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REAL Fodera... ouch my head hurts!


warwickhunt
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Isn't it just a different implementation of the Dingwall concept of having a longer string on the B string so that it's under more tension and doesn't feel as floppy as a 34' scale B.

 

Having played neither a Dingwall or a Fodera I have no idea if there's any truth to that, but it sort of makes sense in my head.

Edited by Cato
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Some years ago @Silvia Bluejay and I did a tour of the Fodera workshop in Brooklyn. Silvie wrote it up afterwards, but I can't remember where it was published.

 

They're lovely people, it's a very nice production facility, they make great basses. I had my choice of them all to noodle on for an uninterrupted hour, which I took full advantage of.

 

I could have bought one had I really wanted it, but none of the ones I played made me think I couldn't live without it, which rather surprised me. I've had basses by Alleva Coppolo and especially by Mike Lull which were far more my cup of tea.

 

My experience has always been that it's individual basses I fall for, rather than brand names or reputations. On that same New York trip I played a Warwick Jack Bruce Custom (and yes, that really did exist) which I confidently expected would be complete pants (I hate Warwicks), and it just blew me away. I also played a Fender Custom Shop Dusty Hill Precision which was just ludicrously overpriced at US$6000 or something, and Silvie had to pry it out of my hands and frogmarch me out of the shop.

 

Don't you know you never can tell ...

 

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13 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Some years ago @Silvia Bluejay and I did a tour of the Fodera workshop in Brooklyn. Silvie wrote it up afterwards, but I can't remember where it was published.

 

They're lovely people, it's a very nice production facility, they make great basses. I had my choice of them all to noodle on for an uninterrupted hour, which I took full advantage of.

 

I could have bought one had I really wanted it, but none of the ones I played made me think I couldn't live without it, which rather surprised me. I've had basses by Alleva Coppolo and especially by Mike Lull which were far more my cup of tea.

 

My experience has always been that it's individual basses I fall for, rather than brand names or reputations. On that same New York trip I played a Warwick Jack Bruce Custom (and yes, that really did exist) which I confidently expected would be complete pants (I hate Warwicks), and it just blew me away. I also played a Fender Custom Shop Dusty Hill Precision which was just ludicrously overpriced at US$6000 or something, and Silvie had to pry it out of my hands and frogmarch me out of the shop.

 

Don't you know you never can tell ...

 


Word 👍

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24 minutes ago, Happy Jack said:

Some years ago @Silvia Bluejay and I did a tour of the Fodera workshop in Brooklyn. Silvie wrote it up afterwards, but I can't remember where it was published.

 

They're lovely people, it's a very nice production facility, they make great basses. I had my choice of them all to noodle on for an uninterrupted hour, which I took full advantage of.

 

I could have bought one had I really wanted it, but none of the ones I played made me think I couldn't live without it, which rather surprised me. I've had basses by Alleva Coppolo and especially by Mike Lull which were far more my cup of tea.

 

My experience has always been that it's individual basses I fall for, rather than brand names or reputations. On that same New York trip I played a Warwick Jack Bruce Custom (and yes, that really did exist) which I confidently expected would be complete pants (I hate Warwicks), and it just blew me away. I also played a Fender Custom Shop Dusty Hill Precision which was just ludicrously overpriced at US$6000 or something, and Silvie had to pry it out of my hands and frogmarch me out of the shop.

 

Don't you know you never can tell ...

 

 

Similar experience with me, I had never tried a Fodera that I thought "Yeah I'd pay that amount of money for that bass", wonderfully built, impeccable quality etc....but just didn't light that spark for me individually..........

Until I played a Matt Garrison Standard 5 string at Bass Gear (RIP), that was an incredible instrument that I then ended up ordering, through them, from Fodera (as the shop one was already spoken for).
As it happened I was in New York about 1 month before the completion of the bass, so did a tour, had my picture taken with the nearly finished bass. Lovely people, fantastic place.

If I was well-off, I wouldn't have sold it 2 years later, but as i'm not.....it was sold in readiness for my son being born.

 

Oh and the Smugmug hosting site is very much Fodera's platform for hosting their various 'new born' bass photos.

 

Si

 

 

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2 hours ago, lidl e said:

7200 quid for a bolt on neck bass.

 

Get outta here.

 

Yes, I know inflation and all but EUR7200 (at time of posting GBP6275) is quite ambitious in my opinion. I don't think it'll sell for anything close to that.

 

2 hours ago, Chris2112 said:

Fodera have been offering this for years. I remember one of their staff/dealers commenting to the effect that they couldn't conclusively state if it made a difference or not but they'd build it like that if you wanted it. Fair enough, I think. I'm not convinced. 

 

I've had multiple 33" scale 6 string Fodera basses and one of them was equipped with the extended B.

From a tonal perspective, it didn't make any difference at all to my ears.

From an aesthetics perspective, I'd prefer not to comment :)

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1 hour ago, Cato said:

Isn't it just a different implementation of the Dingwall concept of having a longer string on the B string so that it's under more tension and doesn't feel as floppy as a 34' scale B.

If the tension of the string is changed, the tuning is changed, while the vibrating string length is constant. The excess behind the nut and the bridge do not mean a thing.

 

(Someone will surely start the discussion of stringing through the body, and how superior it is.)

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I did the tour of the Fodera shop just before I ordered one in 2015. I still have it and it's my absolute favourite bass of all time. They are great people and a great company and contrary to what people think, no one there is getting rich. 

Their custom basses are all different and you really have to know what you want before ordering to avoid making an expensive mistake. Having said that though the Seymour Duncan dual coils they typically use do have a tone all their own which puts them all in a similarish ballpark tonewise.

Aside from the one I ordered I also bought another second hand. Although I initially loved it, over time I realised that the tone of that particular bass just didn't work for me so I ended up selling it. 

Neither of the basses I own(ed) had the extended B headstock and personally I don't think it can much difference to the tightness of the B string. I think Mike Pope was the first to have a bass with that feature. He's a great player and a very creative guy so if it works for him... 

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