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Modulus Mob

#2,822
Direct Box Rox said:
Question;

I had ordered a brand new (from a dealer) Modulus J-neck for $559. Today I scoped a couple of new VJ basses with a retail price of $3273. How does Modulus justify the remaining $2714? I see you can get Hipshot (amongst others) tuners AND a bridge brand new for about $157. And I'll give $200 for pickups. Maybe $1.99 for a string tree. And then the body/preamp if any. I've been trying to figure this out but it doesn't make sense to me. Thanks guys.
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Fit & finish, employee salaries, and they need to make some money too otherwise they'd go out of business. Oh, wait...
 
#2,824
Direct Box Rox said:
Question;

I had ordered a brand new (from a dealer) Modulus J-neck for $559. Today I scoped a couple of new VJ basses with a retail price of $3273. How does Modulus justify the remaining $2714? I see you can get Hipshot (amongst others) tuners AND a bridge brand new for about $157. And I'll give $200 for pickups. Maybe $1.99 for a string tree. And then the body/preamp if any. I've been trying to figure this out but it doesn't make sense to me. Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

Fender custom shop stuff is $7500-20000. How do they justify that?

Because they can. Welcome to the world.
 
#2,825
Still no word from Modulus ay? Just in case they fade out, im gunna hold on to these two guys.
image.jpg

Lane Poor im saving for...actually I dont know why i havent put it yet
photo.jpg

Don't know if I had one before, but can i get a number?
Thanks!
 
#2,827
You know what is funny is everbody whines and complains about why is Modulus so expensive, well you idiots did you bother to do price comparisons with all the other high-end bass companies like Zon, Fodera, Alembic, Pedulla and so on...... I think as what the prices for Modulus's are going for brand new, they are still cheaper than these other companies, so stop your whinning cry babies.
 
#2,828
gwangi said:
You know what is funny is everbody whines and complains about why is Modulus so expensive, well you idiots did you bother to do price comparisons with all the other high-end bass companies like Zon, Fodera, Alembic, Pedulla and so on...... I think as what the prices for Modulus's are going for brand new, they are still cheaper than these other companies, so stop your whinning cry babies.
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Ditto!
 
#2,831
I was specifically bitching about the VJ's. it's a jazz bass with $559 neck on it. At least their other models are proprietary shapes. Your argument is stupid mentioning Zon, pedulla, alembic etc. Those have unique shapes. I can get a brand new FINISHED, loaded jazz bass body for $69. Modulus deserved to go under with their crappy customer service.
 
#2,832
Direct Box Rox said:
I was specifically bitching about the VJ's. it's a jazz bass with $559 neck on it. At least their other models are proprietary shapes. Your argument is stupid mentioning Zon, pedulla, alembic etc. Those have unique shapes. I can get a brand new FINISHED, loaded jazz bass body for $69. Modulus deserved to go under with their crappy customer service.
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Don't like it, don't get one. Problem solved. Geez. Calling someone's argument stupid seems a little extreme, especially when it seems to be on point and possibly correct. You might disagree with the positions that Modulus takes, but that doesn't make bassgod's argument stupid. It might be your opinion that Modulus deserved to go under and from that we can infer that you might consider them stupid, but calling people stupid who explain to you what their thinking might be is just shooting the messenger, which seems a little, well, stupid.
 
#2,833
Direct Box Rox said:
I was specifically bitching about the VJ's. it's a jazz bass with $559 neck on it. At least their other models are proprietary shapes. Your argument is stupid mentioning Zon, pedulla, alembic etc. Those have unique shapes. I can get a brand new FINISHED, loaded jazz bass body for $69. Modulus deserved to go under with their crappy customer service.
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I was disappointed that the prices of the VJ4's went up over time. When they were retailing for just under $2K, I thought they were a decent value. But then the prices started climbing to a place that was unmanageable. Which is a shame, because the passive VJ4 with the Bartolini pickups sounded damned good!

Be that as it may, used Modulus basses are going to be with us for some time to come. I actually saw one VJ4 on craigslist for as low as $900. They're out there. You just have to be a little patient.
 
#2,834
Direct Box Rox said:
I was specifically bitching about the VJ's. it's a jazz bass with $559 neck on it. At least their other models are proprietary shapes. Your argument is stupid mentioning Zon, pedulla, alembic etc. Those have unique shapes. I can get a brand new FINISHED, loaded jazz bass body for $69. Modulus deserved to go under with their crappy customer service.
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Sadowsky, Lull, Lakland, and other all make their money off of Jazz basses and some cost considerably more than the VJ you mentioned.

I'm not too sure the $69 loaded J body is even on the same planet as far as materials, fit, finish, and components.
 
#2,835
bassgod0dmw said:
Sadowsky, Lull, Lakland, and other all make their money off of Jazz basses and some cost considerably more than the VJ you mentioned.

I'm not too sure the $69 loaded J body is even on the same planet as far as materials, fit, finish, and components.
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Agreed.

You *MIGHT* be able to put together a parts bass with a Modulus neck and the same parts that were used on a VJ4 for around $1200. After that you're paying for labor and retail markup. But the neck will absolutely be the single most expensive component of that build, followed by a finished body, pickups and other electronics. Hardware is cheap in comparison.
 
#2,836
Direct Box Rox said:
I was specifically bitching about the VJ's. it's a jazz bass with $559 neck on it. At least their other models are proprietary shapes. Your argument is stupid mentioning Zon, pedulla, alembic etc. Those have unique shapes. I can get a brand new FINISHED, loaded jazz bass body for $69. Modulus deserved to go under with their crappy customer service.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with you on it being 'just a jazz bass'. The Modulus bodies have a girth to them that Fender and other jazz basses do not have. I have owned 3 VJs I think and they all FELT completely different than any other jazz I have ever played. I even put a Fender neck on a Modulus body and it didn't feel like a regular jazz at all.
 
#2,837
sleepy_monkey said:
I have to disagree with you on it being 'just a jazz bass'. The Modulus bodies have a girth to them that Fender and other jazz basses do not have. I have owned 3 VJs I think and they all FELT completely different than any other jazz I have ever played. I even put a Fender neck on a Modulus body and it didn't feel like a regular jazz at all.
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Agreed. Modulus Bodies are heavy duty, and a little buklier than jazzes, but that helps with sustain and deep tones.

I also agree that there are tons of equal/not so good basses out there that cost a Sh** ton more than Modulus. In this day in age of machined everything, "hand made" instruments and anything else are insanely expensive.....

So be glad that Modulus costs what they do...and be glad of how cheap you can get a modulus used....I got my 05 Silver Flake Flea for $800 2 months ago :hyper:
 
#2,839
Direct Box Rox said:
I can get a brand new FINISHED, loaded jazz bass body for $69.
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I call BS.

I've been pricing out bass bodies from Warmoth, USCG, and ...uh...at least one other place (StewMac maybe?) on & off for the past few years, because I have a spare neck that's just begging to be built up into a complete instrument. But every time I do I wind up looking at something between $250 and $350 just for the body, at which point my project stops being reasonable.

$69? What's it made out of, burled monkey butt?
 

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