Fodera Introduces Victor Wooten Fretless Bass; A Tribute to Joe Compito
Fodera is honoring one of their friends with a bass they’re calling the Victor Wooten Fretless; A Tribute to Joe Compito. The bass is a nearly identical replica of the five-string fretless bass that the late Joe Compito built for Victor Wooten, who famously used it on the Grammy-winning Flecktones album Flight of the Cosmic Hippo.
“Those of you that have followed Victor’s career over the years will recognize the name Compito immediately,” Fodera shared in a statement. “In addition to being a good friend to Victor, Joey [Lauricella] and Vinny [Fodera], Joe Compito was also a talented luthier and to this day the majority of Victor Wooten’s recorded work on fretless has been done on his Compito Fretless 5. At Joe’s funeral in New York, Vinny and Joey expressed both their condolences to Toné Compito Wellington, Joe Compito’s sister, as well as their desire and to one day build a bass as a tribute to Joe.”
The resulting instrument features most of the same specifications of the original bass including a mahogany body, a non-solid purpleheart top, a five-piece maple neck with purpleheart stringers, and a lined ebony fingerboard. Fodera modified the design a bit by fitting it with a pair of Foder/Duncan Dual Coil pickups, a Fodera/Pope Standard preamp, and a 17.5mm bridge.
The Victor Wooten Fretless; A Tribute to Joe Compito bass is available for order with a street price of $11,000. Ten percent of the sales from any Joe Compito Tribute bass will be donated to Wooten Woods to support their charitable efforts. For more info, check out the Fodera website.
Fodera Victor Wooten Fretless; Joe Compito Tribute Bass Photos:
Fodera Victor Wooten Fretless; Joe Compito Tribute Bass Specs:
- Construction: Neck Through
- Body: Mahogany
- Top: Purpleheart
- Neck: 5-piece Maple
- Fingerboard: Ebony with Purpleheart Fret Lines
- Cavity Cover: Bubinga
- Pickups: Fodera/Duncan Dual Coil
- Electronics: Fodera/Pope 4-Band Standard Preamp (Compito Control Layout)
- Strings: Fodera Ultra Light .040-.120 Nickel Strings
just came a cross this article, I knew Joe Compito in the 80’s when he lived in Oneonta, a great bass player and singer, I took a couple of bass lessons from he what a kind giving person, I’d lost touch once he moved to Nashville. sad to hear about his passing
How much ?????
$11,000. 10% of sales go to Wooten Woods.