Fodera Club Part XVIII

[jeffbassguy]

Fodera shop policy?

Due to the fact we are a working wood shop, we do not offer factory tours.



I know I will get blasted by the Fodera faithful but this is a ridiculous statement and reason. From a manufacturing standpoint, you are really assuming no risk by offering tours, especially if people are wearing the proper PPE equipment when walking through.

 

[steubig]

um, how about the time it would take to do that?

if you're waiting for an instrument, do you want to know that your build time was compromised by a bunch of factory tours? (cause it won't just be one tour)

 

[steubig]

p.s. my beef with you is not the fact that you don't get it, but that you seem to be picking a fight.

 

[jeffbassguy]

HUH? Tours do not have to impact flow of product whatsover. Picking a fight? far from it..i love Fodera stuff, I own two of them. I was going to be in NYC in a couple weeks and checked out their website for visiting and saw the disclaimer and think its ridiculous. Please don't make an ******* assumption that I don't get it either, maybe its you who doesn't get it.

 

[Robin Ruscio]

Hi Jason,

Is there a standard set of setup specs for Fodera at the factory? relief, string height, pickup height?

I know it's all personal ultimately, but I'm just curious where you all start from. I'm due to set my Imperial up again after some string swaps and it's first winter.

 

[steubig]

"but this is a ridiculous statement and reason"

is what you said. (might've been better to just ask why they don't want to do it.)

that's why i say it seems like you're picking a fight.

i think many people have made appointments to talk to the guys about their basses. why not just e-mail them (jason) and find out?

hell, baird6869 just made a post (the only *directly* before yours, by the way) about going to the shop *today*. dunno, seems like a few questions might have made more sense than inflammatory statements.

imho, etc.

 

[jeffbassguy]

"but this is a ridiculous statement and reason"

is what you said. (might've been better to just ask why they don't want to do it.)

that's why i say it seems like you're picking a fight.

i think many people have made appointments to talk to the guys about their basses. why not just e-mail them (jason) and find out?

hell, baird6869 just made a post (the only *directly* before yours, by the way) about going to the shop *today*. dunno, seems like a few questions might have made more sense than inflammatory statements.

imho, etc.

Fair enough. I will send Jason an email. I just know as someone who runs a manufacturing company first and is a bassplayer second , the reasoning in the statement :"due to the fact we are a woodworking shop, we do not offer factory tours" isn't really a valid disclaimer. And Baird, by the way grats on your choices and I hope I was of some help for you a few days ago in your choices.

 

[nostatic]

HUH? Tours do not have to impact flow of product whatsover.

Part of my day job involves tours and I can tell you they most certainly affect productivity, especially for a small organization.

 

[Baird6869]

HUH? Tours do not have to impact flow of product whatsover. Picking a fight? far from it..i love Fodera stuff, I own two of them. I was going to be in NYC in a couple weeks and checked out their website for visiting and saw the disclaimer and think its ridiculous. Please don't make an ******* assumption that I don't get it either, maybe its you who doesn't get it.

Maybe you should call them directly to discuss arranging a tour like I did before complaining that they don't do tours. Or at least read the post above yours in any case (I posted that I did a tour TODAY a couple of hours+ before you posted).

BTW.... My visit today ABSOLUTELY impacted productivity. Taking pictures, asking each employee questions and them showing me what they do, making Joey drop everything and show me how to adjust my preamp's gain, etc.

This is not a Ford-like assembly line..... It is a tiny woodworking shop. This is the last place I would expect to do large tours. There is just no room.

 

[Vic]

Wow.

IMHO, if someone has an issue with a Fodera policy, they should be talking to Fodera, not blasting Fodera in the Fodera Club thread on talkbass. That just can't possibly go well.

FWIW.

 

[Baird6869]

And Baird, by the way grats on your choices and I hope I was of some help for you a few days ago in your choices.

Absolutely! Thanks for your IM. Your bass is gorgeous.

My wife vetoed any shape other than the Viceroy, Emperor and Monarch though, so a Monarch is the way to go..

My excuse for spending so much $$$ on a bass was that I will have it for many years and I will save tons of $$$ of GAS-related bass buying and selling. My smart(er than me) wife told me to proceed with the Fodera custom but buying a single cut or Imperial was a no go as if she hated the shape and if I was going to "play it forever" she would go nuts looking at a bass she didn't like for the rest of our lives.

 

[polymad]

I spent a few hours this afternoon with Jason, Vinny and Joey at Fodera and had a great time. What a great bunch of people..... they really make you feel like family. Joey didn't even flinch at my literally dozens of questions as he set up a couple of Emperor 5ers and Jason answered even more of my dumb questions.

With Joey and Jason's help, I have very likely locked down my final build.... ETA Feb/Mar 2014:

Monarch 5, light mahogany body with deeper cutout on treble side, wicked walnut top, ebony board with no inlays (Joey may have saved me some $$$ on this as i had ordered abalone inlays), SD dual coils, black hardware and a 3+2 headstock config.

I am super pumped to say the least.

Thanks to Jason and team for being such great hosts today!

I will post a few pics when I get grounded.

Dude! What a sexy combination!! oh man, I'm sure its going to look amazing and is going to absolutely sound beautiful!!! Congrats!!

 

[Munjibunga]

Fodera shop policy?

Due to the fact we are a working wood shop, we do not offer factory tours.



I know I will get blasted by the Fodera faithful but this is a ridiculous statement and reason. From a manufacturing standpoint, you are really assuming no risk by offering tours, especially if people are wearing the proper PPE equipment when walking through.

You could come out to California and take the Taylor tour. They do one every day of the week. But their shop encompasses two very large tilt-up buildings, and you'll get to see a lot of robots working. Your tour guide, not the luthiers in the finish shop, will answer all your questions. They build about the same number of guitars in a day that Fodera builds in a year. I doubt that Fodera has someone floating around the shop doing nothing that could give you a tour.

As Baird6869 pointed out, Joey took time out from production to talk to him and answer questions. It's very easy for a rational person to see why routine shop tours would not really work for a small shop like Fodera. It wouldn't make sense to add the overhead of a non-revenue-generating tour guide, and it doesn't make sense to take someone out of production to do it. Jason has done an excellent job of organizing the operation to bring turn-around time down from 2+ years to a year or so. I think the guys at Fodera are very gracious to let customers into the shop to discuss matters bass.

 

[Mitchthebassplayer]

I got a tour cause I was already there for an appointment and Joey had some time to kill and saw how amazed I was to be in the shop, so he showed me around and let me play on some stuff. It was great. That's kinda how the shop feel is, very small and personal. If you make an appointment, you might get lucky! Especially if you came from far away, I can't see them saying no to at least letting you see everybody working on basses....I live in Brooklyn!

 

[Lennard III.]

I spent a few hours this afternoon with Jason, Vinny and Joey at Fodera and had a great time. What a great bunch of people..... they really make you feel like family. Joey didn't even flinch at my literally dozens of questions as he set up a couple of Emperor 5ers and Jason answered even more of my dumb questions.

With Joey and Jason's help, I have very likely locked down my final build.... ETA Feb/Mar 2014:

Monarch 5, light mahogany body with deeper cutout on treble side, wicked walnut top, ebony board with no inlays (Joey may have saved me some $$$ on this as i had ordered abalone inlays), SD dual coils, black hardware and a 3+2 headstock config.

I am super pumped to say the least.

Thanks to Jason and team for being such great hosts today!

I will post a few pics when I get grounded.

Great !

and who made that suggestion going with a Walnut top first ???

 

[Baird6869]

Great !

and who made that suggestion going with a Walnut top first ???

I gotta give you that one.

The pieces I picked for the top are killer too.

 

[Baird6869]

I got a tour cause I was already there for an appointment and Joey had some time to kill and saw how amazed I was to be in the shop, so he showed me around and let me play on some stuff.

I bribed Jason with good wine.

Not surprisingly, all of the wines we opened had a "woody" nose.

 

[cnltb]

Part of my day job involves tours and I can tell you they most certainly affect productivity, especially for a small organization.

Out of interest; What is your job?

 

[Just Thumpin']

We had just as much fun as you did!!

Cheers,

J

I spent a few hours this afternoon with Jason, Vinny and Joey at Fodera and had a great time. What a great bunch of people..... they really make you feel like family. Joey didn't even flinch at my literally dozens of questions as he set up a couple of Emperor 5ers and Jason answered even more of my dumb questions.

With Joey and Jason's help, I have very likely locked down my final build.... ETA Feb/Mar 2014:

Monarch 5, light mahogany body with deeper cutout on treble side, wicked walnut top, ebony board with no inlays (Joey may have saved me some $$$ on this as i had ordered abalone inlays), SD dual coils, black hardware and a 3+2 headstock config.

I am super pumped to say the least.

Thanks to Jason and team for being such great hosts today!

I will post a few pics when I get grounded.

 

[Munjibunga]

I bribed Jason with good wine.

Not surprisingly, all of the wines we opened had a "woody" nose.

Not "tinny," I hope.