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Keith Jones Modulus

Great bassist! I saw Keith with Andy Narrell in the late '80s or 1990 in L. A. and have some CDs with Keith on them by Kit Walker. Great music. You should keep this bass if you can. I wouldn't mind checking it out if you were near me.

The bass looks like a standard Q5 with JJ pickups in it.
 
Thanks for the info! According to the serial number it was made in 1989. I'll contact Geoff Gould. I would like to know the specific electronics installed. It's a great funk bass, but a little bright for the music I play. I payed $1500 for it around 1992 I think.
 
Here are some more great Kit Walker songs with Keith on it:



I wish I knew what he played on these, but I don't remember what Keith was playing at that show.

Yes, Keith is a great bassist, with such great tone and feel for sure. :bassist:
 
I played a Q5 with Bartolini pickups before I bought my Q5 with EMGs. The Bartolinis were definitely not as 'edgy' sounding as the EMGs.

The only pic I could see of your bass was the back so I don't know if you have soapbars or J-style pickups. I have Lane Poor pickups in my Q5 now. I went through a couple EMG configurations (P-J BTS original) (DC-DC BQC) and I couldn't eliminate the upper midrange sound that I think annoys some people.

The Lane Poor Wide Apertures with a Lane Poor preamp and passive tone controls fixed the sound for me. Bartolini pickups and preamp would probably do the same thing.

Rick B.
 
It's got two J style EMG's. I'll check into the Lane Poors. Does Wide Aperture mean soapbar style? I'd rather not rout if i don't have to.
 

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I'm pretty sure that Lane Poor wide apertures are soapbars, so they'll require routing. Lane poor does make J sized pickups, but they're narrow aperture, and known to be pretty bright, crisp and clean - not far from what you've got.

But, there are lots of 5 string J style pickups available.

Measure your existing pickups carefully, including the the locations of the screw ears, and start checking around for replacements that'll fit.

EMG recently started making a JCS model - they're made to sound warmer and have a smoother attack. Might be just what you need, if they fit your routes......
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Otherwise, try Bartolini, Seymour Duncan, Sadowsky, Nordstrand, Lindy Fralin, Aero, Dimarzio, etc.

Some of these companies do custom work, too, so if you're not finding what you need, contact them directly to see if they can make something for you. It's usually not much more expensive than regular stock. Not sure if EMG still does custom work, but they used to. I know Duncan, Nordstrand, Fralin, and Aero all do custom stuff.

Also keep in mind that a lot of jazz pickups have separate, removable covers, so you might be able to get some off the shelf pickups and have some nice wood covers made for them that'll fit your bass.

You can certainly find some J pickups that are warmer than standard EMG Js. Maybe not as warm and fat as a big wide soapbar style humbucker, but definitely warmer than what you've got.

Standard EMG Js are known to be among the most precise, crisp, clean pickups you can buy.
 
Thanks for the info. I checked out the video demo for the jcs set and it sounds almost exactly like my Modulus! Wonder if that is a graphite neck he is using. I keep going back to the debate on how much a pickup will change the tone compared to the bass (neck, fingerboard, body wood) itself.