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Do MTD Basses Record Well?

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ebozzz

ebozzz

Supporting Member
May 17, 2001
5,106
1,790
Colorado
#1
I just got two emails from a very well known studio musician. I asked this person what was their opinion of MTD basses. What did I do that for! This person proceeded to make statements about MTD that I've never heard before. Here's one quote:

It has no definition in live concerts, and have heard the bad recordings they make too....just not projecting good bass sounds, sorry.
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After that statement I attempted to ask the person which basses they were reffering to and here's the reponse:

Any Tobias bass is what I'm talking about, *especially* before Mike Tobias went with Gibson. Lou Rawls' bass player even had one (after I tried them out about 1992-93) and I never heard one note he played in a concert!
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I've got more but I'll stop there for now. Let's hear it from you MTD owners who've had success with live performances or studio work!
 
#3
Funky,

I couldn't believe that this person would make a statement like that! Here's another one:

I've tried them and they're way too much like a guitar (too easy to play) and you can't dig in on them....they sound and play like a guitar, not a bass.......... they don't satisfy people's need for a real bass unfortunately. Whoever helped design that bass was a real wimp imo, and their sounds are just not right.
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#4
He's certainly entitled to his opinion; I mean, MTD's aren't for everybody. But my experiences with my 535 are pretty much the opposite of his. I guess he's looking for something a little bit different in a bass. I always thought that being easy to play was a good thing. And actually, in terms of string spacing, my other basses (Brubaker, Roscoe, Lull, etc.) are narrower at the bridge, which makes the MTD a little bit more difficult for me to play. Maybe this guy's bass wasn't set up for his playing style?
 
#7
Seriously, MTD's are some of the finest basses that you can get, and he shows his ignorance by lumping all Tobias basses into one category. Even just referring to MTD alone there are a billion wood combinations.

They are GREAT basses. Any engineer (and I am one) that can't get a great sound to tape or disk with that bass needs to get back to the woodshed and figure it out.

-pd
 
#9
Hmm...yeah, it might be the EQ thing. There are lots of different tones available using the onboard EQ, and the three-way mid selector combined with the cut/boost really does change the overall character of the mids. It has taken me a little while to get a tone that I really love with a band, but it's definitely in there.
 
#10
I'll take a quick stab at this... the short version:

My MTD 535 is very punchy, articulate, and has great definition at all frequencies, especially the lows and mids. I've noticed this to be the case with most MTDs that I heard live-in-concert and recorded (I have heard well over a dozen players).

IMHO, the current MTD sounds slightly better than the pre-Gibson Tobias basses.

Finally, I won't argue with what that person says they heard... however, there are a number of other variables involved. The sound man, the amp, room acoustics, and the bassplayer himself. I've heard mush come out of expensive basses hooked up to high-end rigs. All of these factors, or a combination of them, could give rise to the lousy tone that he heard.
 
#12
Originally posted by DeepDeath
lets clear this TOBIAS and MTD are not the same bass company and have totally different basses. Just cause it was originally made by the same guy doesn't mean they share alot of traits.
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When this person stated that they had tried one back in '92 or '93, I suggested that there could have possibly been some changes since that time. This person wasn't hearing it at all! I suspect some personal issue here against Mike T.
 
#13
that's interesting. john myung live playing a red tobias 5 string for images and words, and i thought his live sound was great. that's with fiercely dueling guitars and keyboards, and a drummer who thinks it's his purpose in life to hit every drum at the exact same moment in time. :D ;)

i find fault with anyone who blames an instrument first when the live sound of the bass in a band is lacking - there are so many other factors involved, like position in the audience, quality of the sound reinforcement gear (pa) quality of the sound man, and nature and acoustics of the room, not to mention the eq and sound of every other instrument on the stage, that the instrument shouldn't be singled out for poor live sound, imo.

i've seen bands multiple times for the same tour, in multiple venues, and the only thing changing is the pa and venue (like rush, where they tour with their own sound crew) and the sound of all the instruments from venue to venue changes _drastically_. in fact, every band that i've ever followed on the road for a few shows has had that happen -every venue they sounded anywhere from a little to a lot different.

i guess someone just doesn't like tobias. i've played a few 6's (mtds and tobiases) and all the ones that i've played i thought were cool. too bad they only have 6 strings :D ;)
 
#15
Originally posted by pd_5string


They are GREAT basses. Any engineer (and I am one) that can't get a great sound to tape or disk with that bass needs to get back to the woodshed and figure it out.

-pd
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And the problem can also be from the player himself. Listening from the responses of that bass player alone, suggest to me that he doesn't seem to know much about being a professional. Regardless if he's in the recording scenes. I think he was just speaking his mind that's all. Which is not necessarily have to be correct fact about MTD or Tobias basses.

Being able to record or do sessions do not guarantee that you automatically know everything about bass. That's my opinion.:)
 
#17
The way those quotes are worded sounds like it's something personal against Mike.

For sounds, d/l Norm Stocktons star spangled banner on mp3.com..it's plugged in direct and sounds great! But the tone he gets is definitely not for everyone. I personally don't always play with that type of tone...all the the MTD's I've played can get it easily because there's a tremendous about of headroom. The bass player mag. review says "use those highs sparringly!" which I definitely agree.

Or if you want to PM me, I got some mp3's of my teachers band who plays MTD's (fretted and fretless)
 
#20
Man, if it weren't for the "studio musician" part, I'd swear those quotes came from Gene Simmons.

Actually, it sounds like a lot of "well-known and respected musician" quotes I've heard. Professional musicians have such a talent for being generally pleasant people who, once in a while (or, more often :) ), make nasty, ignorant, statements .
 
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