Fodera Emperor Standard 5 comments

[Lasse Tvedegaard Nyboe]

And what a nice place! I´m new on TalkBass

 

[Baird6869]

I think Felipe is doing the best job on youtube, demonstrating the ES5.

I´m waiting for mine, it should arrive in september. How do you guys (who own one) like the large frets on it the ES5´s?

I would like to have the ability to shift between B - G and E - C. I tried a emperial recently

with a B - G nut. And i could easily string it E - C and it worked out fine. Anyone who has done this on the ES5?

I had an E5S for over a year and loved it. Amazing sounding and playing bass and I loved the frets. I used to like thinner frets but now will only buy large frets when possible.

I restrung the E5S to E-C a few times and it worked and sounded good. If you are a perfectionist, you may want to adjust the intonation and neck a bit, but not substantially.

The only reason I sold the E5S was to fund a Custom Monarch.

 

[Lasse Tvedegaard Nyboe]

Ok, sounds good! I´m used to small frets also, so I´m a bit curious to how it will feel.

About the strings: Do you loose tone/sound if you restring a B - G nut withe The E - C setting?

By the way I ordered mine with black hardware, can´t wait to play it!

 

[Baird6869]

Ok, sounds good! I´m used to small frets also, so I´m a bit curious to how it will feel.

About the strings: Do you loose tone/sound if you restring a B - G nut withe The E - C setting?

By the way I ordered mine with black hardware, can´t wait to play it!

Congrats!

I would have ordered black as well if I had the chance. Looks better IMO. My Monarch had the black hardware.

I didn't find any tonal issues with switching to E-C but I had to raise the treble sides of my pickups a tiny bit I believe.

 

[Lasse Tvedegaard Nyboe]

Two other questions:
1. How is the slap comfort on the ES5?
2. How is the neck? Fast?

 

[Baird6869]

Two other questions:
1. How is the slap comfort on the ES5?
2. How is the neck? Fast?

Slap comfort is great due to the 19" spacing (for me). Slap tone is good due to the ash body IMO. Would likely sound a bit better with a maple board if you slap all the time, but still very nice.

Very nice neck. Thin-ish but not super flat. Easy to get low action and easy to play.

Pau Ferro isn't my favorite neck wood (I love ebony and maple) but it sounds great on the Emperor Standards.

 

[Lasse Tvedegaard Nyboe]

Ok thanks!

I used to own this http://fodera.smugmug.com/Newborn-Gallery-Vol-I/Newborn-138/i-t97RpKv

And I felt when you slapped on it, there where to far from the body to the strings when i popped the strings. The NYC and The ES5 looks alike in that way. You don´t feel that theres to far between the body and the strings, slap wise?

 

[Testing123]

I would like to have the ability to shift between B - G and E - C. I tried a emperial recently with a B - G nut. And i could easily string it E - C and it worked out fine. Anyone who has done this on the ES5?

Here's a YouTube video of Derricks Bass playing an E5S strung E - C:

And what a nice place! I´m new on TalkBass

Welcome aboard! Lots of great folks here as well as being a great resource.

By the way I ordered mine with black hardware, can´t wait to play it!

Congrats! I think you'll love the E5S.

 

[Jazz Ad]

When you go over 3000 or so, I don't think anything is better than anything else. Different sure, not better.
A bass over 10lbs isn't for me though.

 

[Lasse Tvedegaard Nyboe]

Does anybody know the difference between the the standard and custom preamp and tone controls? And can you hear the difference?

 

[Baird6869]

When you go over 3000 or so, I don't think anything is better than anything else. Different sure, not better.
A bass over 10lbs isn't for me though.

My E5S was just under 9lbs. I have heard of some approaching 10.5-11lbs though.

My Monarch 5 is 9 lbs 6oz and I can't do much heavier.

 

[Baird6869]

Does anybody know the difference between the the standard and custom preamp and tone controls? And can you hear the difference?

Not a huge difference, but it is there. I don't use the mid-boost, so I can't say that the Custom pre is substantially better in my case.

I would highly recommend buying the dual mid pot for the Standard though. It is dirt cheap thru Fodera or Pope and any idiot (me) can install it in 10-15 minutes with no mods/soldering.

 

[Lasse Tvedegaard Nyboe]

Not a huge difference, but it is there. I don't use the mid-boost, so I can't say that the Custom pre is substantially better in my case.

I would highly recommend buying the dual mid pot for the Standard though. It is dirt cheap thru Fodera or Pope and any idiot (me) can install it in 10-15 minutes with no mods/soldering.

What is the dual mid pot? Something they install? And what does it do?

 

[Baird6869]

What is the dual mid pot? Something they install? And what does it do?

They can install but it is honestly simple.

It gives you both high and low mid adjustment capabilities.

Looks basically the same and can be reversed if required.

Here is how mine looked...

Before:

After:

 

[Testing123]

My E5S was just under 9lbs. I have heard of some approaching 10.5-11lbs though.

My E5S is 9lb 15oz.
I was was talking with @George Himmel (Bass San Diego) a while back and we came to the conclusion that the weight had something to do with my E5S sounding above the average for this model.
Frankly, I wish it were 7lb instead of almost 10.

 

[Testing123]

What is the dual mid pot? Something they install? And what does it do?

First of all, read this post: http://www.talkbass.com/threads/fodera-emperor-standard-5-comments.918787/page-3#post-14651180

Here’s the Preamp relevant info from the above mentioned post:

Preamp
The control layout for the preamp is:

• Volume/Tone (stack)
• Pup Blend
• Treble/Bass (stack)
• Mids (low mids pot - thanks, @Baird6869 )
• Active/Passive toggle switch
• Coil Split toggle switch
  (Some call it coil tap, but apparently the two terms are not synonymous and coil split more accurately describes the function of the switch.
  See the linked Fender document for details: http://www.talkbass.com/threads/fodera-emperor-standard-5-comments.918787/page-6#post-15596902)

http://www.talkbass.com/attachments/fodera_e5s_controls-jpg.352875/


Mike Pope (preamp creator) sells a dual mids (stacked low mids/hi mids) pot that is an easy DIY install plug and play modification turning the preamp into a 4 band configuration. Mike Pope says the install only takes a couple of minutes to do and is as easy as changing batteries.
It was posted that the stack Hi Mid/Low Mid control knob for this modification can be obtained from Fodera.
Also available is a hi mids pot.
Since there is only one hole in the body of the bass for the mids portion of the preamp, only one pot; low mid only, dual mids (stacked low mids/hi mids) or hi mids only can be used on the bass at any one time.
Here is a link to Michael Pope's web site for further info regarding the preamp and all of the options available: http://www.michaelpopedesign.com/

The frequencies and center points of the preamp are as follows:
Bass +/- 12dB @ 46Hz or 90Hz
Lo Mid +/- 12dB @ 330Hz or 473Hz
Hi Mid +/- 15dB @ 1kHz or 1.8kHz <-- relevant only if the change to a dual mids pot is made as noted above
Treble +/- 15dB @ 6kHz or 10kHz


Here’s a post from @pewi that talks about the preamp jumpers: http://www.talkbass.com/threads/fodera-emperor-standard-5-comments.918787/page-3#post-14651180

The relevant info being:

Bass +/- 12dB @ 46Hz (jumper ON) or 90Hz (ships set to 46Hz)
Lo Mid +/- 12dB @ 330Hz (jumpers ON) or 473Hz (jumpers OFF)
Hi Mid +/- 15dB @ 1kHz (jumpers ON) or 1.8kHz (jumpers OFF)
Treble +/- 15dB @ 6kHz (jumper ON) or 10kHz (ships set to 10kHz)

Hope that helps…
Allen

 

[Steve York]

I'm curious about the balance on the Standards. How is it?

 

[Testing123]

I'm curious about the balance on the Standards. How is it?

I have no issues at all with balance. I use a Neotech strap.

 

[tombowlus]

I'm curious about the balance on the Standards. How is it?

Excellent balance, IME/IMHO.

 

[Steve York]

Excellent balance, IME/IMHO.

Thanks for the replies!