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Fodera Club Part XVIII

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#981
DirtPoorRobins said:
Sorry to break up the fun, but I have an instrument question:

I've had my MGS for about a week now and it is definitely warmer and smoother than my madrone monarch and I'm wondering how much is contributing to that tone.

The MGS is:
33" scale
Neck through
walnut wings, alder tone block
maple neck/pau ferro board
Garrison pickup spacing (somewhere in between 60s and 70s for the bridge pickup)

My Monarch is:
34" scale
4 strings
bolt on
alder body
maple neck/ebony board
70's pickup spacing

The Monarch is much more aggressive and has a lot more highs than the MGS. I know the tone is a combination of all its parts, but how much is the 33" scale playing a part in this? Can I get REALLY close to the tone of my monarch in a 33" scale version by using different woods, say a mahogany body instead of alder to get it more aggressive to make up for the 33" scale?
Click to expand...

Im gonna go with fretboard wood being the big difference because I noticed it transitioning to a bass with similar woods and same scale. I find pauferro to be scooped and less bright than ebony. Just IMHO. Are the strings the same age/type?
 
#985
Got the word earlier this week that my MG Imperial 5 should be done the week of May 6...or possibly even the week before. WAAHOO :hyper:

Oh...and I'll probably be another unique build, just like my Yin Yang...they got my Thomastik-Infeld flats to put on it. It might be the first flatwound 5 string Imperial out the door, ever, I'm guessing! Can't wait to hear what my 60s pickup locations combined with those flats are gonna sound like.
 
#987
DirtPoorRobins said:
Sorry to break up the fun, but I have an instrument question:

I've had my MGS for about a week now and it is definitely warmer and smoother than my madrone monarch and I'm wondering how much is contributing to that tone.

The MGS is:
33" scale
Neck through
walnut wings, alder tone block
maple neck/pau ferro board
Garrison pickup spacing (somewhere in between 60s and 70s for the bridge pickup)

My Monarch is:
34" scale
4 strings
bolt on
alder body
maple neck/ebony board
70's pickup spacing
Click to expand...

I'm no expert, but I've found that
1) Neck-through basses are generally less punchy than bolt-ons;
2)Ebony has a lot more high end emphasis than pau ferro;
3)The closer pickup spacing definitely has an impact on warmth.

I haven't had experience with scale length, so that might affect it as well.

I'd say you could get an aggressive bass out of mahogany/ash/walnut body, ebony fb, and 70's spacing in a 33" scale bass.
 
#989
It's soon done :D

4616pre-spraybooth_zpsbca1c434.jpg
 
#996
Baird6869 said:
What kind of fretboard wood is that?
Click to expand...

looks to me like it's the most exclusive, rare and expensive type of bloodwood. it's from the uppercrust of old-growth trees. the 1%, if you will. nowadays, it seems to grow mainly in places like the cayman islands and is harder to harvest due to protection by the u.s. congress, as well as other governmental entities.
 
#998
steubig said:
looks to me like it's the most exclusive, rare and expensive type of bloodwood. it's from the uppercrust of old-growth trees. the 1%, if you will. nowadays, it seems to grow mainly in places like the cayman islands and is harder to harvest due to protection by the u.s. congress, as well as other governmental entities.
Click to expand...

Apparently this species of bloodwood exerts a disproportionately high influence, often unbeknownst to the other woods employed, on the outcome of an instrument ...
 
#999
kamakiriad7 said:
I'm no expert, but I've found that
1) Neck-through basses are generally less punchy than bolt-ons;
2)Ebony has a lot more high end emphasis than pau ferro;
3)The closer pickup spacing definitely has an impact on warmth.

I haven't had experience with scale length, so that might affect it as well.

I'd say you could get an aggressive bass out of mahogany/ash/walnut body, ebony fb, and 70's spacing in a 33" scale bass.
Click to expand...
+1 here.

I still don't think the scale length is significant... I've had both 34" and 35" versions of essentially the same type of bass with the same woods, and the only diff I could really hear was some subtle overtone stuff, and even then mostly just on the G string.

I would think the diff between 33" and 34" would be the same... mild at best, and not much about brighter/aggressive vs warmth. I think that's coming from the other aspects.

At least IMHO/IME anyway.
 
#1,000
DirtPoorRobins said:
...I think Fodera does use different wound pickups for 60s and 70s spacing. Am I correct in that they use a 70s wound spec? If so what does the MGS use?
Click to expand...

Hmmmm, never heard about different windings for the 'same' pickups based on spacing. Where did you hear that? My soon to be done MG Imperial 5 was spec'd with Duncan Dual Coils and I requested '60s spacing. Jason never mentioned anything about a different wind for the pickups...but then, I never asked!
 
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