Bass: Modulus / Stingray 4

fifth

Hello all,

Been playing bass for about 6 or 7 years now and i'm looking to purchase a new toy.. Have my eye on a MM Stingray 4 or a Modulus..

A modulus? Some info can be found here.

Phoned up waltons and musician inc in dub today as i'm based in wexford but they hadn't an iota about the Modulus and recommended i ring music maker but i'm not going to, thinking my best bet to get one of these is online somewhere?

Any advice? Anyone know anything about these modulus? I'm already familiar with the stingray it's a great bass and I wouldn't be unhappy with it.

cheers

Doctor J

Check talkbass.com, plenty of talk about the modulus in the forums there and also the odd one pops up for sale. Flea's been playing a 62 Jazz for a while now, maybe you should check out a good J bass too?

fifth

Excellent thanks for the link, will check it out.

Yeah I'm definitely open to suggestions!

JacoStanley

funkyflea wrote:

Hello all,

Been playing bass for about 6 or 7 years now and i'm looking to purchase a new toy.. Have my eye on a MM Stingray 4 or a Modulus..

A modulus? Some info can be found here.

Phoned up waltons and musician inc in dub today as i'm based in wexford but they hadn't an iota about the Modulus and recommended i ring music maker but i'm not going to, thinking my best bet to get one of these is online somewhere?

Any advice? Anyone know anything about these modulus? I'm already familiar with the stingray it's a great bass and I wouldn't be unhappy with it.

cheers

Hey

I had a Modulus Quantum 4 for over a year and sold it on about 8 months ago. Great bass and really opened my eyes to graphite necks. The response on them is amazing and you never have to worry about string height or tuning. The older model I had which was made in 1998 had the single humbucker. It's position on the body gave a very full tone all round. Although there was no tone control as such it did have the active treble and bass which contributed alot tonally. You're not going to get vintage sounds from it but you will get a quality tone that suits some of the best players in the world. I ended selling mine for €1000 which was an absolute bargain. That's the only thing. If you're buying Modulus be sure to get a good deal because the re-sale value in Europe isn't good. Don't buy new and don't buy from America. Stingrays are Stingrays and can be fairly average instruments. What I'd ideally love is the Modulus VJ Bass. Jazz config with the graphite neck. Not sure if it'd be enough to get vintage sound but the passive electronics would certainly help. Happy shopping.

fifth

Where did you get your Q4?

Went over to talkbass forums and most of them seem to think the modulus flea is too trebly and not at all suited for jass playing, but that doesn't bother me so much.

Doctor J

Jazz, eh? The best basses I've ever played have been made by Bacchus and my favourite style of bass is the Jazz design. So, with that in mind, this is on the u-box and would cost about €800-850 in total to get here.



You're not going to get a bass of that quality anywhere else for anywhere near that money, certainly not something that's completely hand made. They are savagley good basses.

Zapp Brannigan

Doc you're such a shill.

You're never gonna get Fleas tone even if you buy the Fleabass. The original (that Flea plays) had Lane Poor pups and they've gone out of business, afaik the new Fleabasses use SD's. I've heard nothing but good things about them though.

Doctor J

Ahh I'm just trying to do the guy a favour

Flea played a Spector around the Mothers Milk era and a Wal too, though you'd want to get a second job to get a Wal these days. Dare I state the obvious though, you'll never get Flea's tone cos it's in his hands, not his bass

Dord

hahah Doc, you're making ME want to buy a Bacchus now. every thread you post them...lol

funkyflea, if you're interested in a graphite neck bass check out Status basses, they pop up on eBay a good bit. I know Flea doesn't play them but you'll get that same kinda attack. (plus Status are cooler!) Mark King plays them.

Doctor J

Actually, good call, Status make a graphite replacement neck for Stingrays, maybe the best of both, eh?

http://www.status-graphite.com/status/carts3/frames/frame3.htm

novarock

joe robot wrote:

Mark King plays them.

Does he not play Alembic? Anyway, my opinion is the same as the lads above, id go for the Fender Jazz, I think its a fantastic all rounder.

Dord

Doctor J wrote:

Actually, good call, Status make a graphite replacement neck for Stingrays, maybe the best of both, eh?

http://www.status-graphite.com/status/carts3/frames/frame3.htm

Yeah, now thats what I'm talkin' bout!

Graphite neck on a Stingray would be awesome, stick a Bartolini in there thats it! :cool:

Dord

novarock wrote:

Does he not play Alembic? Anyway, my opinion is the same as the lads above, id go for the Fender Jazz, I think its a fantastic all rounder.

nope, he has his own signature Status basses. The Status King Bass, weird yet awesome looking headless basses.

Doctor J

joe robot wrote:

stick a Bartolini in there

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo :eek:

They make wonderful preamps but every Bart pickup I've heard has been a disappointment. They're just way too polite sounding. A Stingray should sound like a growling rottweiler, not a chihuahua

JacoStanley

joe robot wrote:

hahah Doc, you're making ME want to buy a Bacchus now. every thread you post them...lol

funkyflea, if you're interested in a graphite neck bass check out Status basses, they pop up on eBay a good bit. I know Flea doesn't play them but you'll get that same kinda attack. (plus Status are cooler!) Mark King plays them.

Good call

I replaced the modulus with a Status Series II and it's freakin' cool. Expensive enough but so far the best I've had. I got the Modulus 2nd hand as I'm pretty sure there's no dealers in Ireland that you can walk in and pick one up. Anyway, seen as you asked, here's my Status.