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On my way up to Massachusetts, I stopped by two shops: Fodera and M Bass. I've been thinking about buying some new instruments for a while, and so now I'm taking the plunge.
First up, Fodera. I have the idea of two basses, mirror opposites of each other (brother basses, if you will) -- one fretted, one fretless. The four string by Vinne that I have is probably one of the best basses I've ever played, so I want the other fretted bass to be in addition to my four, not as a replacement. I talked with Vinnie for a bit, and the direction for the five string fretted is going to be a Monarch style chesnut body (assuming that he has enough quality wood to make it happen) with a walnut burl top and birdseye maple fretboard (mother of pearl block inlays) on a neck thru maple neck, topped off with gold hardware and aero dual coil pickups. The fretless, however, is a bit different. An Imperial style walnut body with a quilted maple top and a mahogany core, a maple neck matched with an ebony fretboard (purpleheart inlays), matched up with black hardware and aero dual coils. The bad news here is that I probably have an eighteen to twenty-four month wait on the order.
John Maghini is the proprietor of M Basses. He's made a few for Anthony, and he came down to the reunion Bass Camp this last year. I've liked his work for a while, and I wanted to give him a shot. What I wanted from him was more of a melody instrument than a traditional bass -- a five string slung tenor/piccolo (A-D-G-C-F). We're going to go with a blak walnut body and a myrtle burl top, a three piece 32" maple neck with an ebony fingerboard and abalone inlays. The hardware will be black and/or myrtle burl to match the top. Normally, I want my basses to be somewhat sedate in appearance, blending into the background, but this bass is more of a "look at me" instrument, as I really expect to be using it to carry the melody. The other good thing here is that I should get this one 'round about October or so.
Posted by Casper at December 30, 2005 10:52 PM