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Janek Gwizdala: This is pretty interesting.
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
Glad he told the story. Was interesting to hear the friction with Matt Garrison over the signature bass.
I do wish that Mattisson 4 string had gotten a release. 32" 26 fret 4 banger with a triple P. Spot on specs.
I do wish that Mattisson 4 string had gotten a release. 32" 26 fret 4 banger with a triple P. Spot on specs.
No disrespect to the players because they have great chops, but i kinda feel like this style of playing bass with these sterile "modern" extended range bass designs is losing it's relevance. Am i the only one that would love to see someone like Janek just play a plain old Fender?
I have seen him play a plain old Fender when he was hired to do that backing a singer on Saturday Night Live. As for his music, the Fender is not his thing.
Janek plays a P-bass in his "chordal harmony" instructional videos, and it sounds amazing.
That said, I very much like the tone he gets out of his signature bass, and I don't think it's sterile at all.
It was. The Garrison thing seems really petty, but I guess these signature instruments can be a decent revenue stream? I didn't know that. One more business aspect of the professional musician's life that makes me glad I suck and have no interest in that life.
I don't personally like the sound of Foderas, or at least how most of their users seem to set them, but I thought the clips of the Mattison and Fbass basses sounded really nice. It would be VERY cool to hear Janek on a fretless Wal, though. That said, if he gets to jump the line and gets a Wal before I do I'll be PISSED.
I don't personally like the sound of Foderas, or at least how most of their users seem to set them, but I thought the clips of the Mattison and Fbass basses sounded really nice. It would be VERY cool to hear Janek on a fretless Wal, though. That said, if he gets to jump the line and gets a Wal before I do I'll be PISSED.
Pretty sure he has vids where he's playing the Mustang PJ too, he was pretty enthusiastic about that bass for a bit.
I don't mean to be a curmudgeon, and if people get joy out of the expensive stuff I'm all for it, but I wasn't feeling the expensive stuff. Janek is fantastic, but while I tried to fight it for years, I just prefer your garden variety Fenders and FSO's, though some require pickup swaps for me to be happy.
For the most part I do too. I've tried a lot of different basses over the years and always come back to Fender/FSOs. A Wal is a different story though, absolutely nothing else sounds like a fretless Wal.
The only thing that's tough for me about Janek is the over-caffeination. I always feel a little stressed-out after watching one of his vids. Dude is INTENSE. I don't think that guy actually needs coffee.
I dislike this video for many reasons.
He makes a comparison between the Fender Stratocaster signature models and his and MG signature which are 2 very different things. The Strats are all the variations of the same stock stock model. On the other hand, Fodera MG was a true custom instrument: customised body shape, 33" with 26 frets, stringed E-C with a modified layout of the Fodera Pope preamp. There were no other influential bassists playing this kind of basses at the time except for maybe Dominique DiPiazza. A lot of people love this instrument which is the reason it's one of the instruments that Fodera offers as a standard version.
Sure, what Matt did was unacceptable but in all honesty I think he deserves a lot of recognition for co-designing both a bass and a style of playing that many people dislike but nevertheless had a big impact on the bass community at the time.
Also blaming MG for his relationship with Fodera going sour is hard to believe. It seems that he either wanted to have more control about what instruments get put out (he even says in the video that Fodera wouldn't make a standard version of his signature model) or earn more money and decided to partner with Mattisson which also didn't work out long term.
He makes a comparison between the Fender Stratocaster signature models and his and MG signature which are 2 very different things. The Strats are all the variations of the same stock stock model. On the other hand, Fodera MG was a true custom instrument: customised body shape, 33" with 26 frets, stringed E-C with a modified layout of the Fodera Pope preamp. There were no other influential bassists playing this kind of basses at the time except for maybe Dominique DiPiazza. A lot of people love this instrument which is the reason it's one of the instruments that Fodera offers as a standard version.
Sure, what Matt did was unacceptable but in all honesty I think he deserves a lot of recognition for co-designing both a bass and a style of playing that many people dislike but nevertheless had a big impact on the bass community at the time.
Also blaming MG for his relationship with Fodera going sour is hard to believe. It seems that he either wanted to have more control about what instruments get put out (he even says in the video that Fodera wouldn't make a standard version of his signature model) or earn more money and decided to partner with Mattisson which also didn't work out long term.
The bottom line is that relationships can be messy, and once feelings are hurt, repairing them can be extremely hard too do. Garrison and Gwizdala are virtuosos, but just as human as the rest of us.
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So I went and looked over those basses, and they are darn close to each other, but what is proprietary about Matt's bass? Is anything different between the two besides the strings and ramp colors? Sure, Janek could have used a little more originality, but Matt didn't invent the Fodera Imperial. And they don't make Janek's anymore. Sounds like they need to sneak out with Vinnie and Joey and do a couple swats at the next NAMM show and forget about it.
