Model: 5 string A bass
Body woods: Claro walnut top, narra back, peruvian walnut rails.
Neckwoods: Maple and pao-ferro neck with ebony fingerboard
Hardware: 6061-T6 alloy, RMC saddles.
Finish: Tru-oil over blond shellac, stain over center stripes
Pickups and electronics: M¿rch dual coil ceramic and steel pickups, RMC Bass Excellence piezo saddles. 18v Aguilar OBP1 -2 band eq, RMC µDiff piezo preamp with piezo / mag blend, coil tap -series, parallel, single coil switches for both pickups, active / passive switch. Wittman tuner
Location: Essex, VT
Year: 2005
Special features: post eq volume, active eq / piezo blend
Owner comments: "I'll try to let you know about playing the bass. Ok, here goes.
1. The other night I sat in with the Duo I've been touring a bit with. Set 1, I played a couple songs. It was interesting. I noticed practicing back stage that it's hard to play while sitting because of the short distances above and below the bridge area. Those songs in set one were good; I brought a bass amp to avoid the moniter situation. I was pretty far from the amp. The middle strings were very punchy - like a hump around D and E on the A string that was boomy. When I had a breakdown it was beautifully aggresive, like a sound that only people like Les Claypool can get, and he plugs a signal into a guitar amp with distortion all the time, in addition to the bass amp. But in the middle of a normal jam it got a little lost. Like there's low and high but not enough mid or something.
2. Then I played some songs in the second set. That was the best yet. I stood in front of the amp that time. They also cranked it in the house, and Grippo was playing saxaphone too. Standing by the amp, all the strings and notes were consistent. It was so weird because I had feelings that I hadn't had before in that way with any bassÊ - like total consistent punchiness with every note and a nice growly edge due to some compression in the bass or amp, and also the amp's built in compressor made it pump. It was sort of a dream come true. Punchy sound with a nice mix of growl and clarity that I've always wanted and never had. Like my "voice" could sing in a way it can't on the modulus. But I say "sort of" because the things that I do like about the Modulus weren't there, as one would expect - like EMG clarity in the low strings and low notes, and a midrange cutting that doesn't let up in any kind of jam. [by the way, when I went on for the second set I accidentally had it set passive, and that was sounding really good - a lot better than the first set. but then when I switched the active switch on it still sounded great. also by the way, against my guesses: I prefered the sound WITH some piezo mixed in, not just the magnetics, which were too "dark" alone in that setting]
I've been loving the tuner, with all this said, it sure is a cool bass. Thanks. Nice work - I do keep showing it off to friends and bass players..."
1.29.2006