Fodera Monarch P

[Flaked Beans]

You could get like 30 used squier precisions a for that price...

Or about 65 used SX p basses!

 

[Flaked Beans]

Or about 65 used SX p basses!

...or 1777 cans of this tasty chicken soup.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

What does P mean?

 

[Robb Fesig]

I would go into debt to buy one of these if I could get it as a 5 string with 24 frets...

 

[pnchad]

I would go into debt to buy one of these if I could get it as a 5 string with 24 frets...

And if my uncle had...... He'd be my aunt

 

[nostatic]

1 preowned near-mint Mike Lull P4
1 Bluesman Vintage P
1 MIA Precision

I'd love to try that thing out tho!

Oddly enough I've owned/gigged all of the above. I'd sell them all to get the Fodera P unless you really needed the Bluesman look. But ymmv.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Daft question how close would a Precision with the same pickup as this Fodera sound would they be similar?

Sandiegoharry hit the nail on the head. If you want a bass that plays like a Fodera and sounds like a Precision. If a more traditional Fender style bass works for you, save your money.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

This Fodera is probably a great example of the fact that a lot of what people like about high end basses does not translate directly into an improvement in sound. A listener cannot hear great fit and finish, great fretwork, or great playability. Obviously, beautiful top wood, pretty inlays, etc. are just for looks.

Even for poor folks like me, I largely chose a DJ5 over a Sire V7 because of the feel of the neck, because both sounded great in their own way.

 

[Gizmot]

I played one at NAMM - it played like a Fodera, sounded like a P-bass. If that's what you want, then this is your bass.

And the butterfly - that was explained to me by one of the Fodera guys. The Abalone inlay added about $250 to the cost to bass (not the material, but the species export license) - removing that one bit allowed them to keep the price down. The knobs would also be bigger than shown in the photos - and the body would be routed to allow a user to add a bigger preamp later if they like (I'm guessing they are using the same body routing jigs for this as their higher-end monarch standards). Really, if you put a bit of time into one of these, you could have a YY standard for a fraction of the price. Pretty cool.

i checked them out at NAMM too and liked the workmanship. I disagree with what they're doing from a product management point of view. In my opinion, once you cross the $3,000 threshold whats another couple hundred bucks? If you want a Fodera, I think you want a deluxe one.

 

[Lowendtech]

I love it and want one, but the beauty of a P bass is knowing you could brain the drunk over the head with it for trying to touch it while you're on a break, and still be able to finish the set with it.
Not sure you'd want to do that with this one. It's too pretty to mess up it's face.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

i checked them out at NAMM too and liked the workmanship. I disagree with what they're doing from a product management point of view. In my opinion, once you cross the $3,000 threshold whats another couple hundred bucks? If you want a Fodera, I think you want a deluxe one.

I think you have a point, but no Fodera is a mass market instrument. I would be surprised if they sold 100 of these.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

i checked them out at NAMM too and liked the workmanship. I disagree with what they're doing from a product management point of view. In my opinion, once you cross the $3,000 threshold whats another couple hundred bucks? If you want a Fodera, I think you want a deluxe one.

A couple of hundred? The next Fodera up from this starts new at about $6K (correct me if I'm wrong) - that's more like a couple of grand!

 

[Flaked Beans]

Yup SD Harry, couple of grand more it is.

 

[Christian Houmann]

The deluxe version is pretty killer too

 

[Dr. Cheese]

The deluxe version is pretty killer too

As a five, it would be totally drool worthy!

 

[MDBass]

A couple of hundred? The next Fodera up from this starts new at about $6K (correct me if I'm wrong) - that's more like a couple of grand!

He's talking about the inlay I believe.

Trying to save $250 on a $4k bass doesn't make any sense to me either.

 

[cnltb]

Funny it seems to me, but,whilst I think it looks good, this doesn't tempt me at all.
And nothing about this says 'incredible value' to me.
Perfectly average in terms of value sounds about right, with a slight leaning towards 'good value' maybe. Not 'incredible'.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

He's talking about the inlay I believe.

Trying to save $250 on a $4k bass doesn't make any sense to me either.

My guess is that they were trying to find every possible way to save costs to get this thing in under $4K MSRP. I think it was a good call.

 

[Guinness20]

While I've no doubt it sounds and plays like a dream, I for on am not that excited. I know the point's been made but for that much money you can get multiple excellent alternatives, and with a bass as simple as the p bass how many variations can you have before it all comes down to fit and finish? I'd rather have an MIA P, a G&L LB-100 & a Mike Dirnt road worn for that money.

Also, for so much money it has to be a good looking bass - and that thing is uuuugly!

 

[andruca]

4k for a P-bass is definitely not ok for me. Not into boutique stuff at all (I'd have much more to say on the subject but prefer to leave it at that just so nobody feels offended) so for me it's a total waste of money. BTW, the pick playing in the Fodera P video is as sloppy as it gets. Pick playing on a bass has evolved a lot since that amorphous semy muted crap he plays. Properly picked (and grooved) P bass samples on a 88€ P-bass kit. Still sound more P bass than the Fodera. It's never the bass (much less a $4K bass). Looking that way is the wrong way for me, unless you're a collector of fine furniture, this is as far from a real life gigging P bass as it gets.