Fodera had been building custom basses since the 80s, they basically represents the best of the industry of boutique electric basses, and IMO, they’ve archived a tad more than the other builders. The sound, feel, and craftsmanship of their instruments are just incompariable.
Background:
In 2012-2013, they’ve launched the Standard line of instruments by offering what’s proven the working recipes of a great instrument .. with the help of modern machinary, they’re able to produce quality instruments by batches instead of 1 at a time. With the Fodera secret sauce, they’re able to put up a few popular models that plays well, sounds killer at a more affordable cost.
Specs:
- Top Wood: Bi-Color 5A Flame Maple
- Body Wood: Ash
- Fingerboard Wood:Pau Ferro
- Neck Wood: 1-pc. Hard Rock Maple (Quatersawn)
- Neck Joint: Bolt-on
- Scale Length: 34
- Frets: 24 (Large)
- Pickups: Fodera Dual Coils
- Preamp: Fodera / Pope Standard 3-Band
- Control Layout: Emperor Standard Layout
- Finish: Acrylic Satin
- Tuners: Gotoh
- Bridge: Fodera Non-Locking (19mm Spacing)
Playbility:
With the help of Plek machine, they’re able to archive to a dead straight neck with extreme low action buzz free. The full range of the fingerboard plays/feel like butter. The 24 large frets feels just about right(I’m more used to small vintage frets). Thanks to the High-mass bridge w/ brass nut(I believe this places a big part of their tone secret) Very great balance between a 4 strings.
Sound:
This bass delivers that Fodera vibe without compromise. The popular, less labour intensive bolt-on design just gives that full raw punch. Custom Duncan dual coil pickups, the 3 band preamp are dead quiet with great dynamic range. These instruments are way beyond professional .. Default switch controls active/passive mode and single coil/hum bucker . 3 band eq with passive tone control . There’s really nothing else to ask for . Naturally, the high mass bridge and brass nut gives a compressed(in a good way) voice that brings the organic wood timbre up to your face. Dual coil pickups tend to give a little extra controls on the string vibration (to some people’s ear, it could be too much magnetism and wires) to keep things more forgiving to the pluking hand. And the onboard preamp just amplify the signal in a transparent way.
Thoughts:
Well, it’s almost 10yrs since they first announced the standard line and looked like they’re still favourited by many players around the world .
The common struggle when going with a Fodera is trying to go ultimate with all the rare, fancy options . The bolt-on neck design is the least expensive, but it’s just the proven design to give that max punch. I’m lucky enough to play and own a few Fodera basses and honestly the standard lines sounds better than quiet a few custom models . It’s a dream era to have so many such quality instruments around us. Fodera had raised the bar higher for decades, and they surely won’t disappointed when it comes to a versatile and professional instrument.
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