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Is Modulus still in Business?

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#821
How is this a bad sign for the music industry?

A higher end bass company couldn't compete and now they're outta biz. These things happen. KMart going boobies up isn't a bad sign for the department store market, with Walmart and Target doin just fine.

Survival of the fittest. Apparently, no disrespect to their instrument, but Modulus wasn't the fittest. So they go bye bye.
 
#822
True, its just sad. Modulus was around for a long time and for a while was THE bass to have. Its like having your 90 year old grandma die. Your sad because she's dead, but come on.... she was 90 years old.
 
#825
So after parsing through a lot of the 42 pages of this crazy, extended thread covering the sad demise of a once great maker of Bass Guitars, what is the general consensus as to the appreciation / depreciation of owned Modulus basses and guitars?

I am about to consider the purchase of a beautiful - very much vintage Modulus Bassstar J Fretless being sold at a reasonable price.

I just wonder if it stands the potential to go up or down in value due to the crashing of the parent company. Likewise for other Modulus basses owned by close friends?

Opinions?
 
#828
silvertone said:
So after parsing through a lot of the 42 pages of this crazy, extended thread covering the sad demise of a once great maker of Bass Guitars, what is the general consensus as to the appreciation / depreciation of owned Modulus basses and guitars?

I am about to consider the purchase of a beautiful - very much vintage Modulus Bassstar J Fretless being sold at a reasonable price.

I just wonder if it stands the potential to go up or down in value due to the crashing of the parent company. Likewise for other Modulus basses owned by close friends?

Opinions?
Click to expand...

If they are truly out of business then I think it will drive down the values
of all Modulus basses because of the fact there will be no customer
service, repair or warranty availible to anyone who owns one.
Modulus basses are unique so not every luthier can work on them unlike
a typical bass. In fact some luthiers won't even work on them because
of their complexity.

Also replacement parts will become harder to find. For example.

I bought a used Q5 a couple of years ago that did not come with the
truss rod Allen wrench which has a special length. I tried in vain to contact Modulus but we Modulus owners know how great their CS was
and was never able to get one. Lucky for me basswave saved the day and found one for me. I can't imagine trying to get one now.

I think that anyone who try's to sell a Modulus used is in for a tough time unless the news on the company changes. I know that I will not
buy another Modulus knowing what I know now. I would rather put my $
into a bass that has a company to back it up.
 
#829
I feel honored to own one, especially as a lefty. I will admit mine is a log and a half to play but still has a voice and is wonderfully stable and dependable.

I had a feeling something was up when one of the Modulus guys (very nice as I recall) responded to a quote on a lefty Q5 34" scale with an exceptionally high number (almost Alembic, Fodera high). Bummer.

I hope they make a comeback.
 
#830
silvertone said:
So after parsing through a lot of the 42 pages of this crazy, extended thread covering the sad demise of a once great maker of Bass Guitars, what is the general consensus as to the appreciation / depreciation of owned Modulus basses and guitars?

I am about to consider the purchase of a beautiful - very much vintage Modulus Bassstar J Fretless being sold at a reasonable price.

I just wonder if it stands the potential to go up or down in value due to the crashing of the parent company. Likewise for other Modulus basses owned by close friends?

Opinions?
Click to expand...

Bassstars are a wierd lot. Wrong forum for this question. Do a search for bassstar and go from there
 
#831
davidjbass said:
If they are truly out of business then I think it will drive down the values
of all Modulus basses because of the fact there will be no customer
service, repair or warranty availible to anyone who owns one.
Modulus basses are unique so not every luthier can work on them unlike
a typical bass. In fact some luthiers won't even work on them because
of their complexity.
Click to expand...

Eh, I don't think so. They're no different than wood basses as far as setup goes. Sure, replacing frets is a bit involved but mine's 12 years old and the frets still look brand new. What do you feel is so complex about them?
Truss rod wrench? Any decent tinkerer could whip one up easily enough. Non issue IMO.
 
#832
davidjbass said:
If they are truly out of business then I think it will drive down the values
of all Modulus basses because of the fact there will be no customer service, repair or warranty availible to anyone who owns one.
Click to expand...

This explains the dismal resale value of - say - Stradivarius...

True - wood is widely available and not everyone has an autoclave. My guess is there will be a few specialists who will emerge to service the instruments. They will not be cheap. But neither were the instruments.

*If* (and I have absolutely no inside knowledge) they're out of business as a company, it stands to reason that 'someone' will emerge to purchase the name, tooling, and "good will" and a 'new Modulus' may appear. Whether any such successor company can or wants to service existing product is an unanswerable question.

There are lots of irreplaceable NLA vintage instruments. Some hold their value, some do not. Only time will tell, and speculation is pointless.
 
#837
dmusic148 said:
Eh, I don't think so. They're no different than wood basses as far as setup goes. Sure, replacing frets is a bit involved but mine's 12 years old and the frets still look brand new. What do you feel is so complex about them?
Truss rod wrench? Any decent tinkerer could whip one up easily enough. Non issue IMO.
Click to expand...

I think it's going to be more of a mental factor. You're buying a specialized product from a company no longer in business.
As far as the truss rod Allen wrench is concerned I was able
to make one to get me by until basswave got me one but not
every bass player in the world is a decent tinkerer. I have seen many new and used Modulus basses for sale both privately and at stores that have had the truss rod hole chewed up because of tinkerers that didn't know what they were doing.
 
#839
Used modulus with no support is probably less risky than a vintage fender (with, btw, no support), especially the trussrod models which are better in two ways -- less likely to need warp repair and easier for average joe tech to work on.


Hope modulus pulls through, they are great basses.
 
#840
elgecko said:
Older Moduli have no truss rods.
Click to expand...
I know. I have one.

davidjbass said:
I have seen many new and used Modulus basses for sale both privately and at stores that have had the truss rod hole chewed up because of tinkerers that didn't know what they were doing.
Click to expand...

There's a new thread here every other day about this, with every possible brand mentioned. Not a Modulus specific issue.
 
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