New bass day (non Alembic. For now).

[edwin]

So I just got a new to me Modulus Quantum 6 made ca. 1983 or so. I played it last weekend (basically right out of the box, untested. My Starfire is at the Mothership, so what else would I possibly do?) and it sounded very good, but there are some setup problems.


Today I took it to my local luthier and he poked and prodded and we worked out a plan for a setup. We pulled the bridge pickup to investigate and lo and behold, there was a message in a bottle!


"If found, please return to Roy Vogt at....."


So, I got in touch with Roy and he had a big virtual laugh. It was his first Modulus, purchased in 1983. Apparently they made three of these. He got one, Geoff Gould got one, and Phil Lesh got one.


Roy's my kind of guy: he modified it, so it has already had its vintage value compromised. This means I can have at it! I'm dreaming of an Anniversary style electronic setup.


There are some dings and other things that need to be fixed up, but once it's done, I think it will play great.

[edwardofhuncote]

Congratulations & Compliments Edwin. Cool bass, with a story!

[elwoodblue]

What a find !
Does it have that cool carbon fiber flake finish on the neck?


Congrats!!


 

[edwin]

It's more of a weave. Or something like that.

[elwoodblue]

So cool, 


 thanks for the pix

[edwin]

Well, a correction. I just got an email from Geoff who informed me that they made a lot of these. It was a nice story while it lasted, but it's still a cool bass!

[mtjam]

Very cool bass!

[rnolan]

Very nice, enjoy!!

[hieronymous]

Wow - that is awesome! Maybe it will get to make a trip to the Mothership with you escorting it, in which case we would have to have a gathering!

[edwin]

Wow - that is awesome! Maybe it will get to make a trip to the Mothership with you escorting it, in which case we would have to have a gathering!

I don't know that that will happen, but if it takes long enough to have the Starfire work done, I might just have to make a trip out for that!

[edwin]

Here's an embarrassingly rough mix of last Friday's show, just to show how the bass sounds. Please ignore all mistakes. I was still struggling with the string spacing, so I missed a lot of notes I was aiming for and hit a lot of notes I didn't mean to. But that's just how it goes.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ay0njx7wely00ch/160701%20Boulder%20Theatre_1.mp3?dl=0

[811952]

Very cool. What a small world!


John

[David Houck]

The band sounds great, your bass lines sound great, and your tone is balanced up and down the neck, and it sits well in the mix.

[edwin]

The band sounds great, your bass lines sound great, and your tone is balanced up and down the neck, and it sits well in the mix.

Thanks! I've started working on the Bass Fitness book to get used to the string spacing. It was an old standby for me in the 90s. It's really helpful to get evenness of notes happening, as well as dexterity.

I spoke to Mica about getting the bass Alembified and I think it's going to have to wait until I save up the requisite ducats. I want to go with Anniversary electronics! But, it sounds good enough for now (although that back pickup is pretty annoying. I may have to install the Alembic pickups and cobble together an interim preamp.).