Fodera Yin Yang Standard and Yin Yang Standard Series II

The Company Line

I have been looking forward to this review ever since the telephone conversation I had with Jason DeSalvo wherein we first conceived of the notion. It had all of the ingredients for a great review right out of the gate. First off, we are talking about an opportunity to review a Fodera. What’s better than that? How about an opportunity to review two Foderas?!?! And what if these instruments were based upon their most iconic model, the Yin Yang, made popular by their most iconic endorsing artist, Victor Wooten? 

Man, that sounds great, but keep in mind, this is Bass Gear Magazine, and we get excited by the chance to make interesting, unique, meaningful comparisons. Check this out… These two models, the Yin Yang Standard and Yin Yang Standard Series II, feature nearly identical specs – including identical hardware and electronics – except for the body woods. Okay, now the inner geek in me is getting inspired. A chance to compare two nearly identical instruments, made by some of the most skilled hands in the business, and to see just what kind of an impact changing just one factor – in this case, the body woods – makes on the tone and overall vibe? Yes. Count me in. Oh my, yes…

A Little Yin, A Little Yang

Vic Serbe laid out the “origins story” for Fodera back in issue #10 wherein he reviewed the Matt Garrison Standard model, so I won’t rehash those particular deets, here. At the time of Vic’s review, the concept of the Standard Series was relatively new, but man, has it caught on! These models are made by the same people, in the same shop, from the same materials, to the same high standards (no pun intended) as the fully custom models. The only difference is that the Standards are able to be pre-planned to a much greater degree, allowing for a more efficient and economical production run. These savings are passed on to the customer, and as a result, the lower prices mean that a much bigger pool of players has the opportunity to step up to “Fodera quality.”

The Yin Yang is probably the most recognizable of all Fodera models, thanks in large part to the fact that Victor Wooten is one of the best-known Fodera endorsing artists. Victor got the whole Yin Yang thing rolling back in 1995, when he requested a Monarch with a yin-yang symbol inlay. Taking things to the next level, Vinny and the Fodera crew designed a bass in such a way that the yin-yang symbol (this symbol is also referred to as the taijitu) covered the entire front of the bass. This first Yin Yang bass was fretless, and featured an alder body, ebony fingerboard, and a top that was made from two intimately joined pieces of ebony and holly. The second Yin Yang bass Fodera built for Victor (in 1996) kept the alder body, but added frets, and used both maple and ebony on the fingerboard. In 1999, the third Yin Yang bass (a fretted 5-string) was born, this time with a purpleheart and pau amarillo top (over an alder body), and with a maple and purpleheart fingerboard. The fourth Yin Yang built for Victor came to life in 2006, and shifted to a walnut body, with an ebony and pau amarillo top and an ebony fingerboard.

When the Yin Yang Standard model was introduced at the 2011 Winter NAMM Show, it borrowed the alder body and ebony fingerboard common to the majority of Victor’s personal basses, and opted for a flamed maple top. Although it maintains the illusion of using two different types of wood for the top, on the Yin Yang Standard, the black part of the top is painted on (it’s a solid flamed maple top). In similar fashion, the headstock is made from maple, with a portion of it painted black. Rounding out the spec sheet, we find a one-piece, quarter-sawn maple neck, pearloid dot inlays, a 34″ scale bolt-on neck, EMJ P/J pickups paired to a Mike Pope 3-band preamp, and all black hardware (gold is an option for a $150 upcharge). The controls for the Yin Yang Standard iteration of the Mike Pope preamp includes a stacked master volume/tone, a pad (or “blend”) knob, stacked bass/treble, and a midrange control. A mini-toggle selects between active and passive modes.

The Yin Yang Standard Series II model opts for a walnut body, and a solid pau amarillo (or “yellowheart”) top, with a painted black Yin Yang symbol. Other than the matching headstock (which is achieved by first staining the underlying maple yellow, and then painting on the black yin yang symbol), all other components are identical to that of the original Yin Yang Standard. For the sake of both brevity and clarity, I will be referring to the original Yin Yang Standard as the “YYS1” and the Yin Yang Standard Series II as the “YYS2.” A 5-string version, dubbed the “Yin Yang 5 Standard,” is also available.

Fit and finish

Being no stranger to high-quality instruments, I am still always impressed when I get the opportunity to try a new Fodera. Try as I might, I can find no nits to pick on either of these basses. The neck pockets are super tight, the fretwork is immaculate, and the finish on both the bodies and the necks is perfect. I love the shape and feel of the necks on these basses. They are thin without feeling puny, and very comfortable. In fact, the only problem with these two basses is trying to figure out which one you prefer over the other.

The flaming in the maple top on the YYS1 is so nice, you almost regret that they painted half of it black. That paint job is so good, though, that even knowing that it was going to be painted, my first thoughts upon unboxing this bass was that it was a two-piece maple/ebony top. I remember the first time that I saw Victor’s purpleheart/pau amarillo top, and it struck me as something that shouldn’t look awesome together, but undeniably did. The black and yellow scheme on the YYS2 is a tad more conservative, but looks super classy – especially with that ebony board. The matching headstocks on both basses really knock the aesthetics out of the park.

Would You, Could You?

I was extremely interested to get these two basses in my hands so that I could hear them side by side. We have seen in the past the great attention to detail found on all Fodera instruments, and their consistency is noteworthy. With this in mind, knowing that the electronics and hardware are identical, this YYS1 vs. YYS2 head-to-head comparison presents an excellent opportunity to hear what sonic differences might be attributable to choice of body wood. To anyone who thinks that choice of body woods does not impact tone, or anyone who think that the different woods selected for each YYS model are for aesthetic reasons only, I invite you to perform your own head-to-head. The sonic differences are immediately apparent and significant.

The YYS1 comes out of its corner swinging, with great clarity, cut and attack. It is a bass which entices even a die-hard fingerstyle player to want to slap within seconds of picking it up. Not that it doesn’t have a great fingerstyle tone (much to the contrary, in fact), but the slap tone is just so darned good, with a lot of zing, but plenty of meat, as well. Conversely, the YYS2 is more mellow and smooth. It is a bit more polite in the mids, and does not sound quite as extended in the highs. The two basses are quite similar in the immediacy of the attack, but right after the start of the note, they go their separate ways, and the manner in which the note develops and decays right after the attack definitely defines each tone profile (that whole “clarity and cut” vs. “mellow and smooth” thing). I was able to get the tone of the YYS2 relatively close to that of the YYS1 by cranking up the mids a lot (walnut is known for being somewhat mid-scooped), and the treble a little bit, but the note decay was still unique to each. I had a harder time getting the YYS1 to sound like the YYS2. The two basses sound more similar when you solo the neck pickup on each, where the tonality of the EMG split-P shows its strongest influence. I really liked the tone of the YYS2 after I had dialed in the “YYS1 EQ” and then favored or soloed the neck pickup. In passive mode, I somewhat preferred the tone of the YYS1, though this is a subjective preference, only.

While I appreciated their differences, I also appreciated the similarities between these two basses. Both of them remain totally silent as you pan from one pickup to the other; an impressive feat in a P/J setup. The passive tone control seemed more subtle than expected, at first, but on both basses, it yielded the most tonal impact when used in conjunction with a treble boost. The necks on these basses are to die for. They are skinner than most 4-string necks, but certainly not toothpick-thin. The comfortable shape and dimensions definitely encourage you to play “faster.”

Another comparison which I found helpful was putting these two 4-bangers up against my trusty Emperor 5 Standard. The E5S has an ash body, with a maple top, one-piece maple neck and a pau ferro fingerboard. Mine has an (optional) 4-band Pope preamp and the standard Fodera dual-coil pickups. For most of this comparison, I used the E5S in single-coil mode. I was expecting the YYS1 to sound the most similar to my E5S, based upon the wood choices. However, in practice, the YYS2 was more similar, tonally. Both of them are a little thicker and warmer than the YYS1. In terms of the clarity/immediacy of the attack, though, the YYS1 was more similar to the E5S (though ultimately, the YYS1 is more quick and snappy than the E5S). My unscientific conclusions are that the “tonal similarity” between the E5S and YYS2 are due in part to the E5S having older strings, and the “attack similarity” between the E5S and the YYS1 are due in part to the similar body woods.

After spending some time feeling the vibe from the YYS1, it began to remind me a bit of one of my favorite basses, a makore-bodied 535 from MTD. A bit of head-to-head comparison reinforced this notion. In addition to the makore body, that particular MTD has an ebony top, flamed ash and wenge neck, and a birdseye maple board. It is a bit more full than the YYS1 down low, but the mids are quite similar, and the high end is closer yet, with that sweet ebony “ping” from the YYS1 being the primary difference.

Somewhat to my surprise, neither bass had the expected “EMG tone.” In other basses equipped with EMG pickups, I have noticed a particular “burp” or “bark” – which can sound fantastic in the right bass or in the right setting, but which is kind of always there. In these basses, I heard no such thing.