Let me introduce the Fodera basses to you. Since the early 80s, the American workshop Fodera has been delivering one of the most fabulous range of basses, and their Monarch is the reference, both in design and in specifications. I found myself being the supposed demonstrator of the Dubreuille instruments at the Namm Show in the late 90s, and our stand was 3 meters from the Fodera stand, right next to the Hendrix Fundation stand run by Bob and Janie Hendrix… I might as well tell you that I haven’t played much, as for the parade of monster musicians!!! In short, at that time, Fodera had 4 or 5 employees, and both the deadlines and the prices were mind-blowing… The workshop was quietly democratized from 2009, then a turnaround in production and management once again complicated and delayed the production. These basses are rare, so this beautiful second hand  Fodera Labex Signature Monarch 4 Deluxe in as new condition is clearly a bargain !!

Michel Labaki is a bassist, composer, entrepreneur, psychologist and music therapist based in the USA. Endorsed by 4 major music companies in the United States (Fodera guitars, Aguilar amplifications, Gruvgear and Lathonbasswear), this musician honors Fodera and since the 2013 NAMM show, his basses have been available for sale.

This is a superb bass, and both the comfort and the sound match the beauty of the bass. Super pleasant neck-through neck, easy action and perfect access to the higher notes, everything sounds perfect on this instrument. The ebony fingerboard and fretwork provide crazy comfort and the 3-piece figured maple neck looks great. The woods are splendid, with a magnificent figured Buckeye Burl for the top and a 70+ year old, perfectly cut Korina for the body. This Korina was cut in the 50s and has been part of Fodera stock since the 80s. They obviously thought it would be stupid not to put such a wood for such an instrument… And the Buckeye Burl on the table of this bass is a wood endemic to California, and although often small, this tree can become pretty big and have a wide trunk which reveals, once cut, amazing figures and wood patterns.

For the electronic, Fodera used an active EMG P-PUP in the neck position and a passive Lindy Fralin Lateral Humbucker J-PUP in the bridge position. This combination requires the addition of a Buffer to our Fodera/Pope Custom Shop preamp so that the output levels of both mics can be matched appropriately. The tone is round, articulate and powerful. Lots of growl from the Lindy Fralin of the bridge and lots of rich, deep bass from the neck EMG.

This beauty was ordered in 2020, produced in November 2021 and arrived in Switzerland in 2022, at the time when its first owner, who cherished it and obviously played very little, definitively turned to 5-strings… No playwears or flaws, this rare and superb Fodera Labex Signature Monarch 4 Deluxe appears new and comes with its original Fodera hardcase and documents.