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The "Official" MTD (non-US made) Club Part 3

I'd go with the maple. I have a Heir with a rosewood neck and a KZ with a maple neck.. I like the maple better.. Don't ask me why.. I can't tell tone wise because the two basses are so different. I am actually thinking of an ebony fretkless neck on my Heir.. I can get one for it a Dana B Goods for $180-$205. Seriously thinking of it..
 
Here's the only pic I have right now. MTD KZ6 with US Bartolini preamp, rubber knobs, and Hipshot Ultralight tuners.

DCMC3-16_1.jpg
 
FYI, got my MTD Heir 5 string on Tuesday. Super fast and solid delivery from Amazon / Music 1 2 3.

Initial impressions: big, great looking, solid bass. Although used, the only scratch I see is on the headstock. I have not done anything to check the setup, and I'll show it next week to my music teacher, who's very experienced and would have a good eye.

The honeymoon is going OK. I cannot say this bass feels better to me than the Ibanez 5 string fretless.... yet. And that's expected. The MTD is a different beast. 35 inches, wide fretboard, and, of course, fretted.

So... so far so good. In the next 10 days, I'll also have the chance for rehearsal and performance with the church band. I'll trust my impressions more then.


Cheers,
-- Joe
 
I run Chromes on my old single MM pickup Heir and it rocks. They maintain a punchy and bright sound, but I can get a nice smooth tone also with just the passive roll-off. I cannot, however, get a super warm and classic tone (perhaps your J will help with that). I should dig that baby out of the basement for the summer. It is actually one of my favorite bass/string combinations but I am almost strictly a five-string player and my Heir only has 4.

For the record, I also tune down a full step. Chromes handle this well on the Heir and my Godin.
 
Nice! Appreciate the info. I tried Chromes on my Z4 and it was just not sonic bliss. But I think that may have had to do more with the electronics on that bass because I started getting a bit unhappy with rounds and the stock pre-amp. The mids were a bit too honky. But I'll give them a go on the Heir. The thing is a completely different animal than the Z4.
 
My guitar / bass teacher was asking me if I planned on doing slap on this 5 string Heir.

It's not the most important thing, but it would be nice if the Heir could handle slap OK... can it?

Thanks,
- Joe


Ohhh yeah.. The string spacing is wide.. That's why I like the Kingstons.. They are really nice playing basses.. I am still not sure of what I want to do with my Heir.. I know I want to upgrade the pre.. possibly the pups .. and add a swich for the humbucker to go from single to double coil.. I am actuall beginning to like the Heir better than the KZ..
 
Here's the only pic I have right now. MTD KZ6 with US Bartolini preamp, rubber knobs, and Hipshot Ultralight tuners.

DCMC3-16_1.jpg

Could you (or someone else) post a pic or two of the back of a KZ6 bass? I've been looking online and can't seem to find one.

I'm in the market for my first sixer. I'm looking at Carvin, Ibanez and MTD primarily to stay in my sub $1500 budget. I started reading through some of these posts and am concerned with how many folks seem to buy these basses and then change out pickups and the preamp. Do they suck that much? I would hope that they sound good.