The Emperor 6 Standard is the first 6 string in the Standard line from the Brooklyn based Fodera shop.
There's no difference in quality between a Standard and a Custom Fodera bass. The difference comes fromt he fact that in the Standard series instruments come with fixed specifications (no customization is possible). This allows the Fodera team to build these instruments in small batches and optimize the use of woods, parts and materials. Specs and features on Standard Fodera basses are chosen according to the most accepted and requested among customers, so unless you need a fancy top, special neck dimensions or alternative electronics, Standard basses are a great choice.
While there are many specialized 6 string basses out there that are great for chord work and solo stuff, few of them really deliver a rock solid tone that you can use in almost any style. Well, we are happy to report that this is one of them.
The 1 piece ash body, bolt on maple neck and pauferro fingerboard is a perfect combination for an all round tone with great punch and attack. Fodera's own Single-Humbucking pickups are incredibly effective at capturing the natural sound of the bass. In Single Coil mode you get that great 70's type of sound with a nice punch to it and enough attack to cut through in a band situation. Just add a touch of Bass in the onboard Pope EQ and you'll get one of the best slap sounds we've heard lately, and definitely the best we've ever heard on a 6 string. Switch to humbucking mode and you'll get a more modern and incisive type of sound that actually reminds us of a Musicman bass. The bridge pickup as a nice soloist type of sound and the Passive Tone control is very effective here, allowing you to get that old school tone easily.
Neck dimesions have been cleverly designed to sit between the two extremes that you normally find on 6 string basses (either too wide or too narrow). This means you can easily play chords and switch to groove or slap playing like nobody's business. Everyting feels easy here and you can try just any technique that you want. The Emperor 6 Standard will just deliver time after time.
Scale is the traditional 34" and we love this. No need to stretech out to reach all the notes. Everything just falls in place naturally. And of course the los B is just perfect: loud, clear, defined... Also remarkable is the High C. In most 6 string basses this string sounds too thin and guitar-like. Not here. The special polepiece design for this string delivers a fuller tone and gets rid of that awful huge gap that you can hear on some other 6's between the C and G strings.
To sum up, an amazing 6 string that is really comfortable to play, sounds and feels familar and can be used for just ANY style more than any other 6 string we've ever tried.