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why are Foderas so expensive?

#61
I've seen 2 Foderas recently,a Wooten and a Garrison, and here in the UK they go for £4,500 and £5,000 which is a HUGE price.

Are they worth it ?? To me, no... To they guy who shelled out for the Garrison. Yes..

Would I buy one if I had the money. No. In my opinion they're overpriced and there are better basses out there regardless of price....

Yup, that can of worms has truly been opened :bassist:
 
#62
NickyBass said:
How is Fodera's customer service? I know their quality is unparalleled.

I don't know how easy Fodera is to reach, but that level of customer service is worth alot to me.
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Customer service is a big deal and I would imagine Vinny Fodera will take time to talk to someone interested in one of his basses.

I have played a Fodera Monarch and for me, I would put the quality of my Roscoe SKB3006 against a Fodera. Roscoe offers great customer service. I can call and talk to Keith Roscoe and since his shop is about an hour away I can drop by anytime. I bought a used Roscoe a couple years ago that had a slight fret buzz, I carried it to his shop to drop off, he leveled the frets for free while I was taken on a tour of his shop. (My avatar has a picture of my Roscoe 6)

Another luthier is Mike Pedulla, I have called him several times around 8am in the morning and he has answered the phone and spent time talking. He is a great guy who also builds a sweet bass. He actually used one of my comments on one of his Bass Player ads.

Ken Smith builds a nice bass as well. I have exchanged emails a few times about the CR4M I had. He always seemed kind of arrogant in his replies which has turned me off.
 
#63
Whenever I see a Fodera and that beautiful inlay I think Vinnie's motto must be "float like a butterfly, be like a Sting". Of course I don't like Sting much at all and I don't believe that he's ever been a Fodera player or endorser. Anyway, Fodera is a true heavyweight (in more ways than one, right Ken?) so it's appropriate. :ninja:

Even I would love the opportunity to try one out and perhaps even own a specific Beez Elite 5 Exhibition that I know is around these parts from time to time.
 
#64
I can't imagine Fodera's customer service would be anything less than stellar. Probably better than some other top builders because they can afford to have assistants working for them. I know of a TBer who returned a custom he ordered from them because the B string was not very good (I believe it was a while back). I know that I emailed them last week to say my strings order hadn't arrived yet after being a little late-it was lost in the automated system or something- and they had them FedEx'd overnight to me :D

Mark Latimour covered when he said you'd put x amount on certain values, and for a high percentage of Fodera customers, a Fodera is the be-all-end-all bass. I received my new Elrick singlecut six-string last week- top of the line model, lots of upgrades, top materials, quality was better than Foderas I've played, handmade by one guy, etc. that came in at just about $3800, probably a little less than half of what its Fodera counterpart would cost. BUT.....if Elrick charged more, then I'd probably pay it because that's the bass I want. I can't afford Fodera-type pricing, but I'd save my ass off to get close to it if that's what Elricks cost because that's the kind of instrument I want more than any other.

It's rarely a matter of quality at that price point- there's a group of luthiers who have equatable skill at what they do at that level, and after that point you are paying for the brand you want. It's not like Fodera uses magical maple for their necks that is better than the maple Michael Tobias is using for his (Ken Smith might claim his is ;) :D)- you're paying for what the intrinsic qualities of a Fodera are that you can't specifically find in other basses.

That's at least from a player's point of view. For collectors, they might just get them because they are regarded as the best. And Foderas do have a big collector's market in Japan.
 
#65
bikeplate said:
HI

I would say the same goes for Alembic and a couple other builders. Its a labor intensive bass. Hand carved, etc. Many hours are spent and the designs are beautiful. No cutting corners, etc. They are what they are. I've had 4, very nice. To each their own. I'd like to have another sometime soon. Prices are off the charts, though. Probably not anytime soon

Rob
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Rob, you know why you're awesome ?

Because you're one of the biggest Sadowsky nuts i've ever seen and you don't jump in every thread and just talk about how superior Sad's are to all other basses. I see that a lot and hear it a lot in person. Its refreshing to not hear that.



The reason is simple... Fodera's sound like Fodera's... Laklands sound like Laklands, Fenders sound like fenders...

the people who made fodera said "I wan't to charge [----------------------THIS MUCH-------------------------] for my sound, who wants to buy it ?


its that simple... if you have a nice defined sound / look. You can sell whatever you want at any price. (look at Ritters)









EDIT: Well, okay I had a little fun tonight, im slightly drunk as hell. YAY !!!
 
#66
oddio said:
Whenever I see a Fodera and that beautiful inlay I think Vinnie's motto must be "float like a butterfly, be like a Sting".
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Fodera means butterfly in Sicilian. I actually didn't find that out until this past year- all the model names and the logo made a lot more sense to me after I did :D
 
#68
I imagine Victor Wooten is being paid quite handsomely to play Fodera. If for what ever reason he walked away from Fodera and endorsed (for example) Squier as being the best bass, guess what would happen to Fodera and Squier sales? Yup, marketing 101. To what degree would sales be impacted - who knows, but you can bet that "being like Vic" is a BIG part of Foderas marketing scheme. Don't get me wrong, Fodera's a world class bass but without their fantastic reputation I don't think we would be seeing 6K - 9K basses in their lineup. (I think my used $750 Alembic Epic is easily comparable to a used $4200 Fodera. It's all about the rep.)

I have an instructional video by Victor and he says, "... it doesn't matter what bass you play... for example take away Michael Jordans shoes, he can still play basketball...".

It took me a very long time to understand that high dollars and headstock logos have little to do in guaranteeing the playability and tone of a bass. For me It really comes down to doing some unbiased blind taste testing and going with what my ears and hands tell me is right instead of my eyes.

Thanks,

KT
 
#69
I doubt that Victor's being paid to play Foderas. I doubt that he even gets that big a discount- possibly none at all. He certainly didn't when he bought his first Fodera over twenty years ago. Victor wasn't "Victor" back then- his name had no pull. And to those that idolize Victor, a Fodera is still way beyond most of their spending brackets. Most of the cats who can afford a Fodera are guys who most likely are just as influenced by the other top players who use Foderas but aren't in the "kiddie" spotlight- guys like AJ, Lincoln Goines, Tom Kennedy, Matt Garrison, etc. Fodera is pretty much the go-to name for the bass choice of many of the top fusion players.
 
#70
+1 to most of the above. Pure supply and demand is what drives the extra $3K or so in price that a Fodera demands over similar quality boutique basses... similar to the Sadowsky basses, which command a significantly higher price than other similar high quality J type designs.

Regarding Fodera customer service... well... not so much (not horrible at all, but surely not any better than 90% of the other luthiers out there). The good news is, these basses really are made by Vinnie. The bad news is, they have very little help in the shop, which has resulted in the long wait times when ordering, etc.

I'm with Vision, given the 3 year wait time, I feel that these basses are grossly underpriced. The optimal pricing to me would result in about a 6-8 month 'Sadowsky type' wait time. My guess is they could easily command a base price of $10K, and still have their production quota totally filled.

I sure wouldn't pay that, and actually find the fit and finish, playability, etc. as good or superior on many of their 'lower cost' competitors. However.... that's a moot point, since many, many players are happy to pay the price. Cool!

IMO and IME.

K
 
#71
If Victor was being paid to play Foderas, you can bet he wouldn't be seen playing Taylors and the custom built 5 that he plays. Victor has been given a bass or two as gifts from Vinnie and Joey, but he has been with them for almost 20 years now. They have an honest friendship and the guys at Fodera go out of the way to make their customers happy, that is why he has been so loyal. I wonder how many Sadowskys Will Lee has been given for the same reason.
 
#72
Yes, Victor endorses Fodera (hence the Victor Wooten model) and Ampeg. We may never know the terms, however it goes way beyond friendship and a free bass once in a while; there are paychecks involved guys - lets be real. This is a common practice that I have no problem with. You can bet Vic believes in his Fodera basses along with the others he plays the other 15% of his stage time.
Long live Fodera. Pick one up if that's your dream!!!!

KT
 
#74
CrashClint said:
Customer service is a big deal and I would imagine Vinny Fodera will take time to talk to someone interested in one of his basses.

...I can call and talk to Keith Roscoe and since his shop is about an hour away I can drop by anytime.

...Mike Pedulla, I have called him several times around 8am in the morning and he has answered the phone and spent time talking.
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If I was paying £4k for an instrument I'd want the guy to be jolly well getting on with it, not answering the phone every 10 minutes.
 
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#75
I am being real. Stanley Clarke has his own model of Alembic, and up until two years ago when Alembic gave him a gift of a free bass, he had paid full price for all of his other Alembics. I doubt he's getting free instruments + paychecks. He ain't bringing in THAT many customers.
 
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#79
Plain and simple, they have the reputation for being the best, not just one of the best. Enough people share this belief, so they stay in business.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some people can appreciate a Fodera and some can't tell the difference between an SX and Fodera. Personally, I don't see the need for the expensive luxury cars.....but those companies stay in business regardless.
 
#80
spade2you said:
Plain and simple, they have the reputation for being the best, not just one of the best.
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:eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow: :eyebrow:


really....


Thats shockingly inaccurate. If you knew any better, you would know there is no "Best" bass. Fodera's aren't all that... They just have a particular sound that some find desirable. I've put them all up in a line up, Ritter, Fodera, Fbass, Nordstrand and more... The Fodera wasn't any nicer in any way than the other basses, it only had its own tone (As they all did) and a higher price tag.


What most people overlook is when you get into Boutique basses... Construction is no longer important... They all have superb construction what stands out is Tone, and ALL of those Boutique instruments have their own tone, Fodera just thinks theirs is worth more, and their customers agree.
 

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