Fodera now available from Sweetwater

[Dragan]

Great. Can't wait for the drunken 2am impulse buy. FML.

I hear that very well!

 

[Plutonium244]

Wow... They do have 36 months with 0% atm. Interesting- can't imagine their other resellers are happy about that though.

$160/mo for 3 years for a Fodera is kind of appealing. That 36 mo zero-interest deal is only good through Tuesday Sept 6th though. Not sure if you can negotiate 15% off a Fedora like you can on a lot of gear at Sweetwater, if you could then it'd only be $131/mo.

 

[Plutonium244]

36 a month at 0 interest $162 a month before taxes. That's a commitment that can get some people in trouble. Know thyself!

Hey, unless you live in Indiana, no tax. So you can go ahead without reservation now.

 

[Plutonium244]

With these payment options being offered I could think of other gear to get besides one heavy overpriced bass..eg: Fender Pino Bass and the ultimate Mesa rig...

I hear ya. One reason (among many) that I won't be putting a Fodera on the Sweetwater financing plan is I just ordered a Fender Super Bassman from Sweetwater on that plan. I can handle $43/mo and it'll be paid of much sooner than 3 years. I don't like having debt hanging out there for so long.

 

[fourtet102]

This is dangerous. I have a credit line with SW, I need to avoid surf the internet when I am drunk.

+1. Keep promising myself to close open account with Sweetwater....

 

[nostatic]

I need to avoid surf the internet when I am drunk.

If everyone did that most forum activity would drop to near-zero...

 

[nostatic]

+1. We absolutely can make light weight instruments, however, over the years we have determined a range in which we believe our instruments sound and play their best. IME, unless someone has back issues, comfort / balance generally trumps weight (unless the weight gets extreme).

Having cycled through a few basses (*cough*), there does seems to be an ideal weight range for Foderas (depending on number of strings, etc). My Yin Yang Deluxe is 8.8 lbs and is the best sounding bass I've ever owned. Period. Currently I have a Monarch 5 that is 9.1 lbs which is on the lighter end of things for Fodera 5s, but we spec'd it to come in on the lighter side (alder body, EMG pups instead of dual coils). Compare that to my Smiths which are 9.4 and 9.5 lbs, and by Smith standards are pretty damn light. Many of the Smith 5-strings are 10lbs and over.

I've owned a few other very light instruments and never did bond with them. They just didn't really do it sonically for me. The only exception is Rob Allens, and I have a Deep 5 that is 7.1 lbs and sounds spectacular. But Rob's instruments are an entirely different kind of flying, altogether

 

[Boristhespyder]

Way too much money for a Bass.

Too expensive or too cheap is a bit like the George Carlin line about everybody driving slower than you is an idiot and everybody driving faster than you is a maniac. Value, like beauty is in the eye of the beholder or, in the case, the bassholder.

 

[40Hz]

It's back pedaling, but it makes sense, imagine if we had to buy cars at even $10,000 cash?

Makes perfect sense to me. And I'm glad they're smart enough to do what they need to do to stay solvent. Far too many "patrons of the art" throwing themselves on their own sword these days to suit me. There's no glory in tilting at windmills.

But I never believed a boutique operation that got as big as Fodera has gotten was a sustainable business model for the long run. Big, most complete, and fast; or very small, highly focused, rich and happy seems to the the two best bets for success these days.

 

[MobileHolmes]

Having cycled through a few basses (*cough*), there does seems to be an ideal weight range for Foderas (depending on number of strings, etc). My Yin Yang Deluxe is 8.8 lbs and is the best sounding bass I've ever owned. Period. Currently I have a Monarch 5 that is 9.1 lbs which is on the lighter end of things for Fodera 5s, but we spec'd it to come in on the lighter side (alder body, EMG pups instead of dual coils). Compare that to my Smiths which are 9.4 and 9.5 lbs, and by Smith standards are pretty damn light. Many of the Smith 5-strings are 10lbs and over.

I've owned a few other very light instruments and never did bond with them. They just didn't really do it sonically for me. The only exception is Rob Allens, and I have a Deep 5 that is 7.1 lbs and sounds spectacular. But Rob's instruments are an entirely different kind of flying, altogether

I'd buy that on not going too light. I dont' have your high end experience, but my Stingray (10 even) and Warmoth J (Unknown but feels a little heavier than the stringray) are both fantastic sounding. I played a 70s J recently that slayed too, but at 13, it was impractically heavy. Of course, weight isnt' everything, but I'm sensing a pattern

 

[nostatic]

I went through a weight weenie period. I have some chronic neck/back injuries and for awhile I was gigging about every other night (after doing the day job thing all day). A heavy bass + 3 sets = no fun. But in the end I ended up not digging the super lights. So instead I just tried to find the sounds I was looking for and started playing seated more. Weight still matters as I bring 2 basses to a gig in a double gig bag and that isn't exactly light. I still don't want to own anything over 10lbs, but stopped searching for the perfect 8lb bass. As always, ymmv.

 

[Anachronism]

Too expensive or too cheap is a bit like the George Carlin line about everybody driving slower than you is an idiot and everybody driving faster than you is a maniac. Value, like beauty is in the eye of the beholder or, in the case, the bassholder.

Yep. Different people have different budgets and goals. I'm not persuaded that a Fodera is what I'm looking for (I've very happy with my Rick 4003 and 4004), but if it was, spending $4k-5k for a standard wouldn't be unreasonable for something I would enjoy playing every day of my life. I'd have to save for it, and sell some other gear (a lot of other gear), but it would be worth it for a superlative bass. Others may feel differently, and it's a mistake to treat our own bass-buying needs, desires and budget as normative for everyone else.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

With these payment options being offered I could think of other gear to get besides one heavy overpriced bass..eg: Fender Pino Bass and the ultimate Mesa rig...

Fodera is just one company's vision of an optimal performance instrument. I think I would like one, but a nicely decked out Lakland 55-64, a LowEnd Jazz, or a Sadowsky Jazz or Modern would be great too. That said, I am not suffering from a lack of quality instruments as it is.

 

[Plutonium244]

+1. Keep promising myself to close open account with Sweetwater....

Well, not to encourage temptation, but in terms of credit rating etc, it's best to keep existing lines of credit open even if you don't use them. It shows you have credit and are creditworthy, since the amount of existing available credit figures in to qualification for additional credit... which seems counter-intuitive somehow. Of course, it does not help the credit score if you rack up a bunch of gear on credit and then can't pay.

 

[fivestringdan]

Mmmm..credit!

 

[fivestringdan]

Oh crap they sell fodera strings!!!!

 

[pacojas]

36 a month at 0 interest $162 a month before taxes. That's a commitment that can get some people in trouble. Know thyself!

i'll assume your payments for awhile, good doctor! when i get stretched i'll pass it to the next TB'er.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

i'll assume your payments for awhile, good doctor! when i get stretched i'll pass it to the next TB'er.

Seriously, if Sweetwater and Fodera still have a hookup in five years, I will be down. Owning a Fodera would be nice, but I am living a happy life without one as I type. I would also put down maybe $2k, so I would probably be looking at 24 months.

I will say this. The down side of monthly payments for me is that there is a good chance I will be fantasizing about something else before I finish my obligation.

 

[Just Thumpin']

I'm confused about how to reconcile the notion of a stock Fedora with some of the interviews I've read where they said the raison d'être of building something like a Fedora bass was to customize every aspect of the instrument to the specific buyer.

I know there are economic realities they have to contend with as a business. But this (i.e. first doing stock models; and second, going through a major online retailer) seems to be a major backpedal from their espoused business mission.

We started offering the Standards in 2011 because there is a segment of our customer base that does not want to deal with picking out specs. They were asking for a well-rounded bass at a lower price point with a shorter wait, so that is why we developed the Standard line. Not at all a backpedal...it is actually doing exactly what we exist to do -- give our customers what they are asking for. Had we done this and stopped building custom instruments, THAT would be a major backpedal, but we have not. The Customs are available for someone that wants a completely bespoke instrument and the Standards are there for those preferring that route to playing a Fodera.

As for working with Sweetwater, a ton of research and thought went into this on our part and we determined that it was a very important move both for our company and our customers. As I mentioned above, Sweetwater's approach to sales is quite different than anyone else doing online retailing. They have 300 exceptionally well-trained, dynamic sales people who strive to serve their customers' needs -- not just be order takers.

For anyone that is reading this and has any doubt about who Sweetwater is and what they do, make a trip to their campus in Ft. Wayne Indiana. We have now made two and the level of professionalism there and interest in Fodera is just off the charts.

 

[Just Thumpin']

But I never believed a boutique operation that got as big as Fodera...

LOL, I would definitely not call us "big." Our scale has been chosen consciously to ensure that we are sustainable -- we have zero desire, or need, to grow for growth's sake. You need to have enough employees to ensure that if you lose one or two you don't go out of business and also enough scale to attract and, hopefully, keep fantastic talent.