Fodera Performance, Classic Style
Featuring top-shelf tonewoods, including a hard rock maple neck with bird’s-eye maple fretboard and an alder body topped with gorgeous burl maple, Fodera's Emperor 5 Standard Special 5-string offers world-class playability in a collector-worthy package. This peerless axe delivers the tone, playability, and visuals that have made owning a Fodera a goal of the world's top bass players, but at a fraction of the cost of a custom model. And this bass was built by the same luthiers who produce Fodera's top-of-the-line models, to specifications devised specifically for Sweetwater. Top it off with custom Dual Coil pickups, a Fodera x Trickfish preamp, and chrome hardware, and you couldn't ask for a finer bass than the Emperor 5 Standard Special.
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Exceptional tonewoods, appointments, and playability
Custom tonewoods meet professional performance in Fodera's Emperor 5 Standard Special electric bass. The hand-selected alder body and 3-piece hard rock maple neck serve up a classic combination of resonance and sustain, while the silky-smooth compound-radius maple fretboard delivers the fluidity you need to nail everything from rootsy grooves to high-register solos. Add to that the powerful connection you get from a fully adjustable high-mass bell-brass bridge, and the Emperor 5 Standard Special delivers the look and feel you'll only get from a premium, luthier-built instrument.
Premium Duncan pickups deliver warm, passive tone
The Emperor Standard Special packs a pair of Dual Coil pickups designed in a collaboration between Fodera and Seymour Duncan. They're built with passive dual coils, which integrate with the natural qualities of the tonewoods to produce added punch on the low end, focused mids, and smooth highs. At Sweetwater, we love the sound and responsiveness of these pups. They deliver a beautifully warm and organic tone; and while the coils are wired in parallel for noise-free performance, you'd swear the Emperor Standard Special was loaded with single-coils.
Craft your signature voice with the Fodera x Trickfish preamp
The Fodera x Trickfish preamp is an enhanced iteration of Fodera’s onboard preamp, developed in collaboration with the renowned tone experts at Trickfish Amplification. This exceptional preamp offers unrivaled performance, featuring a lower noise floor and extended battery life compared to previous models. It’s compatible with both active and passive pickups, and it operates in both Active and Passive modes. Additionally, it features a passive Tone knob that functions in both modes, along with a shapeable active EQ. The Fodera x Trickfish preamp also allows for deep configuration via internal dip switches, enabling you to easily adjust the preamp’s overall output gain, the frequency sweep of its passive Tone control, its lowpass and highpass filters, and the frequency center of its active Midrange tone control — no soldering or additional circuit jumpers required. With the Fodera x Trickfish preamp, dialing in your signature sound is moments away.
Fodera: superior playability, tone, and build quality
Established in 1983 by custom luthier Vinny Fodera and pro bassist Joey Lauricella, Fodera enjoys a reputation as the Ferrari of boutique basses. Fodera basses give you the superior playability, sonics, and build quality of the custom models played by bass legends such as Victor Wooten, Anthony Jackson, and Oteil Burbridge — in a more affordable axe. Handcrafted in the US with the same materials by the same top luthiers, Fodera “production” instruments offer no options, allowing them to be built in small runs instead of one-offs, thus holding down the cost. Play a Fodera and take a step up to boutique quality. You’ve arrived.
Fodera Emperor 5 Standard Special Features:
- A handcrafted 5-string bass guitar with active electronics and retro vibe
- Built by top luthiers using the same materials found in Fodera's custom models
- Comfortable hand-selected ash body
- 3-piece hard rock maple neck, 24 frets
- Plek'd compound-radius bird's-eye maple fretboard with MOP dot inlays
- Fodera/Seymour Duncan Dual Coil passive pickups deliver warm and full-bodied tone
- Fodera x Trickfish active preamp
- Fully adjustable high-mass bell-brass bridge
