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The Official MTD USA Thread

#2,361
hasbeen said:
I hate to go against the grain here (no pun intended) but my ash neck 635-24 has TONS of compression in the upper mids.

Honest and for true.
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i believe ya...since no two pieces of wood are going to be exactly the same, i suppose it's hard to say for sure what a specific piece of wood is going to sound like until, i guess you could say, it's too late :D i suppose, generally speaking, your bass would be the exception to what's usually said about mike's ash necks, and there's nothing wrong with that...do you think it might be another part of your bass equation that's yielding a compressed tone in that range? maybe the total mass of the wood? there's a lot of wood happening on the neck of a 635-24...could be lots of things...
 
#2,362
neptoon said:
i believe ya...since no two pieces of wood are going to be exactly the same, i suppose it's hard to say for sure what a specific piece of wood is going to sound like until, i guess you could say, it's too late :D i suppose, generally speaking, your bass would be the exception to what's usually said about mike's ash necks, and there's nothing wrong with that...do you think it might be another part of your bass equation that's yielding a compressed tone in that range? maybe the total mass of the wood? there's a lot of wood happening on the neck of a 635-24...could be lots of things...
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I'm not sure really where it is coming from. It has an ash body too with a maple top and a maple board.

The bass if very "open" sounding in the lows and low mids. Very compressed in the high mids and open/airy in the highs.

VERY deep in the lows too.

The overall weight of the bass ...I'd consider average to a tad light. It is certainly lighter than my Ken Smith 6.
 
#2,364
hasbeen said:
I'm not sure really where it is coming from. It has an ash body too with a maple top and a maple board.

The bass if very "open" sounding in the lows and low mids. Very compressed in the high mids and open/airy in the highs.

VERY deep in the lows too.

The overall weight of the bass ...I'd consider average to a tad light. It is certainly lighter than my Ken Smith 6.
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Maybe it's more of a relative thing. On my ash neck'd basses, at least to me, it doesn't seem compressed in the upper mids as much as it is very emphasized in the low mids. So maybe by comparison, if the lows are your baseline, then yeah, the upper mids would seem attenuated.

That said, you wanna' hear something that's compressed in the upper mids, compare your ash neck'd bass to an identical one with a wenge/wenge neck. There's a definite choke on that one, and Mike will be the first to confirm that.

I'm going to don my flack jacket now, 'cause almost every time I mention the compression in the wenge necks, the wenge neck'd owners take it as a slam and come after me. ;) :D

IMHO, if you want something that's pretty even tempered from low to high, I think you should start with a maple neck.
 
#2,366
sephage said:
Hi all - I'm considering adding to my MTD arsenal by picking up a Z6 (been awhile since I had a 6-string). Any thoughts on the Z6?

I've got a Z5 with satin finish, wasn't sure if the Z6 hard finish impacted the sound at all. Anyone out there have any exposure to the Z6s?

Cheers!
-Joe
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I hope this doesn't sound rude, but this is the MTD USA thread, so Z series stuff would be off-topic. I think you might find a lot more information to your liking here...

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=368297

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=404057

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=399723

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=402737

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=406424

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=383759
 
#2,367
it could also be the relative comparison to my Smith...on which the high mids "explode".

The Smith is a much smaller, sonic foot print.
 
#2,369
 
#2,372
hasbeen said:
I still have to stand that my MTD has much more compressed mids then any other bass I've played....not just my KS.
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Wow. I never would have expected that, but noting your experience level I have no reason to doubt your word on this. Just figured it was more relative than absolute (because it seems counter to what I've experienced), but I guess not. Interesting.
 
#2,373
Vic said:
Wow. I never would have expected that, but noting your experience level I have no reason to doubt your word on this. Just figured it was more relative than absolute (because it seems counter to what I've experienced), but I guess not. Interesting.
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Mike invited me up to his shop and I plan to go as soon as I'm back from the Frankfurt trade show. I'm going to bring my bass for the heck of it and compare it to some of his other basses. I don't want to replace it but I do want another MTD with some more bite.
 
#2,374
hasbeen said:
it could also be the relative comparison to my Smith...on which the high mids "explode".

The Smith is a much smaller, sonic foot print.
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I'm with you all the way on your comments, and that's one of the reasons I've moved away from the MTD line of basses. They sound wonderful, but every one of these I've owned or played had that 'wide' sonic footprint that you mention that always sounded better solo than in the sorts of mixes I am subjected to.

While I had great luck matching my MTD's with a more tightly voiced rig (like, for example the Thunderfunk head) that resulted in that big sonic footprint being collapsed a touch, I never had much luck running the MTD's in the front of house. That huge deep bass and sizzle is amplified by a DI right into a board into a big front of house system. I had enough 'negative' comments from front of house guys that I respect that it reinforced my feelings about these basses.

Wonderful instruments though, and in the right mix, they can sound good, but you really do have to be careful with the voicing in a mix IMO!
 
#2,375
KJung said:
I'm with you all the way on your comments, and that's one of the reasons I've moved away from the MTD line of basses. They sound wonderful, but every one of these I've owned or played had that 'wide' sonic footprint that you mention that always sounded better solo than in the sorts of mixes I am subjected to.

While I had great luck matching my MTD's with a more tightly voiced rig (like, for example the Thunderfunk head) that resulted in that big sonic footprint being collapsed a touch, I never had much luck running the MTD's in the front of house. That huge deep bass and sizzle is amplified by a DI right into a board into a big front of house system. I had enough 'negative' comments from front of house guys that I respect that it reinforced my feelings about these basses.

Wonderful instruments though, and in the right mix, they can sound good, but you really do have to be careful with the voicing in a mix IMO!
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EXACTLY! I can't run my MTD through my SA200 or an Epi cab. It has to go through another 4x10 of mine and a SS head.

I love it too much for slap style and chord work. ...all solo work actually. If I know I'll have trouble on a gig cutting through though, I take the Smith.
 
#2,376
hasbeen said:
Mike invited me up to his shop and I plan to go as soon as I'm back from the Frankfurt trade show. I'm going to bring my bass for the heck of it and compare it to some of his other basses. I don't want to replace it but I do want another MTD with some more bite.
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Yer speakin' my language dude!!!! I'm fortunate enough to have two of these bad boys... and it sounds like maybe we define bite similarly. Both of mine are ash bodied with maple tops (one also with a maple back) and both bite really well. Here's the interesting part... one has an ash neck with a maple board! The other is maple/ebony. So, either the ash necks can sound pretty different from each other, OR, that walnut top REALLY made a difference, because my walnut top'd ash/maple neck'd bass sounds a lot more like your description of the one you're currently talking about (except again, I don't think mine chokes much if at all).
 
#2,377
Hasbeen, I just read your comment that if your MTD doesn't cut, you take your Smith. Has that happened often? I have played my MTD where I had to cut through a 4 piece horn section, keyboards, guitar, drums, percussion, and four singers, and it cut, and was clean as a whistle. I receive compliments from bandmates, soundmen, bass players who are in the audience and just people in general on my tone, and how they can hear me clearly. My bass is a 535, ash body, myrtle top, ash neck, and maple fingergoard. I also use an Epifani UL902 C amp, and a UL 310 cab and/or Ul 410 Series II cab, and I have never had a problem with my tone or being able to cut. Have you discussed your problem with Mike, and has he offered any solutions? I am quite puzzled by your and KJung MTD issues. I have other basses that I gig with occasionally, and the soundman always says, they are nice, but they don't sound like the MTD.
 
#2,378
Virgil said:
Hasbeen, I just read your comment that if your MTD doesn't cut, you take your Smith. Has that happened often? I have played my MTD where I had to cut through a 4 piece horn section, keyboards, guitar, drums, percussion, and four singers, and it cut, and was clean as a whistle. I receive compliments from bandmates, soundmen, bass players who are in the audience and just people in general on my tone, and how they can hear me clearly. My bass is a 535, ash body, myrtle top, ash neck, and maple fingergoard. I also use an Epifani UL902 C amp, and a UL 310 cab and/or Ul 410 Series II cab, and I have never had a problem with my tone or being able to cut. Have you discussed your problem with Mike, and has he offered any solutions? I am quite puzzled by your and KJung MTD issues. I have other basses that I gig with occasionally, and the soundman always says, they are nice, but they don't sound like the MTD.
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hmm...well, your bass has the EXACT wood combos as mine. My bass does cut to an extent of course but it certainly doesn't sit in the mix like my Smith.

Having said that, my MTD is still my "go to" bass.
 
#2,379
Just as a data point, I hear what Ken is saying with the MTD sonic footprint, but I think that's REALLY dependent on wood combos... especially with MTDs, and I don't think it can simply be said across the board as I read his post to say. Ironically, he had a wenge neck'd bass, and at the risk of drawing flack from wenge neck'd owners, Ken's comments parallel my experiences with wenge neck'd MTDs, which is a big reason why I probably won't own one.

However, two of my MTDs, and again, one with an ash neck, cut like a KNIFE. I have NO issues with that upper mid cut/bite. Maybe not as emphasized as a Smith, but definitely cutting... and I'm using the S2 UL410 these days, and with various heads... some even with some "enhance" turned on. No probs.

IMHO/IME of course.
 
#2,380
Virgil said:
Hasbeen, I just read your comment that if your MTD doesn't cut, you take your Smith. Has that happened often? I have played my MTD where I had to cut through a 4 piece horn section, keyboards, guitar, drums, percussion, and four singers, and it cut, and was clean as a whistle. I receive compliments from bandmates, soundmen, bass players who are in the audience and just people in general on my tone, and how they can hear me clearly. My bass is a 535, ash body, myrtle top, ash neck, and maple fingergoard. I also use an Epifani UL902 C amp, and a UL 310 cab and/or Ul 410 Series II cab, and I have never had a problem with my tone or being able to cut. Have you discussed your problem with Mike, and has he offered any solutions? I am quite puzzled by your and KJung MTD issues. I have other basses that I gig with occasionally, and the soundman always says, they are nice, but they don't sound like the MTD.
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I used my MTD as my primary bass for many, many years. I never had a significant problem making it sound good on stage with the right rig, and actually I dug Jason's MTD through my 502/410UL rig... that's a good combination with those basses (the Epi heads have a surprising amount of mid punch to them now that I've had a chance to get some gigs on it under my belt, and the very smooth, somewhat polite treble response of that head softens the very aggressive sizzle of the MTD preamp and those active pickups).

However, my tone has progressed to being 'all about the mids' over the years, and that definitely is not those basses' strong point. So, this gets down to personal taste.
 

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