lemmywinks

Has anybody tried the XR series with non-Apple hardware, specifically Atom based Win10 tablets (Bay Trail and Cherry Trail)?

There's a few sellers on AliExpress with counterfeit Foderas (and every other bass ever).

You can also get startlingly good gig recordings out of them too. We upgraded to the 32 channel Mackie which allows you to edit separate channels after recording, an amazing secondary feature to have IMO. Can just leave an external hard drive hooked up and record every gig.

Don't need to fill any holes as there is a sufficient amount of wood between the new and old holes although it would only take a few minutes to plug them I guess, just line it up with the string holes, mark the centres and drill new ones. I just used a Dremel, took 5 minutes to fit. That picture is intonated btw, there's another guy who fitted the same bridge on TalkBass and his B saddle looks further back than mine (well all of them do really), his actions looks to be very high though so maybe that's affecting intonation at the 12th fret. Pinched the pic here:

If the new bridge doesn't work out then you could just try swaping the individual saddles out and putting them on the Sire base plate, that's where the problem is after all. Having said that I never had any intonation problems on my stock bridge. The main issue with replacement bridges is finding one with 18mm string spacing which retains through body stringing. Even ones that seem compatible can end up being useless as the through holes on the Sire are closer to the saddle than you would expect, the standard Hipshot A style is like this IIRC but apparently the FM version (Fender mount) is ok as the holes are further forward.

Disappointing isn't it? That's worse than my old Squier Standard which had the horrid trough but was at least separate from the control cavity.

Will probably look a bit like this:

Nowt up with that, if people want to play for free then they can do. There's a town near us where the pubs pay between £120 and £150 for a band, maybe £200 if they know you will pack the place. There's a circuit of bands who play them, a 4 or 5 piece band playing for £30 each the same to me as doing a free gig and getting a few pints and food thrown in. Usually cheap/free bands are a terrible noise though.

That's it, for me at least. nobody is doubting that they are indeed extremely good and not worth a few grand. Value is a funny thing though, if someone desperately wants a Fodera and £15k is pocket money then why not? A friend of mine spent several hundred pounds on a plastic handbag, she loves it and uses it every day. I think she's mental and needs a hobby but we're all different! Exactly, I never begrudge someone maximising their talent to earn money. We could make a massive list of people who earn obscene amounts that we don't think they deserve but it would be compeletely pointless, at least the Fodera guys are skilled craftsmen creating professional tools which have a reputation that places them in the upper echelon of their field. Despite all that I still don't want one and think they look pretty lame, just as well really as I haven't got £15k to throw around. FWIW I do have a custom bass sat in a case in my spare room - it's very nice and is by far the best bass I've owned from an objective point of view. Doesn't have enough strings though so it no longer gets gigged, not the tool I need for the job.

Wait a minute, so I could say get an XR12, download different channel profiles to pick which one I liked and add a bit of compression etc? Can you switch between different patches on the fly, say if I needed a bit of envelope filter for a certain song could I just patch it in on the tablet and be good to go?

I've liked every cheap Aria I've had, from the £45 J bass to various Integras. Didn't pay over £99 for any of them either, one which I wish I'd owned was the IGB 68. I had the passive 4 string version with the dark stain though and gigged it for a bit, that cost me £50! I still have an early Samick Integra with Japanese parts and body/headstock shape.

Wow, there's some beautiful instruments for Japanese players isn't there?

Kinda proves what he was saying, they are a long way from being a boutique builder.

That looks great! I really like the shape of those RSBs, reminds me a bit of the Avante bass they did.

That looks completely nuts for £200, good OS compatibility too.

That blue thing looks bloody awful and I'm a fan of that shape, the old standard IGB 68 looked better than that. They used to do the odd limited run of nice looking basses, dunno if they were just for trade shows or if any made it out to shops on a regular basis. Stuff like this: There was the Rosie which was pretty easily available a few years ago: Bit puzzling why they've gone for such a cheap looking bass for their new flagship when they can clearly come up with much better designs. The RSBs look cool, shame the cheaper models don't have the clear pickguards though.

This is a cheaper solution, has Ibanez written on it though. Not tried it myself but it should fit and has 18mm spacing: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5-String-IB-Electric-Bass-Transbody-Bridge-Chrome-Behind-the-strings-Bridge/32834794882.html?spm=2114.search0104.3.219.3ee0777bXrr8m5&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_4_10152_10065_10151_10344_10068_10130_10324_10342_10547_10325_10343_10340_10341_10548_10696_10192_10190_10084_10083_10618_10307_10301_10303_5711215_10313_10059_10184_10534_100031_10103_10627_10626_10624_10623_10622_5711315_10621_10620_5722415,searchweb201603_25,ppcSwitch_4&algo_expid=98320dcb-bdd8-4e4f-ad32-ce4cf1089ef2-34&algo_pvid=98320dcb-bdd8-4e4f-ad32-ce4cf1089ef2&priceBeautifyAB=0

The Sires have funny bridges with oversize saddles which can make intonation a bit of a pain when stringing through body as the break angle is very sharp, more an issue on the B string due to how thick and stiff it is. The problem is the saddles extend back quite a bit behind the break point of the string, from memory the 4 string bridge on these was worse. Although it is annoying intonation should be fine. I have a Gotoh bridge on mine, the 404-5 which is £75 and this has much more sensible saddles with a more gentle break angle. Not a cheap solution but as you can see the strings have an easier time going through the body.

Thanks for the offer, I think I'll just go for the 5 knob SBK 3A when I have some Paypal credit (I have very strict gear buying rules I set for myself!). the overall cost is very discouraging when ordering from the USA though. I have a pal who comes over a few times a year so I might see if he can sneak one over for me.

I was looking at that one, I have similarly configured Artec in my backup bass (an old Korean Cort C5P with the piezo bridge removed) but the mid sweep doesn't work and Artec weren't very helpful, in fact I have two like that and only found out they were faulty when I went to install them a year after purchase. Shame as every other Artec pre I've had has been great.

Earthing issue aside he makes that sound great, his style isn't the type I usually go for (that whole Wooten generic gospel funk stuff - give me some Brick any day) but his playing is so full of life. Great personality to have on YouTube. Gonna have a look at those Tone Monster preamps, I've had Artecs in a few basses and you can get startlingly good sounds out of them. I can remember when budget preamps were universally awful things. pretty cool that there's drop in solder free replacements that cost the same as a pack of strings.

I love that guy, he just always seems so excited to be playing bass. or even being in the same room as a bass. I'm pretty sure you could send him an email that just said "bass" and he'd squeal with laughter. He's got another Chinese Fauxdera too, I think he's quite handy at fettling basses though (he did a restoration of an old KS) so he can do any work himself.

Ssshhhh, it's the secret Fodera woodland timber fairies which hand select every piece of wood when it is a mere sapling, then play their magic flute as it grows so it produces the correct timbre when it becomes a body blank. But don't tell anybody, they'll all be doing it then. Besides, Shuker hasn't even got the frets and pickups in straight on that bass, the nitwit.

To be honest I don't care what a Fodera costs new, if they want to charge that and people are prepared to pay it then good on them. People pay many times more for inanimate objects to decorate their homes, at least a Fodera is a functional instrument albeit a bit naff looking (so is that Maruszczyk Sputnik thing IMO). Just don't try and justify it with silly excuses like astronomical rent prices, super secret wood selection processes by magical forest fairies or amazing expertise that no other luthier can offer. They are just one boutique brand turning out high end instruments among many others, with the high profile comes a high price and that's totally fine. If you want one then by all means get the cheque book out, you only live once.

One free with every purchase!