I know people complain about not having a specialist shop local but if it were me I'd still rather spend a few quid travelling to try stuff if we are talking £2k plus, most cases we are talking half a tank of fuel £40, in the op's case fair enough it's going to be more like £200 with a night in a travel lodge but is that such a big deal in the context of a £4k Fodera?
Most people in the market for the basses mentioned will spend a lot of time and money travelling to see how things are going, one BC member I know must of spent £1000's travelling to GB basses in Brighton and another I know has been to NY to choose his Sadowsky, living somewhere a hundred miles or so away from bass direct in the midlands really is no excuse IMO