Fodera Club Part XVIII

[steubig]

Yeah, the price is way down from where it started. Lose the additional tuners, reface the front and back of the headstock and get a new bridge and you're in business.

Yeah, I thought about it.

make it a 34-inch scale . . .

brad the 12-string is pretty great . . .

 

[steubig]

I'm consistently checking Ebay for a Fodera bridge that I can put on my P-bass to balance it better. (And make it sound a whole lot better, too.)

i'm constantly checking ebay (and craigslist) to find an 86-89 fodera 34-inch aj6

;-)

also, that 98 aj6 is a guy in so cal. he started at 7,500 . . . then went to 10,000 and has been dropping semi-steadily since.

i also think the pickup is farther back. bass was originally made for reggie ______?

 

[mikkoantt]

Hi
I just made ramp from zebrano to my Wood and Tronics Chronos 6 string. I'm trained luthier by myself but I haven't done instruments for 15 years. That ramp wake me to make more things by myself. That usual fret levelling but I have a dream that someday I will make single cut bass by my own. Have here anybody put ramp on a Monarch 4 with p-j pickups?
Greetings: Mikko

 

[mikkoantt]

..... I meant I'm trained by school of luthiery here in Finland in little town called Ikaalinen. School was 4 years and it was interesting to make instruments like electric basses,electrick upright bass and much more. Does Foderas woodworkers have schooled?

 

[DELACIUS]

Just had my Matt Garrison Standard re-strung B-G with Fodera lights (040-060-080-100-120) requiring a slight nut filing by the local trusted guitar shop... it's the bomb. The B is really nice, not floppy at all.

The tech was even able to get my action even lower to 5/64" at the 12th fret. These are truly incredible instruments.

thanks AJ... good to know that!

 

[Christian Houmann]

Many of us allready have the dream Fodera. But if you should order a new one today! What will you specs be

 

[Christian Houmann]

Many of us allready have the dream Fodera. But if you should order a new one today! What will you specs be

Cool Christian. That's a fun idea

Mine will be a MG 5 with ash body in a trans white color (toneblock depends on what looks good with the trans White) Ash neck and rosewood fingerboard. 33 scale. 16.5 mm. Black hardware. All the good stuff

 

[fivestringdan]

AJ5 one piece ash body bold-on 3 piece maple neck. Holly top, Ebony fingerboard with block inlays. Black hardware and single coils. 36" scale.

Over 10lbs(Thanks Joel, forgot to post the weight)

Many of us allready have the dream Fodera. But if you should order a new one today! What will you specs be

 

[Joelc73]

Many of us allready have the dream Fodera. But if you should order a new one today! What will you specs be

Imperial 5
34"
Ash body/Alder heel
Chestnut top
Birdseye Maple board
Blocks and binding
Single coils
sub 10lbs D)

 

[Just Thumpin']

So, as promised we weighed Tom Kennedy's signature bass this morning. It has been in the shop since the Fall of 2011 when he picked up his Emperor Standard...

As I have said, weight can be VERY subjective. Ken's impression was that Tom's Emperor II weighed around 8 pounds. In fact, it weighs 10.4 pounds.

Regards,

Jason

While every component of a bass impacts the tone somewhat, the impact of weight is IMO and IME greatly overstated. IMO, there is NO reason to make an instrument that weighs over 10 pounds... zero reason.

I've played Tommy Kennedy's Fodera a couple of times, and it is stupid lightweight (swamp ash body, reduced Emperor II body size). I've had a chance to A/B it with a couple of my buddies 'boat anchor' 11 and 12 pound Fodera's. Even with Tommy's bass having the neck pickup moved toward the bridge, guess what.... they all sounded very, very, very close

Again, Tommy's 8 pound or so bass balances exactly the same as my old 11 pound Emperor

 

[KJung]

So, as promised we weighed Tom Kennedy's signature bass this morning. It has been in the shop since the Fall of 2011 when he picked up his Emperor Standard...

As I have said, weight can be VERY subjective. Ken's impression was that Tom's Emperor II weighed around 8 pounds. In fact, it weighs 10.4 pounds.

Regards,

Jason

Interesting! I guess everything is relative, since it was so much lighter than the other Fodera's we had there. They must have REALLY been boat anchors. I know my buddy Zeb's bass came in MUCH heavier than originally spec'd, and that was one that we were comparing. That must have been 12 pounds + then. Whew! All the more to my point..... careful on the weight on these basses when ordering. I guess I just couldn't comprehend how heavy the comparison Fodera's were!

Edit: I remember a beautiful Garrison that TBer Mikebass had that was also quite lightweight (I assume 10 pounds or so, relative to other Fodera's). It sounded great and balanced wonderfully. The other basses we had for comparison back then with Tommy's bass were an Emperor II with the reduced 'TK' body style (mahogany, ebony... really heavy), an Emperor Elite (walnut, kingwood board... REALLY heavy), and an old Emperor bolt-on with single coils (ash, maple... REALLY, REALLY heavy). It was a fun night!

 

[Baird6869]

Many of us allready have the dream Fodera. But if you should order a new one today! What will you specs be

Mine was ordered a couple of months ago, but it is my dream bass, and I highly doubt any changes will be made prior to December when the build starts:

Monarch 5 Deluxe (set neck)
34"
Walnut top (I picked it last month and it is killer!)
Mahogany body
Ebony board with no inlays
Duncan dual coils
Black hardware
3+2 headstock (just to be different!)
Deeper treble side cutaway (to allow for better access to higher frets)

I think this will cure my GAS for a very long time!

I posted the top before, but I just like looking at it.

 

[kamakiriad7]

Many of us allready have the dream Fodera. But if you should order a new one today! What will you specs be

Dream Fodera?

7-string Imperial II
Ebony body, no tone block (empty space for "airiness", like chambering)
plain alder top (carved)
thin basswood neck
birdseye walnut fingerboard (carved)
1 single coil in the "Goines" position
6.1 lbs


no controls, no strap buttons, no inlays, no strings. I call it the Chris Davis Presentation.

 

[basses55]

So, as promised we weighed Tom Kennedy's signature bass this morning. It has been in the shop since the Fall of 2011 when he picked up his Emperor Standard...

As I have said, weight can be VERY subjective. Ken's impression was that Tom's Emperor II weighed around 8 pounds. In fact, it weighs 10.4 pounds.

Regards,

Jason

Yes, and the point being that it still was over 10 pounds and subjectively sounded good, and as good as the heavier ones ( according to the comparison mentioned). Nothing under 10 pounds was in the comparison it seems, so there still may be a very good reason to have a bass over 10 pounds when it comes to tone, and maybe more specifically in a Fodera package.

I'm with you totally that weight has a lot to do with tone, especially when it comes to specific wood species.. like ash... IMO, but still overall its a major factor in the mix. Several great manufacturers monitor weight carefully so as to not make the basses too LIGHT.

 

[Lennard III.]

Dream Fodera?

7-string Imperial II
Ebony body, no tone block (empty space for "airiness", like chambering)
plain alder top (carved)
thin basswood neck
birdseye walnut fingerboard (carved)
1 single coil in the "Goines" position
6.1 lbs


no controls, no strap buttons, no inlays, no strings. I call it the Chris Davis Presentation.

LOL

 

[kamakiriad7]

Here in Newfoundland (where we have our own time zone), we still have 5 minutes of April Fool's Day jokes to be performed...

 

[chris.gotfunk]

Imperial 5
34"
Ash body/Alder heel
Chestnut top
Birdseye Maple board
Blocks and binding
Single coils
sub 10lbs D)

I'm with ya 98% of the way. Mine can be over 10lbs and I prefer dual coils. Too bad there are no more known chestnut tops as striking as the ones back in the day.

 

[steubig]

dream:


12-string (6x2)
fretless (lined?)
34-inch scale
5-piece maple neck
rosewood fb
zebra top
mahogany body
old has labs pre

 

[Lennard III.]

my next dream Fodera would be a :

Bolt-On Imperial 5 fretless

34' Pao Ferro board, lined with MOP Blocks

light Ash body

mint green front and cream back like the 12 str. ladybug

Extended B head

Singlecoils in the 60ies position

passive - only Vol. / Tone and Blend ... maybe a Piezo added...

that's it

 

[Vic]

Interesting! I guess everything is relative, since it was so much lighter than the other Fodera's we had there...

My takeaway from all this is how big of a factor "balance" plays in perceived weight. That said, I still don't want anything over 9.5 pounds, because I still think it matters over the course of a whole night... especially with how much I try to move around, but I can tell you right now I've played a 10 pound Thumb before (the epitome of horrible balance) and it was BRUTAL, despite being almost a 1/2 pound lighter than TK's Fodera, and lighter than a lot of Thumbs out there. I was literally sore after only one set!