Last week I received my MGS#7 and I feel to say that after owning some very nice basses from the best luthiers out there, well ... my search for "The One and Only" is officially over.
I must say that I was so lucky that the MGS went into production because the specs were incredibly similar to what I had the intention to custom order. I was between a Monarch 5 (E-C) and a custom MG, being a walnut body, 33' scale and dual coils my firm points. My original idea was to go for a buckeye burl top but when the MGS showed up I immediately felt I could live with the box elder burl, which is a NICE top wood, much better in person than on pictures.
The MGS was a godsend to me because from a price point a custom MG was out of my reach and I was in fact leaning towards a bolt-on Monarch 5. Thanks God the MGS hit the scene with 98% of the specs of my dream bass and now I'm enjoying this absolutely piece of art.
Let me say first that this isn't a "standard" instrument by any means: three piece neck, angled headstock, custom shop preamp, neckthrough construction really set this instrument apart from the other two on the Standard line (which, however, I didn't doubt to be very nice instruments).
As regarding construction this bass is a perfect execution of luthier artistry at its finest. None of the bass I've owned (look at my profile to see what I've owned in the past) could even touch it aside my now gone Sadowsky J. Similar levels of perfection there, down to the smallest detail but that was way a simpler instrument construction wise: a bolt-on Fender Jazz inspired instrument simply can't be compared to an original design neckthrough one.
For the very first time I am floored by the versatily of the instrument and about how good are ALL the sounds it's capable of. In the past it was common for me to fall in love with the passive voice of an instrument but not liking so much the active one or viceversa, or to enjoy the "both-pickups-full-on" sound and finding anaemic the soloed pickup one. This one KILLS no matter where knobs and switches are. Both pickups in dual coils mode call for a lush, warm, buttery sound; solo each pickup or blend to taste and you got a myriad of useful nuances. Same goes with the single coils mode which push you into a raw, more aggressive beautiful world of sounds.
And the Pope preamp... well, I am a passive guy at heart who thinks that the true voice of an instrument is in its passive tone but I've never, NEVER heard a circuit more respectful of the instrument passive voice which at the same time add a LOT of worderful tonal shaping capabilities. Bravo Mike!
I've read some comments about the MGS having not a deep bottom but to me this isn't the truth. This bass is setup with a very low action and is intended to be played with a very light touch. You can't attack it the way you do with other instruments: doin' that will choke your tone. Of course you can always set the bass with an higher action, change the strings type and gauge and ... bam! ... you're ready to dig in but then you'll miss the point of this bass. Instead, do yourself a favour and spend quality time working hard on your tecnique and adopt a very light touch: once you've done this you will be rewarded with a beautiful rich tone, deep in the lows, punchy in the mids and singin' in the high register.
Thanks to Jason for his support along the process and to all the guys and gals at the shop involved in the creation of this masterpiece.
I know that with such a list of celebrities in the Fodera family the guys in Brooklyn don't need Joe Nobody singin' the praise but all the above had to be said.
