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Fodera Club Part XIV

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#782
nostatic said:
Beautiful. I'm with you on the MG body, and also with the subtle issues that happen with light basses. I chased lightweight basses for a couple of years but actually Jason finally cured me of that. I also began to notice that nearly all of the really light ones had some degree of neck dive, some worse than others.

And agree on the can't stop practicing. Typically on a non-gig night I'll spend an hour or so running exercises and tunes I need to work up. This last weekend it was averaging 3-4 hours with the MGS comping tunes and working on things. It has opened up a completely different area for me on the instrument. I love this bass, though I now know I need a chambered walnut body with some crazy top and ebony fb just because. :D
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The MGS is the most well-executed and precision standard instrument I've played. The only significant thing I'd change is the top and fingerboard woods if I had the option, but I'm not sure even how much a difference it would make though. The more I play it the more I like it.
 
#783
fivestringdan said:
Out of curiosity would you be going with an ebony fingerboard for looks or sound, or both?
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A little from column A, a little from column B. I prefer the sound of ebony to every other fingerboard for most things, and the chambered walnut/ebony fb spec on my YYD gives me pretty much the exact tones I want. Not to say that the pau ferro is bad. It is just that nothing sounds quite like ebony to my ears.
 
#786
Tonally it surprised me the similarities the woods share. To my ears the is a difference. Enough so that I react differently when playing by the contrast. Most of my instruments have an ebony fb and I prefer it too but I wanted my Fodera to sound a tad, "to my ears very small" less compressed as I hear ebony. I actually went back and forth for months deciding which board I wanted..lol I have to admit I LOVE the look of an ebony finger board.

I will get to see if my wood choices worked out the way I thought they would. Got the email today that my bass is complete!!

I hope you still have your MGS when/if you get a new custom made with the ebony board. I would be fun to here the two at the same time.

nostatic said:
A little from column A, a little from column B. I prefer the sound of ebony to every other fingerboard for most things, and the chambered walnut/ebony fb spec on my YYD gives me pretty much the exact tones I want. Not to say that the pau ferro is bad. It is just that nothing sounds quite like ebony to my ears.
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#788
Robin Ruscio said:
It has a very punchy tone but a sweet yet articulate high end. BRW FB + ASH is a win combo.
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Congrats on the bass - It looks awesome. I totally agree on the BRW and Ash combo. My AJ has an Ash body and BRW board and that bass to this day remains the best instrument I've ever touched. It's of course the combination of a lot factors but the woods definitely contribute.
 
#789
Joelc73 said:
Congrats on the bass - It looks awesome. I totally agree on the BRW and Ash combo. My AJ has an Ash body and BRW board and that bass to this day remains the best instrument I've ever touched. It's of course the combination of a lot factors but the woods definitely contribute.
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How would you describe the difference between BRW and ebony as a fingerboard wood? And which is the harder / denser wood, I assumed ebony is.
 
#791
nuwavedc said:
How would you describe the difference between BRW and ebony as a fingerboard wood? And which is the harder / denser wood, I assumed ebony is.
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I have BRW on my Monarch, ebony on the YYD. While the bodies are different as well, I think that the fingerboard probably has more impact on the tone. The BRW doesn't have the top end sizzle so it sounds "warmer" for lack of a better term. The midrange is also very focused on the BRW.
 
#792
nostatic said:
I have BRW on my Monarch, ebony on the YYD. While the bodies are different as well, I think that the fingerboard probably has more impact on the tone. The BRW doesn't have the top end sizzle so it sounds "warmer" for lack of a better term. The midrange is also very focused on the BRW.
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Thanks for the info, and sorry guys if am asking a lot of questions that have been asked before. Between the members in the Fodera forum and Jason's presence, I can't think of a better place on the planet to get information on tone woods for bass. With a new custom on the horizon I keep tearing it down and rebuilding it in my head.
 
#793
nuwavedc said:
Thanks for the info, and sorry guys if am asking a lot of questions that have been asked before. Between the members in the Fodera forum and Jason's presence, I can't think of a better place on the planet to get information on tone woods for bass. With a new custom on the horizon I keep tearing it down and rebuilding it in my head.
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Yeah. But it's the best part of those threads
 
#794
fivestringdan said:
Okay I admit it wasn't ALL my idea for the woods. Vinny suggested a different body wood when I asked him to make a bass from American Cherry. Mahogany was my second choice and ended up being the wood used. I trust what they are doing at the shop and happy for the advice.
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Where had you heard a bass with a cherry body to make you want that particular wood?
 
#795
Bill Conklin, I think the "Century" series or something was cherry and I really dug the sound. Then I had two basses made with cherry as a body wood that turned out fantastic. Sort of in between maple and alder in the tonal spectrum to my ear. Anyway I didn't want an all alder bass so I went with mahogany and alder tone block. To me mahogany sounds more inert than other tone woods.


Munjibunga said:
Where had you heard a bass with a cherry body to make you want that particular wood?
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#796
So here is what I keep going over trying to understand: If a tone wood is termed warmer than another one that is termed bright is this because it is more resonant in the mids and less resonant in the highs or is it because it is more oily or waxy or something and thereby damps the high frequencies?
 
#798
For the most part it's smoke and mirrors..lol

The problem is what you hear as "warmer" I may hear as "boomy".
There are lots of generalizations and I don't claim to know anything beyond what I hear. You're best bet is to listen to many instruments preferably by the same builder and choose for yourself what you think sounds best.

Please don't mix science and personal perception...or was it wine and beer.





nuwavedc said:
So here is what I keep going over trying to understand: If a tone wood is termed warmer than another one that is termed bright is this because it is more resonant in the mids and less resonant in the highs or is it because it is more oily or waxy or something and thereby damps the high frequencies?
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#799
The wood doesn't "color" the tone as much. Sounds more "flat" I guess.

Example two bass built the same one with swamp ash one with mahogany. To me the swamp ash bass has more defined lows, slight mid cut and brighter top end. Mahogany bass would sound more even as the lows would still be there just not as strong, more mids or even response from the mids and not as much top end.



cnltb said:
What do you mean with 'inert' in this context?
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#800
nostatic said:
I have BRW on my Monarch, ebony on the YYD. While the bodies are different as well, I think that the fingerboard probably has more impact on the tone. The BRW doesn't have the top end sizzle so it sounds "warmer" for lack of a better term. The midrange is also very focused on the BRW.
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I have a non-Fodera six with BRW board (all other woods used are Maple) and it has warmth and a great top end, specially when I run it in single coil mode. My old AJ6 has the same type of board and similar sound, just an overall massive but easily controlled sound. Never comes up short on the highs and it has them from the C down to the low B.

Very impressed with my FB choice... it really stands out. I'd take it over the more compressed sound of Ebony any day. I do prefer Ebony on fretlesses. I've also had great luck with finished Maple boards and Ziricote.
 
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