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Fodera NYC or Fbass VF?

tleebassist11

tleebassist11

Taylor Lee
Supporting Member
Dec 21, 2011
812
1,923
37
NC
Disclosures
Endorsing: Fodera, DR Strings, Epifani Amps
#1
Hey guys I would like some opinions. Im not asking which one is better. I simply would like to hear some advice from
people who have played both. Which of these basses has a stronger bridge pickup tone? Any opinion on which bass sits better in a mix? Neck profile more comfy than the other? Any input would be great.
 
#2
My opinion is regarding Fodera NYC 4 & 5 basses since I have owned 5 in the past 5 years. First of all if weight is an issue you should be aware that this is not a light bass if you compare with MTD's or Elricks. The neck is extremely comfortable not as thin and ergonomic as the MTD's but comfortable. As any other basses there are ones that are good but they are others that are amazing basses. Like the one that have now, the sound is comparable to the new Fodera Standard FL which I tried at Bass Player live, very tight sound, amazing mid range. Something that I noticed is the feel of the strings at the bridge pickup is tighter than other basses, which I think is the result of the bridge in combination of the peg head. Nice resistance to the fingers. The Pope preamp, could vary from 2 bands to 3 bands depending the model. Some of these basses were manufactured with Aero pickups. The cut of the wood of body and neck was made in Japan, no exceptions. I double check with Jason at Fodera, since I heard rumors that the first ones were made in USA. The assembly of the basses, fret work, electronics and finished was made at the Fodera shop in USA. I owned a F BN5 bass and I can tell you that is a different animal. I hope others can tell ud about the vintage F basses. The passive switch or push/pull is always present on this basses and gives you that option of a vintage bass. The configuration of the preamps vary a lot. One of my 4 strings came with V, V, bass/treble stacked, mids, and the passive/active toggle switch, it was great to have a volume control for each one of the pickups. Hope this can help you.
 
#3
I like the looks of the fbass more than i like the fodera nyc look and don't think there's much in it, in terms of component and built quality.
The Fbass feels real nice-haven't tried a recent nyc.
The older ones I tried seemed a little( I mean 'little') crude/simple by comparison.
 
#4
Well Fodera do not manufactured them any more. Regarding serial #s they stamped them on the back of the peg head, under the bridge or just a little metal plate inside of the cavity. There were some special ones that were manufactured with double coil pickups instead of the classic single coil Jazz style pickups, but they were far and between. I owned also a 5 string that had a matching headstock and a matching binding on the edge of the neck. Perhaps Jason can give us more history on these amazing basses. Few pics, first my actual one:[http://youtu.be/W14YmRABFFgATTACH]394461[/ATTACH] ImageUploadedByTalkBass1392661237.875720.jpg

ImageUploadedByTalkBass1392661150.902769.jpg
 

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#8
I have played a VF5.

If you're after a vintage jazz thing--'60s or '70s--you can do no better, especially their alder/rosewood combo. The neck profile uses a compound radius and is addictive to play. Their boost only preamp is just icing on the cake.

Never played the Fodera.
 
#11
I own a Music Man Classic 5 Natural, 3 Fenders USA's, fretless Warick and 4 string Corvette Standard, a couple of Ibanez's and 4 or five others. I just put my first Fodera on layaway and I'm like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I can't wait to hold her and stroke her. Anybody know the feeling?
 
#12
steven conley said:
I own a Music Man Classic 5 Natural, 3 Fenders USA's, fretless Warick and 4 string Corvette Standard, a couple of Ibanez's and 4 or five others. I just put my first Fodera on layaway and I'm like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I can't wait to hold her and stroke her. Anybody know the feeling?
Click to expand...


I need an opinion on 4 or 5 string Fodera's. Because of price I may not be able to acquire 2 or 3 of these like some of you ballers. So I'm wondering if I should get the 5 instead of the 4. When I look at Victor Wooten and Marcus Miller with all the skill and technique they are jamming on 4's even though they (Marcus) has a 5 or 6 in the background. So if I'm doing this correctly (on correct page) I need an answer. Thanks
 
#15
I'd probably go with the F Bass over the NYC, but maybe more for cosmetic and resale issues than anything else. I've played a couple Fodera NYCs and they are fantastic instruments. I've also played a couple VF5s and liked them, so you're not going to go wrong either way. I'd say they're comparable in playability and sound.

Regarding the four- or five-string question, I'd go with a fiver because that's what I prefer. You should also go with a five-string if you want to play what I prefer.
 
#16
I also played NYC,Imperial and Fbass...Imperial and Fbass in the same occasion,one after another. Not sure what would happen in a live situation etc, but at that moment,F bass won hands down,for comfortability,playability and even construction,sound and overall feel.
NYC are good ones too,but again I'd say go with F bass.
 
#17
You are right in that we are no longer building the NYC's. We stopped roughly three years ago. The original design work, prototypes and some of the very first were built here in Brooklyn, but all after those first few the rest of them were built completely by hand in a small shop in Japan. Final fretwork, electronics installation and set-up were done here in Brooklyn.

We replaced the NYC line with our Standard line of instruments which are all 100% built here in the Brooklyn shop by the same people and in exactly the same way that we build our Custom instruments. The first Standard model was introduced in January of 2011.

We eliminated the NYC's for two reasons...first (and most importantly), we felt that there were enough "Super Jazz Basses" out there and we wanted to focus on our own designs instead. Secondly, we wanted 100% control over the quality of what we are sending out the door and the only way to do that was to build everything here.

Cheers,

J

xabicho said:
Perhaps Jason can give us more history on these amazing basses.
Click to expand...
 
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