Modulus Flea - Is it worth this price?

[Paul_1991]

Long story short, I've been after a Flea bass for about 4/5 years now, every time one pops up on Bass Chat I miss it! This has popped up in Chicago, a pretty much first batch produced Flea from 1997, including a Lane Poor so the sales rep has informed me!

I just want some opinions from anyone regarding it this worth the quoted price? (They offered it to me for $2100, shipping will be around $200 supposedly) Bearing in mind the fees at customs which will add 20% I imagine!

Any thoughts appreciated

[url="http://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/bass/more/electric-bass/modulus-flea-bass-blue-sparkle-1997/"]http://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/bass/more/electric-bass/modulus-flea-bass-blue-sparkle-1997/[/url]

[gub]

Never buy anything with anyone else's name on apart from your own! Well and a few others like fender ,les paul etc !

[Dingus]

This will bass will end up being a bit on the expensive side . Expect to pay 3.7 % duty on the total declared cost of the bass and shipping ( $ 2300 in this case , then) and then 20 % VAT on the total of that sum, which according to my quick thumbnail calculation would make the bass end up costing around approximately £1850 or maybe a little more with added charges ect. . You could get a new one from the U.K distributor for only a little more than that , and that would have a U.K warranty and you could choose your preferred colour ect. I wouldn't get too hung up on the Lane Poor pickup thing either ; the one that Modulus got Seymore Duncan to design to replace it when Lane Poor called it a day is pretty much identical - that was the design brief that Seymour Duncan were given and they know a thing or too about designing pickups. Of course, because Flea still favours Lane Poor in some of his basses then some people place a premium on the originals , but in practise I would be amazed if you could here much difference between the Duncan pickups and original Lane Poor.

Edit:

Is 1997 considered vintage nowadays ? I've still got socks and underwear from that era that plenty of wear left in them . My God , this is making me feel old !

Edited November 11, 2012 by Dingus

[chadhindsley]

1. Thats not a Lane Poor (it originally had a LP but was switched out for a basslines)
2. You can find a Modulus flea in here in the states for under 1300 US dollars, I have an 03 I got for 1200 and USED TO HAVE a 97 for 1100...in fact that 97 you posted about in chicago looks very familiar to me

[Chris2112]

You can spot the Lane Poor pickup as it has a little 'jewel' logo on the case. That isn't a Lane Poor. But I wouldn't get sucked into paying more for a Lane Poor pickup. Some people revere them and say they are better than the equivalent Bartolini/SD pickup but I can't say that they ever sounded better than those pickups. I certainly wouldn't pay a premium for one.

OP, I would put a bit more time into researching these basses, particularly their value over in the US. You can get a good one there for significantly less than that (or what you will pay here) but you'll end up paying the import and VAT to get it into the UK.

[Dingus]

Also bear in mind that there are plenty of these basses about in the U.K , largely due to the popularity of Flea , and so if you are patient you should be able to pick one up over here for reasonable money ( i.e. a bit less than this one).

[BassPimp66]

I bought my Flea bass 5 new for USD 2,000 back in 2007. At the time, the exchange rate was 1 GBP = 2 USD.
So, GBP 1,000 for a new modulus was a good price and certainly good value. Today, the exchange rate is 1.58.
The USD 2,300 they propose is GBP 1,446. It's a lot of money !!! I would not do it at this price, unless someone can prove me that they will become extremely rare and hold their value. Or, unless you've tried one and you are totally in love with it.