Pick up a handmade Fodera bass or guitar, and you'll instantly understand why some of the greatest musicians in the world consider them to be the absolute pinnacle of electric instruments. Every Fodera design, whether it's a production-run instrument or a one-of-a-kind custom model, features top-shelf tonewoods and impeccable craftsmanship at the hands of uncompromising luthiers. At Sweetwater, we've been honored to provide our customers with these basses and guitars — many of which have been custom-made just for us — and we can tell you, without reservation, that there's no such thing as an "ordinary" Fodera.
It started in 1983, when ace luthier Vinny Fodera got together with professional bass player Joey Lauricella and decided to set up shop in a small workshop in Brooklyn, New York. Right from the beginning, Fodera began applying classic, old-world building techniques to choice tonewoods to produce instruments that quickly caught the eye of such world-class artists as Victor Wooten, Anthony Jackson, James Genus, Felix Pastorius, and Richard Bona. As their brand grew, Fodera took special pride in paying attention to artist feedback, ensuring that each model they produced would better fit the needs of today's top players.
So how does Fodera do it? How do they make instruments that are so good, you'd swear they all came out of the custom shop? It's simple: Fodera doesn't have a custom shop. The same talented luthiers who make Fodera's amazing, one-of-a-kind custom models also make their production models, and when you do something so well, it's impossible to turn off the talent.
Each instrument is the product of decades of master craftsmanship, featuring exquisite woods such as red oak necks and tops made of flame koa, curly walnut, figured redwood, and others. As for inlays, no one does hand detailing and inlay work better than Fodera. Simply put, every guitar or bass to leave the shop is ready to drop into the hands of one of today's top performers and look stunning center stage — they're just that good!
The highly experienced and accomplished guitar and bass players here at Sweetwater get their hands on more guitars than even most modern touring artists get to play, and every one of them will tell you that no matter how good a guitar looks or how well it plays, none of that matters if it doesn't sound fantastic. Once again, Fodera checks all the boxes, combining their own electronics designs with premium Seymour Duncan pickups and custom Pope preamps with extensive tone shaping. The result is clean and clear tone that not only allows you to dial in your Fodera bass or guitar perfectly, no matter how much you adjust it, but also means you never have to worry about noise.
Beautiful and playable with unrivaled tone, Fodera basses and guitars are among the best Sweetwater has ever seen. Finding your dream instrument can be as easy as going to our Guitar Gallery and looking through the impressive selection of instruments already available in our climate-controlled warehouse. Not seeing what you want? Ready to step up to that custom model? Give your Sales Engineer a call, and we'll gladly help you out.
