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Pre-Gibson Tobias Owners - It's Showtime!

Debased

Debased

May 30, 2006
1,019
36
Los Angeles, the ashtray of CA
#1
Let's see those original Tobias basses built by Mike and his crew. If possible, please include some vital statistics; model, wood combinations, year-of-birth, and any interesting background info.

I'll start with some new and improved pics of my '87 "Classic:" Goncalo alves top over alder; flamed eastern maple neck with wenge stringers; pau ferro fingerboard; #72X; Jim Williams 18v preamp with sweepable bass and treble frequency centers and a three-way coil-splitting switch (a huge improvement over the stock Bart pre while still maintaining the classic Tobias tone, and as a bonus, it's powerful enough to easily drive a pair of headphones directly from the output jack).

I was fortunate enough to visit Mike's Cahuenga Blvd. shop several times before and during the build. He even let me root around in his wood storage room to choose the top for my bass. Everything in the shop was covered with a layer of sawdust; even the coffee maker and a bunch of half-full cups. I'll never forget the look and smell of that little wood shop, not to mention all those gorgeous basses in various states of completion hanging on the wall in the front room. What a candy store that place was. :eek:

Tobias4-0707sm.jpg


Tobias4-0708sm.jpg


Tobias4-0701asm.jpg


Tobias4-0702sm.jpg

^ No scratches here (or anywhere else - I've been careful and lucky); just a reflection of the grass.

Tobias4-0703sm.jpg


Tobias4-0705sm.jpg


Tobias4-0706sm.jpg
 
#5
Breathtaking. I wish I could take such good pictures, too.

Here's my crappy pictures:

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I know very little about it. A couple years back I found it in a tiny little store,
three hours away from home. Played it, loved it, but had no money and too many
basses already.

A year later, I was passing through the area and stopped in. There it was, still
waiting for me, so I had to take it with me. Never could find a serial number in
the usual places - headstock, fretboard, under bridge, electronics cavity. There's
what looks a "54" stamped under the truss rod cover. Passive Vol-Vol-Tone,
I'm not usually much for passive basses but when the tone is perfect you don't
really need to mess with it. Has the Schaller hardware and unmarked, smooth,
radiused Barts you see in the older Basics. The strap buttons are the same as
my bro's 85 Basic, T shaped with the rear button originally located dead center
on the neck - the previous owner moved it up to its current location for better
balance, where the later ones had it located.
 
#6
that would be a tobias standard, there, bro...i can't remember if it was made overseas and set up in the burbak shop or not, but i believe that was how they were done...you can see a 6 string version in the dream theater vid 'take the time'...myung played one for a couple years between the spector 4 string and his tung basses
 
#9
neptoon said:
sweet bejeezus...i've never a seen a tobias with that low of a serial # in such pristine shape...how does it play and sound, btw?
Click to expand...

Well, its great shape is partially due to the fact that I was playing a lot of jobs in really nice places at the time; mostly upscale bars and clubs with big, roomy stages like the old Ice House. I never took her to any dives, and I'm pretty careful.

Aside from that, I switched to playing fretless almost exclusively around fifteen years ago, so the Tobias only came out of its case for an occasional tune after that.

It plays effortlessly, as one would expect from an old Tobias. The custom preamp gives it a little more growl and modern versatility, but it still has all of its original warm, smoky tonal character.

have you tried it out yet? :D
Click to expand...

*snort* You're pretty funny. :spit: :D

Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Now, where are all those old Tobys?
 
#10
neptoon said:
that would be a tobias standard, there, bro...i can't remember if it was made overseas and set up in the burbak shop or not, but i believe that was how they were done...you can see a 6 string version in the dream theater vid 'take the time'...myung played one for a couple years between the spector 4 string and his tung basses
Click to expand...

Not that I'm saying you'e wrong, but can you offer proof that this
particular bass is a Standard? You could very well know more than
I do about the subject. Standards were made in Japan, and marked
" Fabricated in Japan to standards set by Tobias Guitars, Assembly
& Q.A. at Tobias Guitars, Burbank Ca, USA" . Every one I have
seen had dot markers on the fretboard, except on a fretless..
They were also active.

Here's one that is red and seems to have three knobs:

Link Removed

It is, however, active, with one stacked pot. It also
has dots.

Some other information about them from an owner of 2
Standards:

"My 1st one was made in 92' and had the late tobias controls
(Bartolini 18v, 5 knobs (bass, mid, treble, vol, blend) and mid
freq switch. Also had a push/pull slap contour on the volume
knobs)

...

This bass I have now has an early Bartolini TCT preamp,
it's a 9 volt with 3 knobs. vol, blend, and a stacked bass/treble pot.
It also has a mid boost pot, inside the electronics cavity.

...


The bridge is a cool bridge that I haven't seen on tobias basses before.
It's alot like the old wilkinson bridges. It's fully adjustable, forward/backwards,
up/down as well as left/right. It also locks so that nothing will moves.
The tuners have a Tobias logo on the back, I've heard that they're
made by Gotoh, but i dunno if that's true. They work very well, smoothly,
and stay in tune. The fretboard is rosewood and has mini pearl dot inlays.
The neck is asymmetrical and very comfortable even at the higher registers.
Single truss rod and a bone nut. It has dunlop straplocks (came
standard on the bass) "



So if you can point out what in the pictures of mine identifies it
as a Standard, I'd appreciate it.
 
#15
I have a collection of Tobias catalogs dating from 1985 - when they were still offering the "omega" cutaway on the Signatures - to a few years after the Gibson buyout.

According to a 1991 Burbank era catalog insert, the "new" Standard featured a rosewood fingerboard, an asymmetrical neck-through made from hard rock maple with bubinga stringers, and swamp ash body wings. They had active Bart electronics with a master volume, pan, and a "Dynatone" mid boost/cut tone control. The pickups are soapbar humbuckers with individual series/parallel tap switches.

They came with black hardware, Tobias tuners, and a quick-release Wilkinson bridge with adjustable intra-string spacing. Colors were natural, clear red or blue, and solid black or white. The MFSR price for a four was $1,849, and a five was $1,949, including HSC.

The photo shows three knobs and three micro-switches. It also shows a three-piece center lamination with one light colored center stringer - probably maple - and two bubinga stringers. All three are of equal width, unlike early Tobias lamination's where the center piece was only 1/32" wide. No dot position markers are shown, but the basses depicted may have been pre-production versions.


They were manufactured "overseas" to Tobias' specs with final assembly and setup being completed at the Burbank shop.

I don't know what to make of Fealach's Tobias. :confused: It doesn't quite look like any Basic, Standard, Killer B, or Model T I'm familiar with.
 
#16
Fealach said:
Not that I'm saying you'e wrong, but can you offer proof that this
particular bass is a Standard? You could very well know more than
I do about the subject. Standards were made in Japan, and marked
" Fabricated in Japan to standards set by Tobias Guitars, Assembly
& Q.A. at Tobias Guitars, Burbank Ca, USA" .


So if you can point out what in the pictures of mine identifies it
as a Standard, I'd appreciate it.
Click to expand...


i'm assuming yours doesn't say that on the back of the headstock, then...i probably don't know more than you having only owned one mtd and no tobias basses at all...i assumed it was a standard simply because it had a three knob configuration and the only tobias basses i've seen offering that control layout were one-offs and standards...thinking that if it were a fully custom one-off tobias i would've thought that you would've known that bass down to the screws...just an assumption on my part...i'm not trying to hammer your bass, as i've been wanting a 4 string tobias for years...mike was fond of the tobias standard basses, and i played a black 5 string that was great...one way or the other, you've got a fine bass
 
#17
Debased said:
Let's see those original Tobias basses built by Mike and his crew. If possible, please include some vital statistics; model, wood combinations, year-of-birth, and any interesting background info.

I'll start with some new and improved pics of my '87 "Classic:" Goncalo alves top over alder; flamed eastern maple neck with wenge stringers; pau ferro fingerboard; #72X; Jim Williams 18v preamp with sweepable bass and treble frequency centers and a three-way coil-splitting switch (a huge improvement over the stock Bart pre while still maintaining the classic Tobias tone, and as a bonus, it's powerful enough to easily drive a pair of headphones directly from the output jack).

I was fortunate enough to visit Mike's Cahuenga Blvd. shop several times before and during the build. He even let me root around in his wood storage room to choose the top for my bass. Everything in the shop was covered with a layer of sawdust; even the coffee maker and a bunch of half-full cups. I'll never forget the look and smell of that little wood shop, not to mention all those gorgeous basses in various states of completion hanging on the wall in the front room. What a candy store that place was. :eek:

Tobias4-0707sm.jpg


Tobias4-0708sm.jpg


Tobias4-0701asm.jpg


Tobias4-0702sm.jpg

^ No scratches here (or anywhere else - I've been careful and lucky); just a reflection of the grass.

Tobias4-0703sm.jpg


Tobias4-0705sm.jpg


Tobias4-0706sm.jpg
Click to expand...


I think all members will agree.
This has to be the nicest, most beautiful bass ever made
 

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