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Is Modulus still in Business?

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#241
edwinhurwitz said:
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.
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The reason Joe Zon get's brought into the conversation has nothing to do with his product or the sound of it (which IMO is great! Reason I've bought two different Zon's over the years). The reason is because if need a question answered - HE ANSWERS THE PHONE (or someone there does - I'd say Joe himself answers it 7 out of 10 times). And he's happy to talk & answer questions. At one time I was interested in a couple of his basses and wanted to find out a little more. After about 20 mins on the phone with me he finally says "where do you live again?" (I tell him) And Joe says something like "well, since I don't have a dealer in your state, I can send you both basses (w/ me providing a valid cc # of course) and whatever one I dont like, send that one back. And then once I get the one back that you don't want, I'll charge your card for the one that you bought.

You think Modulus would do this? Do you think Modulus would even answer their phone? Hell no. Another user said they somehow got a hold of someone at Modulus and asked if they could build a specific model with 19mm string spacing and the answer was "no". That person than called Joe Zon and the answer was "sure we can".

One time I asked Joe if he would be able to build a Sonus 4 string with a 35" scale and he said "Sure". I asked how much extra would that cost and he said "nothing". I can't imagine a company (like Modulus) that can't even answer the phone going above & beyond like this. Again, it just makes it that much easier to write that check (or swipe your card) for $3500 when you like or enjoy the personality behind the name.

Any Zon / Modulus comparisons on this thread are to do with the COMPANY, not the instrument, of which Joe Zon clearly is the winner. Sonically, the choice is yours.
 
#243
FYI the line about modulus not taking orders is not on the bass central website anymore.

But they appear to have sold a BUNCH of Q5's since they put it up.......:scowl:

Invalid Link Removed

^^link posted earlier in thread^^
 
#244
I bought my Modulus used about 8 years ago. It is a 96 Q5. I spoke with Joe numerous times about it spanning over the course of a few months (a few hours at least) when i thought i was developing a neck problem. Great guy. Anderson helped out too. They sent me hardware at no cost. They didn't have to do it.

Maybe they aren't customer service guys anymore or maybe the company was running so lean they were unable to have the extra expense of a secretary or whatever, but they build bad a$$ basses.

So I think we get it....you don't have to agree with how they have been running the business but let's not forget these guys are humans and have families and have given most of us some great nights and fabulous instruments. We should wish them the best and thank them for many nights of service.

Thanks Modulus!!! And here is to hoping for the best!
 
#246
Well, if the basis of the argument of the comparison to Zon is not about graphite basses, why limit it to basses as far as business models? Why not compare it to Avid, or other music software companies that offer no customer service at all unless you pay large amounts of money? Or the years and years of MOTU where customer support was essentially non-existent? Thankfully, that's changed. However, it still remains that your comments really are not all that helpful. Yay, Joe Zon! So what? As you admit, he's not a direct competitor so to choose his product purely on the basis of the customer service means that what the bass sounds like is secondary. Personally, I had excellent communication from Modulus a couple of months ago about a 1991 TBX, including a couple of 20 minute phone calls and emails that were answered quickly. Now, there's clearly something going on, so we wait and see. If Zon does it for you, why do you even care? What is really your point? What do you hope to accomplish? To convince us that we should abandon Modulus because you like Zon's business model? What should we do? Modulus is going to do what they do and are certainly not going to be scouring Talkbass for the gleaming key to their success. Hominem non urinat in ventum.
 
#247
cjp3044 said:
It makes its own sauce
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And, it's wet t-shirt time again! I know you want someone to show you some boobies! Big ones! Wet ones! BIG WET ONES!:p

The man was a cynical genius! And one helluva guitar player. :bassist:

Got to see him on Halloween night in Orlando in the early 80's. Steve Vai was still in the band.

Killer show. So glad I did! He was gone way too early!

OK, sorry for the hijack. Now back to your regularly scheduled kvetching and such.:rollno:
 
#248
bassbombs84 said:
FYI the line about modulus not taking orders is not on the bass central website anymore.

But they appear to have sold a BUNCH of Q5's since they put it up.......:scowl:

Invalid Link Removed

^^link posted earlier in thread^^
Click to expand...

Which was their entire goal anyways (to quickly move their Modulus inventory). Good for them.
 
#250
edwinhurwitz said:
Well, if the basis of the argument of the comparison to Zon is not about graphite basses, why limit it to basses as far as business models? Why not compare it to Avid, or other music software companies that offer no customer service at all unless you pay large amounts of money? Or the years and years of MOTU where customer support was essentially non-existent? Thankfully, that's changed. However, it still remains that your comments really are not all that helpful. Yay, Joe Zon! So what? As you admit, he's not a direct competitor so to choose his product purely on the basis of the customer service means that what the bass sounds like is secondary. Personally, I had excellent communication from Modulus a couple of months ago about a 1991 TBX, including a couple of 20 minute phone calls and emails that were answered quickly. Now, there's clearly something going on, so we wait and see. If Zon does it for you, why do you even care? What is really your point? What do you hope to accomplish? To convince us that we should abandon Modulus because you like Zon's business model? What should we do? Modulus is going to do what they do and are certainly not going to be scouring Talkbass for the gleaming key to their success. Hominem non urinat in ventum.
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Well then, congratulations for being the one person out of 1000 that was able to get a hold of someone at Modulus. I guess it's time to quit rambling on - the entire point was you have two graphite neck manufacturers - both sound great in their own unique way. But if you try to contact one company (for whatever reason) - their basic attitude is "F-off...we don't have the time to answer your question or more truthfully, we do have the time but don't feel that we need to..." and the other companies bas attitude is "Hi - how can we help you today?" It would be cool if they had (Zon) a gal making minimum wage answering the phone that could relay messages and call you back with answers. But to take it a step further, the owner of the company does. To me, that's impressive and gives me a warm & fuzzy about dropping that kind of coin on an instrument. The way my brain works is; "you want me to go to a dealer and spend $4k on your instrument and you can even answer your phone or respond to my email?? F-off...I spend my $ elsewhere."

That'd be like calling Audi to have a question answered and on the screen of your iPhone you just see a middle finger looking at you back. After a while, you'd probably be disgruntled towards them. You would stop swinging from their nuts if that happened enough. Same with bass companies.
 
#251
BuffaloBob4343 said:
And, it's wet t-shirt time again! I know you want someone to show you some boobies! Big ones! Wet ones! BIG WET ONES!:p

The man was a cynical genius! And one helluva guitar player. :bassist:

Got to see him on Halloween night in Orlando in the early 80's. Steve Vai was still in the band.

Killer show. So glad I did! He was gone way too early!

OK, sorry for the hijack. Now back to your regularly scheduled kvetching and such.:rollno:
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That's awesome - I never got to see him live unfortunately, but I've seen ZpZ 6 times now. HUGE fanboi right here.

Back to the topic at hand - I just visited my local Modulus dealer over lunch and went right to the 2 they had in stock - sales guy immediately comes over to me and says, "Hey, you know Modulus just shut down, we just got informed late yesterday" - don't know if he really know for sure or not, but that is apparently what the store was told - by whom, I don't know.

I walked out of there with a pristine '02 Q4 for $2k out the door. Hope I made the right decision.
 
#253
FourBanger said:
It is hard to run just about any small business dealing in specialized luxury items with much profitability these days.
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Yeah, and as the owner of a small business dealing in producing and selling specialized luxury items (not music related), the trick to survival in horrible economic times like this is to not lose focus on exemplary customer service.

A retired businessman/banker friend wiser than me once told me, "When times get tough, everyone focuses inward. Bad move. You have to be even more determined to split your time between the internal and external." What he was saying was to stay as focused on communicating with my customers and dealers/reps as I do making my product and working with my small staff. It's been key to survival.
 
#254
I know Audi makes a butt-ton of cars. My analogy was for the purpose of; they make a high quality automobile - so with that, there is a certain level of service you expect. Audi's put Kia's to shame. Much like Modulus put's Hondo's to shame.
 
#255
cjp3044 said:
Back to the topic at hand - I just visited my local Modulus dealer over lunch and went right to the 2 they had in stock - sales guy immediately comes over to me and says, "Hey, you know Modulus just shut down, we just got informed late yesterday" - don't know if he really know for sure or not, but that is apparently what the store was told - by whom, I don't know.
Click to expand...
Maybe they read it on TalkBass...
 
#257
Some times when a company is restructuring, they stop dealing with the dealers that rarely ordered instruments and continue to only deal with the dealers that have placed large orders over the years and showed that they can get those orders out of the stores doors.
 
#258
JAUQO III-X said:
Some times when a company is restructuring, they stop dealing with the dealers that rarely ordered instruments and continue to only deal with the dealers that have placed large orders over the years and showed that they can get those orders out of the stores doors.
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That makes sense. This is a small store and I don't necesarily think they would be at the top of Modulus' list, but my new Q4 sounds pretty killer! Don't know if it's long term keeper though.
 
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