Fodera Club Part XVII

[jumbodbassman]

Jumbo, can you tell us a little more about the Monarchs in the center and on the left? Years, woods, etc? They are quite lovely!

Middle bass is number 0021. bought at the original shop in 1983. nice figured walnut top over an ash body. somewhat custom inlays as it has the smith diamonds versus the tulip. great ebony fretboard. Has had first 2 versions of the hazlab preamp. original loose board like the MM and the full board version. started life with duncan single coils and now has humcancelling pups they use, can't remember brand. When I met Joey first time he took me to the shop and i saw this bass partially finished and had to have it.

Bass to its left is number 34 also 1983. Designed and woods picked with Joey and Vinny. Brazilian rosewood over a mahogany body with a sound block in the middle even though they didn't do that back then. Sort of just happened as i saw a mahog body wrapped around a maple and rosewood center and wanted it. Rosewood fretboard standard inlays, original emg's and second version hazlab. sounds very much like Victors first bass which is from around the same time.

tushy shot

 

[tomika]

Congrats! Very nice playground! ;-)

 

[Damian Coccio]

Okay gang I am really interested in YOUR thoughts about this one. As many of you know, I have what might very well be my last personal Fodera build on order. I am 100% set on the following specs...

...So, I submit these quandaries to you humbly knowing how much I have enjoyed helping many of you make final selections for the specs of your Foderas and hoping you will help me do the same!

Kindest regards,

J

Sounds like you want the non solid top and Honduran mahogany body. If I had all those nice laminations in the neck it would seem crazy to hide them with a solid top. And... You can get a bass with ash in it later. I know it's your last...

With the quarter matched top, I'd be fussing over having 4 pieces of wood on top .... just isn't sitting right with me.

It's pretty easy to do rendering including photos to see how it looks when you change choices, if that is helpful, might be something to consider.

No if it were me I'd go solid top (one that works as a solid top better) and I'd enjoy the laminations from the back.

 

[kamakiriad7]

Hey Jason,

I've gotta agree - non-solid top, bookmatched is a sound choice. (No pun intended!)

As for body wood I'm on the fence for the sole reason that mahogany is a better choice for collector purposes. Would ash or mahogany sound better in this case? If it were me (and I had that lovely collection of yours ), I'd like to have an ash/Brazilian RW in there as well. Also, since you mentioned that this bass will be played rather than exist as a collector's piece, I'd choose something different than I already have.

Just my two cents, and I congratulate you on your foresight (I should've thought about ordering a bass to be built this year!) and may your next dream bass be spectacular!

I'm curious, by the way... what does Vinny, Joey, Vadim, and Phil think?

 

[Robin Ruscio]

Jason,

I'm biased since I have a BRW board/ash body/walnut top Fodera myself, but I think you should go that route.

I like mahogany too but BRW/mahogany/walnut/chestnut seems like a lot of dark sounding wood to me.

The ash pairs well with walnut. Seems like a lot of builders I admire like MTD and Rob Allen also use that combo since they balance out sonically. The dark/light color contrast is also fun. I've found that I can change the bass from being dark to bright with various strings easily. With the Fodera strings, it's right in the middle.

Ash is not exciting or rare, but there are so many reasons it makes a great tonewood and I'm sort of surprised you don't own a rosewood/ash combo yet. It gives you the best parts of the classic fender tones in a nice neutral middle ground for a very versatile bass. Great for gigs where you need to go from dark to bright with the roll of a knob. And the chestnut with it's alder like tones in there will just add to the "classicness" only prettier.

I think you're right on with the top- but the quartermatched sounds a bit much to me. I'd have to see the pieces laid out though to be sure.

 

[Robin Ruscio]

Preamp question-

Am I correct that there's no way to set the 2010 Pope preamp jumpers so that I can have the mids be selectable with the MFS but leave the bass knob fixed low? It seems the bass/mids both get affected by the switch, or you can leave the bass fixed high and have only the mids be switchable.

 

[TheShape101]

I love the look and the light of this room! Where was the video filmed?

Thanks Leo. It was filmed in Camden Palace Hotel in Cork City in Ireland.

 

[DirtPoorRobins]

Preamp question-

Am I correct that there's no way to set the 2010 Pope preamp jumpers so that I can have the mids be selectable with the MFS but leave the bass knob fixed low? It seems the bass/mids both get affected by the switch, or you can leave the bass fixed high and have only the mids be switchable.

Robin, it looks like you can. Mine came stock with mids/bass selectable which looks kind of like this III_ with the jumpers. You should be able to make that first jumper horizontal so it looks like _II_ on the circuit board. It's not on the sample list, but I'm guessing that would do it if we follow the instructions on how it works.

 

[bassictraining]

Jason,

Really cool that you are letting us be involved in your bass choices. 1st world problems for sure.

I am gonna have to agree with those who mentioned mahogany and non-solid top.

 

[Just Thumpin']

Joey thinks Ash (he LOVES Ash), Vinny thinks Mahogany and I need to ask Vadym and the rest of the gang on Tuesday...

J

Hey Jason,

I've gotta agree - non-solid top, bookmatched is a sound choice. (No pun intended!)

As for body wood I'm on the fence for the sole reason that mahogany is a better choice for collector purposes. Would ash or mahogany sound better in this case? If it were me (and I had that lovely collection of yours ), I'd like to have an ash/Brazilian RW in there as well. Also, since you mentioned that this bass will be played rather than exist as a collector's piece, I'd choose something different than I already have.

Just my two cents, and I congratulate you on your foresight (I should've thought about ordering a bass to be built this year!) and may your next dream bass be spectacular!

I'm curious, by the way... what does Vinny, Joey, Vadim, and Phil think?

 

[nostatic]

If you want ash in the bass, then I'd say:

mahogany body
non-solid walnut top
5-piece ash neck w/walnut stringers
Braz rw fingerboard

That would look stunning imho, and I'll bet it would be warm punch for days. Or go with a birdseye maple fingerboard on the ash neck depending on the figure on the walnut top.

 

[steubig]

You are the best!

J

yes, thanks. really no need to thank me. i knewyou needed help . . .

;-)

 

[gkbass13]

Joey thinks Ash (he LOVES Ash), Vinny thinks Mahogany and I need to ask Vadym and the rest of the gang on Tuesday...

J

I remember Joey lighting up when I mentioned the Idea of an ash tone block/walnut body for an Imperial 5 build. Loves the ash....and Porsches!

 

[jamesyeh]

Wonder if anyone here is selling Fodera deluxe 4 let me know price range is about $4500 no bolt on and standard
Thanks

 

[Mitchthebassplayer]

I remember Joey lighting up when I mentioned the Idea of an ash tone block/walnut body for an Imperial 5 build. Loves the ash....and Porsches!

thinkin about that combo for my next Imperial....walnut body, ash tone block and 3 piece ash neck....still can't decide between ebony or RW board though....

 

[Christian Houmann]

thinkin about that combo for my next Imperial....walnut body, ash tone block and 3 piece ash neck....still can't decide between ebony or RW board though....

Is it in the works?

 

[Mitchthebassplayer]

no, not even close....hoping to put the order in by this summer given no more cancelled tours/not being let into other countries this year

 

[DELACIUS]

Robin, it looks like you can. Mine came stock with mids/bass selectable which looks kind of like this III_ with the jumpers. You should be able to make that first jumper horizontal so it looks like _II_ on the circuit board. It's not on the sample list, but I'm guessing that would do it if we follow the instructions on how it works.

I'll also try that... Just a quick one. Can you do anything wrong while messing around with jumpers?

 

[Jin Kim]

I believe mine is from same piece of the Monarch. Here's my Emp DX.
It sounds great and plays effortless.
Jason you should get one!

For the top, can you swap sides on the bookmatch? You did that on the koa top in the post above - when I looked at the raw wood for that piece, the halves were on opposite sides.

As far as the ash body, I don't know how rare the ash is on the one-piece body of that koa-top Monarch above, but it's one of the finest pieces of ash I've seen in terms of aesthetics (see picture below). As you might expect, I'd go with a mahogany body for its tonal characteristics.

For my personal taste, I wouldn't do a quarter-matched top on this bass. It might look too funky - maybe try it on a spec bass first.

 

[mrbassman_de]

Does anyone have an idea which top wood this is ?

Zebrawood ?
Walnut ?
Ebony by chance ?