What month & year did the Modulus Flea bass come out? I thought it was in the early 90's but maybe I remembering it wrong.
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Modulus Mob
- Thread starter rockstarbassist
- Start date
edwinhurwitz
Supporting Member
That bass has a story, too! I bought it on the interwebs and when I got it, it was kind of a mess. So, I took it to my favorite luthier (Woodsongs in Boulder) and we tore it down a little. When we removed the bridge pickup, there was a piece of paper wedged in there that said "If found, please call Roy Vogt in Nashville, Tennessee". I got in touch with him and told me how he got it from Geoff Gould back in the early 80s. He claimed that there were three made, one for Geoff, one for him, and one for Phil Lesh, but Geoff informed me that more were made. It had the original 2 Bartolini pickups in it and a Bart preamp that Roy put in there. Once I got it, I put in the Alembic pickups (adding a third right by the fingerboard) and preamp. Finally, it got a complete refret since the frets were really loose and unworkable.
It's got a couple of extra holes in there, but I'm thinking of adding another filter. Very fun bass! The all graphite bridge assembly is pretty unusual.
iirc, the "sonic hammer" (the precursor to flea's signature model) came out in 1996. the "flea" came out the following year in 1997 (gap-tooth grin logo on the headstock) and was a limited run before it eventually became the "funk unlimited". i could be off a year or two so please feel free to chime in with any info...
I think the first year of production for the Flea was 1997.
I'm actually looking out for one at the moment as I stupidly sold mine last year. It's hard to find a non-black one in Europe it seems.
I'm actually looking out for one at the moment as I stupidly sold mine last year. It's hard to find a non-black one in Europe it seems.
The earliest flea basses use a 96 serial number, mine is one of them/ But they were released early 1997. 1999 dropped the flea logo and added a truss. 2003ish another neck revision, newest headstock and a slimmer neck although not as slim as the 96-98 ones. I love both of those but dislike the 99-02 neck profiles.
That's great info. I've never realised the necks we're different in some years. The 97 I've owned played great.
What I found satisfying about the Modulus Flea's I've played is the directness of the notes that jump of the fretboard. Will a Quantum deliver that experience too? I tend to think that the necks are an important factor in this, but as Ive never played a quantum, I can't say.
Thanks
Thanks
According to Facebook today is Joe Perman’s birthday, so celebrate responsibly everyone!
Thanks. Funny how your mind creates false memories somehow. In my head I was living in Maine when my issue of Bass Player magazine showed up and opened the front cover to see the debut of the Modulus Flea bass. I was in Maine only until March of 1995 then moved to Seattle & I'd swear that I was in my Maine apartment when I got that issue. It seems completely untrue that I was living in Seattle and in a band when the Modulus Flea bass came out but I guess I'm remembering it wrong.
Maybe it was announced and introduced in '95, but the first production models started shipping in '96?
There are some nice quantum's popping up on reverb lately.... That orange one is nice and now a sweet red 5a quilt maple is there. I don't need another one but gosh it's tempting. And I'm going through a divorce so, gotta save my pennies, not to mention, a new bass might be an asset I'll have to list? Maybe?
For any of my European friends out there, there's a nice Q5 for sale in my home country from a reputable seller who I've traded with in the past.
I hope this isn't ban-worthy or anything but I even have his information if anyone would like to contact him outside of Reverb to get around the Reverb fees. That would probably take 200 euros off his asking price.
PayPal Goods and Services offers similar protection to my knowledge.
Reverb link below:
Modulus Quantum 5 1990s | Reverb
I hope this isn't ban-worthy or anything but I even have his information if anyone would like to contact him outside of Reverb to get around the Reverb fees. That would probably take 200 euros off his asking price.
PayPal Goods and Services offers similar protection to my knowledge.
Reverb link below:
Modulus Quantum 5 1990s | Reverb
Yo Mobsters!
Apologies if this sort of sale promotion thing is discouraged or violates TB rules; if so, mea culpa, mods please delete this post.
But in case anyone is interested, my 1996 Quantum-6 TBX just went up for sale in the Classifieds: For Sale - Modulus Graphite Quantum-6 TBX
It guts me to have to part with such an amazing instrument! But at least I'll still have one Modulus bass left.
Apologies if this sort of sale promotion thing is discouraged or violates TB rules; if so, mea culpa, mods please delete this post.
But in case anyone is interested, my 1996 Quantum-6 TBX just went up for sale in the Classifieds: For Sale - Modulus Graphite Quantum-6 TBX
It guts me to have to part with such an amazing instrument! But at least I'll still have one Modulus bass left.
Nice looking bass. How was your experience working with Joe/Tony on the refret? How long did you have to wait?
Tony facilitated the whole process; he was the middleman, so I never had to speak directly to Joe. But he must have succeeeded in conveying my wishes to Joe, because Tony asked "How do you want the action and relief?" and I told him "Make it as nice as the nicest bass you've ever built so that anyone who picks it up yells 'holy crap!!!' after playing three notes." ...and Joe nailed it. I thought it was an amazing bass before I had it refretted, but now it's like Amazing x10.
I'm not gonna lie: Tony can be a bit difficult to get ahold of. He doesn't answer emails or return phone calls as promptly as one would hope. Patience is recommended, especially if you're asking him to do some work on a bass he didn't build or sell you.
A while.
Tony explained that Modulus does batch processing with their instruments. So for example, say November is the month for batch processing body carving...all the basses that have been ordered prior to November get their bodies carved in that batch. And if August is the month for batch processing carbon layup, all the basses that have been ordered prior to August get their necks layed up in the molds in that batch. Etc. etc. Tony told me I would have to wait until Joe is working on the batch of neck finishing, when all the basses that were ordered prior to [whatever month that is] and that already had their necks built would get their fingerboards and frets installed.
There's a good chance I sent my bass to Joe right after neck finishing month.
So I had to wait for the next one.I saw a satin white 1996 flea bass online… got it cos it’s got the flea logo lol. Here are the online pics -
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