn't to say that the Metro isn't a good bass, but that is a factor for some.
Years ago someone said their R&D budget for a Pro Stock car engine was $100,000. They expected to find 10 horsepower that year. That's $10,000 per HP. Worth it? Makes a Fodera look like a bargain. That said, the value of a Fodera is in the details, and the more you play it you realize how they make you enjoy playing it. i'm still finding things out, and it is a different animal, but yes, it is very much worth it.
The scary thing is that I'm not kidding. I may ask you to NOT let me play it. Batch 61-100 has openings...
Heavily shedding with the NYC, and having a few gig situations under my belt with her, is zeroing me in on a reference point for what makes my left hand really happy. There is a demand, and a commensurate reward, for good technique. It's been an intense learning and experience curve over the past year and a half, since I first picked up a bass, with a couple booster stages, and now a steady accelerating burn working with Ant. I don't think I could have appreciated this instrument without the work he's put in front of me.
Oh, and every old-school bass player that's spied her has been enamored - looks and tone.
(For some reason, writing about Fodera makes me want to bust out the $1000 SAT words!)
Finally, that newborn claro walnut MG-shaped Imperial is wicked.
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