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The Official MTD USA Thread

#3,681
Vic said:
That said, of course you don't see too many "sister" MTDs collected in one spot like this very often, so it's not like I have anything to compare to for reference, either. :D
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+1...that is a REALLY cool matched pair! The time I've seen a matched pair of MTD's like this is when you and Tom had your Marilyns together. If I recall correctly, those sounded very close to each other after a quick gain tweek.
 
#3,682
VroomVroom said:
The six is a little heavier...totally uneducated guess, but it seems to be in proportion, if that makes sense - 24 frets vs. 21, and six strings vs. five, yada yada. In other words, the six doesn't feel any more "dense."
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Fair enough. It's just a 535 vs 635 thing, and/or a MTD individuality thing. :)
 
#3,683
vision said:
+1...that is a REALLY cool matched pair! The time I've seen a matched pair of MTD's like this is when you and Tom had your Marilyns together. If I recall correctly, those sounded very close to each other after a quick gain tweek.
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Yep, except mine did sound better... not exactly sure how or why, but it did... ;)

:hiding:
 
#3,687
Sterling_Bass said:
VroomVroom, your basses both look beautiful and sound amazing. The B string on the 535 sounds monstrous. I can totally hear what you mean when you say that bass is truly special. Also, I greatly enjoyed the music your band was playing on the 535 clips. I would love to play in a band with a similar style.
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Thank you for the kind words! I've never heard a 'B' string like the one on the 535. It's got that typical MTD clarity mixed with just gobs of warmth and fatness...for lack of a better word. :) And I'm definitely very fortunate to play with these musicians...I count my lucky stars at every gig.
 
#3,688
VroomVroom said:
Thank you for the kind words! I've never heard a 'B' string like the one on the 535. It's got that typical MTD clarity mixed with just gobs of warmth and fatness...for lack of a better word. :)
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...I also like to use "focused, balanced, musical, coherent, strong fundamental". So many B strings are loud, but lack the tonal focus to really be as musically usable as the MTD. It's one of my favorite attributes of these basses. :)
 
#3,690
VroomVroom said:
Bada boom. You nailed it, Vic! I get smiles from the keyboardist and drummer every time I drop a bomb on them. :D
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+1 :)

In addition to the usual cover band thing, I play in a couple worship gigs, and one of my favorite worship gig tricks is to take a subdued passage where I'm using a lot of whole notes, and just "bump" the B string and let it ring for that measure or maybe even 2-3 depending on the piece... sorta' like organ players do in church for pedal tones... not strong or loud, just real even with the rest of the music. It's way cool, and you can't do it if the B string doesn't ring full/true and also sustain well. The MTDs, of course, do. :)
 
#3,691
Seriously? You guys are killing me!!!! I am putting in an order for a 535 ash/ash/maple/walnut top. My 30th b-day and I think I will treat myself to a nice 535. Of course, my wife is not aware of this yet.:eek: Now I have to put on my salesman face and make sure she is cool with it.

I hope it does not disappoint like my last 535 did. I bought one back in 2002 and it just did not cut it. Great bass, but it had no b*lls. I could not get it to cut through a 5 piece band to save my life. I boiled it down to my wood choices and freqs covered in the band. It was definitely more of a solo bass sound. The bass was mahogany body, maple neck/board and myrtle burl top. So, let's hope the ash/ash combo works a little better.

Just thought I would share this with the MTD crowd.

Peace,
Chris
 
#3,692
chris.gotfunk said:
Seriously? You guys are killing me!!!! I am putting in an order for a 535 ash/ash/maple/walnut top. My 30th b-day and I think I will treat myself to a nice 535. Of course, my wife is not aware of this yet.:eek: Now I have to put on my salesman face and make sure she is cool with it.

I hope it does not disappoint like my last 535 did. I bought one back in 2002 and it just did not cut it. Great bass, but it had no b*lls. I could not get it to cut through a 5 piece band to save my life. I boiled it down to my wood choices and freqs covered in the band. It was definitely more of a solo bass sound. The bass was mahogany body, maple neck/board and myrtle burl top. So, let's hope the ash/ash combo works a little better.

Just thought I would share this with the MTD crowd.

Peace,
Chris
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Haha you'll be on your way to your 32nd bday with the wait list, I think! You have a while to work up the courage to tell your better half! :D

I know what you mean. My first MTD was sketchy at best, and was not sold to me correctly in the condition it was in. Vic can chime in on that as well.

However, I got my current 535 (one piece wenge on myrtl burl+tulipwood) earlier this year and have been in love ever since.

I can't wait to get my second.
 
#3,693
rockstarbassist said:
Haha you'll be on your way to your 32nd bday with the wait list, I think! You have a while to work up the courage to tell your better half! :D

I know what you mean. My first MTD was sketchy at best, and was not sold to me correctly in the condition it was in. Vic can chime in on that as well.

However, I got my current 535 (one piece wenge on myrtl burl+tulipwood) earlier this year and have been in love ever since.

I can't wait to get my second.
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The good news about that is I have two to choose from. One is complete and there is another one on order that will be finished around March of '09. So, I will keep my fingers crossed that one of those two I can snag.

I debated the whole wenge thing. I really love the tone of wenge. But, I have heard nothing but great things about the ash/ash combo so I am willing to give it a try.
 
#3,694
chris.gotfunk said:
The good news about that is I have two to choose from. One is complete and there is another one on order that will be finished around March of '09. So, I will keep my fingers crossed that one of those two I can snag.

I debated the whole wenge thing. I really love the tone of wenge. But, I have heard nothing but great things about the ash/ash combo so I am willing to give it a try.
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Well, aren't YOU just special! :p

I bought mine in stock from Bass Central, so I didn't have to wait either. Getting mine built is gonna be killer!

My next one will have a similar setup to yours, but with a flamed maple top. The wenge+myrtl and poplar is the MTD standard, and for good reason. :)
 
#3,695
chris.gotfunk said:
I am putting in an order for a 535 ash/ash/maple/walnut top.
...
I hope it does not disappoint like my last 535 did. I bought one back in 2002 and it just did not cut it. Great bass, but it had no b*lls. I could not get it to cut through a 5 piece band to save my life. I boiled it down to my wood choices and freqs covered in the band. It was definitely more of a solo bass sound. The bass was mahogany body, maple neck/board and myrtle burl top. So, let's hope the ash/ash combo works a little better.
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I guess on the one hand, I'm surprised to hear a mahogany bodied bass had issues like that, but with Mike's basses so much depends not only on the wood combo, but also the particular pieces (species and cut) of wood, which is why it's CRITICAL that you make sure you tell Mike exactly what you tonally like, AND don't like (if you haven't already).

When I ordered my latest one, I was pretty much ignorant of the whole ash neck thing. I told Mike my tonal goals and was asking him about certain wood combos I was more familiar with to try an accomplish those goals. However, he redirected me to the ash/walnut-ash/maple combo based simply on the goals I described, which wasn't even on my radar at the time, but totally hit the bullseye for what I wanted.
 
#3,696
chris.gotfunk said:
I debated the whole wenge thing. I really love the tone of wenge. But, I have heard nothing but great things about the ash/ash combo so I am willing to give it a try.
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It just depends on what you want, and also your playing style. As much as I dig their look and physical feel, I'm not a fan of the wenge necks myself, but that's TOTALLY about my personal prefs AND playing style... NOT a slam on that neck, which is, as rockstarbassist says, part of a very popular wood combo, and works great for lots of folks.

In addition to the nice low mid push with the wenge, there's also a little bit of a "choke" (or modest attenuation if that sounds too negative for some folks :)) that the wenge necks have in the upper mids, or maybe even low treble, depending on how you prefer to describe stuff, and that drove me crazy. Mike's ash necks have that same low mid push like the wenge, but without that choke, which is exactly how Mike describes the difference, and I agree with it. It didn't bug me at all when slapping, but I do VERY little slap, so at least with my case, it was a "fingerstyle specific" problem, but since I rarely slap, that didn't really change things for me personally.
 
#3,697
I find there to be a pretty clear and snappy high end with my wenge/korina MTD, particularly when you dig in. I have more of a tendency to get lost in the mix (which you never really do with an MTD:D) when I slap on the wenge. But I tend to think that's the korina, which seems to me to give a sort of "hollow" sound at times. As far as the "choke," if it's there I don't notice because I like the low mids more than the upper mids. I think wenge is my preferred neck choice, but like Vic said, it's all personal taste.
 
#3,698
I spoke to "THE" man today. I called Mr.Tobias. He is such a great guy.

We had a discussion about wood combination. I asked him to describe tone wood the simpliest way possible. Here's what he said:

Bodies:
Alder: Full sounding, slightly compressed
Ash: Growly first then agressive,raw and punchy
Mahogany: Full sounding, darker voice
Poplar: Punchy first, then growly

Necks:
Wenge: Focussed and compressed low-end, darker
Ash: Focussed low-end, open
Maple: Bright, Open, Sweet

Comments:
Ash neck sounds warm with maple fretboard
Rosewood and Ebony may sound arsh with ash neck.
Ash/Ash combo sounds particullarly good with a walnut top,

TOMORROW, i will place my order for my Second MTD bass.
here are the specs:
Ash Body
Ash Neck
Birdseye Fingerboard
Walnut top, Matching Walnut headstock

here are the 2 things i have to decide for tomorrow,
21 or 24 frets?
Crotch or Burl Walnut?

I normally never use the extra 3 frets but i like the way it looks....

I think i looked at walnut tops for the last 2 hours, i'm a freak!!!
 

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