Fodera Club Part XVII

[Munjibunga]

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

I'll take two at that price, please.

 

[Christian Houmann]

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!

We need more pics of the front

 

[steubig]

Does anyone have an idea which top wood this is ?

Zebrawood ?
Walnut ?
Ebony by chance ?

looks like ebony to me. if you know the serial number, it would be easy to find out.

 

[Lennard III.]

Does anyone have an idea which top wood this is ?

Zebrawood ?
Walnut ?
Ebony by chance ?

I would say Macassar...

 

[cnltb]

Does anyone have an idea which top wood this is ?

Zebrawood ?
Walnut ?
Ebony by chance ?

Shedua maybe, or imbuya?(those two are not the same, right?)

 

[Lugzy]

Hi Jason, so refreshing to know that the man who fixes it for us suffers from final specs anxiety..
You know.. I always thought what fun it must be working in the shop, I could have a Chilean this, a Hounduran that, mixed in with a little killer something..

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:

Monarch 4 Elite 34" / 24 frets
5-piece Maple Neck (one of the six 30th Anniversary necks we built with Birdseye Maple, Flame Maple and South American Rosewood stringers)
Brazilian RW FByra
Chestnut Tone Block
Single Coil J/J PUPs
Crotch Walnut top

This coming week I need to make my final decision on the following things and it is driving me nuts as with every other instrument I have had built I had a specific tone / purpose in mind. And, as I am fortunate enough to have multiple Monarchs already, I definitely don't "need" another.

That said, it IS our 30th Anniversary this year and knowing this I placed my order in the Fall of 2011 (yes, I both pay AND wait in line for my builds!), because I wanted to have an instrument built in our 30th Anniversary year and actually have it stamped on our anniversary (March 14, 2013). Iin case you did not know this, every one of our instruments is date stamped under the bridge on the day that the woodworking / carving is completed.

So, here are the two remaining build specs that I am up in the air on...

1. Body wood;
2. Top (non-solid bookmatched vs. solid quartermatched)

In terms of body wood, I am waffling back and forth (depending on the day) between a stellar piece of old-growth Honduran Mahogany that was harvested in the 1920's and Ash.

The "collector" in me is screaming to use the Honduran as having that as a body wood with a Brazilian RW FB and a Chestnut Tone Block would be an insane tonewood trifecta. I do love this tonewood combination, but I already have two other Foderas with Mahogany bodies and Brazilian FB's...

As much as we have recently been building with (and loving!) combinations of Ash bodies with RW FB's, I actually do not personally own one. So, from a tone perspective, I would love to have a Fodera of my own with this combination. Yes, I will be able to pick through the wood pile and find a killer sounding and looking piece of Ash, but for a 30th Anniversary instrument, no piece of Ash that I can find will come close to the rarity of the piece of Honduran that is available.

As far as the top is concerned, about 18 months ago we received one of the most stunning pieces of feather crotch Walnut Vinny, Joey and I have ever seen. It has enough material for three tops. The only downside to the piece is that if I used it as a solid top, the feather crotch would be dominant towards the center of the instrument -- a place that is visually obscured by the PUP's, strings and bridge.

So, I have been leaning towards a non-solid top that would place the heavy crotch feather figure more towards the center of each body wing rather than under the strings (if I went with the solid top). Remember, the neck billet for this instrument is flat out stunning, so showing that on the face of the instrument would definitely NOT be a negative!

However, since we have enough material available, I am contemplating biting the bullet and paying for a second top and doing the very first quartermatched top -- imagine a bookmatched set on each side of the instrument. Vinny has always wanted to do one of these but has yet to do one. It would certainly be unique and probably look stunning, but I would loose the "old world" look of seeing the stunning neck billet (and it would cost a bunch more!).

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

 

[Damian Coccio]

Does anyone have an idea which top wood this is ?

Zebrawood ?
Walnut ?
Ebony by chance ?

Cocobolo? Sometimes I've seen it straight grained on acoustic guitars.
Maybe rosewood? Ebony? Def not walnut/zebra IMHO.

 

[Lugzy]

Sorry for the premature post guy's, IPad's doing it's own thing..

Hi Jason, so refreshing to know that the man who fixes it for us suffers from final specs anxiety..
You know.. I always thought what fun it must be working in the shop, I could have a Chilean this, a Hounduran that, mixed in with a little killer something..but man it's a tough call when "it's your own."

Great specs btw and you can't go wrong anyway you choose, but if it were me I'd go with Steubig..just Kidding..

1. How dark are the hues in the Walnut top? If the feathering is light then the non-solid look would work, and the pups won't interfere with the asthetics of the top. Also, having the light centre you could accent it with a wooden butterfly at the headstock and gold bridge + tuners and black control caps, no make that Mahogany caps..Ready for some Nurofen?

2. If the top is dark then bookmatched might be best. As for having both top and back in the same Walnut it would look killer, but you'd lose the Honduran..oh yeah sorry, I'm leaning towards a Honduran Manogany body, or Ash if you so desire. But could you do non-solid top with a bookmatched back??

Any chance we might take a sneak peak of your top?

BTW, have you asked Mrs Thumpin about all of this, she'd probably tell you "Just remember hon, tone trumps all"...LoL

Easy..

 

[Robin Ruscio]

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.

Oooo, off the sample list jumper settings! We are going rogue.

I looked at the instructions and I think you're right, but I don't know why the wouldn't have given this as an option.

Maybe Jason can confirm whether this works.

 

[Just Thumpin']

Looks like Indian Rosewood to me...but it's tough from that angle with that resolution photo to know for sure...

J

Does anyone have an idea which top wood this is ?

Zebrawood ?
Walnut ?
Ebony by chance ?

 

[Just Thumpin']

Great post...

The Walnut is medium colored, not too dark and not too light.

At the moment I AM leaning towards "tone trumps all." So, based on how my thinking is at THIS moment -- subject to final revision tomorrow -- I am thinking non-solid top, wooden single coil PUP covers made from bookmatched Crotch Walnut and an Ash body. Again, fully possible that this will change AGAIN...

Cheers,

J

Sorry for the premature post guy's, IPad's doing it's own thing..

Hi Jason, so refreshing to know that the man who fixes it for us suffers from final specs anxiety..
You know.. I always thought what fun it must be working in the shop, I could have a Chilean this, a Hounduran that, mixed in with a little killer something..but man it's a tough call when "it's your own."

Great specs btw and you can't go wrong anyway you choose, but if it were me I'd go with Steubig..just Kidding..

1. How dark are the hues in the Walnut top? If the fethering is light then the non-solid look would work, and the pups won't interfere with the asthetics of the top. Also, having the light centre you could accent it with a wooden butterfly at the headstock and gold bridge + tuners and black control caps, no make that Mahogany caps..Ready for some Nurofen?

2. If the top is dark then bookmatched might be best. As for having both top and back in the same Walnut it would look killer, but you'd lose the Honduran..oh yeah sorry, I'm leaning towards a Honduran Manogany body, or Ash if you so desire. But could you do non-solid top with a bookmatched back??

Any chance we might take a sneak peak of your top?

BTW, have you asked Mrs Thumpin about all of this, she'd probably tell you "Just remember hon, tone trumps all"...LoL

Easy..

 

[Just Thumpin']

I can do a fair number of things reasonably well, but, sadly, messing with jumpers is not one of them. I am a "set-it and forget-it" kind of guy and all of my Monarchs are set up with the same preamp settings (at least those with the new preamp) as I enjoy hearing the differences between the woods...

I can certainly get an answer. Just email me the question at the shop at:

[email protected]

and I will get back to ya'!

J

Oooo, off the sample list jumper settings! We are going rogue.

I looked at the instructions and I think you're right, but I don't know why the wouldn't have given this as an option.

Maybe Jason can confirm whether this works.

 

[nostatic]

At the moment I AM leaning towards "tone trumps all." So, based on how my thinking is at THIS moment -- subject to final revision tomorrow -- I am thinking non-solid top, wooden single coil PUP covers made from bookmatched Crotch Walnut and an Ash body. Again, fully possible that this will change AGAIN...
J

I don't see any blood on that post so I suspect we may get a revision.

 

[Munjibunga]

Oooo, off the sample list jumper settings! We are going rogue.

I looked at the instructions and I think you're right, but I don't know why the wouldn't have given this as an option.

Maybe Jason can confirm whether this works.

Mike might be a better source for that info.

 

[DirtPoorRobins]

There's no matching headstock because its essentially a standard with different woods and pickup placement, the rest are the standard specs.

 

[Lugzy]

Great post...

The Walnut is medium colored, not too dark and not too light.

At the moment I AM leaning towards "tone trumps all." So, based on how my thinking is at THIS moment -- subject to final revision tomorrow -- I am thinking non-solid top, wooden single coil PUP covers made from bookmatched Crotch Walnut and an Ash body. Again, fully possible that this will change AGAIN...

Cheers,

J

Hi J, I was thinking wooden pup covers, but on reflection I couldn't recall seeing any single JJ's with wooden covers..will yours be the first or are they just rare?

So Ash it is; but if you find an excellent piece of Ash that doesn't look so hot, would you be prepared to have a bookmatced back and will an additional veneer of Walnut have an influence on the resulting tone?

Happy lock-in day!

 

[Munjibunga]

Interesting that there's no matching headstock veneer...

I think they just put a walnut top on a Standard and used the Standard neck. Jason said Will liked the Standard but wanted a darker top.

 

[otto B]

I need recomendations. what is a good strap for the imperial bass?

 

[Jin Kim]

We need more pics of the front

Here you go but pic don't show its natural color due to the light. Hope you like it.

 

[Flaked Beans]

I'll take two at that price, please.

Me too!