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Flea Bass.

#83
Had a listen to the jam video someone posted and the sound of thing is pretty decent, no doubt he'll be putting it through a very nice amp but it seems to hold it's own very well given the price tag. Not the best recording ever and you can't hear the bass that well, so it's not the best representation, but from first impressions it sounds good to me.
 
#84
Tested one at NAMM. Both the 34" and the 30" played very well with a good setup.

Sound is adequate but nothing spectacular. The E string on the short scale was actually a bit better sounding than the 34". I could easily suggest the short scale for the little tykes that are interested to start but too small for a 34"

Given what his stated goal was, he succeeded.

Jim
 
#88
read the bass player article on these today, kudos to flea for trying to give the kids a decent instrument to learn on. Those colors arent my cup of tea, but he wasnt making them with middle aged old vets like me in mind anyway Im guessing.
 
#89
I don't care what they look like, if it gets kids excited and into playing bass and away from Guitar Hero and Rock Band it's a victory.

I'm finding myself partial to the "punk bass" green and pink. It's got the Sex Pistols Nevermind the Bullocks vibe. I can't say I'd get one, but I've spent money on worse.
 
#92
I haven't tried one yet, but I'm sure it works just fine, and the short scales are appropriate. I've been showing a 9-year-old how to play guitar, and the mini-Squier fits him better than the 25" scale guitar. Bass for a kid is intimidating, which might explain the shortage of good bass players in most areas and the attitude toward bass as what the worst guitarists get saddled with.

But given his target buyer and that buyer's price range, I won't get my hopes up too high. The bass I've come closest to buying without actually pulling the trigger was a Flea Modulus, and then only because I considered it butt ugly. If he's come anywhere close with this effort, it should be a winner.
 
#95
I told the story before how Gene Simmons was working with BC Rich to develop a signature model called the Punisher but how the Prototypes he got from them were Sub-par to say the least. So Mr. Simmons being the money junkie he is, blew the deal off and subsequently had Punisher basses made under his own name, knowing that if people were going to pay money for a bass with his name on it, it better be good.
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Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers is now doing more or less the same. Having endorsed Modulus basses since the late nineties, he quickly found out that not all his fans could afford the Modulus Flea bass and he hated to see his fans getting stuck with sub-par instruments because of not being able to afford better. So Flea got together with his long time tech and made a plan to have instruments made in China under Flea's name to flea's exact specs making it possible to own the bass that Flea plays for under half a grand. The resulting bass will come in full scale and short scale versions in an array of ...err... unique color combinations.
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Curiously, Flea's new bass ows a LOT to the Musicman Stingray's he used to play...

IMG_1663.jpg

Flea at the Namm with his new "Fleabass"

And when I say "The bass that Flea plays for under a grand" I really do mean the bass Flea plays because if we are gonna believe the Modulus site...
http://www.modulusguitars.com/v3/funk_unlimited.php
...It will take something serious before we see Flea on stage with a Modulus again...
 

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