I purchased this bass from TB'er Robin Ruscio this past October. Here is a link to the original FS thread, which has really good pictures that are still accurate: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f126/fs-mtd-535-24-bass-814740/?highlight=
It is a visually arresting bass, and plays...like a very, very good MTD. Therein lies the problem for me: I own 3 MTD's, and I'm putting them all up for sale because as good as these basses are, as amazing, actually, the neck profile and 35" scale just doesn't agree with my left hand. I wish it were otherwise, because these are the coolest basses around. That's why I bought 3 of them; I had to sit with them a while before deciding that it would be better to let someone else enjoy them.
When I got this bass, the g-string saddle was bottomed out yet the g-string's action was not particularly low, so I knew it would need some tweaking. I decided to send it to Mike Tobias for the master's touch. Before sending it off, I brought it to school to play in ensemble (I was attending Jeff Berlin's Players School in Clearwater at the time), and fell on top of this bass while it was in a case when I had a bicycle accident- I want you know the history of this bass. I was on my bicycle, and fell at walking speed flat on my back on top of this bass. Fortunately, I had it in a Portabag, which if you're familar with these bags, are very stout, highly padded, and protective cases. Mercifully, nothing happened to the bass, but I want you to know its history. Regardless, the bass was already scheduled to go back home to Papa Tobias to resolve the bottomed out g-string saddle issue. The action on the g-string was too high (for a discerning player) with the saddle bottomed out. So back to Mike Tobias I sent the bass. He checked out the bass, and worked his voodoo to get the g-string's action to where it needed to go. Apparently, he re-seated the neck to get it right. Mike provided me with two documents; one on his letterhead and the other hand-written on a piece of looseleaf. The looseleaf affadavit reads as follows:
"Hi Richard,
This Bass Is Amazing! No damage from the accident. After cleaning up the frets and realigning the neck it plays very cleanly with the action set at less than 1/16 on the high strings and just over 1/16 on the low B- Not sure what the weather will do during shipping. Enjoy! MT"
The letterhead affadavit reads:
"Hi Richard,
I have inspected the bass after the accident and find absolutely no possible damage from the impact. The bass is in great shape and plays like a dream and sounds wonderful. Enjoy it!"
I also asked Mike for a duplicate of the original paperwork that comes with new MTD's (the seller did not provide it), which Mike sent back with the bass. He goofed though, and wrote that the body is ash, when in fact it is alder. So I just put a line through that and wrote "alder". If you are really, really interested in this bass, you could probably ask Mike about this bass- his number is 845.246.0670, and this is bass serial number 1817. Please call him only if it's the last thing you need to check before purchase; don't want to flood Mike with tire-kickers- thank you.
This bass is an excellent MTD- a cut above, in fact, based on my ownership of 2 others which I purchased new from Mike.
Alder body, South American rosewood top, maple neck, figured birdseye maple fretboard. This is a stunning bass, sounds like a Jazz Bass on steroids that can also do the urban contemporary slap thing like....an MTD. It is in the same condition that it was when I purchased it, cosmetically-excellent. There is one tiny indentation on the bottom of the bass, about 1/32" in diameter, and it's beyond my ability to photograph. The case I originally received from the seller was a little rough, so I purchased a brand new one from Mike which he sent the bass back to me in. This brand-new case with a tiny mark on it. It was Mike's last case of this style; he's moved on to a different style, I belive. I mention the little mark on the case in the interest of full disclosure- if you buy this bass, I want you to know what you're getting! Thanks for looking.
$3200 shipped, Paypal only. Domestic US only.
It is a visually arresting bass, and plays...like a very, very good MTD. Therein lies the problem for me: I own 3 MTD's, and I'm putting them all up for sale because as good as these basses are, as amazing, actually, the neck profile and 35" scale just doesn't agree with my left hand. I wish it were otherwise, because these are the coolest basses around. That's why I bought 3 of them; I had to sit with them a while before deciding that it would be better to let someone else enjoy them.
When I got this bass, the g-string saddle was bottomed out yet the g-string's action was not particularly low, so I knew it would need some tweaking. I decided to send it to Mike Tobias for the master's touch. Before sending it off, I brought it to school to play in ensemble (I was attending Jeff Berlin's Players School in Clearwater at the time), and fell on top of this bass while it was in a case when I had a bicycle accident- I want you know the history of this bass. I was on my bicycle, and fell at walking speed flat on my back on top of this bass. Fortunately, I had it in a Portabag, which if you're familar with these bags, are very stout, highly padded, and protective cases. Mercifully, nothing happened to the bass, but I want you to know its history. Regardless, the bass was already scheduled to go back home to Papa Tobias to resolve the bottomed out g-string saddle issue. The action on the g-string was too high (for a discerning player) with the saddle bottomed out. So back to Mike Tobias I sent the bass. He checked out the bass, and worked his voodoo to get the g-string's action to where it needed to go. Apparently, he re-seated the neck to get it right. Mike provided me with two documents; one on his letterhead and the other hand-written on a piece of looseleaf. The looseleaf affadavit reads as follows:
"Hi Richard,
This Bass Is Amazing! No damage from the accident. After cleaning up the frets and realigning the neck it plays very cleanly with the action set at less than 1/16 on the high strings and just over 1/16 on the low B- Not sure what the weather will do during shipping. Enjoy! MT"
The letterhead affadavit reads:
"Hi Richard,
I have inspected the bass after the accident and find absolutely no possible damage from the impact. The bass is in great shape and plays like a dream and sounds wonderful. Enjoy it!"
I also asked Mike for a duplicate of the original paperwork that comes with new MTD's (the seller did not provide it), which Mike sent back with the bass. He goofed though, and wrote that the body is ash, when in fact it is alder. So I just put a line through that and wrote "alder". If you are really, really interested in this bass, you could probably ask Mike about this bass- his number is 845.246.0670, and this is bass serial number 1817. Please call him only if it's the last thing you need to check before purchase; don't want to flood Mike with tire-kickers- thank you.
This bass is an excellent MTD- a cut above, in fact, based on my ownership of 2 others which I purchased new from Mike.
Alder body, South American rosewood top, maple neck, figured birdseye maple fretboard. This is a stunning bass, sounds like a Jazz Bass on steroids that can also do the urban contemporary slap thing like....an MTD. It is in the same condition that it was when I purchased it, cosmetically-excellent. There is one tiny indentation on the bottom of the bass, about 1/32" in diameter, and it's beyond my ability to photograph. The case I originally received from the seller was a little rough, so I purchased a brand new one from Mike which he sent the bass back to me in. This brand-new case with a tiny mark on it. It was Mike's last case of this style; he's moved on to a different style, I belive. I mention the little mark on the case in the interest of full disclosure- if you buy this bass, I want you to know what you're getting! Thanks for looking.
$3200 shipped, Paypal only. Domestic US only.
