Is a modular bass a dumb idea?

[DeanGallberry]

Without going in to all the details, I'm wondering if a modular bass would be a good idea or not?

Not necessarily to have the option of changing between different pickups, but more so that I can buy a really good pair of pickups and pre-amp and use it in 2 (or more) different bass bodies.

Maybe something a little bit like this (but obviously a bass)

 

[scott sinner]

I would certainly find that fun as a novelty thing. But I think most people, if they really wanted versatility of sound, you hit diminishing returns with a 2 humbucker instrument with coil splitting.

 

[Jefenator]

Might be a good solution in a "can only have one" scenario.
OTOH J+MM pickups with a good active/passive wiring scheme should cover most bases for us - without getting all mechanically elaborate.
I don't think this modular thing would hold up so well over 4 decades of bar gigs.
Also, I switch between 4 and 5 strings a lot, and sometimes bust out the fretless. Not sure how one could easily snap those things on & off. (I do recall someone once devised a magnetic / reversible fingerboard.)

 

[DeanGallberry]

I would certainly find that fun as a novelty thing. But I think most people, if they really wanted versatility of sound, you hit diminishing returns with a 2 humbucker instrument with coil splitting.

Yes, I see your point.

I suppose my trail of thought is more about using a decent pair of pickups and pre-amp and being able to swap them between 2 different bass bodies, rather than wanting to change between different pickups in a single bass.

(I've edited the initial post to reflect this)

 

[creaturegods]

In short, on a large, mass-production/retail scale, yes, it's kind of a dumb idea right now.
But that's only because nobody has done it successfully yet. Modular instruments have always been a bit of a gimmick, like the changeable pickups on the old Dan Armstrong guitars & basses, or the swappable effects modules on old Electra instruments.

It seems like most engineers who are concerned with this type of versatility have poured their efforts into modeling amps.

 

[chris_b]

Not a bad idea but not great either. A solution in search of a problem.

You can get all the sounds from plugging into pedals.

 

[SulzerType2]

This sort of guitar seems to turn up at NAMM every few years. Good for demoing pickups, but they never seem to go anywhere commercially.

I would probably find a favourite pickup combination and then wish the instrument was permanently in that configuration rather than being a Lego instrument.

 

[scuzzy]

if I had an incredibly ergonomic, beautiful, and "best-feeling-neck" bass that I could swap out pickups and electronics for that easily, it would be great as a sole instrument. but for me to use that ability, it would have to be the most comfortable bass I've ever held.

 

[bearhart74]

but then you would only need one.. wheres the gas in that?

 

[Medicine Man]

My gas is driven more by fashion than by tone, so for me it would be a detractor because I wouldn't have an excuse to "need" a different bass.

 

[FRoss6788]

My Fender P and J are as modular as I'd want.

 

[tlc1976]

More joints to loosen up. More connections to loosen and corrode. Smack it to get it working again like an old TV.

And of course it’s all proprietary if you wanna keep the modularity.

My guess is the novelty will wear off once it starts causing problems, and eventually it will get glued/screwed together and hardwired.

I think the best modularity would be fixed parts designed in. Like an array of pickup pole pieces between the neck and bridge, or a bunch of soapbar pickups, with a selectable matrix. Active electronics with passive bypass. Both of these already exist, at least in pictures I’ve seen.

As far as other parts swapping modularity (not on the fly), Fender already has it that way. Can swap practically everything, endless suppliers of parts all the way from stupid cheap to factory to high end. You can build an entire bass from scratch using catalog parts. Fender is the Jeep of basses.

 

[mikewalker]

This (swappable pickups and preamp modules) is being explored right now by a pretty big builder - see wintremute 's NAMM 2023 "every bass" thread.

 

[Lobster11]

It seems to me that such an instrument would have to be extremely well made to be useful, with lots of parts that have to fit together precisely, seamlessly, and reliably. That makes me think that it would likely be too expensive to offer a reasonable alternative to just having multiple basses.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I realize these are guitars (and they're doing okay, sales-wise considering the prices), but would one of these be what you're after?

Switchable Pick-ups

Rotating Pick-ups

 

[DesolationBlvd]

I would certainly find that fun as a novelty thing. But I think most people, if they really wanted versatility of sound, you hit diminishing returns with a 2 humbucker instrument with coil splitting.

That's why I wanted to put splittable pickups in my Thunderbird in the first place. It went from one-trick pony to boutique studio workhorse.

but then you would only need one.. wheres the gas in that?

No, you'd still need one with rounds and one with flats.


I'd personally like to see the return of the Gibson Grabber sliding pickup concept, but with two pickups. Neck slides from Rickenbacker 4001 neck position to upper coil of a regular split coil Precision. Bridge slides from Rickenbacker 4001 bridge to 70s Jazz bridge. They'd have to be rail pickups to ensure we don't have dead spots as the strings spread out sliding the pickup lower. While we're at it, let's make them humbuckers for coil splitting.

...and then you'd still need the old standard split coil Precision too.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Conceptually it's been tried to varying degrees: see the Electra MPC with its swappable electronics modules, and the original Ampeg Dan Armstrong with its swappable pickups.

I can kinda sorta see the appeal, but I think it'd be rare for me to continue swapping once I found the combination that worked for me in most musical situations.

 

[Killing Floor]

Ok,

K

Name 1 (one) awesome thing in the history of mankind that didn’t start out as a dumb idea. Just name 1.
I’ll wait.

That’s kinda awesome.

 

[ardgedee]

One version of the Dan Armstrong lucite bass had swappable pickups. You can see how it works from this back shot:

Armstrong also designed a sliding pickup bass:

...which Gibson and Westone, among other companies, have tried but not stuck with.

Basically, the moving (and/or easily lost) parts tends to make it a solution to a problem people would rather solve by having two pickups instead. Or use as an excuse to buy two basses instead.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Ok,

K

Name 1 (one) awesome thing in the history of mankind that didn’t start out as a dumb idea. Just name 1.
I’ll wait.

That’s kinda awesome.

Although, I have frequently wondered what was wrong in the head of the first guy who looked at a cow's udders and thought: "Oh, yeah! I'm gonna drink what comes outta that!"