For sale Fodera Emperor Elite, with audio clips

1998 Fodera Emperor Elite
Quilted maple top
Alder body
Maple neck, with some nice figuring in the center piece.
35" scale length
Brazilian rosewood board (take a close look at the beautiful piece used)
Duncan Jazz Pickups
Pope Fodera Preamp
double truss rod
9.5 lbs, according to my scale

Here are some clips of me trying to get various tones with this bass. Somebody pointed out to me that I should have done a slap tone with the pickups at 50/50, which is true. I favor the neck pickup heavily for slap tones, personally. Just know a lot more can happen than what's included here:

The Pope preamp offers loads of options in terms of sculpting the kind of sound you want. You can boost or cut treble, mids, and lows way beyond what I did in order to dial in the sound that you want. I blended the pickups, never quite going 100% on either, but darn close, because that sounds better to my ear. I also only used it in active mode. Passive is an option, as well. I mention this just to point out that there are more tonal options beyond what is represented here. Be sure to listen with good headphones and not just your cell phone speaker.

In my opinion (because it’s all I’ve got), this is an incredible bass that looks beautiful and functions perfectly. It plays and sounds like $8,500. Here's the reason for the lower price: A previous owner dropped it. The part of the bass that struck the ground was where the wood was thinnest- right at the edge of the electronics cavity. So, it broke. The good news is that the break turns out not to be at a place that diminishes the tone or playability of the instrument at all, and it was expertly repaired. You won't feel or hear it, and people won't see it unless you point it out to them. I made sure to try to feature the damage as prominently as possible in the photos, but normally it goes unseen. Other than the repaired damage I've discussed, it has the kinds of nicks and wear and tear of a bass played since 1998, except the frets must have been dressed or replaced somewhat recently, because they show hardly any wear.

The neck is straight. It should be, having been made in one of the best bass shops in the world, the neck wasn't damaged in the drop, plus it has two truss rods, so you can make minute changes to the left and right side of the neck. The action is low. The weight is right, the tone is right, electronics and pickups are great... In other words, it's a killer Emperor Elite which functions just as it should in all regards.

This bass ships in what appears to be the original Fodera case, which seems like it's in fine shape except the upholstered foam neck support I'm pointing to in one photo is loosely connected and wiggles around instead of standing strong. I'll make sure to pack with extra padding so the neck is well supported and the bass won't shift during shipping.

I'm pretty new to talk bass and only have a couple positive reviews here, but have lots of positive reviews on eBay, and some on Reverb com. Private message me if you want links to my accounts on those other websites, to video chat, or if you want any other info. Thanks for looking.

The last two basses in casses I shipped cost about $165 each, including the insurance. I'm using a large box and adding padding within and around the case, to make sure things arrive safely. I tried one with FedEx and one with UPS and the costs were very similar. This bass is worth more, so I would expect the insured cost to be a little higher. That means another $175 on top of the sale price, fyi.