funkypenguin

Fodera make a 10% profit margin on any instrument they make, which is hardly printing money Kev. They pay a decent living wage to their entire team, whereas I'm pretty sure that some of the smaller luthiers such as Shuker and Alpher (once they factor in how long each instrument takes in man hours) aren't even working for minimum wage. If you want a better breakdown of their business model, the link below is a breakdown that one of the partners (Jason) did of what goes where in terms of finances. It's not all to do with them being in NYC (although it's certainly part of it). https://www.talkbass.com/threads/so-many-people-are-selling-their-foderas.881417/page-3#post-12628306 And since someone mentioned Alembic, a 4 string series II STARTS at $35250.... http://www.alembic.com/prod/prices.html

I use the Warwick Hellborg PR40 preamp going into the Mono 500w power amp. It's stupidly heavy thanks to the transformers in the power amp but it's the best sounding amp I've yet played through, and the Preamp sounds absolutely beautiful recorded.

Definitely a horses for courses thing with instrument weight, I've never really understood the preoccupation some players have with sub 10lb instruments but then my Warwick breaks the 11lb barrier and I've never really struggled with it even on long gigs (a 4 inch wide strap definitely helps). If you've found your 'keeper' bass in that Squier, then thats awesome, keep it, enjoy it, play the frets off it some people go down the custom route because they want something really specific from their instrument that isn't available off the shelf, at which point (and this is always assuming that you know precisely what you want and why you want it) you need to really trust that the builder a. knows what they're doing and b. understands what it is that you're looking for from the instrument.

She's been completed and uploaded to the Fodera newborns!! I'm still processing a lot of the details but its safe to say I'm absolutely stunned. https://fodera.smugmug.com/Newborn-Gallery-Vol-VI/Newborn-2165/

What did you end up with??

Their wood library is absolutely incredible, even after you've narrowed it down to a specific type of wood the selection and variety they present for you is insane!

Happy NBD!! I was one of the people that played this and while its really not my thing ergonomically, it's possibly the finest sounding passive bass I've ever played, I was really impressed with it!

Sounds like a great dinner companion!

That was definitely my impression of him although I wasn't buying he was keen to know what I liked and didn't about his basses and he gave the impression that he's passionate about all the low end, not just his specific thing. Chatting with him was definitely one of the highlights of an otherwise disappointing show.

Without wishing to encourage your wallet further, Fodera will still build you a classic J if you ask them

I hope it happens for you one day! AFAIK she's now been completed and started final setup on Friday so it shouldn't be too much longer now!

The whole thing came off as being half baked tbh....the plus points were running into people I know, and finally meeting people such as @Dood in person the downside was basically being done with the stands in about 30 minutes, although on the second lap I ended up having a great chat with Sheldon Dingwall!

A bit long in the tooth perhaps, but there is still nothing that sounds like those Alembic series basses

9mm at the nut (I asked for the same nut width as my Warwick 6er )

Hey guys Short back story, I first played a Fodera (chestnut topped Garrison signature) back in 2011, and I came away from that experience thinking that that was just about the best instrument I'd ever played. I later had the chance to play a 33" scale monarch 6 string and a couple of days later I started saving....fast forward a few years, and alll the stars finally lined up in March of last year, and my bass went into production in mid Feb of this year! Specs are as follows Monarch 6 string Elite 32" scale length 3 piece red oak neck (thin profile) Ebony fingerboard (blank) Walnut body, alder tone block Solid flame Koa top, matching headstock 26 frets (small) 16.5mm spacing Ebony ramp and pickup covers Fodera/Duncan dual coils Pope custom shop preamp, Garrison control layout Black hardware I got my progress photos from Fodera yesterday and its safe to say I'm pretty thrilled with the way my bass is turning out thus far! She's on schedule for final setup one week today, so assuming all goes well I'm hoping to take delivery sometime in the second week of April, at which point I'll add the unboxing/NBD photos! UPDATE: She's been completed!!! https://fodera.smugmug.com/Newborn-Gallery-Vol-VI/Newborn-2165/

Tom Read has a whole library of quality bass transcriptions, some Motown tunes among them. They've been accurate enough for me to gig them with no rehearsal so really recommend them https://www.tomreadbass.co.uk/transcriptions

I would class him having a signature model with Alembic as a form of endorsement but yeah, could go either way with GB and yeah, he's had some really tasty gear over the years! the first boutique bass I ever saw was Mark's quilted maple Alembic series II!

Great story and congrats on finally landing the 6JM!! Scenes From A Memory and Live Scenes From New York were milestone records for me as a bass player, and I still come back to them 15 years after I first heard them!

I'm not a particular fan of carbon fibre necks but of the one's I've played I liked the modulus Q6 the most (it sounded more organic than the Status and Zon basses I've tried), and its news to me that they're apparently not well regarded any more! I concur with what others are saying, I wouldn't dream of turning up at a rehearsal or a gig and giving my opinion on the guitarist's axe or the drummers choice of cymbals.. It's what works for them and lets them feel comfortable, and so it should be with you, its about what you enjoy playing and that allows you to express yourself, not what the others in the band think you should be playing. IME the only times that changes are if its a tribute act of some sort or you're playing in an artist's band that is going for a really specific look.

The East UNI pre should fix it based on my experience of fitting the older U-Retro, although that being said you might have a job fitting it into that control cavity

Generally speaking the bridge saddles follow a slight diagonal from the lowest to the highest string, with the lowest string being further back and the highest further forward, so it makes some sense to mount the monorail bridge units to follow that diagonal from the start

Great story, that's awesome that you've managed to find another Bongo in that awesome shade of orange Andy!

Mark King - Jaydee, Alembic, GB, Status, Fender, Trace Elliot, Ashdown, TC, Markbass, Rotosound

What size/amount of gear are we talking about here? if it has to go in the boot rather than putting the seats down (which is what I do in my golf), then an estate car (Ford, BMW or Volvo would get my pick) would seem the ideal choice