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Is Modulus still in Business?

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#227
How hard could it be to run a well organized & profitable graphite neck bass company?? I guess we should ask Joe Zon.

And moving forward, others should use the current Modulus debacle on how NOT to run a company. Because for Modulus, this has been a complete and total flop-o-rama.
 
#231
Direct Box Rox said:
How hard could it be to run a well organized & profitable graphite neck bass company?? I guess we should ask Joe Zon.
Click to expand...

Why do we have to hear this over and over? Modulus is not Zon and Zon is not Modulus. What works for one doesn't work for the other. It could be that the Modulus method of making necks is far more costly and labor intensive, so maybe the Zon formula wouldn't work. They sound different, so there must be a difference in manufacturing technique, so I will categorically state that I will NEVER EVER buy a Zon bass purely on the basis of it having a graphite neck and thus as an acceptable substitute for a Modulus. In fact, I'll never buy a Zon because to my ear, they are pretty lame sounding. I'd rather buy an Alembic or some other bass which sounds closer to a Modulus to my ear, regardless of construction technique. Zons have their own thing but they don't come close to the liveliness of Modulus. So we get it, you think Zons are an acceptable substitute for Modulus, great, got it, move on please. It's got no bearing on what's going on here.

BTW, who knows, maybe Zon will be out of business next week. We don't that he won't. The current economy sucks and is going down fast. Austerity is hitting every sector and as long as we use shrinking the economy as a method to grow it, this will continue to happen and no one will be making graphite basses. After all, there was no huge market for the middle class in high end instruments during the Gilded Age and that's where we're heading. Hate to bring politics and economics into this, but that's at the heart of the problem.
 
#232
What was squeezing the company I used to work for was the doubling or more of the costs of materials and commodities as well as increases in transportation and shipping of those things.

Carbon fiber might be in adequate supply, but I don't doubt it costs quite a bit more than it did less than a decade ago. That kind of think can kill an otherwise healthy business.
 
#233
I don't get all the bashing on Modulus as a company. They have been really successful. They have a great product that professionals use and created their own space in the market. The people who started the company were creative and built something great.

There are thousands of small businesses in this country. I tried running my own but it is not for me. It is difficult to do and most of what you end up doing is not what you love. Sure you can bring in "management" or other experts to help run it, but trust me having "management" in the equation zaps the fun out of it. I admire anyone that makes it work, but I also recognize how much a pain it is to keep the company afloat. There are always a ton of difficult decisions, plus all the unforeseen BS that you hope doesn't happen. I'm still owed money to my company and will probably go to court or collection agency.

Modulus has been around a long time and built a large customer base. Consequently there is a lot to deal with. In order to stay competitive they have to keep cost down. When you have more demand then supply, then PR and customer relations get short changed if you are worried that hiring extra staff or contracting a service agency will price your product out of competition. I would rather buy a cheaper Modulus then know I can call the factory or designer and ask them about problems. I have owned a Modulus for 15 years now and never felt the urge to call them up and deal with their customer service. If it needs work, I take it to a local expert. Thats just me. I never seen the need to contact them. They don't even go out of the way to offer repair services.

Slow service in the music industry is the norm. I'm in the market for a Fretless bass and I talked to a local dealer about building a new Zon. They said it will be 8-9 months. If I went that route, I understand that it will be a long time before I see a new axe. I have dropped off instruments at repair shops for work that should only take 1 hour, but they hold on to the instruments for a week or more. This type of stuff takes time. When I think of quick service I think of Guitar Center and McDonalds not premium products.

If Modulus had equipment of my mine or a build in progress I would be annoyed and worried about what will happen. There is always some risk when you do business, but I'm sure any repairs will be returned and existing orders will be refunded just based on the quantity of products they make. Besides a few places on the internet (mainly this thread) no one even cares about what is happening. This re-org might have happened without anyone really noticing if it wasn't for this thread. Could they have responded to it? Maybe legally not until the deal is finalized. Or maybe they just don't care? In the end it is just a handful of people on an internet forum. The company can survive that kind of bad PR. Their website is still up and recently they announced reintroduction of a special product that hasn't been built in a long while. Even if none of the original Modulus people are at the company the name, the product and the services will survive. When was the last time you saw an instrument maker the size of modulus completely disappear? Who owns SWR now? How many times has Eden changed hands?

If Modulus is sold, then the product might go down hill a little, but I still admire the founders for having the vision they had and taking it as far as they did. They built a great bass for me and in the end I never had to deal with them personally. If I did see them, I would tell them good job and thanks!
 
#235
FourBanger said:
What was squeezing the company I used to work for was the doubling or more of the costs of materials and commodities as well as increases in transportation and shipping of those things.

Carbon fiber might be in adequate supply, but I don't doubt it costs quite a bit more than it did less than a decade ago. That kind of think can kill an otherwise healthy business.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's the cost of raw materials as much as it is skilled labor. Apparently they all still have a lot of hand work involved to get it right, this in an age where most instruments, including custom ones like Alembic, have a lot of CNC.
 
#237
Corporate Boy said:
I have owned a Modulus for 15 years now and never felt the urge to call them up and deal with their customer service. If it needs work, I take it to a local expert. Thats just me. I never seen the need to contact them. They don't even go out of the way to offer repair services.
Click to expand...

I've had several well-respected luthiers tell me that they always refer their clients with Modulus instruments to have any neck problems addressed by the Modulus factory...because A) so much of that neck is proprietary design and so beyond the scope most "local experts" are comfortable with, but also B) because if you are the original owner their repair work is covered under the lifetime warranty.


Corporate Boy said:
If Modulus is sold, then the product might go down hill a little, but I still admire the founders for having the vision they had and taking it as far as they did. They built a great bass for me and in the end I never had to deal with them personally.
Click to expand...

Just fyi, the founders left Modulus 18 years ago...unless your 15-year-old bass was second-hand, the founders didn't build your bass. :)
 
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