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Modulus Mob

#11,361
Happy to say that I am back, again, with my 4th Modulus in 14 years. Reviewing old posts it's interesting to revisit what I had, and what was being discussed at the time. This is the 2003 Q5 I was able to purchase yesterday and it's in amazingly good condition. Not just for a 21 year old instrument but for any instrument. It's not a true closet queen as there are minimal signs of play wear but almost no fret wear, body or finish markings, clean neck and headstock, just impressive. I am now just the third owner. My seller purchased from the original owner and neither of them put a lot of playing time on it.
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#11,362
I will follow up my picture post with a couple related set up questions. I did my quick once over and setup check when I got home. Truss rod works perfectly. How much relief are you setting on the Q5 neck? I am used to the usual .008-.012 but this one seems to like a much straighter neck with almost no relief and with that the saddles are all about at their lowest points leaving limited adjustability. If I were to set to my usual relief the string heights would be much higher than I prefer. Right now I am actually at my preferred 5/64" B down to 4/64" G so I am OK leaving as is as it seems to play cleanly everywhere. Just more of a point of reference curiosity.
 
#11,364
nervous said:
Happy to say that I am back, again, with my 4th Modulus in 14 years. Reviewing old posts it's interesting to revisit what I had, and what was being discussed at the time. This is the 2003 Q5 I was able to purchase yesterday and it's in amazingly good condition. Not just for a 21 year old instrument but for any instrument. It's not a true closet queen as there are minimal signs of play wear but almost no fret wear, body or finish markings, clean neck and headstock, just impressive. I am now just the third owner. My seller purchased from the original owner and neither of them put a lot of playing time on it.
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That is a gorgeous instrument! Congrats on the acquisition!

HOW DID YOU EVEN CONSIDER PASSING ON THIS? :laugh:
 
#11,365
Bassinga said:
That is a gorgeous instrument! Congrats on the acquisition!

HOW DID YOU EVEN CONSIDER PASSING ON THIS? :laugh:
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Thanks you. This was pushing the limits of my bass guitar budgeting and ends up being the most expensive bass I have ever owned so that always becomes, for better or worse, a thing that always sits in the back of my mind. And, at 21 years old there is always the worry of unseen issues. I have had some older guitars that has some age related surprises. I always wondered how age and time might impact the integrity of the carbon fiber construction, what is fret work was needed as I have never done any refretting on a plastic neck so all these things factor in my head. That said, on seeing it and having now gone over it all those concerns are unfounded and I bought at a price I was very happy with. I'll now sell a couple other basses that I can part with and that will be a 2 for one wash. This one should easily become my #1 so that and spare and I am good to go.
 
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#11,366
Can someone help clear my head one something. What is the standard control layout for the Q5 when factory equipped with the EMG BQC system? I assume it's VOL, BLEND, MID/SWEEP stacked, TREB/BASS stacked. Is that correct? Not as VOL, BLEND, TREB/BASS stacked, MID/SWEEP stacked? I know I can do either way but I'd like to know the original way.
 
#11,368
Bassinga said:
My EMG BQC is Vol, Blend, Mid/Sweep stacked and Bass/Treble stacked with the treble and mid controls being on top. I believe that's the original layout.

Also keep in mind the older BQC mid controls are between 300Hz and 3000Hz not 100Hz to 1000Hz like the newer ones.
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Thank you and it is as I expected, and as I installed. The BQC I put in is of unknown age but I assume it's a newer version so that is good to know. The main reason for my question is that the mid control board is quite awkward in teh Q5 cavity relative to the output jack and took some real fiddling with both to get clearances for everything and avoid contact between the two.
 
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#11,369
nervous said:
Thank you and it is as I expected, and as I installed. The BQC I put in is of unknown age but I assume it's a newer version so that is good to know. The main reason for my question is that the mid control board is quite awkward in teh Q5 cavity relative to the output jack and took some real fiddling with both to get clearances for everything and avoid contact between the two.
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When I replaced the Bartolini stuff in my '04 Q5 w/EMG stuff, I was having a hard time getting it to fit as well. I reached out to Tony C. and he told me they were using a custom configured set with longer wiring.

IMG_3429.jpeg

It's also worth noting that there has been different rear routing on Quantum basses over the years, I had a 2000 Q5 before that had a smaller rear cavity.

IMG_0799.JPG IMG_2546.jpeg

That top is smoking! My bass is similar, but yours definitely has more A's (they used to rate them up to 5A back in the day).

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#11,370
MattLplaysBass said:
When I replaced the Bartolini stuff in my '04 Q5 w/EMG stuff, I was having a hard time getting it to fit as well. I reached out to Tony C. and he told me they were using a custom configured set with longer wiring.

View attachment 7093622

It's also worth noting that there has been different rear routing on Quantum basses over the years, I had a 2000 Q5 before that had a smaller rear cavity.

View attachment 7093624 View attachment 7093626

That top is smoking! My bass is similar, but yours definitely has more A's (they used to rate them up to 5A back in the day).

View attachment 7093623
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This is great info and the pics answer a lot. Thank you. I do have the larger cavity so that is good. And I believe I have plenty of connection cable length on everything. Seeing the control orientations is the key. You can see the jack to board distance diference on yours and mine simply from the rotation and position. I may tweak that this weekend.

IMG_6779.jpg


IMG_6781.jpg
 
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#11,371
nervous said:
This is great info and the pics answer a lot. Thank you. I do have the larger cavity so that is good. And I believe I have plenty of connection cable length on everything. Seeing the control orientations is the key. You can see the jack to board distance diference on yours and mine simply from the rotation and position. I may tweak that this weekend.

View attachment 7093916

View attachment 7093915
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It was installed by Carl Pedigo at Lakland, so I can’t really take credit for it ;) But glad if it helps!
 
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#11,372
After quite literally 15-20 years of dreaming about a Modulus bass after having played a Modulus Flea in Guitar Center Union Square in NYC many moons ago, I am happy to say that I am finally the owner of a Modulus Flea/Funk bass.

It’s a 2008 in Orange Flake, OBP-1, Badass II bridge, SD Basslines pickup and dare I say I can’t find a single blemish. It’s currently strung with DR Black Beauties, and plays like a dream. And DEAR GOD is the orange flake one of the most vibrant colors I’ve seen
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#11,373
Was in Oklahoma City a few weeks back visiting my brother....ran across this at the local GC there. It was pretty beat up and played ok. Definitely needed some TLC. I'm not up to speed on Modulus basses but I don't ever recall seeing a Quantum with single coil pickups. This one had volume, pickup blend and stacked bass/treble.

IMG_7251.jpeg


IMG_7252.jpeg
 
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#11,374
jjk2007 said:
Was in Oklahoma City a few weeks back visiting my brother....ran across this at the local GC there. It was pretty beat up and played ok. Definitely needed some TLC. I'm not up to speed on Modulus basses but I don't ever recall seeing a Quantum with single coil pickups. This one had volume, pickup blend and stacked bass/treble.
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That's interesting. Here's their listing:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
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#11,375
jjk2007 said:
I don't ever recall seeing a Quantum with single coil pickups. This one had volume, pickup blend and stacked bass/treble.
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Looks like a late 1980s Quantum-5 SPX. Do you remember if it had a square metal neck plate like a typical Fender (versus the individual recessed bolts like more recent Modulus Quantums)? I've seen 3 or 4 like that --including the 6-string that I ordered new in 1988 (see pics below) -- and they all came from the same ~3 year period, all had EMG single-coil pickups, all had the square metal neck plate.

Mine originally came with passive (?!) electronics ...can't remember if it was VVT or VBT ...but I quickly changed it over to an EMG BTC preamp, which is what that white bass appears to have. (I then changed the BTC to an ACG/East EQ-02 filter-based preamp.)

mod1.jpg




EDIT: Yep, the listing from GC that @nervous posted confirms the square neck plate, and a serial # dating it to 1989. Gotta be a Quantum-5 SPX.
 
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#11,377
jjk2007 said:
Was in Oklahoma City a few weeks back visiting my brother....ran across this at the local GC there. It was pretty beat up and played ok. Definitely needed some TLC. I'm not up to speed on Modulus basses but I don't ever recall seeing a Quantum with single coil pickups. This one had volume, pickup blend and stacked bass/treble.

View attachment 7136969

The original model was Quantum 5 SPX (assuming it's 2.75" @ 24th fret) J pickups were the original standard config.
Click to expand...
 
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