Chinese Fodera Copy from AliExpress $269 [Review]
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- Опубликовано: 1 авг 2024
- Chinese Fodera Copy from AliExpress $269 [Review]
I recently got a Fodera copy from AliExpress priced at $269. Check out the video to see what's up with it!
Check out my instagram here: / chaman_wesselkamper
Link to Bass: www.aliexpress.us/item/325680...
SPECS: (not listed on AliExpress)
-Active/Passive with On/Off switch (This video is only in Passive due to electronic issues)
-1 - 9V Battery Needed
-On/Off switch for each Pickup
-EQ Knobs = Bass, High, and Sweep
-25 Frets
-Nut Width: 1.73 inches
-Scale Length: 32.7 inches
00:00 Intro
02:23 Full Body View
03:28 Adjusting the Bridge Saddles
04:08 Electronics
05:38 Sound Demo
06:34 Back Pickup Demo
07:15 Front Pickup Demo
08:00 Both Pickup Demo 2
08:40 Chord Sound Demo
09:52 Playing with a loop
10:32 Ending Thoughts 
Видеоклипы
Thank you everyone for all the comments! It's fun to discuss this with everyone. Let me know what I should do for my next video!
maybe a follow up with truss rod adjustment, pickup cavity copper-shielding + other cavities as well, proper bridge grounding connection, electronics substitution and stuff?
Cópia dos baixos da De oliveira.
A five string bass with what appears to be a six string fretboard would render it unplayable for me personally, but if it doesn't bother you, why not? It's still pretty nice looking!
It's not as bad as it looks.....Just need some getting used to.
Hell no 😂😂. The wider the better. I want a divingboard with strings.
Exactly what I was thinking! Totally the wrong neck. I wouldn’t want to play it either because of that. I understand why he did, and I don’t blame him one bit, but I would never purchase a bass from Ali Express. Chineese trash as usual! Made for an interesting video though. 😂
im crying lol
@@josephwalton487
@@josephwalton487hell yeah dude! can't stand stingray 5's with their narrow boards where the G string is sitting right on the fret bevel. Gimme dat ironing board!!!
Can't get past the neck geo. It's probably going to haunt my dreams.
Man...I'm blowin' away at some of the tones you got out of it. Very cool.
Thanks Chad! Very useful info!! ... And great playing by the way man!!!
Thank you for watching!
Very nice looking bass and sounds pretty decent too. The string spacing in combination with the wide fretboard the higher you go seems wild but if it feels fine who cares, enjoy!
interestingly scary how they can come with such a low price
but gratz on the bass and thank you for taking the dive before for us
They not good... you have to spend money in to make them less terrible.
@@rhoodj I dont think you have any idea what the wood price is and what the labor cost could be depending on the location of the workshop. I ve been making and repairing musical instruments for 30 years now and im telling you that stuff is crazy scary. i will not get in the details of tools necessary, amount, and their respective prices, but get out there and look only for raw material for the body, neck, scale, varnish, frets, electronics and pickups (even the worst cheapest sh!t) and once you have the price lined up, tell me with a straight face its not scary low pricing, even if as you say, one needs to spend some money afterward to upgrade the product, that is still some crazy math.
Congrats! The color scheme looks killer. Even the inlays are blue. I want it, lol.
You got that bass sounding nice 😊finish getting everything you need to do with it YEAH! 💪💯❤️👍
Love your playing style!
Thank you!
Not crappy playing, you go boy !
I used to design RF radios and motor control systems for controlling machinery. Your hum is most likely a shielding issue as well as grounding. Shields should be grounded so everything moves together. Is there a ground wire from bridge to controls? Also one continuous run for ground has more problems than a star type arrangement. Think of it like a bunch of cheap extensions cords plugged in end to end, as opposed to using a power strip. I usually select the back of a centrally located pot, or somewhere on the copper tape shielding to everything directly that needs a ground. Less chance of a voltage differential. Next thing to look at is the wire runs. They can act like antennas to each other. Twisting the wire (signal & ground) can help cancel out this effect. It’s why twisted pair is used in Ethernet cables.
Thank you so much for the comment Timothy! I really appreciate that, and I will look into it!
Quiet as kept that bass sounds damn good beefy and full.All he needs it a tone monster preamp.
Yeah I do!
That bass looks great.
Sounds great SIR
keep the wider string spacing and buy some pickups that are correct for the wider spacing.
That actually sounds pretty good.
Sounds decent. I wouldn't mind playing this bass.
That neck taper though. Some commenting that it's a 6 string neck...but the nut spacing is suited more for a 5 string. It is the taper that really gets weird as you go up the neck. Not sure what the thought process was for that particular design implementation. That aside, the bass does look nice.
In order, EMG, Fishman, Aguilar for Bass piccups, and for Amps, Ampeg, Darkglass and Aguilar. Aguilar is number 3 on both me lists. Good choice. As for the hum or static... a good noise gate would clear that up for ya. I recommend the Deluxe Big Bass Muff or the Hell Melter, both from EHX. They have excellent gates, u set the level and anything under that level won't come thru. Saves ya speakers. Have a good one.
all that extra width on the fretboard would really f me up...kudos for the company that delivered in the end !
Interestingly enough that extra space isn't bothering me at. What's bothering me is the one dead fret!
Ken Smith makes wide neck 6 strings. It's just to help with string spacing
I own 2 foderas and the neck it's wide.. my marco bass also is wide love the fact that they wide and flat in the back..
Right away I notice the neck, where it meets the body, is WAY too wide for the string spacing, look how much space is above and below the B and G strings LOL
He already said he reduced the string spacing at the bridge.
I put a Mike Pope 4 band in mine, changed bridge and tuners and it's finally playable.
I kept the pickups though, preamp does the job!!!
Hell yeah! Thank you!
The outer strings should only be approximately 1/8” from the sides of fretboard , you seem to play it well regardless.
beautiful blue, the neck is sooooooo large, could be ok for a 6 strings
the headstock is very big too
as long as you like it congrats
A Chender Jazzmaster guitar I ordered has the strings off-center from the pickup poles, not severely, but it’s noticeable when I look at it. However, it’s got a nice sound with normal-sounding power…if that’s the exact word I’m looking for, lol. So I guess I don’t really need to take it in for surgery like I thought I’d have to.
"Chender" ..... I'll be using that from now on lol!
Sounds and looks awesome. With the pickups and electronics professionally installed, you're probably looking at more like $600 probably? Still, that's a good deal for a bass that looks and sounds like that. If it plays decently and stays dependable, I'd say it's a great deal.
youre right! Defintely a fun investment.
My 6 strings Fodera Emperor Elite II costs me around $1100.😢😢😅😊😅😅😮😅
Keep the string spacing as intended. It should be 18-19 mm, you’ve narrowed it to 16 by the looks of it and that’s why everyone is saying the board is too wide.
That’s a 6 a string neck
How are the cut-outs for the pickups? When you moved the camera over the body, they look like they might be really jagged and poorly cut, but maybe that’s just a trick of the light?
Cut outs are not jagged actually. There is just some space now that we changed the pickups out.
Hi Chad, thank you very much for the video. Can i ask a question - are the 2 black lines that run perpendicular to the pick ups made of wood (as in a sandwich wood construction) or simply paint?
I believe its actually just painting!
@@chadwesselkamperthank you for the reply!
Looks like the neck width was made for a 6 string? A lot of space on each side of the B & G string.sounds pretty good
The strings WERE evenly spaced across the fingerboard but when we installed new pickups we had to shift them inward. It doesn't bother me much at all.
the secret to cancelling the hum and static weather going passive or active always ground the ground wires to you volume pot.Trust me i figured it out cause when you buy a passive bass it comes with a hum and thats cause its not grounded.Take all you black wires and solder them to the vol pot.
Ah thank you my man! I wish my guitar tech had done that!
Nice.
Why does NO ONE seems to Know Nothing about Sanding the Neck??
Bruh, I don't care what nobody say about this being a knockoff. You got that thang soundin sweet and if it feels right to you, I'd say you made great purchase.
THANK YOU!
How are the edges of the fretboard? Are they eased, like rounded just a bit, or are they pretty sharp? I know you can’t expect much for that price, I’m just curious. Thanks for the video!
Actually they are not bad at all! Frets aren't terrible either! Overall I was really surprised at the general craftsmanship.
I think they are even sharpened for sharpness)))
I guess the neck appearing too wide for the strings is a consequence of you narrowing the bridge saddles so less spacing between the strings ? It would be too heavy for me to gig with :) Sounds great and you are a good player, cheers for the video
That's right! Narrowed the saddles so that the strings would lie correctly over the pickups. The extra space on the sides is honestly not that big of a problem. It may look bad but it's better than some may think!
Thanks for the comment!
I don't know how true it is, but I've read that they don't use kiln-dried wood to make these inexpensive Chinese-made instruments. There have been reports of wood-shrinkage, splitting and neck-twisting as the wood dries out. You'll have to do a follow-up review in a year to let us know if there have been any of those issues.
Good to know. I'll let yall know!
Thats a good husk for modding at the price. Thats some massive pieces of wood and the finish seems quite good. I bought a Ali Chibson some years back that was a Page burst replica. It looked nice and played ok. But it was only $200 bucks. After spending $350 more in hardware and electronics and a $200 Luthier fret and neck attention it played and sounded remarkably well. However I found for that $$$ I could get and Actual Gibson Studio faded or upper end Epi LP.
Exactly! "A good husk." Thats a perfect description
I see you are wearing a Los Skarnales shirt. Orale! I'm from San Antonio. Love Los Skarnales!
Let's go! Im in houston my man!
Nice playing Chad😎
Thank you!!
Sounds like you need to level the frets a bit. Not a big deal if you know how.
Nice nice , looks great and sound really cool. A lot of vendor made this one with some variations, I have some models in my wishlist on AliExpress, could you tell me the name of the shop or the product link ? Thanks 🙏
Yessir! Go to the description of my video and the link is in there!
I really wanted to know how the original electronic sound cause the new pickups are more expensive than the bass
I know......Other folks have made videos with the original pickups. I'll buy another one and do that...
Thank you for the video! The tone is so nice for a $300 bass! Did you have to pay any customs?
No, i dont think I paid any customs, unless you count that as shipping. I think shipping was $60-70.
The B string placement is crazy lol
I might get one of these Ali express basses and buy a good pre amp and possibly pick ups, and take it to a luthier for the works. I bet it would sound great. The new mtds and sadowskys factory line are made in china and those basses are pretty amazing especially for the price, I would definitely say they sound and feel better than the “American” fenders. I have a MTD Kingston zx made in china and it is by far my main player.. by far. It feels and sounds amazing, I have a couple of basses that cost a couple grand more than it and it by far out performs them on every front. You would be amazed.. so I would trust a Chinese luthier or guitar factory
Sounds decent & looks beautiful but yeah... that's looks to be a 6 string with 5 strings. Dang it's HUGE. The intonation is also all over the place. It'd drive me nuts.
Can't believe it sounds decent lol. They should've made the string spacer W I D E R, just for fun.
It's like an exercise bass!
300$ for the bass + the mods + your time = a decent 5 sting without the hassle.
Sire makes a fodera knock off too
i didn't know! The new marcus miller sire basses sound pretty good from what I've heard recently!
That wide neck looks like a 6-string neck with a 5-string headstock to me... but it sounds good to my ears! I'd definitely buy that for less than $300!!!??? Wha??
I have the feeling that if you order the 6 string version the neck would be the same.
The fretboard and the string spacing my goodness! It sounds okay though. It looks as though the fretboard is too wide for the strings.
Looks like they used a six string size neck. Does not sound bad though.
My thoughts as well.
Yeah someone made me realize that yesterday lol.
Sheeee, yiiit. I wish my playing was as “crappy” as yours!
Thanks man, really appreciate it.
Sick shirt, I have friends in that band
Are you in Houston? I am!
Interesting... The bass sounds pretty good for a $269 dallor instrument!
plus the aguilar pickups i put into it! So we'll call it $569 now....a fun experiment no doubt.
Good move on the Aguilar transplant. They're really paying their way with that tone. Sounds like the active half needs to be installed by someone with the experience to nail those shielding and grounding issues, because they should be foolproof in that department. I'll tell you what I'd do with the bass itself - Pull all the frets and nut. Use a router on a guide/template to narrow the fretboard down to the appropriate 5-string dimensions. Hand carve the neck profile to match to new fretboard width. Reshape the headstock to something unique and not Fodera-ish. Refinish the neck with oil and wax. Fit a bone or Graphtech nut, a truss rod cover and decent strings. Fit proper shielding/grounding. That's a lot of work, but a lot less than getting paid enough to buy the real thing!
"How wide of a fret board do you want?"
"Yes"
HAHA!
Looks like it has individual saddles at the bridge. Around the 3 minute mark in the vid it looks like someone moved the saddles inward since you can see some screw holes?
Nvm, he states in the video that he moved them…
Correct, we had to move the saddles inward because of the extreme string spacing in the beginning.
Figured these would have trash electronics. That neck width is absolutely insane for 5 strings. It would make a good 6 string.
I agree that would be sweet to just turn it into a 6 string.
Something's off with the neck width
Me personally I wouldn’t be able to do it. I rather save up for it and enjoy the experience of getting one then to go this route
Looks like that neck could be used for a SEVEN string bass.
I think that’s a 6 strings Bass made as a 5 strings I mean the size of the body and neck looks like a 6
That thing has more control knobs than the space shuttle!
Ali is hit and miss, I got a steve vai guitar off ali and it was a total pos!
everyone talking about the neck but he didnt use the B string anyways
PUT ON FIVE MORE STRINGS AND FIVE MORE TUNERS AND YOU GOT YOURSELF A NICE TEN STRING !!!
Personality plus
This sounds killer tho
🙏
sounds really good
the neck seems too wide. They could almost fit a 6. string on there.
Crazy - cheap guitars aren't always bad. (Don't change my mind) :D
I bought a Fodera copy bass from a Chinese seller who has a large following on Facebook. She’s supposed to the the best however what I received was a sorry excuse of an instrument. It’s real bad when cheap basses seem far superior. Never again, waste of money.
Dude just said 2 piece body with the neck being one piece and the body being one piece... That body is at least 4 pieces. Assuming those black strips are different wood and not paint you'd call that a 5 piece body and then the burl winged veneers are each another piece of wood and same with the veneer on the back. Technically though, those black strips should be 2 pieces of wood and each piece before and after is how you would make the piece count, as this clearly has veneers on both sides you can't tell from the front or back easily how many pieces it is. I have a Chibson and it's several pieces but counting the neck and body as "pieces of the body" is not correct. You can also see some dye bleed between the top pickup and the fretboard. That's all ok if it plays well.
Changing the electronics and then complaining about them after the fact... Not their fault. If you said this was an issue before the mods, that's different. Also moving the string spacing could alter the length messing with the overall intonation even if you set that, I get why you made the changes and I'm way more of a hobbyist modder than I am a player. That being said, I've built guitars, owned Gibsons and Chibsons and a lot of your complaints seem to be based around the changes that you made.
My best advice is finding a builder who has a lot of positive reviews (more than 1,000.) Messaging them BEFORE buying anything, telling them what you want and being as descriptive as possible. If you were really working with them and being chatty, that stain bleed wouldn't have happened. I talked to my builder at every turn and got a guitar almost exactly how I wanted for about $228.
One thing, you mentioned string height being off, this is something that can be done with the right builder but should really be taken care of when you purchase as part of the setup, ask for the frets to be crowned and have them slap new strings on it. Chinese made guitars can be really good but you have to be careful for the ones that only look good. The electronics will always be very cheap, the exception being the Chibsons that get epiphone pickups.
I think the headstock edges are a little too sharp. Bugs me everytime you show it.
hmmmm....haven't thought about that!
maybe neck fo 6 strings?))))
The adverts for all these copies should be, looks great,sounds crap.
Good for you, you saved yourself. $7,000
LOL
that neck was meant for 6 strings for sure
I also have a 6 strings Emperor elite II. The bridge spacing was not good.. electronics are crap. The wood is not quality.. too heavy. Still not sound good after putting the MM 19mm space bridge, EMG BQS Hz preamp, and pick up system. I make it 18v system with a kill switch with the output jack to the side, not on the body. Excited experience... an iconic expensed fodera bass for a cheap Price.😅😅😅😢😮😅
You are a really good bass player. I would send the bass to Johnny Long the Hobo Depot. He would make it brilliant
Thanks man!
Just invest in a great bass…looks doesn’t matter that much. Trust me, when the weather changes, that neck is toast.
Of course that's what's best.
I've had basses built via AliExpress, and they were absolutely awful. I had one built very similar to yours, it was a complete boat anchor, the hardware was dreadful, and the electronics even worse. I was embarrassed to own it.
The neck on yours would be a complete deal-breaker for me on any bass. I favour a 16mm string spacing, but you've got the width of a string at each side to reach past before you even get to fretting notes! Looks much more like a 6-string neck than a five.
That neck though...for 5 string 🤔
Just... No... Especially for beginners. Also what's with the scratching on blackboard sound when you slide up and down the strings? It made me wince
Im not saying THIS bass for a beginner lol!
@@chadwesselkamper you did 😅😅
STAND UP AND BE SOMEBODY STAND OUT IN A CROWD
🤣🤣🤣
This is the Wangdera , hand built buy Wun Yung Boi in china. `They only come with one neck size and can accommodate up to 42 strings.
☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ LOL
😂😂😂
It looks good... it honestly doesnt sound that great.
This is crazy shit :D
HA!
Anyone, that has a Bass, and a speaker set ... with a plastic neon-green water gun just sitting there ...
Its a dart gun! I had to buy it for the nostalgia! Whatchu thinking?
That a six string bass neck bruh....wtf
You aren't lying!
as a luthier must say: the string spacing seems to be terribly wrong in combination with this (now far too) wide neck.I can't imagine that it's still playable. these pups don't fit the overall geometry of the instrument. aquilar offers different string spacings, so this may be a solution... Otherwise, well it's just a China copy and not a Fodera. you can see, hear and certainly feel it too.
I'm also amazed at how carelessly RUclipsrs treat the fact that by buying a fake instrument they are actually committing a criminal offense.
comeonnnnn!! criminal offense? imported with all the papers, so who is guilty? for $269 will beat all the squier and ibanez you can compare.
it does not beat squiers and ibanez, that fingerboard is not useable@@josemiguelcanales
Its not actually marked as a Fodera on AliExpress. You know that right?
this may be true and I get the point that 269 bucks is a pretty good deal for a bass that seems to be of higher quality.
BUT: branding, logo, overall shape … is protected by license and patent from Fodera. I personally don´t care that much since imho 10-12k for a bass is way beyond good and evil , but maybe Fodera doesn´t.
I know from personal experience that the headstock shape of Gibson and Fender, for example, is under strict protection, which means that my fellow luthiers get into trouble from time to time when building copies of these well-known instruments.... @@josemiguelcanales
lol. I'd love a legit blind test between this and a real Fodera. Maybe that fat screaming metal guy can do some. Everyone always fails those.
looks like a 6 string neck lol
lol a Chodera
You sound like youre trying to convince yourself that it's a good bass.
My favorite comment yet. I've convinced myself that its not as bad as I thought it SHOULD be. I've playd it on a bunch of gigs now, and I've had some great times.
@@chadwesselkamper I did the same thing with an IYV thinline tele semi hollow body that eventually sat on my wall for over a year without being played... I finally donated it to a youth center last week. We always want to find those gems that we get for next to nothing but the truth is, they're so few and far between and they RARELY come in the form of a clone. If you're happy playing it, who cares who made it, just make music with it. Good luck, man.
I played few Fodera basses ..they are all overpriced...
There are beautiful and cheaper basses
That sounds better so....
Fodera it s just a myth and i dont understand why some musicians are collaborating with this kind of thiefs..
After all it s just a wood and pickups...
it sucks!
☠️
I’ve done mods on a couple of these. These things are absolute CRAP. Some of the worst guitars ever built. A $120 squire has MUCH better build quality than these things. Both the ones I worked on had actual pools of lacquer at the bottom of the control cavity, and there was barely enough wood underneath the plastic nut to even hold it in place. The butterfly logo is a an actual sticker that is put on the headstock before the (awful!)finish is applied. DO NOT buy one of these. There are a complete waste of money. Once you see them and play them up close you will see what a piece of junk these things are. You can’t actually see just how sh*tty these basses are by watching a video on them. You have to actually see them in person. That thing that guys holding probably weighs 16 lbs. He’ll be lucky if it lasts him 5 years.
The Aguilar electronics alone in that thing are worth over $200. That means they’re turning a profit on that bass while only charging about $50-60 bucks for the body, neck, bridge, tuners, etc.