MTD J5 model

[willgroove2]

Anybody got any info on the J4&5 model MTD? Andrew Gouche had one on the cover of bassplayer Mag A few months ago and I have seen Norm Stockton with one but it doesn't appear on the MTD website; are those prototypes?

 

[jnammy]

I actually asked Norm Stockton about it at NAMM this year and he said that there are only a couple of them that exist right now and they're really pricey because they were handmade by Mike himself, but that Mike plans on outsourcing the J4/J5 to China? Maybe Norm meant Korea or Japan? I asked Norm if his MTD J had single coils or dual and he didn't know. I think he said it was Bartolinis though. He actually knew very little about gear stuff, which made me feel silly because I was talking gear with someone who can outplay the heck out of me. Anyways, I wonder if the Js will be 34" or 35".

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I played one a bit more than a year ago at a store on 48th in Manhattan January, 2009. I honestly was not that impressed. It is a very well made bass, but I did not feel that it sounded special at all. The one I played was $3,500. I feel that the Pensas and Sadowskys I played on that trip were better sounding, for that matter, the MIA Fender Jazz Deluxe V I had at the time sounded better.

 

[Tom Howland]

I had a early J5.
Mine was just like Norm Stockton's.
Ash Body, Ash neck, and Fingerboard. Bart, J-Pickups.
34" scale, 21 frets.
Sunburst finish.
It played wonderful, but I preferred, the tone of a 535.