Modulus bass

#21
You are right it is spelled Arnoldt Williams, my mistake. It went out of business a while ago, too bad I bought a lot of PA equipment there too. The salesmens name I went to was Bill Plat, he got a job at Disney World doing there sound and light systems in the early 90's.
The Flight 4 SP is in great condition. A very small amount of paint is rubbed off from where I rest my hand, the rest is like new for 20 years. The case that came with was made by Trans-Pro Case Co. That is like new too. It has a brown fur like inside.
Thank you
Leon
 
#23
Coincidentally, I just rewatched an old KBC video "America" on July 4th, and there are a couple of quick flashes of Jack playing the red headless Flight 4 Monocoque I was talking about earlier. It's a good song, good video, and one of the few glimpses of Jack playing this bass before it was stolen. He once showed me a video shot in Chicago with Jorma and David Bromberg where he was playing it too!

YouTube - ‪KBC BAND - AMERICA.mp4‬‏
 
#25
GeoffGould said:
I believe the store name was Arnoldt Williams, so you are the first owner! We were on Folsom St in San Francisco back then. For those of you locals, it's now a trendy restauran, Lulu, near 4th St. You have the original case too, which was made by G&G in LA. Not much else to say. Has it stayed in good shape?
Click to expand...

That's funny - back in '82 I worked briefly as a "low man on the pole" tech at Starz Guitars - you shared the space with them. I was enamoured of your basses but couldn't afford one. Moved away after a few months.
I've been back in the general area (Santa Cruz mountains) for about 12 years and recently took my wife to dinner at Lulu. I had no idea that it was the old shop.

Wishing you the best, Geoff.
 
#26
So, out of the blue, this picture ended up in my email today. This is Jack Casady with his red Flight-4 Monocoque Modulus 4-string, which was stolen long ago. This pic is from around '86.

JackCasady_monocoque.png
 
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#27
This stick bass seems to be a Modulus graphite model Flight 4 SP.

In my opinion it is probably the worst headless bass design ever because its design is so clumsy and cumulates bad ideas: it is an headless bass without the cool stuff and advantages.

The tuning pegs are standard so nothing more to expect than other bass with headstock vs headless basses with Steinberger tuning system that almost never detune.

Weird body shape: what they were thinking with that weird bottom shaped in V??? placing the tuning pegs like this is probably the worst ever: how the bass can stay upright?
What guitar stand can fit that design???? what a stupid design -.-

It has no leg rest: how you can play comfortably this bass when seated?

Maybe the pickups are good and the bass sounds good but the design lacks too much of relevance and practicality.
In my opinion, this bass is as ugly than convoluted and for no advantage at the end.

When I compare my Synapse to the Hohner B2 I can see the improvements made to a very relevant design.
When I see this Modulus, I can only facepalm and say like Greta Thunberg: how they dare??? :D
 
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#28
I'm certainly not going to dispute your sense of taste and style; that is yours to feel as you wish. I will at least correct one error. It is NOT a Flight 4 SP. That is the bolt-on model, which looks quite different. The model is called the Flight 4 Monocoque. As far as the design, no, it doesn't work well without a strap. Ironically, Jack Casady installed a Steinberger leg rest in his specific bass! It was a conscious choice to use standard tuners, so the parts would be replaceable forever. The design was pleasing to some people; it was used in at least one commercial at the time for its stylish look. The guitar version was recently part of the Metropolitan Museum of art collection:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/814899
 
#29
Thank you for your answer.
I disagree with you concerning the name of this bass.
I think I m a correct when I say it is a 4 SP.
Below is a link to the same model and it is called 4 SP and not monocoque:
Modulus "Flight 4-SP" headless 4 string bass + custom HSC - extremely rare, 1983, black | AIRBLOOM AMPLIFIERS | Reverb

It makes sense as it is a carbon bolt on neck with a body made of wood.

A monocoque means body and neck molded as single piece of carbon such like this one:
Here is a monocoque 4:
Modulus Monocoque Flight 4 80's Carbon Fiber | Robert's Boutique | Reverb

Beyond aesthetic tastes, the 2 basses suffer from the same design errors that make them much less practical than the Steinberger.

Now it seems the first headless bass from Modulus was created in 1979 so maybe they were not aware of Steinberger XL bass.
That would be one hell of a coincidence that they both invented the headless bass with carbon neck at the same one in New York the other in California.

It is another vision of what a headless bass can be but like said previously compared to Steinberger system and design, it is far less refined.
 
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#30
philippeimac said:
Thank you for your answer.
I disagree with you concerning the name of this bass.
I think I m a correct when I say it is a 4 SP.
Below is a link to the same model and it is called 4 SP and not monocoque:
Modulus "Flight 4-SP" headless 4 string bass + custom HSC - extremely rare, 1983, black | AIRBLOOM AMPLIFIERS | Reverb

It makes sense as it is a carbon bolt on neck with a body made of wood.

A monocoque means body and neck molded as single piece of carbon such like this one:
Here is a monocoque 4:
Modulus Monocoque Flight 4 80's Carbon Fiber | Robert's Boutique | Reverb

Beyond aesthetic tastes, the 2 basses suffer from the same design errors that make them much less practical than the Steinberger.

Now it seems the first headless bass from Modulus was created in 1979 so maybe they were not aware of Steinberger XL bass.
That would be one hell of a coincidence that they both invented the headless bass with carbon neck at the same one in New York the other in California.

It is another vision of what a headless bass can be but like said previously compared to Steinberger system and design, it is far less refined.
Click to expand...
I’m guessing you don’t know who Geoff Gould is. You might want to do a search. :)
 
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#32
GeoffGould said:
Coincidentally, I just rewatched an old KBC video "America" on July 4th, and there are a couple of quick flashes of Jack playing the red headless Flight 4 Monocoque I was talking about earlier. It's a good song, good video, and one of the few glimpses of Jack playing this bass before it was stolen. He once showed me a video shot in Chicago with Jorma and David Bromberg where he was playing it too!

YouTube - ‪KBC BAND - AMERICA.mp4‬‏
Click to expand...

I vividly remember seeing this video back in the day, and wondering what that crazy looking bass was!

:thumbsup:
 
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