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Great Experience With MTD

groovit

groovit

Oct 12, 2004
135
0
New Hampsha
#1
Just wanted to share the recent experience I had with Mike Tobias at MTD.

I've got a Kingston fretless five that I had purchased used (I knew the two previous owners, so I had no worries). I've had it about a year and a half now, and I recently brought it to a local shop to get it setup. Turns out that the truss rod on the neck was maxed out and is un-movable. I was screwed. They tell me that I need to get a brand new neck.

So, I email Mike and explain the problem. He happens to have a neck in the shop that matches perfectly, and sends it my way the same week. Four weeks later, I can finally play my fretless again.

It may not sound like much, but I thought it was great that Mike took the time to solve my problem, even though I didn't own a custom or anything. If I had the income, I'd definitely be on the waiting list for a 535...

And just to prove it exists:

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#3
That's great - Mike really came through for you.

My MTD Kingston 5's neck was warped. It was within the 1 year warranty, so I took it back to the store. They couldn't fix it, so they had MTD send a new neck. Months went by (I called repeatedly and got the "1-2 more weeks" story every time), and I finally got the call that my bass was fixed.

They told me that MTD couldn't open the box and find out what color neck they were sending, so I ended up with a black headstock for my red bass. It's not that big of a deal, but come on. They couldnt' open the box? I'm glad I didn't get a blue one.

Anyway, this store was pretty bad about everything. I don't know what the real deal was with the headstock color. But, I've heard so many good things about MTD's customer service that I find it hard to believe they would refuse to check the headstock color before sending out a replacement neck. I wish I had just contacted MTD myself.

Anyway, the moral of my story is - if you have a problem with your MTD bass and your store is jerking you around, you should probably just contact MTD directly.
 
#5
guitarkim- The shop that I dealt with for the repair offered to get the neck for me, but I decided to go ahead and contact Mike myself, just because I wanted to make sure that it was going to match up perfectly. Did you contact Mike about the problem?
 
#6
Mike will fix you up if there is a problem. I had some issues with a MTD Grendel I bought from the now defunct LA Bass Exchange a few years back, Mike ended up replacing the entire bass with parts he had in his shop. The replacement was killer and I still have it today.

I am very particular, and have no back off persisting in getting something handled. Mike was very accomodating, probably much more so than many others in the business. I would like to publicly commend Michael Tobias for really taking care of a customer and making truly magical instruments.

I also had the same good experience with Rodger Sadowsky.
 
#13
Mike is indeed a fine person and someone who always stands behind his work and will go to any length to help a player out.

Buying one of his basses, especially the hand made ones, is always an excellent investment, and a great bargain when you consider what goes into them.

Try calling the Fender Custom Shop about a problem, or Gibson. You won't ever get to speak with a human.

I've had similar great experiences with Roger Sadowsky, Dan Lakin, Joe Zon, Rick Turner and Ned Steinberger, who are also absolutely wonderful, stand up guys.

Aloha,

Jonathan
 
#14
I bought a used MTD 535. When I got it, the batteries were totally dead. I replaced the batteries and they died within a few days. I emailed Mike about it. He got back to me a couple of days later, apologizing that he had been in Germany and didn't have access to his emails. He quickly diagnosed the problem. It was a quick'n'easy fix that took all of two minutes. I'm going to get another 535 one day.
 
#15
What a great story. In an age where serving the customer usually falls behind serving the bottom line, it is great to see that good service is Still out there. My only experience with luthier service was a brief email exchange with Dan Lakin (great service there), but it's awsome to see that Dan is not the only maker with integrity.
If Michael Tobias puts as much into his bass design as his customer service (and I'm sure he does) then my gas for a Lakland Skyline Hollowbody (co-designed by Michael Tobias) is about to get even worse.

GAS hurts... :(
 
#16
SMASH said:
I've called Fender several times via the number on their website, spoken with humans, been put in touch with the head of QC who responded to my emails on different occasions, and been sent parts free of charge.
Click to expand...

That's sure different from my experience. I bought a Custom Shop Masterbuilt Jazz Deluxe and the electronics didn't work properly.

I called and emailed them repeatedly, with no response. Finally I popped in a J-Retro electronics package myself which solved it.

This was s few years ago. I would be happy to know that they changed their tune.

Aloha,

Jonathan
 

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