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Modulus Mob

#3,161
My friend since 2001. I have owned many basses in my life and quite a few since I bought this one. Now it is my one and only bass. What else could I ask for? It is stuffed with Alembic electronics and is a wonder and you would have to pry it from my cold dead hands.

It has "mojo" all over it. Can't even read the word Bartolini on the neck pickup.
 

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#3,164
tubenutq5 said:
My friend since 2001. I have owned many basses in my life and quite a few since I bought this one. Now it is my one and only bass. What else could I ask for? It is stuffed with Alembic electronics and is a wonder and you would have to pry it from my cold dead hands.

It has "mojo" all over it. Can't even read the word Bartolini on the neck pickup.
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Nice! And look at that, Modulus once again ahead of their time with a Spalt top before it was all the rage :D
 
#3,165
tubenutq5 said:
It is stuffed with Alembic electronics and is a wonder and you would have to pry it from my cold dead hands.

It has "mojo" all over it. Can't even read the word Bartolini on the neck pickup.
Click to expand...

You mixed an Alembic preamp with Bartolini pickups?

I have custom Alembic pickups/pre in my Quantum and love the extended low end I can get. I decided to go with simple electronics and selected the same pre that comes with the bass activator pickups. I find the ability to change the resonant peak of the pickups to be much more useful on stage than having a lot of tone controls.

Sweet looking bass, by the way...
 
#3,166
StephenR said:
You mixed an Alembic preamp with Bartolini pickups?

I have custom Alembic pickups/pre in my Quantum and love the extended low end I can get. I decided to go with simple electronics and selected the same pre that comes with the bass activator pickups. I find the ability to change the resonant peak of the pickups to be much more useful on stage than having a lot of tone controls.

Sweet looking bass, by the way...
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I've got an ACG preamp sitting in a box waiting on some SGD pickups to go into my Q6 TBX. A Series II setup would be sweet and also conform to my #1 bass, a '67 Starfire with Series II pups and electronics. Hm.
 
#3,167
I was initially going to go with a Distillate electronics package since I liked the Distillate bass that I ended up trading for a Series I five-string. Even back in 88 when I got my Quantum Alembic wanted a fortune for the electronics (and I was getting them at the ""dealer" cost they were going to charge a luthier friend of mine) so I went with a cheaper option. Turned out that with the Modulus I certainly did not need the bass and treble boost switches which were one of the things I liked in the Distillate electronics. I also was reluctant to drill more holes in a brand new bass. Pretty sure the quote for "Distillate style" pups with Distillate electronics was $960 and the same pups with activator electonics ran me around $300.

Series II electronics in a Quantum would probably kick major butt but with current Alembic pricing be really expensive. When did you put the Alembic pups in your Starfire?
 
#3,168
StephenR said:
Series II electronics in a Quantum would probably kick major butt but with current Alembic pricing be really expensive. When did you put the Alembic pups in your Starfire?
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I put them in about 2 years ago (I think). The pickups and electronics I got from two different sources. The pickups are probably from around 1973 (caramel trapezoidal) or so (Rick Turner seems to recall winding them) and the electronics, which were basically just a bag of parts, missing probably 40% of the offboard components and originally SII, from a few years later (pickups have RCA connectors on them and the electronics have the skinny gold cylinders). It took a few tries to build the filters properly as I misread the schematic and put them up in the Mhz range by accident. Ron was very helpful in getting that sorted out. I still have some shielding issues to work out (although the TBX is completely unshielded. Not too cool), but it sounds great.

This pic has made the rounds, but it shows the bass and current stereo rig. The TBX sounds great through this rig!
attachment.jpg
 
#3,169
Hidesert said:
Beautiful basses, all!
Can't wait to hear more about the 25th Anniversary. It would surprise me if the neck was a different profile. I've only seen photos showing the special fingerboard inlay and model designation on the back of the peg.
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Well, I am blessed. A local bass player and TBer contacted me inquiring if I wanted to swap my Lull M5V for a Q5 25th Anniversary bass for some minor tree work he wants done at his house here on the Cape (arborist here). He is a great guy who insisted I try the bass Friday night at a gig and he even stopped by to check us/ Q5 out and said it cut through the mix in a crappy sounding room like a dagger.

I also own a Q5 Sienna (2004) so I didn't need another but this bass is different. (I had 2 gigs on Saturday and played the anniversary bass on both). First of all, the neck is slightly slimmer, especially by the headstock. The finish on the neck is satin (the Sienna is gloss), the special 12th fret logo and semi-hollow body are unique as well.
I was pleasantly surprised to find the Aqqie OBP-3 preamp installed as well (other Mod is Bart/Bart), which I loved at all gigs this weekend. First gig Sat was a fundraiser on an outdoor patio in Hyannis at a posh restaurant and this bass killed it, second gig was at a packed bar indoors and the Aggie pre was very useful to boost the upper mids to break through yet not be too boomy. More details if you guys care.
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#3,174
JFMusic said:
Nice find Pete! Keep the details comin'. As a side note, I've been thinking of trying a new pickup / pre combo in my Q5. I know, I know, I've been a die hard EMG guy on here, but after a solid year with my #1 I think I'm ready for something new. My only decision now is Bart / Bart or Bart / Aggie?
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Ben, you can borrow either bass any time you like, just ask. Gotta tell ya, the Aggie Pre is nice and aggressive, but not in a negative way. I had a Roscoe Aggie / Bart that I loved and traded years ago. Great combo- the Aggie makes the Bart soaps less compressed sounding.
 
#3,176
Bipslapper said:
Well, I am blessed. A local bass player and TBer contacted me inquiring if I wanted to swap my Lull M5V for a Q5 25th Anniversary bass for some minor tree work he wants done at his house here on the Cape (arborist here). He is a great guy who insisted I try the bass Friday night at a gig and he even stopped by to check us/ Q5 out and said it cut through the mix in a crappy sounding room like a dagger.
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Yes, you are blessed Pete :). I would not have let this bass go to just anybody! You played the hell out of it Friday night and will get the most out of it. Enjoy it! I love the Lull and it compliments my Jazz collection perfectly!

(Edit: Hmmm, have to change my signature now I guess!)
 

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