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Modulus; nice...but you are getting jacked....hard

Thir13teen

Thir13teen

Silence = Deaf
Supporting Member
Feb 12, 2012
1,530
1,434
USA
#1
So ever since Modulus bit the dust several years ago I haven't paid much attention. At one time I (and I know there are other TB'ers out there that had done something similar) bought a loaded Jazz bass body on E-Bay ($69 + shipping, brand new in various colors on E-Bay), and then I bought a brand new (had to be ordered) Modulus J neck for $550. I added some EMG J pickups, Hipshot bridge & tuners.....and, well.....you do the math.

So I stumbled onto Modulus' website today and it said "Vintage J bass - starting at $4199 - street price"

Ummmmm, what? $4200???? For what?? Let's go out on a limb and say my Frankenstein'd quasi Modulus that I made was $1000 (which it wasn't but let's just say). Where exactly is the extra three thousand two hundred dollars coming from? Frankly, they're out of their mind. I've had cheap, moderate & expensive basses before (two Zon's, three Musicmans, Warwick, Fender, LTD, Ibanez, Yamaha) - so in my mind, I know what it would take to justify a price of $4200. And a jazz body with a Modulus neck (plus hardware, electronics) doesn't warrant the price.

BTW - this is not to say they are not a nice bass. But I challenge anyone to play my sub 1k bass vs. their $4200+ version and then tell me what you think. There's no way anybody would say something like "they're both nice, but this one is definitely worth the extra $3200 because....blah blah."
 
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#3
You said $4200? That's cheap. My Quantum 6 with the extra features (bartolini pickups/3 band pre, 5A quilted maple top, custom color, gloss finished neck) is $6,424.00

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:cigar:

 
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#11
So, just so we understand... you're asking why a parts bass you put together X years ago costs less than a brand new Modulus (which is made by a diffferent company then the old Modulus)? :)

First of all, when did you buy it? Look up the price of a full Modulus bass from XXXX and plug it in here Invalid Link Removed
 
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#12
There are 3 kinds of bassists who'll go for a $4200 bass, gigging/session-ing consistently, decent pay per gig types, swiss bank account holder types and people who don't give a @$@@ even if they go broke but they got to have a bass like that (doesn't matter if they sell it 3 months later losing a good fraction of the original price)
any which way i doubt either of them would care what others think of the instrument in question.
Personally i wouldn't pay more than 1800usd for a electric bass guitar.
 
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#14
Thir13teen said:
So ever since Modulus bit the dust several years ago I haven't paid much attention. At one time I (and I know there are other TB'ers out there that had done something similar) bought a loaded Jazz bass body on E-Bay ($69 + shipping, brand new in various colors on E-Bay), and then I bought a brand new (had to be ordered) Modulus J neck for $550. I added some EMG J pickups, Hipshot bridge & tuners.....and, well.....you do the math.
Click to expand...

That's quite cheap for a Modulus J neck. I ordered one (with black fender style tuners) in 1995 and it was about $620! I still have the receipt.
I combined it with a loaded Fender reissue P body.

Really interesting, that the price didn't increase a bit.

Regards
Andreas
 
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#17
Modulus have always been way overpriced in my and a good friend's opinion (he has worked in music retail for many decades).

I think Status basses in the UK are much better for many reasons: a totally customisable instrument for half the price. They also sell aftermarket graphite necks, so combining one of those with a custom body from say, Warmoth results in a customised instrument for a LOT less money. IMHO.

The only thing Status can't offer is 19mm spacing or 35" necks. The last time I looked they did 18mm spaced 5 and 6 string 'production models' with a 34 3/4" scale. Their 4 string replacement necks are 34" scale and their 5 string Musicman Stingray replacement neck has the 17.5mm spacing like the original it's modelled on -I believe.

Peace,

Rob.
 
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#20
andreaska said:
That's quite cheap for a Modulus J neck. I ordered one (with black fender style tuners) in 1995 and it was about $620! I still have the receipt.
I combined it with a loaded Fender reissue P body.

Really interesting, that the price didn't increase a bit.

Regards
Andreas
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same. I bought a Modulus Jazz Bass neck directly from Modulus in 1983 and it was close to $500 at that time. I haven't watched the prices more recently but interesting if they kept it that low (relatively speaking).
 

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