DiMarco

Got nothing against slap, tap, chords, picks, fingerstyle or large effect boards. Just play the damn thing.

New tailpiece why? Looks like the exact same thing to me.

Had a discussion with a local luthier today. The v63 will not be moved on but get a refin. It will be creme colour with transparent lacquer on the headstock wings, to look identical to the bass Chris Squire played throughout his career in Yes. Current lacquer keeps getting more sticky over time so I guess it is time to take action.

When trading up to the BT2 what you gain is flexibility. I have the BT2 Gen3 and absolutely love it. HF unit is never ever harsh sounding and the crossover rolls off highs from the woofers as well as rolling off lows from the tweeter for a nice flat response. It is the one cab that can do it all and stay tight at serious soundlevels. When you dial out the HF unit, the woofers get the full range signal again so will sound very reminiscent of your current cab.

I had a 2014 4003 and still have my 2001 v63. Both necks a thin and really fast playing. Thinking of moving on the v63 as well at some point, my taste in basses has been drastically changing lately.

I peeked for about a minute, but I am so bored and old I am not easily moved by just about anything anymore. ... Well except for a NBD every now and then maybe.

Maybe one of the more early versions. Body looks rather plain and flat, much more like a jazz bass then the 2007-2010 models I have so far seen.

Nah I understand the appeal completely. A Pbass is like glue in the mix. Everything just flows. I only sold my P basses because the old Ric V63 does the same in the mix and more. It doesn't sound like those new Ric 4003 at all. Has different pickups and pickup placement, too. Anyway, congrats man! Can't go wrong with a Pbass.

Since class D became a thing and all the powersections in bass amps started sounding exactly the same the only thing that matters is headroom and how good the preamp was designed so it won't screw up your signal. On top of that, making your tone with the amp is pretty oldskool since bass players have been starting to use more and more pedals that shape your tone (and there's amazingly good sounding stuff out there that goes on your pedalboard!). What many players do is make their tone before it hitting the amp, and even having a D.I. that incorporates bass cabinet impulse responses to make life very easy for FOH. This makes having a flexibile EQ and built-in fx like compressor, drive etc. on the amplifier pretty much obsolete. That said, I do use an amp that sounds different since it isn't class D but full valve. Still, my EQ on that is completely flat except when I need to make up for any bad room acoustics (ie take the boominess out if needed). I am not saying having the best possible class D amp is a bad idea, just that making your sound before it hits any amp is seen more often then it used to. So just how important is the amp, and specifically its preamp section in your rig at the end of the day? My 2p.

Grit from driving a solid state? First time I ever heard that. Any grit from SS sounds flat and ugly in my book. The SMX are hybrid amps and part of their charm is the little tube that's in their pre section making things sound more lively then any regular solid state can or will give you. The two band compressor in there does magic stuff in the total bandmix with your bass, too. Great amps which I do recommend. Me I took it a bit further and now use the Hexa Valve (and a Cali'76cb compressor). Compared to any of my other amps (and I have owned a LOT of them) this one is miles beyond any of them. And at nearly 30 kilograms it damn well should be.

ok boomer 😁

Marius switched his videos to private. Guess I was lucky to have checked his review. Now you can only watch through Patreon, for a fee... Such is life I guess.

So what do you make of this @Belka? Looks like Fodera pickups and tuning mechanisms. The sprayed logo and cheap looking body are yelling FAKE though. Also, it was advertised as a carbon neck. The neck looks more like a carbon color lacquered neck to me though. Thoughts?

Two band EQ with a passive tone control on this 2007. Marius is on Patreon, if you like his videos do consider giving the guy some love.

About the three vs two band pre: Maybe Mike Pope was referring to this when he said early in 2009 that he was designing a new preamp for the NYC series, which would improve their sound. The info on the website stating the three band eq was up there from june 2009 until late 2010... I must also admit I never really touch the mid dial on any of my threeband eq basses. I do imagine they can be a lifesaver though when playing through a crappy backline that sounds overly scooped or very honky (like those awful Peavy combo's we used to see a lot in the early nineties).

This is a quote from Mike Pope on another forum, January 2009: NYC basses are made in Japan in a small shop by two guys who have been trained by Joey and Vinny. I know one of them personally. I met him at the shop in NY once when I was there. The basses are hand built. There's no CNC. The top woods, neck woods/fingerboards, and I THINK the body woods are shipped over from Fodera's aged stock. The fingerboards are even slotted by Fodera first.. ..The guys in the shop in Japan use many of the same machines to build the basses that Fodera uses and they are built by the same processes that Vinny and Joey use. They are real craftsmen. Japan is NOT CHINA. You guys need to understand that. Japan is much more like the US than China from the standpoint of craftsmanship. This is not cookie cutter crap. These are nice basses. The preamps in a lot of them are based on my design, but they are not my products. I'm building a new preamp for the NYC's that will show up shortly which will vastly improve their performance sonically. Then later on in that thread: The NYC parts are fabricated in Japan from Fodera's stock of wood, and assembled and set up in Brooklyn. I've never known anyone from Fodera to say anything to the contrary. So that clears up things to somewhat full extent. Two guys in Japan that were trained by Joey and Vinny are building the parts for the NYC series. No CNC machines are involved, these are hand made instruments. The wood comes from Brooklyn, bass parts (bodies, necks) are built in Japan by these very skilled people for Fodera. Finished products are shipped back to Brooklyn, where the basses are assembled and set up. The preamps in the NYC from before 2009 are based on Pope's design, but are not his product. Source: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/fodera-and-f-clef-basses-the-real-deal.509433/#post-6868719

This is an excerpt from doctorbass.net and is about the Yin Yang standard: The bodies are completely built in Fodera Brooklyn’s workshop by the same skilled craftsmen that work on the Custom instruments. The basic neck shaping and initial finishing is done by the skilled Japanese craftsmen that make the excellent Fodera NYC range. The wood for the necks is shipped from the Fodera shop in Brooklyn, NY to Japan and then the partially finished necks are sent back to Brooklyn where there’s still extensive work to be done: final hand-rubbed finish, hand made nut, fretwork, assembling the body and neck, hardware and electronics installation and then the same painstaking set-up and checkk.out process that all Fodera basses go through. Skilled japanese craftsmen that make the excellent Fodera NYC range... And the wood IS indeed shipped back and forth. From and back to Brooklyn. Belka is correct.

Got this info from Aero: Between 1999 and 2008 Aero was one of two pickups suppliers for the majority of Fodera USA basses, and the exclusive supplier to the Fodera NYC/Bottom Wave instruments from Japan. Does this mean all NYC between 1999 and 2008 sported Aero pickups? It just might. They also say that thing again: "from Japan".

Still open: We want to know more about Japan. Were CNC machines involved? Were they lacquered there or in Brooklyn? This will be tricky to find out.

Okay so what we have established so far The N.Y.C. series came to be in 1993, when Grunge was also a thing. They are made from properly dried and often beautiful Fodera owned wood, wherever that may have been stacked to dry. Assembly, fretwork, electronics and hardware was applied in Brooklyn, NY by the boys at Fodera. There are four different versions in total, and of these versions there's mainly ash body+maple fingerboard with 70's pickup placement and alder body+rosewood fingerboard with 60's pickup placement copies, although different variations may exist. The versions are 21 fret standard, 21 fret deluxe, 24 fret standard, 24 fret deluxe. The Deluxe have angled pegheads, Fodera brass bridges, three piece maple necks, natural, sunburst or custom transparent colour finishes. Standards have flat pegheads, Gotoh brass bridges, one piece maple necks, classic opaque colour finishes. All have a three band Pope pre onboard and by default Fodera designed Seymour Duncan pickups, sometimes Aero's instead. Japan is indeed a country. Woodwork on the N.Y.C. series which funny enough is not named the Kimono series was certainly done in Japan, even though Fodera themselves do not seem to feel like talking about this much. The N.Y.C. weighs more then a Sadowsky Metroline does. Fodera is the Italian word for lining. Belka knows stuff. Some N.Y.C. Empire basses are very sexy.

Maybe that's because a large portion of Americans are VERY sensitive to the term "made in USA".

Aha, so that basically would make them the Fodera equivalent of Sadowsky's MetroLine series (from before Warwick started manufacturing them). Less options, far more friendly priced and still very good instruments. Somehow though, I find it hard to cope with the idea of sending wood from the US to Japan to have it worked on and then send it back to have hardware, frets and electronics installed. More logical would be to purchase quantities of wood and have parts of it sent straight to both Japan and the US. The key thing here is what's "our aged stock" supposed to mean. How much it all matters I don't really know, they are fine instruments no doubt. Just a lot of noise about the subject exists online.

So. N.Y.C. Empire by Fodera came in 4 different flavors: Standard, Standard 24 fret, Deluxe, Deluxe 24 fret. Oh and uncle Vic used to play one of the regular Deluxe with SD pups installed. How rare! Must be a proper bass then. Not that I have ever seen him play a five string...

Here's more... Sadly some images of the 24 fret deluxe version have gone missing.