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Modulus Funk Unlimited Vs. MusicMan Stingray
- Thread starter isaac_adrian
- Start date
I don't mean dead as in dead strings or a bad setup. Just... I don't know... No flavor to it at all. I wouldn't call it sterile,but then again, everyone have their own idea of what these words really mean.
I might have exaggerated a bit, I did enjoy both the Modulus Q5 and the Stingray for a long while, but they didn't stick with me.
Bass Club Chicago Demos - Modulus Funk Unlimited 4 String Trans Orange - YouTube
I've owned a bunch of Stingrays and loved all of them. I've played the Modulus Funk Unlimited when it was the Flea Sig and loved it too. I recommend that you order a Funk Unlimited from a retailer with a good return policy who also deals in Stingrays. That might be anybody from Musician's Friend to Bass Central to BassNw. If you like the Modulus, keep it. If you don't like it, work out a deal to exchange it for a Stingray (plus shipping and the difference in price of course.)
I've owned a bunch of Stingrays and loved all of them. I've played the Modulus Funk Unlimited when it was the Flea Sig and loved it too. I recommend that you order a Funk Unlimited from a retailer with a good return policy who also deals in Stingrays. That might be anybody from Musician's Friend to Bass Central to BassNw. If you like the Modulus, keep it. If you don't like it, work out a deal to exchange it for a Stingray (plus shipping and the difference in price of course.)
Carbon fiber has an articulate long sustain sound... If there was a dead Pbass to Synth line.. a modulus would be more like a synth.
there is kind of a thing to most carbon fiber/graphite neck basses that I have played. They sound very sustainy plugged in. But unplugged they feel dead. There is not much if any of that resonance in the neck that you are used to feeling.
Yeah i'd agree with most people on this thread. But if your modulus is hissy just get it shielded by your tech. Also I think the guy who said the FU lacked low mids (or something like being to scooped sounding) I think that may be due to your p/u config. Mine is a duncan pickup with the aguilar obp-1 and its got some of that scoop but not too much by any means, still got a lot of deep low end punch. I like the fact that the FU has two or three more frets on the neck though, and that it never will need service. Its a very well constructed bass, top quality fretwork on mine, and rock solid everywhere.
That being said a stingray is on my bass wishlist.
That being said a stingray is on my bass wishlist.
- Aug 21, 2003
- 11,588
- 18,607
- Disclosures
- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
I own and owned the following
-Stingrays
-Stingrays with a Status neck
-Modulus FU basses
I could go ect but I try to be brief
The Modulus has have a certain slight upper midrange that my ears always here on ANY modulus, I'm sure others here it as well...Its a little hard to describe other then what I said.
The Status is a lot like Modulus but that upper mid bump its not so prominent but it still has all that graphite clarity with no loss of foundation. It works well with Stingrays.
The Stingray (stock anyways) will have that stock pickup and pre sound that a Modulus will not. Kind of that signature thing that do have.
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Bottom line all are great basses...I think someone said if you want the best of both worlds get a Ray with a Status neck and I agree with that.
I'm a big fan of graphite and I would go with one of those options.
-Stingrays
-Stingrays with a Status neck
-Modulus FU basses
I could go ect but I try to be brief
The Modulus has have a certain slight upper midrange that my ears always here on ANY modulus, I'm sure others here it as well...Its a little hard to describe other then what I said.
The Status is a lot like Modulus but that upper mid bump its not so prominent but it still has all that graphite clarity with no loss of foundation. It works well with Stingrays.
The Stingray (stock anyways) will have that stock pickup and pre sound that a Modulus will not. Kind of that signature thing that do have.
----------------------
Bottom line all are great basses...I think someone said if you want the best of both worlds get a Ray with a Status neck and I agree with that.
I'm a big fan of graphite and I would go with one of those options.
Funny you should mention that. I always though older Stingrays and some Modulus have a kinid of bite in the upper mids. Not so much a bump in frequency bit more as a kind of resonance .
- Aug 21, 2003
- 11,588
- 18,607
- Disclosures
- A-Designs Mike Lull GK Tsunami Cables GHS Strings RMI Basswitch Nordstrand Pickups Darkglass
Agreed (basically)
There is that "upper mid 'thing' going on" that is not overwhelming but there none the less on any Modulus (I love it actually).
The older Stingrays (like the 2 bands) have a lot of options on how the pre amp works for just 2 bands. Its a different thing all together then the Modulus upper mid 'thing'. For lack of a better term it can be a little thonk-ish (yes thats that word I mean)
I actually hear it cutting through the mix (in a good way) more on a Modulus.
On a side note (for any of these basses)...Try a Nordstrand MM type pickup with the Seymour Duncans MM replacment preamp. Its the best MM sound out there IMHO.
Carey's pickups are so even and have fuller lowend then a stock EBMM and there is a clarity with the 8K for the highs with the SD pre (even set flat) that is second to none.
Cheers
My first time of playing a Modulus was in 1982 at Stars Guitars, which was then the original store where they built them. I had to have one and told the owner of the company that one day I would. I own a Modulus, and I would put its' sound up against any bass on the market, and will still come out wanting a Modulus.
If you pick up a Modulus and you don't like the sound or think it sounds shi..y, well that is because of the hard surface (graphite that has no dead spots ) so the fu..ed up sound that you hear is actually what you sound like. It requires tone control, and a player that has developed his sound just as much as his skill. If you can control your tones while you play, then indeed a Modulus is what you should get. Someone mentioned that the Low B was light, and was not full embodied. I would say that something was wrong with his wiring, his hearing, or playing style. Why?
it takes 40 feet for the B note on a bass to travel before it resolves into an actual B tone. So with a wood bass the B response is much slower than graphite because it is a softer surface. Playing graphite sounds as if the B has resolved immediately. Some wooden necks can accomplish the feat, but it has to do with pickup types.
In the hands of a person who plugs in and plays with no tonal control, then stay as far away as you can from a Modulus, because it is not for you. To conquer the I am gonna expose your bad ass playing syndrome of a Modulus' ( hard surface ) you only need to raise the string height. For the money they ask for they could build a better battery compartment ( that is my only unhappiness with the bass...you must be very careful replacing the batteries, because all of the wiring is there, exposed and helter skelter. But anyway, if you got a killa sound, then go Modulus...and if not so killa, then adjust the string height for a smoother tone. They also name their basses Modulus SweetSpot Basses, and that is to say, that you must find the point of referrence as to when the bass sounds Badd Ass or just Ho Hum, and I speak as if the strings were low instead of raised. The sound is there, but you may need to move into a new zone other than where you played a wood neck bass ( more towards the bridge }.
Music Man is a nice bass, and I would own one, but it would always be second fiddle to my Modulus. I hate also high end pickups that squelch, and a Music Man's pickup will do that if you go high eq or tone, but that is my opinion as to what sound I prefer. I would like to have a Music Man with a Status neck ( graphite )...because I love the true sound of my notes exxposing themselves as I intended them to sound, and actually showing the human ear exactly what I sound like.
Your tone and sound is what makes you a musical marvel, and if you have not acquired your skill with tone in the forefront, then you may indeed need a wooden neck bass to make you think you sound good ( not being facetious ) because so many
musicians on strings sound terrible. I love myself some Modulus.
If you pick up a Modulus and you don't like the sound or think it sounds shi..y, well that is because of the hard surface (graphite that has no dead spots ) so the fu..ed up sound that you hear is actually what you sound like. It requires tone control, and a player that has developed his sound just as much as his skill. If you can control your tones while you play, then indeed a Modulus is what you should get. Someone mentioned that the Low B was light, and was not full embodied. I would say that something was wrong with his wiring, his hearing, or playing style. Why?
it takes 40 feet for the B note on a bass to travel before it resolves into an actual B tone. So with a wood bass the B response is much slower than graphite because it is a softer surface. Playing graphite sounds as if the B has resolved immediately. Some wooden necks can accomplish the feat, but it has to do with pickup types.
In the hands of a person who plugs in and plays with no tonal control, then stay as far away as you can from a Modulus, because it is not for you. To conquer the I am gonna expose your bad ass playing syndrome of a Modulus' ( hard surface ) you only need to raise the string height. For the money they ask for they could build a better battery compartment ( that is my only unhappiness with the bass...you must be very careful replacing the batteries, because all of the wiring is there, exposed and helter skelter. But anyway, if you got a killa sound, then go Modulus...and if not so killa, then adjust the string height for a smoother tone. They also name their basses Modulus SweetSpot Basses, and that is to say, that you must find the point of referrence as to when the bass sounds Badd Ass or just Ho Hum, and I speak as if the strings were low instead of raised. The sound is there, but you may need to move into a new zone other than where you played a wood neck bass ( more towards the bridge }.
Music Man is a nice bass, and I would own one, but it would always be second fiddle to my Modulus. I hate also high end pickups that squelch, and a Music Man's pickup will do that if you go high eq or tone, but that is my opinion as to what sound I prefer. I would like to have a Music Man with a Status neck ( graphite )...because I love the true sound of my notes exxposing themselves as I intended them to sound, and actually showing the human ear exactly what I sound like.
Your tone and sound is what makes you a musical marvel, and if you have not acquired your skill with tone in the forefront, then you may indeed need a wooden neck bass to make you think you sound good ( not being facetious ) because so many
musicians on strings sound terrible. I love myself some Modulus.
