Fodera Emperor II Elite 5 string

Fodera Emperor II Elite 5 string, swamp ash body/ 5A Masur birch top, 34” scale, 5 piece maple neck with bubinga stringers/ Select Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, Mother of Pearl block inlays, Seymour Duncan dual coils pickups in matching wooden covers, Fodera Pope preamp, flamed maple tone block, 24 frets, gold hardware, and Fodera custom hard shell case. Weight: 10 pounds, 14 ounces.

List $13,650. SOLD- identical model on order.

This Emperor II Elite 5 string is a very versatile bass with evenness of volume from note to note and string to string, and is very even in timbre from note to note and string to string. The low register is solid, powerful, balanced, and surprisingly responsive with its 34” scale length. You don’t have to “baby” this low “B”. It is alive, and responsive with a surprising amount of “tautness.”

The middle range is nicely balanced as well, and responds as one would expect from one of the most spectacular playing Fodera’s this bassist has ever played.

The treble is typical Fodera. Never becoming thin, or “shrill” as one climbs above the 12th fret on the “G” string. This body of the note is full, warm, and clear without becoming “puffy” or “muddy.” The highs are sweet and full, and always balanced with “appropriate” size.

Don’t be mislead by my description thus far. This bass has plenty of “snap” and quickness. It has surprising articulation, and the described warmth and fullness factor does not mean that this bass’ voice is overpoweringly dark, or annoyingly “anemic.”

If you didn’t read the description that was posted earlier this bass is a “re-creation” of a bass that ABT took delivery of at the January 2011 winter NAMM show. That bass was “virtually identical” to this one with the exception of having a Madagascar Kingwood fingerboard. Fodera has since run out of suitable kingwood, so this was commissioned with a fingerboard of premium Brazilian rosewood.

The “NAMM” bass was exceptional in its beauty, playability, response, sound, and versatility. Vinnie assured me that he strongly believed that this “re-creation” would live up to my expectations and have the superior characteristics of the earlier bass. I am thrilled to say that, without a doubt, this bass has surpassed the performance and sonic characteristics of “that NAMM bass.”

This bass is warm and round with great solidity, and “firmness.” It is articulate, and focused without being “harsh”, overly bright, or “strident.” This bass will without a doubt sit extremely well in the mix. Whether R&B, Gospel, fusion, AJ, solo bass, rock, funk, and even in more “legit” settings this incredible instrument just has the “right” combination of focus, dynamics, and a powerful “voice that will not be obscured” in a busy mix.