Fodera has been the best of class in making electric basses since the 80s, used by countless serious bass artists world wide. They’ve surely pushed the art of solid body instrument making to the highest level. In about 2011, they’ve released the standard line and this Ying Yang Standard was one of the signature model among the 4 standard line models.
Background:
Being one of the most recognizable player and instrument, there’s no way for them to do it with out the amazing Victor Wooten and his Ying Yang Standard .. (the other signature model was the Matt Garrison Imperial 5) . Standard line featured the machine cut body and neck(finished by hand), popular wood combination and the bolt-on construction, a simplified electronic. It’s just a bunch things that happen to be simple yet working really well …. yet with a more affordable price tag compare to their custom line . And I think they’ve hit the home run with these releases, and the YYS is being one of the highlight of the 4, I really dig the punchy-ness yet delicate sound, just happen to be more practical than many of the custom models I’ve tried out throughout the years.
Specs
- Chambered Walnut Body
- 3-Piece Maple Neck w/ Ebony Fingerboard
- Pau Amarillo (Yellowheart) Top w/ Black Painted Yin Yang
- Black Hardware
- EMG P/J Pickups
- 34” Scale, 24 Frets
- 19.0mm String Spacing
- Fodera / Pope 3-Band Standard Preamp
Playbility:
Typical Fodera playability, neck had been plek’ed to perfection …. It was too easy/wild to play and I had to raise the overall action a bit in order to dig in harder .. EMG pickup are extremely hot and sensitive, it was a bit scary to drive, but very rewarding to good playing techniques.
Sound:
Hot and sensitive pickup is part of the recipe for capturing all the details of Victor’s playing …. It’s too much for me and I had to lower the pickups quite a bit to compensate to my more generic playing. Overall sound is still full and up-front, it has that Fodera modern compressed sound in a modern way . I also believe the high mass bridge has helped a lot with the focused upper-mid ping.
Thoughts:
A proven working wood combination, the most punchy bolt-on design, modern electronics .. everything together has made this bass exceptional. The iconic Ying Yang design is also eye catching . This combination overall has made the instrument a lot more practical than some of the custom instruments I’ve tried .. at least for my cover/backing band needs. And the standard line also brought us into the era with the finest instrument at a slightly more affordable and available .
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