- Jun 6, 2012
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Modulus Mob
- Thread starter rockstarbassist
- Start date
Modulus made neck-thru instruments from the get-go, but they didn't get called "TBX" until very late 80s or early 90s.
This is truth. I had a late 80s neckthru that was NOT a TBX....TBXs were the name in the earlier part of the 90s
since we're all getting a good chuckle over the tbx on evilbay, wanted to post a couple of questions to the mobbers.
1. what is the most you would spend on a modulus and why?
2. what do you think would be the 'holy grail' of modulus basses? one from phil lesh's stable? one of flea's? mike gordon?
here's my 'holy grail'. wish i could find one like this. haven't seen a coco-topped tbx besides this. i'm sure there are a few out there:
1. what is the most you would spend on a modulus and why?
2. what do you think would be the 'holy grail' of modulus basses? one from phil lesh's stable? one of flea's? mike gordon?
here's my 'holy grail'. wish i could find one like this. haven't seen a coco-topped tbx besides this. i'm sure there are a few out there:
Thought I would share my EPIC TBX story. Might be hard to read through my ramblings (fair warning)….
So about 3 months ago I began looking for an old black TBX 6. I scoured the internet mostly through google images, talkbass, and web searching to begin. I began to track one down that was made in 1996. It first appeared in 2010 at the MusicZoo. I contacted the store and they told me they would contact the seller to see if he was interested in selling. I never heard from him, I had figured it had changed hands. I then traced it to another TB member Snogaws who put up an Ad on Alembic and Talkbass in 2011. This member no longer that active in any forums was hard to track down but I ended up getting in contact with him just to confirm he had sold the bass locally and later to confirm this was the same serial number. My heart once again sunk, all my leads had gone cold. Shortly after, Fred312b was kind enough to chime in that he was the current owner of that exact bass. I thus began 2 months of pleading for him to sell/trade me the bass. At first he would not budge, like me he was very fond of this bass, it truly is a magical bass. But after awhile I think I started to wear on him. He eventually gave me ONE trade option. I was to find him another TBX 5 or 6 to trade for his black TBX 6. He did not care for the black color so I pleaded to him not to refinish the bass and let me find another tbx 5/6 to trade him instead. Such a hard task yet I knew I had to find a way to get that bass. I searched high and low on the internet, called tons of music stores, guitar centers, local stores. I told them my contact info and that if a TBX comes through their doors that I want to be the first to know. Literally any TBX 5/6 you see anywhere on the internet I was after at some point during my search. I called, emailed, messaged everyone to no avail. One dead end after another, the most frustrated I've ever been in my life. My dream bass was right there, yet I could not get my hands on it. So many times I thought I was so close and then poof my lead was gone. I ended up buying a blue tbx 6 from Edwinhurwitz on here but it ended up having a neck bow so I could not trade it to Fred312b as he requested the trade be in pristine condition. Thank you Edwin for letting me return that blue TBX to you, much appreciated you are a stand up guy! At that point I was completely out of options, all resources exhausted just playing the extremely painful waiting game for another TBX 5/6 to appear online. Shortly after Fred312b gave me a couple more trade options that were more easily accessible. I ended up buying a NEW Lakland 55-94 off of Musicians Friend to be shipped straight to him from MF for the trade. I was beyond happy, this time nothing would get in the way of acquiring that black beauty that my heart desired. But honestly I can say this was the toughest part of the whole deal. The Lakland arrived to him in USED condition. You could imagine my disbelief when I woke up to an email from Fred312b stating this. Not only was it in USED condition, this was the only one in stock. Completely sold out. Fred312b expected a bass in brand new condition to arrive so he was not sure if he wanted to keep it as there were signs of use, dings, scratching, sales tag from previous buyer inside case. After multiple phone calls into MF, convos with Fred312b trying to figure out the options, MF ended up giving us a $200 in store credit. Fred312b ended up being happy with that and decided to keep the used Lakland bass and send me the TBX 6. It worked out amazing for me as I am financing the Lakland. This is just the tip of the iceberg, you have no idea how hard I worked to acquire this bass. So much time and effort, searching everyday. God forbid a TBX appears and its sold instantly before I see it (WHICH HAPPENED!). Many sleepless nights, tons of frustration, hopes, dreams crushed only to be resurrected…it was like a drama movie. In the end, no matter how crazy intense it got, it was all worth it. Nothing went right until the end result. I will never sell this bass, it is a part of me now. It is priceless (yes I would pay 8 grand for it if i could ever save up that much). It was love at first sight. I knew once I saw it, I had to have it. I have never felt so deeply about a bass before. Thank you to Fred312b for making my dream come true. I am so grateful, you are AWESOME!!
Anyways I am so relieved to sit back now and relax, no more G.A.S.ing like a madman about this bass. I have all that I need. I thought I would share a few before/after photos as I recently had the carbon backplate made because I think that just looks so cool! Anyways, thats my story in a nutshell. If you've made it this far then thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the passion, I hope it shows.
I'm extremely proud to present to you my 1996 Modulus TBX 6
Before
After
At last in my hands
(notice that logo on my favorite shirt…Long live Modulus!!)
Cheers fellas!
So about 3 months ago I began looking for an old black TBX 6. I scoured the internet mostly through google images, talkbass, and web searching to begin. I began to track one down that was made in 1996. It first appeared in 2010 at the MusicZoo. I contacted the store and they told me they would contact the seller to see if he was interested in selling. I never heard from him, I had figured it had changed hands. I then traced it to another TB member Snogaws who put up an Ad on Alembic and Talkbass in 2011. This member no longer that active in any forums was hard to track down but I ended up getting in contact with him just to confirm he had sold the bass locally and later to confirm this was the same serial number. My heart once again sunk, all my leads had gone cold. Shortly after, Fred312b was kind enough to chime in that he was the current owner of that exact bass. I thus began 2 months of pleading for him to sell/trade me the bass. At first he would not budge, like me he was very fond of this bass, it truly is a magical bass. But after awhile I think I started to wear on him. He eventually gave me ONE trade option. I was to find him another TBX 5 or 6 to trade for his black TBX 6. He did not care for the black color so I pleaded to him not to refinish the bass and let me find another tbx 5/6 to trade him instead. Such a hard task yet I knew I had to find a way to get that bass. I searched high and low on the internet, called tons of music stores, guitar centers, local stores. I told them my contact info and that if a TBX comes through their doors that I want to be the first to know. Literally any TBX 5/6 you see anywhere on the internet I was after at some point during my search. I called, emailed, messaged everyone to no avail. One dead end after another, the most frustrated I've ever been in my life. My dream bass was right there, yet I could not get my hands on it. So many times I thought I was so close and then poof my lead was gone. I ended up buying a blue tbx 6 from Edwinhurwitz on here but it ended up having a neck bow so I could not trade it to Fred312b as he requested the trade be in pristine condition. Thank you Edwin for letting me return that blue TBX to you, much appreciated you are a stand up guy! At that point I was completely out of options, all resources exhausted just playing the extremely painful waiting game for another TBX 5/6 to appear online. Shortly after Fred312b gave me a couple more trade options that were more easily accessible. I ended up buying a NEW Lakland 55-94 off of Musicians Friend to be shipped straight to him from MF for the trade. I was beyond happy, this time nothing would get in the way of acquiring that black beauty that my heart desired. But honestly I can say this was the toughest part of the whole deal. The Lakland arrived to him in USED condition. You could imagine my disbelief when I woke up to an email from Fred312b stating this. Not only was it in USED condition, this was the only one in stock. Completely sold out. Fred312b expected a bass in brand new condition to arrive so he was not sure if he wanted to keep it as there were signs of use, dings, scratching, sales tag from previous buyer inside case. After multiple phone calls into MF, convos with Fred312b trying to figure out the options, MF ended up giving us a $200 in store credit. Fred312b ended up being happy with that and decided to keep the used Lakland bass and send me the TBX 6. It worked out amazing for me as I am financing the Lakland. This is just the tip of the iceberg, you have no idea how hard I worked to acquire this bass. So much time and effort, searching everyday. God forbid a TBX appears and its sold instantly before I see it (WHICH HAPPENED!). Many sleepless nights, tons of frustration, hopes, dreams crushed only to be resurrected…it was like a drama movie. In the end, no matter how crazy intense it got, it was all worth it. Nothing went right until the end result. I will never sell this bass, it is a part of me now. It is priceless (yes I would pay 8 grand for it if i could ever save up that much). It was love at first sight. I knew once I saw it, I had to have it. I have never felt so deeply about a bass before. Thank you to Fred312b for making my dream come true. I am so grateful, you are AWESOME!!
Anyways I am so relieved to sit back now and relax, no more G.A.S.ing like a madman about this bass. I have all that I need. I thought I would share a few before/after photos as I recently had the carbon backplate made because I think that just looks so cool! Anyways, thats my story in a nutshell. If you've made it this far then thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the passion, I hope it shows.
I'm extremely proud to present to you my 1996 Modulus TBX 6
Before
After
At last in my hands
(notice that logo on my favorite shirt…Long live Modulus!!)
Cheers fellas!
Last edited:
Awesome story! I kinda get the frustration part. I had been dreaming about a Flea 4 for a year and decided to get one. At that time (February 2013) I gave up looking for the used ones, since they weren't perfect, and went for a brand new Flake blue over at Musicians Friend. They were out of stock and they said that new ones would arrive October. The first day it said 10/13/2013 for new arrivals, the next day: 10/14/2013, and the next day: 10/15/2013 and so on. Then suddenly, they changed the date to February 2014! I decided that something wasn't right and decided to look again for some other possibilities.Thought I would share my EPIC TBX story. Might be hard to read through my ramblings (fair warning)….
So about 3 months ago I began looking for an old black TBX 6. I scoured the internet mostly through google images, talkbass, and web searching to begin. I began to track one down that was made in 1996. It first appeared in 2010 at the MusicZoo. I contacted the store and they told me they would contact the seller to see if he was interested in selling. I never heard from him, I had figured it had changed hands. I then traced it to another TB member Snogaws who put up an Ad on Alembic and Talkbass in 2011. This member no longer that active in any forums was hard to track down but I ended up getting in contact with him just to confirm he had sold the bass locally and later to confirm this was the same serial number. My heart once again sunk, all my leads had gone cold. Shortly after, Fred312b was kind enough to chime in that he was the current owner of that exact bass. I thus began 2 months of pleading for him to sell/trade me the bass. At first he would not budge, like me he was very fond of this bass, it truly is a magical bass. But after awhile I think I started to wear on him. He eventually gave me ONE trade option. I was to find him another TBX 5 or 6 to trade for his black TBX 6. He did not care for the black color so I pleaded to him not to refinish the bass and let me find another tbx 5/6 to trade him instead. Such a hard task yet I knew I had to find a way to get that bass. I searched high and low on the internet, called tons of music stores, guitar centers, local stores. I told them my contact info and that if a TBX comes through their doors that I want to be the first to know. Literally any TBX 5/6 you see anywhere on the internet I was after at some point during my search. I called, emailed, messaged everyone to no avail. One dead end after another, the most frustrated I've ever been in my life. My dream bass was right there, yet I could not get my hands on it. So many times I thought I was so close and then poof my lead was gone. I ended up buying a blue tbx 6 from Edwinhurwitz on here but it ended up having a neck bow so I could not trade it to Fred312b as he requested the trade be in pristine condition. Thank you Edwin for letting me return that blue TBX to you, much appreciated you are a stand up guy! At that point I was completely out of options, all resources exhausted just playing the extremely painful waiting game for another TBX 5/6 to appear online. Shortly after Fred312b gave me a couple more trade options that were more easily accessible. I ended up buying a NEW Lakland 55-94 off of Musicians Friend to be shipped straight to him from MF for the trade. I was beyond happy, this time nothing would get in the way of acquiring that black beauty that my heart desired. But honestly I can say this was the toughest part of the whole deal. The Lakland arrived to him in USED condition. You could imagine my disbelief when I woke up to an email from Fred312b stating this. Not only was it in USED condition, this was the only one in stock. Completely sold out. Fred312b expected a bass in brand new condition to arrive so he was not sure if he wanted to keep it as there were signs of use, dings, scratching, sales tag from previous buyer inside case. After multiple phone calls into MF, convos with Fred312b trying to figure out the options, MF ended up giving us a $200 in store credit. Fred312b ended up being happy with that and decided to keep the used Lakland bass and send me the TBX 6. It worked out amazing for me as I am financing the Lakland. This is just the tip of the iceberg, you have no idea how hard I worked to acquire this bass. So much time and effort, searching everyday. God forbid a TBX appears and its sold instantly before I see it (WHICH HAPPENED!). Many sleepless nights, tons of frustration, hopes, dreams crushed only to be resurrected…it was like a drama movie. In the end, no matter how crazy intense it got, it was all worth it. Nothing went right until the end result. I will never sell this bass, it is a part of me now. It is priceless (yes I would pay 8 grand for it if i could ever save up that much). It was love at first sight. I knew once I saw it, I had to have it. I have never felt so deeply about a bass before. Thank you to Fred312b for making my dream come true. I am so grateful, you are AWESOME!!
Anyways I am so relieved to sit back now and relax, no more G.A.S.ing like a madman about this bass. I have all that I need. I thought I would share a few before/after photos as I recently had the carbon backplate made because I think that just looks so cool! Anyways, thats my story in a nutshell. If you've made it this far then thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the passion, I hope it shows.
I'm extremely proud to present to you my 1996 Modulus TBX 6
Before
View attachment 469550
After
View attachment 469555 View attachment 469571 View attachment 469572
At last in my hands
(notice that logo on my favorite shirt…Long live Modulus!!)
View attachment 469573
Cheers fellas!
I was lucky to stumble upon a brand new (made in March 2013) FU4 in matte black at PlanetBass at the 3k price tag. That was it! My last chance to get my dream bass! I went for it and here it is!
A few weeks after my order I found out that Modulus was out of business and my bass is one of the last 10-or-so basses ever made! And one of the only 2 in that exact finish (painted by Modulus)! And the other one belongs to Flea ;-)
By the way, how did you get that Carbon control plate? Looks very cool!
What is "Beyond Rare" - MEGA Rare?? Ultra Rare?? It is so rare it is raw 
?? I mean it is red after all!!
I have a 1 of 1.. His is only 1 of 11. Do I win?? Anyway I have to tell you this one fact that kept rolling through my mind last night at band practice.... I LOVE MY MODULUS...
?? I mean it is red after all!! I have a 1 of 1.. His is only 1 of 11. Do I win?? Anyway I have to tell you this one fact that kept rolling through my mind last night at band practice.... I LOVE MY MODULUS...
Beautiful Flea! My control plate was made by Joe Perman. He just so happened to have a 1ft x 2ft piece of leftover carbon that he made it out of for me. I lucked out
Thanks! Yes me too, I have a couple authentic long sleeves as well. I would absolutely love to acquire a hoodie though, maybe they made some back in the day?
Why not have your own made? I have the vector line art for the logo
Yes I saw the ones on eBay but they are unappealing. I've been thinking of making a zip up hoodie for awhile, black of course
