Designed in collaboration with Fodera artist and good friend, Matthew Garrison, the Mini-MG marks the next innovative chapter in bass guitar design. With the recent change in instrument travel regulations, there has been an increasing need for a bass guitar that combines portability without sacrificing tone or playability. With these needs in mind, Fodera and Matt collaboratively set out to design an instrument that could fit in any typical airplane overhead storage bin. With its 30.75” scale length and 16.5mm string spacing, the Mini-MG is our most compact bass guitar and is, in fact, small enough to fit in a regular electric guitar gigbag!
It has been our experience that headless instruments often lack in tonal response when compared to their full-size siblings. In order to prevent this, we hand-selected medium weight Walnut and Alder along with a highly select-grade 3-piece Hard Rock Maple neck, while also increasing the thickness of the body, to retain necessary mass.
Although the Mini-MG is tuned E-C, Matt specifically requested a drop tuner be incorporated into the bass to allow for drop-tuning to a low B. In order to accommodate this, our team designed a counter-sunk, modified D-tuner, with a reduced string post, in order to provide a sufficient break angle for the E-string. This provides a tight and responsive sound and feel to the string despite the 30.75” scale-length. By utilizing this design, we were also able to add back precious mass to the “head-side” of the instrument – further increasing its tonal response.
The Mini-MG’s neck-through design offers increased sustain and resonance, with a sculpted heel to provide effortless playing and ergonomics over the entire length of the neck. For electronics, the Mini-MG comes loaded with our proprietary Fodera / Seymour Duncan Dual Coil Pickups and features a 4-band version of our Fodera / Pope Standard preamp offering unlimited tonal flexibility as well as a full bypass / passive mode. The pickups are placed in our Matt Garrison pickup spacing (bridge pickup placed in a sweet spot between 60’s and 70’s spacing) and an ebony ramp rounds out the top to help facilitate the fast and light playing style that Matt has become known for.
"The new mini performed beyond anything I could have imagined.
Tone, feel, power, ease of use, portability... "
"What I really enjoyed was that after we had finished, we sat at a table and signed CD's, and folks came up to me trying to place their finger on what they had just experienced...The way I see it, if most folks that don't event know about what this bass can deliver are so emotionally moved by what can happen, imagine how this new little beast will be perceived in the bass world."
- Matt Garrison
We will be offering a limited run of 10 Imperial Mini-MGs in the customer’s choice of our hand-rubbed, satin finish in Black, Fiesta Red or Olympic White for delivery starting January of 2017. Each bass will come with a custom gig bag, a complimentary set of custom Fodera Strings (appropriately sized for the Mini-MG), and a signed certificate of authenticity. The list price for the Imperial Mini-MG is $11,650.00
It has been our experience that headless instruments often lack in tonal response when compared to their full-size siblings. In order to prevent this, we hand-selected medium weight Walnut and Alder along with a highly select-grade 3-piece Hard Rock Maple neck, while also increasing the thickness of the body, to retain necessary mass.
Although the Mini-MG is tuned E-C, Matt specifically requested a drop tuner be incorporated into the bass to allow for drop-tuning to a low B. In order to accommodate this, our team designed a counter-sunk, modified D-tuner, with a reduced string post, in order to provide a sufficient break angle for the E-string. This provides a tight and responsive sound and feel to the string despite the 30.75” scale-length. By utilizing this design, we were also able to add back precious mass to the “head-side” of the instrument – further increasing its tonal response.
The Mini-MG’s neck-through design offers increased sustain and resonance, with a sculpted heel to provide effortless playing and ergonomics over the entire length of the neck. For electronics, the Mini-MG comes loaded with our proprietary Fodera / Seymour Duncan Dual Coil Pickups and features a 4-band version of our Fodera / Pope Standard preamp offering unlimited tonal flexibility as well as a full bypass / passive mode. The pickups are placed in our Matt Garrison pickup spacing (bridge pickup placed in a sweet spot between 60’s and 70’s spacing) and an ebony ramp rounds out the top to help facilitate the fast and light playing style that Matt has become known for.
"The new mini performed beyond anything I could have imagined.
Tone, feel, power, ease of use, portability... "
"What I really enjoyed was that after we had finished, we sat at a table and signed CD's, and folks came up to me trying to place their finger on what they had just experienced...The way I see it, if most folks that don't event know about what this bass can deliver are so emotionally moved by what can happen, imagine how this new little beast will be perceived in the bass world."
- Matt Garrison
We will be offering a limited run of 10 Imperial Mini-MGs in the customer’s choice of our hand-rubbed, satin finish in Black, Fiesta Red or Olympic White for delivery starting January of 2017. Each bass will come with a custom gig bag, a complimentary set of custom Fodera Strings (appropriately sized for the Mini-MG), and a signed certificate of authenticity. The list price for the Imperial Mini-MG is $11,650.00
