Beginner - Just bought Tobias Toby Pro 4 Bass :D

iCONICA · #1 05-14-2012, 04:06 AM

Hi, All.

I'm new to this forum and new to playing bass, relatively.

I had an "Encore" P-Bass for years but it was as crap as I was.

I recently re-gained my passion for playing bass and want to take it more seriously this time and learn to play properly.

I bought a Tobias Toby Pro 4 bass and am really pleased with it

It's everything I wanted, through-neck, 5 ply neck, natural wood colour, soap bar style pick-ups, active, long scale, black hardware, It's perfect. It's sound is in a different league than my £100 Argos encore bass it replaced. It actually sounds like the basses I hear played on youtube slap bass solos, that really burpy, "nutty" sound that I like...

I can't find much about it online, other than other forum posts like this. They seem to be pretty un-heard of, but everyone who has says they're good... The common critisism seems to be the pre-amp output could be a little low, but I don't really understand the problem, I can just turn up my amp a little, which is only ever on very low anyway in my Living room, it'd break the windows up high...

Anyway, rambling over, hello everyone, and have you ever heard of Tobias basses? If so, what are you opinions?

Mike.

Roy Vogt · #2 05-14-2012, 04:31 AM

Generally good designs. Michael Tobias is a great builder and creates some great basses. Tobias was his initial company, now he's building MTD (Michael Tobias Design) basses.
Gibson bought Tobias basses in the early 90s and made the Toby Pro basses as Korean-built economy models of the existing Tobias Basses that were then being built by Gibson in the old Baldwin Piano works in Arkansas. For a while, the stock was being sold through the www.musicyo.com site. The Toby Pros are pretty good basses in general. Recently, Gibson has revived the concept in some Epiphone basses.
Michael first had his shop on the East Coast but then relocated to a shop on Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood, CA. I was an endorser for a time in the mid-80s and had a nice Basic Five string. It had a very comfortable neck and a fairly dark tone.
Here's a good account of the back story of Tobias Basses by Bob Lee, a former employee and Talkbass member:
http://www.bassland.net/tobyhist.html

**WoodyG3** · #3 05-14-2012, 07:16 AM

I'm sure many people on the forum can fill you in on much information about your new bass. I'll just say, though, let your ears and hands be the judge of how good the bass is. You can get a lot of information on the pedigree of your bass, and many opinions, but ultimately nobody can judge your bass better than you.

Congratulations on getting back into playing bass. Have fun!

dave64o · #4 05-14-2012, 09:12 AM

I just got a used Toby Pro in a pawn shop a few months ago. I had been playing five-strings exclusively for a long time and late last year started talking to my instructor about getting an inexpensive four-string just to force myself to think differently. He had been playing fives and sixes for even longer and he thought it was a good idea to work on a four also. Through a bizarre coincidence we both ended up with a 4 string Toby Pro.

To be honest, I like it. The build quality is good, it feels good to me ergonomically, it feels noticeably lighter than my other basses, and I think it looks pretty nice. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the electronics. I thought the sound was a little harsh but I gave it a while just to make sure I got familiar with it before making any conclusions. I got better with the controls and it didn't sound bad, but I was also used to basses with three bands of EQ. Then I found a used Audere preamp here on TB for a nice price and bought it.

After my luthier installed it, leveled the frets, put fresh strings on it, and set it up, it turned into a really nice bass. My instructor loves his, too, and in his hands it sounds way better than when I play it.

I haven't seen a whole lot about them online and what I have seen is mixed. But i'm guessing at least part of the negativity has to do with what happened to Mike Tobias and the fact that he was no longer building them. Overall I'm pretty happy with it and, now that I customized it to my liking, I'm even happier with it.

iCONICA · #5 05-14-2012, 02:21 PM

Thanks guys. Lots of reading on that link!

You're right, I'm already sold on it. I just wanted to know what others thought of Tobias basses considering there's little about them online.

Everything I've read has been pretty consistent in that the bass is well made, looks great but the electronics let it down. Personally, my previous bass was so cheap and rubbish that this is a huge step up, so I'm not getting the same disappointment from the sound, to me it sounds amazing in comparison. At least now I've got a bass I can plow hours of practice into, maybe in a year or so, I might build up the interest to upgrade it's electronics, who knows.

Thanks again,
Mike.

dave64o · #6 05-14-2012, 03:18 PM

I also see you're pretty new here. Just so you know, the general rule around here is "No pics, no bass!". Let's see it!

Actually, I am kind of curious to see it just to compare it to mine and my instructor's. As I said earlier, my instructor has the same model but his serial number is a lot higher, so mine is probably older? I like the coloring on the Tobias logo on his headstock a lot more than the coloring on mine. On his bass it's much more visible. But, on the other hand, the body on his bass has extremely light grain. Mine is not only darker but the flame on the top is much more visible. I'm obviously biased, but I like mine better than his.

I made a video clip after I had all the work done on it. I'll see if I still have it.

wolfmancharlie · #7 05-14-2012, 03:42 PM

iCONICA,
Welcome toTB. We do have a couple of Tobias bass clubs here that you will be able to find more info on. I have a Tobias By Gibson Growler and after a good set up and some frettwire work it is easily the best bass I have ever had. Don't let others start you thinking that the electronics are bad because they arent this or that kind made by Whoever, Just enjoy playing your bass. I can guarantee it is much better quality than the junk that my generation grew up playing , and we thought the basses werent that bad , but we did know the action was very bad on most of them and what kid could afford a Gibson or Fender in the 70's.

iCONICA · #8 05-17-2012, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave64o

I also see you're pretty new here. Just so you know, the general rule around here is "No pics, no bass!". Let's see it!

Actually, I am kind of curious to see it just to compare it to mine and my instructor's. As I said earlier, my instructor has the same model but his serial number is a lot higher, so mine is probably older? I like the coloring on the Tobias logo on his headstock a lot more than the coloring on mine. On his bass it's much more visible. But, on the other hand, the body on his bass has extremely light grain. Mine is not only darker but the flame on the top is much more visible. I'm obviously biased, but I like mine better than his.

I made a video clip after I had all the work done on it. I'll see if I still have it.

Hi, dave64o.

Took a few days but I taken some pics of it. Personally I think it looks yummy. Love natural woods, and this has plenty on show.

Here's the pics.

Mike

iCONICA · #9 05-17-2012, 02:33 PM

On a side note, I bought some D'Addario XL strings for it, strung it, and they sounded aweful! Really really quiet! What's going on? I then put one of the old strings back, the "A" and compared new vs old, the difference is night and day, the new strings were a fraction the volume of the old strings.

The old strings aren't new either, this is the display model from the shop (I got it cheaper), so the strings have been played...

I put the old strings back on, the new strings had a faulty string too, the A string had an internal rattle... As if the winding was loose around the inner core, is that a common flaw or very rare?

Anyone know what's going on? Also, considering the strings on it sound so good, any idea what they are? I want these again if they're as good as these are...

Mike.

darkstorm · #10 05-17-2012, 06:16 PM

Nice find. The natural finish ones where much nicer looking then the red ones which like the rest of musicyo stuff had cheap looking paint. But they did nice with the nat finish tobys. The ones I examined yhrs ago where well made but like others said, you may want to replace the pups and preamp later on for nice upgrade. Does yours have the assymetrical neck? They offered that on a couple of the top of line models for musicyo tobys for 2-3 yrs.

Edwcdc · #11 05-17-2012, 06:29 PM

I have the 6 string version of your bass. It was my main bass for the last 10 years. I replaced the pups and preamp with Bartolini. Very solid build. As a matter of fact, it is the most stable bass I have ever owned. I think I adjusted the truss rods maybe once 8 years ago. Very solid, nice low action and sounds great.

CrashClint · #12 05-17-2012, 06:32 PM

If you install this preamp and these pickups M44CX -T for Neck, M44CX -B for Bridge, you will have a tone monster.

iCONICA · #13 05-17-2012, 06:37 PM

Hi,
chap 1)
Mine as far as i can feel, mine has a symmetrical neck. Unless its very subtle, I don't think I have the asymmetric version.
Chap 2)
Why did you replace the truss rod? In what way does that wear out?

Edwcdc · #14 05-17-2012, 08:39 PM

No truss rods replaced just adjusted.

dave64o · #15 05-18-2012, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iCONICA

Hi, dave64o.

Took a few days but I taken some pics of it. Personally I think it looks yummy. Love natural woods, and this has plenty on show.

Here's the pics.

Glad to see you followed TB rules and posted them.

Very nice, looks just like mine except for the logo on the headstock. The logo on mine is all white, so it's kind of hard to see. My instructor's had the red in it like yours and I think it makes it easier to see. But the body wings on his are much lighter. The wings on yours look more like my bass.

The only thing I could tell you about the strings that were originally on mine is that they were filthy (bought it in a pawn shop). I really like DR Nickel Lo Riders so that's what I put on it.

iCONICA · #16 05-18-2012, 07:11 AM

Yeah, the logo looks good, with the red bits in it. I'll take a better picture.

What's the deal with the red cotton on the ends of the strings? Is it to dampen, or prevent damage? The D'Addario strings I got didn't have that cotton. The original strings I put back on it had fret marks and wear marks but my god they sound amazing compared to the brand new D'Addario strings, they were barely audible in comparison...