I have a Fodera Monarch Standard Special with a PJ pickup set up. The stock pickups installed were the typical EMG pickups they use for most of their PJ basses. First I must say, an incredible bass. But I was having some issues with the tone. With the EMG pickups, the notes were very clear. Nice lows and very crisp highs. Great for soloing or slappin. But not great for the power blues trio I play in. The D and G strings were a bit too crisp and not enough low end. Tended to get lost in the mix. The EMGs were just too HiFi sounding.
Had a couple of Skype calls with Jason DeSalvo and Joey Lauricella (Fodera's customer service is the best!) and they both said the EMG pickups can be very tricky to dial in. Just the nature of them. They had me try a couple things like play around with the pickup heights. But still had the same issue. So they invited me down to their shop to see if they can get it resolved. Much easier to trouble shoot if they have the bass in hand.
So hopped on a flight and flew up to Brooklyn (from Florida) to meet with Jason and the rest of the Fodera crew. Once there, Jason had me play the bass a bit so he can get an idea of what I was talking as well as see my playing style. We talked about strings (which I use DRs), amps and life! So Jason took the bass to try a couple things as well as do a setup and fresh strings. While he was doing that I got a tour of the shop! Way Cool!
After getting the bass back, it still was not quite what I wanted. So the next and obvious step was to swap out the pickups. Both Joey and Jason suggested the Aguilar PJ pickups (the AG 4P P-Bass pickup and J-HC J pickup). I was already familiar those pickups, had the same set in a Roscoe bass I use to have. So Joey swapped out the pickups and wow what a difference! The tone was much warmer and not hifi sounding and was very even across the strings. Really nice low end on the D and G strings, but I am still able to get a great slap and solo tone out of them. They sounded great in the shop, but the true test was to get out and play it on some gigs.
Well have some gigs under my belt including a big one this past weekend. I must say wow, what a difference! The bass sounded awesome! Nothing got lost and the nice warm tone really sat well in the mix. Even the sound engineer at the last gig complemented me on the tone. Those Aguilar PJ pickups are the best, really happy with them! (FYI, the Fodera has a Mike Pope preamp in it.) I tell you, I am really diggin on Aguilar stuff lately. My other Roscoe bass has an Aguilar preamp with Bartolini pickups and that bass also sounds awesome. Well here is the Fodera with the Aguilar PJs installed....
Had a couple of Skype calls with Jason DeSalvo and Joey Lauricella (Fodera's customer service is the best!) and they both said the EMG pickups can be very tricky to dial in. Just the nature of them. They had me try a couple things like play around with the pickup heights. But still had the same issue. So they invited me down to their shop to see if they can get it resolved. Much easier to trouble shoot if they have the bass in hand.
So hopped on a flight and flew up to Brooklyn (from Florida) to meet with Jason and the rest of the Fodera crew. Once there, Jason had me play the bass a bit so he can get an idea of what I was talking as well as see my playing style. We talked about strings (which I use DRs), amps and life! So Jason took the bass to try a couple things as well as do a setup and fresh strings. While he was doing that I got a tour of the shop! Way Cool!
After getting the bass back, it still was not quite what I wanted. So the next and obvious step was to swap out the pickups. Both Joey and Jason suggested the Aguilar PJ pickups (the AG 4P P-Bass pickup and J-HC J pickup). I was already familiar those pickups, had the same set in a Roscoe bass I use to have. So Joey swapped out the pickups and wow what a difference! The tone was much warmer and not hifi sounding and was very even across the strings. Really nice low end on the D and G strings, but I am still able to get a great slap and solo tone out of them. They sounded great in the shop, but the true test was to get out and play it on some gigs.
Well have some gigs under my belt including a big one this past weekend. I must say wow, what a difference! The bass sounded awesome! Nothing got lost and the nice warm tone really sat well in the mix. Even the sound engineer at the last gig complemented me on the tone. Those Aguilar PJ pickups are the best, really happy with them! (FYI, the Fodera has a Mike Pope preamp in it.) I tell you, I am really diggin on Aguilar stuff lately. My other Roscoe bass has an Aguilar preamp with Bartolini pickups and that bass also sounds awesome. Well here is the Fodera with the Aguilar PJs installed....
