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Smashed Bass

#23
Originally posted by ModulusFan

I dunno.....what did you have in mind? I was really quite surprised Modulus is unwilling to work with me on this, I didn't expect it to be a problem.

In a way, I'd kinda like to keep this as an awesome collectible, if nothing else.....I've been a big flea fan for 15 years! Being that flea is one of the biggest musical icons of the 90's, I really believe some day this could be worth a nice chunk of change.

I don't know what I want to do at this point for sure, you're welcome to PM or email me and let me know what you had in mind....
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This will on;y be worth something if you were able to get it authenticated, which it appears was not the case. Without authentication, it's a broken, unplayable Modulus and nothing more.

You could always keep it as a conversation piece, but you're not likely to get too many bites on the market for it.

Or you could trade it and get something of value for it.
 
#24
I'm none too impressed with modulus customer service. Over the last year, I have sent 5-6 emails that went totally unanswered all together. I made a call yesterday, left a voice mail, and did get a call back.

All they told me in my message back was, they don't sell bodies, and they won't even sell me a plastic rear cover for the electronics cavity, he told me to go to allparts.

I really like their basses, but am rather soured by my experiences with them.
 
#25
Don't sweat it man, alot of people won't sell you JUST a neck or JUST a body.

Be a trooper and either build the body yourself, or find a luthier to build one for you. You could end up with a very very sweet bass for not much money, and a story to boot.

Im sure any qualified luthier could build you an awsome body, all you would need are some new guts for it.
 
#29
Originally posted by DEFELDUS
yes, you should get a new body built. this would be good for a few reasons:

1:awesome bass
2:awesome bass for $cheap$
3:you'll still have the (half) body of the bass for collecting and what not
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1. Awesome, indeed.
2. Not even close to cheap.
a. Cost of having a new body custom built: not sure, but I guarantee it wouldn't be cheap!
b. Silver sparkle paint job to match the headstock: $300+
c. Lane poor humbucker: $200+
d. Aguilar OBP-1: $100 plus
e. misc. hardware and labor: $100+
f. My intial investment on it.

Unfortunately, I think the best thing to do is to document authenticity one way or another, put it in a shadowbox, and call it art. I personally have zero doubt of the authenticity on this, I have contacted others who have parts that go with this, that saw it smashed, and handed to the seller by him.

As for it's monetary value, I have no idea who to even ask. He is arguably one of the biggest musical icons of the 90's, and his mark is permanent. Kurt Cobain's axes are fetching six figures these days.

This was obviously a main player for some time, which is evident by fretwear, and various road wear on the bass, and dried swet in the pickup cavity, and underneath the neckplate. Speaking of neckplates, this one has a neckplate, vs the off the rack models, which have the inset neck screws, custom build?
 
#31
I'm really surprised that Modulus doesn't wanna help you out on this! I was always under the impression that they had excellent customer service, but I guess not after reading your experience with them. Now that I think about it, I remember sending an email about buying a replacement neck from them (which they do) and never hearing back.

It would be really cool if you could find a luthier to make a new body for you. I think I saw someone suggest Ed Roman and he's really good, I just found him rather unpleasant to deal with sometimes.

I'm a pretty big fan as well, so please do something cool with that smashed up bass!
 
#33
Originally posted by Matt R Miller
buy a complete bass in sparkle silver finish, swap the neck and the bridge, since those are the only salvagable parts, and then trade/sell the original neck that came with your new bass
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Matt, that is a great idea, and probably the cheapest way to do so. I really hate the thought of buying such a great bass, and tearing it apart like that. But hey, he himself doesn't seem to mind taking a bass out of circulation, and Modulus themselves don't seem to care to put them back together.

Sounds like the best way to do this, and probably the cheapest too.
 
#34
I e-mailed Modulus today for you to see if I could help you get a new body. (I use to be a dealer for them so maybe I will have some pull.....I doubt it but who knows!)

As with Modulus answering e-mails.....Modulus has a very small staff of people working for them. They have a couple of builders, couple of shippers, some regional sales reps and that's about it.

I know when it gets very close to the NAMM show time, they almost seem to disappear.

If you don't hear back from them, don't take it personal.......just e-mail them again stating that this is your 2nd (3rd, 4th, etc...)attempt.
 
#36
I think you should keep the broken bass as is. To me it's more collectable that way. Personally, I agree with Modulus not selling you a new body with the same serial number. It's not the same bass! There's no reason though that they couldn't sell a new body though.

As far as Modulus' customer service, it simply sucks! I had some problems with a bass a year ago, and all I got was a run around. I have since taken my composite neck business over to Joe Zon as a result. He's much better to deal with, but that doesn't help you out.
 
#37
I got an e-mail back from Modulus today concerning the body. I will PM you.

See Modulus isn't that bad retruning e-mails...I got a response within 4 hours.
 

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