Are you good enough to play a Fodera?

[Reggaebass]

51 minutes ago, mikel said:

I would prefer to spend it on hookers and Gin

Money well spent if you ask me 😁

[Skybone]

Am I good enough to play a Fodera?

 

Probably not.

[Paul S]

Leaving aside playing ability, which to me is irrelevant, I see it then becomes an aspirational thing.  Lucky me, I am comfortably placed financially and could buy myself any bass on the market.  But do I want a Fodera?  No I don't.  If I won one in a competition I would sell it.  I get pleasure from tinkering with cheaper basses rather than buying myself an expensive one.  Same applies, for me, to clothes/cars/watches/cameras/jewellery/home elctronics etc etc.  That is not to disparage anyone who wants or likes these things, just saying that they aren't for me and I don't aspire to owning such things.  Horses for courses, YMMV etc  

[Misdee]

6 hours ago, Paul S said:

Leaving aside playing ability, which to me is irrelevant, I see it then becomes an aspirational thing.  Lucky me, I am comfortably placed financially and could buy myself any bass on the market.  But do I want a Fodera?  No I don't.  If I won one in a competition I would sell it.  I get pleasure from tinkering with cheaper basses rather than buying myself an expensive one.  Same applies, for me, to clothes/cars/watches/cameras/jewellery/home elctronics etc etc.  That is not to disparage anyone who wants or likes these things, just saying that they aren't for me and I don't aspire to owning such things.  Horses for courses, YMMV etc  

Very well said.

 

I too could ( and do) play any bass of my choosing. However, I recently bought a Harley Benton Shorty just out of curiosity and to see if I wanted to get a better short scale bass in future, just so I can stay trendy. Guess what? I get just as much enjoyment out of playing it as any bass I own or have owned. Maybe more, in fact, because I can forgive it's inconsistencies because it was so inexpensive. It sounds fine, too, especially with a bit of help from a decent preamp.

 

I've played a few Foderas. They were all beautifully made, played great and all sounded lush. If you are looking to solve a specific problem with your instrument then they are a company who will work with you to try and solve it using their expertise and craftsmanship. Make no mistake,  when it comes to boutique basses Fodera are the real deal.

 

But what they make is not unique in terms of tone. And in many ways it's the opposite of what I want personally. I want a bass to sound quite gritty and aggressive. Kind of like a Rickenbacker or Fender ect. Fodera basses sound way too refined and  polite for my tastes. That is true of most exotic wood basses. 

 

And regarding being"good enough" to play a Fodera, bear in mind that a  much of what you are paying for in a boutique bass is largely irrelevant. Ornate inlays, laminated decorative woods and other adornments are   mostly cosmetic. High price doesn't exclude intermediate players, only intermediate wallets. If the only people who bought professional quality musical equipment were professionals, the whole industry would collapse.

[Grahambythesea]

I just don’t like Foderas 👎

[Dan Dare]

4 hours ago, Misdee said:

Fodera basses sound way too refined and  polite for my tastes. That is true of most exotic wood basses. 

 

They are quite samey, too. I reckon that's because of the electronics they use (and a lot of makers use stuff from the same few manufacturers - Bartolini, etc).

 

4 hours ago, Misdee said:

If the only people who bought professional quality musical equipment were professionals, the whole industry would collapse.

 

True. Most pros play stuff they've had for ages. Wealthy weekend warriors buy most expensive instruments, as well as most golf clubs, sports kit, cameras, etc.

Edited February 13, 2022 by Dan Dare

[peteb]

23 hours ago, Tdw said:

I would  hope yes , however if I wanted to buy a super expensive bass I would probably  go for a la fey or maybe alembic over a fodera

 

 

I think that a Fodera has become a shortcut to describe any expensive ‘boutique’ bass – it could equally apply to an Alembic, F bass, Ken Smith or whatever. 

 

FWIW, the best bass I have ever played actually is a Fodera. The build quality was out of this world, really impressive, it played like a dream and the preamp was ace and it just sounded great. I could easily afford one if I wanted to, I would just have to sell a few basses to do so. The thing is, as good as the Fodera is, do I need it? I have a £2.5k ‘super jazz’ that works great with most of the gigs I do and a 70s Fender that is really cool for other gigs. I’ve also got a nice Stingray that I really like – would I want to sell all three to afford a Fodera, as good as it is? 

 

I did once consider buying an Alembic Epic many years ago. However, when I went down to the old Bass Centre to try one, as soon as I picked it up I realised that the neck just wasn’t for me (purely subjective of course). I didn’t even plug it in! A guy I know does have an Alembic (Series 1, I think). A great bass. He had the opportunity to get it secondhand for £3k or so, so he sold a couple of basses and has since used it on a couple of hundred gigs or so, mainly pubs or clubs. If you were to try and tell him that he shouldn’t be using a bass like that on semi-pro gigs, he would think that there was something wrong with you!

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by peteb

[peteb]

On 12/02/2022 at 11:24, FDC484950 said:

What, like a Gus? No thanks

 

A Gus might be alright for a Sigue Sigue Sputnik tribute band, but otherwise why would I want a bass guitar that looks like it was designed by someone who used to work in the props department of Blake's 7? 

 

Generally I want something that actually looks and sounds like a bass guitar for most of the gigs that I do. To be fair that is something that would put me off some of the more expensive 'coffee table' Fodera models. 

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by peteb

[dclaassen]

Being an old guy, I am also a bit put off by the "coffee table" basses. I do like seeing nice wood on an acoustic guitar. I have 2 with lovely Honduran mahogany sides and back...love the look and the sound. 

 

I have noticed that most folks posting gig videos or pics are playing something that looks like a Fender...

[neepheid]

39 minutes ago, dclaassen said:

Being an old guy, I am also a bit put off by the "coffee table" basses. I do like seeing nice wood on an acoustic guitar. I have 2 with lovely Honduran mahogany sides and back...love the look and the sound. 

 

I have noticed that most folks posting gig videos or pics are playing something that looks like a Fender...

 

Really?  You've noticed that most basses out there look like some variation of Leo's progeny?  That's kinda like saying you've noticed most grass is green

[Belka]

I own a Fodera. This of course means that I can't actually play bass and am just a collector who likes looking at basses, which is unfortunate, as the consensus seems to be that Foderas are ugly and Vinnie needs lessons in design. Luckily for me however, I drink a lot of coffee, so it comes in handy as a place to rest my cup on.

If I was serious about learning Bass I'd probably either get a Gus (for a Sigue Sigue Sputnik tribute act I'm thinking of forming🤣) or a Harley Benton to mod. 

 

If I do get a Gus, what colour long balloons would you guys recommend for the horns? Do they come with an air pump? Does the type of balloon impact the tone?

Edited February 14, 2022 by Belka

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, dclaassen said:

I have noticed that most folks posting gig videos or pics are playing something that looks like a Fender...

 

I would say that most basses from most manufacturers look a bit like a fender. Even the foderas being discussed here look pretty fendery, I would say that most of my basses sort of look a bit like fenders while only one of them actually is a fender, and that is a mustang.

[nilebodgers]

On a more philosophical level it depends if you personally feel comfortable owning beautiful and expensive things over functional, but less high-end items.

 

I think it may be a function of my upbringing, but I can't bring myself to own high-end basses or an expensive car even though I could afford them. It just feels wasteful and unnecessary. I top out on a s/h USA Fender and a s/h Skoda, that suits me.

 

I've got no problem with other people buying whatever they can afford though, we all have to make our own choices based on our values. No shade thrown on the Fodera players from me.

Edited February 14, 2022 by nilebodgers

[Reggaebass]

There’s some people here that own some really expensive basses , I’ve seen them changing them regularly for different or better ones, if that’s your thing then i don’t see any problem, just like some people like high end cars , if I thought a fodera would make me play better then I’d get one but I doubt it 😁

[peteb]

8 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

if I thought a fodera would make me play better then I’d get one but I doubt it

 

The thing is that it probably would...! 

 

I mentioned Phil from Bass Gear earlier, who reckoned that people who were sceptical about a Fodera could quite often change their minds when they played one. This was mainly because they found that it made it easier for them to play more difficult things. Certainly the one that I used was very easy to play. 

 

[BigRedX]

Any bass that suits your playing style will make you play better. Because you can no longer claim that your bad bass playing is due to a poor quality instrument holding you back and because a bass you enjoy playing should encourage you to play more.

 

Certainly when I got my first really good bass (a second hand Overwater) after having owned 3 very cheap and at best very average basses, my playing improved massively.

[EssentialTension]

If I fell into thinking a new bass (however expensive) was what would make me play better then I would give myself a stiff talking to and increase my practice regime.

 

[4000]

5 hours ago, peteb said:

 

The thing is that it probably would...! 

 

I mentioned Phil from Bass Gear earlier, who reckoned that people who were sceptical about a Fodera could quite often change their minds when they played one. This was mainly because they found that it made it easier for them to play more difficult things. Certainly the one that I used was very easy to play. 

 

I changed my mind when first I played one. It played a lot worse than I expected. 😉 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

I recently had the chance to spend some time playing a couple of extreme high end basses - a 70s Alembic and a more recent Fodera.

They're often mentioned in the same breath but the only thing they really had in common was the sheer quality of the instruments.

The Alembic looks and sounds like nothing else, everything about it is making a statement. The Fodera in comparison is very refined in appearance and tone, undoubtedly a class instrument but a bit too polite for me - there was nothing that shouted "this is the Fodera sound", unlike the highly idioyncratic Alembic. And the Fodera neck was too slim for me but that's just my preference.

 

[mikel]

7 hours ago, peteb said:

 

The thing is that it probably would...! 

 

I mentioned Phil from Bass Gear earlier, who reckoned that people who were sceptical about a Fodera could quite often change their minds when they played one. This was mainly because they found that it made it easier for them to play more difficult things. Certainly the one that I used was very easy to play. 

 

I have never played, with the exception of really cheap/poorly set up basses, that I believed were noticeably more difficult to play. Any half decent well set up instrument I have played was eminently playable regardless of whether or not I liked the amplified sound.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

On 11/02/2022 at 15:32, peteb said:

 

I would say with something like a Fodera (based on my limited experience of having played one) is that the build quality actually makes it physically easier to play cleaner. I remember Phil Nixon used to tell naysayers to sit down and play one and that things they found difficult on their own basses would be easier to pull off on a Fodera. 

 

When I tried the Alembic, I found my fingers flying all over the neck. I tried a little fiddly bass run I've always struggled to play cleanly - the bass/synth run in Yes' Machind Messiah - and I did it! It's not all guff you know.

[peteb]

23 minutes ago, mikel said:

I have never played, with the exception of really cheap/poorly set up basses, that I believed were noticeably more difficult to play. Any half decent well set up instrument I have played was eminently playable regardless of whether or not I liked the amplified sound.

 

I agree that a decent set-up makes a hell of a lot of difference and can make a cheap instrument play like a mid-level one, but the build quality on the Fodera (or an Alembic, etc) is a different thing altogether and yes, they are easier to play, as evidenced by Cosmo: 

 

20 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

When I tried the Alembic, I found my fingers flying all over the neck. I tried a little fiddly bass run I've always struggled to play cleanly - the bass/synth run in Yes' Machind Messiah - and I did it! It's not all guff you know.

 

Exactly! 

[chris_b]

Just back from town and parked at the side of the road was a McLaren Senna.   https://cars.mclaren.com/us-en/ultimate-series/mclaren-senna

 

Who needs one of those to get from A to B when you have a Volvo? Wow!! I bloody do!!

 

Same with basses. I buy the best I can find in my budget. I can't afford the top end but I can certainly appreciate them all the same.

[OliverBlackman]

Someone please give me a Fodera and I’ll let you know. 

[SteveH]

On 06/02/2022 at 19:47, AndyTravis said:

I think it’s more about affordability.

 

Does owning a Ferrari or Lamborghini make you a skilled driver?

 

Not necessarily.

 

But if you can afford a Lamborghini, would you drive a 15 year old Ford Focus? Probably not.

My basses are worth more than my car....... which is a 15 year old Ford Focus !☹️