The story of how a skilled guitar maker and a distinguished professional bassist teamed up to handcraft some of the most coveted instruments in the industry

by Amanda McCoy

In 1990, then seven-year old custom guitar and bass manufacturer Fodera moved from its small Avenue O location to 6,000 square feet of open space in a then nearly vacant and forgotten complex now known as Industry City. There were only two other tenants in the massive building at the time, but over the next 25 years, co-founders Vinny Fodera and Joey Lauricella saw an explosion of growth and commerce around them, with new tenants flocking in droves to the revitalized creative and maker hub alongside the Sunset Park waterfront. And in their own industry, which drew more than one billion dollars in revenue in 2015, many competitors are maximizing profits via outsourced parts, lower overhead, and large-scale production machinery. Despite these waves of change, Fodera remains steadfast in its belief that craftsmanship always trumps mass production, and that artistry is more important than dollar signs.

“You need integrity to make something truly great. You can’t let zeroes and ones dictate how you make an instrument, and I’ve never seen two people more passionate about what they do than Vinny and Joey,” said Jordan Cortese, the marketing manager and longtime fan of Fodera.

One fortuitous day in the late 1970s, Lauricella, a local professional bassist, stumbled upon an anonymous shop on Avenue O, and walked inside to discover a woodworking co-op housing such iconic luminaries as Ken Smith and Stuart Spector. It was there he met Fodera, at the time a young luthier already crafting basses for revered musicians like Gene Simmons and Jack Bruce, under the tutelage of Spector and Alan Charney. A friendship and mutual respect quickly developed, and it wasn’t long before the two had a thought: by merging Fodera’s building ability and Lauricella’s playing mastery, they just might be able to create an instrument that would rock the industry. They were right.

Even in their first couple years of business, the duo’s innovative designs quickly caught the eyes of musical heavyweights. The five-time Grammy winner Victor Wooten was an early adopter, and has since collaborated with the pair to create inventive designs like the recent Bow Bass, a five-string electric bass with a curved fingerboard that can be bowed in horizontal playing position to achieve the sustain sound usually achieved by upright instruments like the cello.

“I’m lucky to know people like Vinny Fodera, who can build anything,” said Wooten in a 2016 interview for the National Association of Music Merchants.

Fodera also recently teamed with longtime customer and friend Anthony Jackson to craft an entirely new style of bass. Internally called the “Hybrid,” this newly patented design features a “heelless” method of attaching a neck to a hollow- bodied instrument.

“The impulse to design the Hybrid bass was two-fold. First, to continue the design relationship between myself and Anthony Jackson to improve the 6-string Contrabass, and secondly, to greatly improve acoustic/electric bass design. My career started in acoustics, and I wanted to bring some of those principles into the electric bass world, then solve many of the obvious design obstacles such as heel access to the upper frets and to develop acoustic bracing that would be suitable for extended range bass guitars,” said Fodera.

Now with 13,000 square feet of space and a talented design team that includes both players and artists, Fodera is as dedicated to hand making instruments as it was 30 years ago, and its building process always starts the same way: with the wood. The team works first with the customer to discover what kind of sound he or she wants, and 80% of that tone relies on the chosen wood.

“One piece of ash might sound brighter or darker,” explained Fodera. “You need time with the customer to know what their ear wants, then you can find the perfect piece of wood for them.”

Fodera works with more than 40 types, from mahogany to ebony, korina to black limba, and works to ensure that every plank is attained sustainably. Only pieces of the highest quality are used, because, as Cortese points out, if the wood is dead-sounding, no amount of electronics will fix it.

“We’re picking and cutting wood as if each instrument would be completely acoustic. That’s the mentality we have. Because when you think like that, you know that, regardless of what electronics you put on the instrument, it’s going to sound right.”

Although known for its custom basses (the team will work with customers for up to a year to develop a piece from raw wood to finished product), the shop also specializes in small batch production to make instruments more accessible to everyone. Every Fodera, regardless of price, is immediately recognizable by the trademark abalone and mother of pearl butterfly inlay, earning the nickname “The Butterfly Bass” in the music world. And from “Uptown Funk” to Billy Joel classics to Mark Kelley’s daily performances on The Tonight Show, the butterfly continues its flight.

Fodera
68 34th Street, 3rd Floor
718.832.3455 / fodera.com