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NOBD (New Old Bass Day): Modulus Flea


Beedster

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17 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I think the idea of this is, has the bass in the first post passed through your hands at any time.

If not, suggest someone who may have owned it (or has form for it 😂).

Oh... no, not this one. But a different sunburst FU4 has 🙄

Knowing BC, it could be bloody anyone! 

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On 06/01/2020 at 20:23, Beedster said:

New year, new gig, and a fortuitous opportunity to buy back the bass I custom ordered from Modulus in 2007, at the time because it was the more cred (compared to the sparkly finishes) of Flea's basses to my eye. It's great to have it back, didn't realise how much I;d missed having a Modulus around the place :)

Walshy, thanks so much mate

The bass.....

image.png.862f8e379f86cf049e34ea6e85b2b7b4.png

And why I love this bass (apart from the fact that it's bloody awesome to play)....

image.thumb.png.7034f85cb37f7ac1618a9f938ee1fed5.png

 

It's a magnificent looking bass. Never seen one on such a trad finish though!

I'd love to have a go on one but I've never seen one in real life... a mate of mine tried one when he was in the States and he still dines out on how amazing it was.

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1 hour ago, warwickhunt said:

What is so different about the LP pup.  How is it constructed compared to the other options and does it have a different preamp if it has a LP?  

I've read that the pickups themselves are a wide aperture type called a 'sidewinder' but know nothing beyond that.

The original Lane Poor pickups for the Flea were made from 97-01 and they could be shipped with a couple of pre-amps, the standard option back then was the Bartolini NTBT with the Aguilar OBP series as a small upcharge.

In terms of tone, it's like having a reference quality microphone bolted to your bass. It gives you every frequency in the spectrum from top to bottom, with incredible clarity.

 

Edited by 40hz
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I wasn't sure if the Bart and/or Aguilar were factory as I've seen reference to upgrades/changes to the pre and assumed they were after-market.  

I've heard that the LP was meant to be great in this bass but wondered why if it was so superior, it hadn't been replicated - materials, windings etc.  After all it is just lumps of metal (or metallic materials) wrapped in wire!  I assume it isn't just a glorified 'wide aperture' Musicman pup under the casing?  

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44 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

I wasn't sure if the Bart and/or Aguilar were factory as I've seen reference to upgrades/changes to the pre and assumed they were after-market.  

I've heard that the LP was meant to be great in this bass but wondered why if it was so superior, it hadn't been replicated - materials, windings etc.  After all it is just lumps of metal (or metallic materials) wrapped in wire!  I assume it isn't just a glorified 'wide aperture' Musicman pup under the casing?  

I think it has in many other PUPs, but much like a Lakland or Sadowsky Precision will rarely have the cache of a pre-CBS Fender, so it is with LP's, rarity being the magic bullet of tone far exceeding the effects of materials and craftsmanship :)

And don't get me started on mics..............

Edited by Beedster
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On 13/06/2020 at 12:41, 40hz said:

In terms of tone, it's like having a reference quality microphone bolted to your bass. It gives you every frequency in the spectrum from top to bottom, with incredible clarity.

Well, as the technology is still coil & magnet, the pickup itself limits its frequency response. Lower impedance helps to reach higher end, but even a pretty mediocre condenser outperforms any c&m pickup easily.

Another story is that a Lane Poor sounds different than some other pickup.

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I've had 2 Fleas. A 2005 one with the Seymour Duncan pickup (which is allegedly a reverse engineered LP) and Aguilar OBP-1, and my current one - A 1997 model with an original Lane Poor and Bartolini NTBT.

The difference is very small and could be down to other factors, but the LP is definitely a little cleaner in the mids and top end than the SD. Whereas the SD was a bit growlier in the low end, although I think this could well have been the Aguilar Pre-amp causing this.

Interestingly all of Flea's own Moduli sport the LP.

Edited by 40hz
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49 minutes ago, itu said:

Well, as the technology is still coil & magnet, the pickup itself limits its frequency response. Lower impedance helps to reach higher end, but even a pretty mediocre condenser outperforms any c&m pickup easily.

Another story is that a Lane Poor sounds different than some other pickup.

I wasn't being literal? It was a turn of phrase.

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I've played Flea Basses with pretty much every combination of pickups, preamps, and bridges, and to me they all sound like Flea Basses. LPs only have mystique because you can't buy them any more, if you could, they would just be one more PUP in the marketplace that some people like ("clean mids") and others don't ("quite polite"), and probably no better and no worse than most of the competition

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6 minutes ago, Beedster said:

I've played Flea Basses with pretty much every combination of pickups, preamps, and bridges, and to me they all sound like Flea Basses. LPs only have mystique because you can't buy them any more, if you could, they would just be one more PUP in the marketplace that some people like ("clean mids") and others don't ("quite polite"), and probably no better and no worse than most of the competition

I agree with you. 

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This reminded me of a microphone I did quite some time ago. I had a connection to a company that builds acceleration sensors (MEMS). I made the preamp, which is actually a power supply and a HPF. Filter is a must because the thing goes down to DC: the signal was heavy stuff to my then Peavey Databass combo.

Its upper frequency limit is low, maybe 500 Hz or so, have to measure it. The mic would benefit from some other technology, like piezo or film. That C-ducer is also somewhere here... some mixer is in need, too...

It is about time to find them and try the set to a fretless.

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