The Official MTD USA Thread

[Bassflute]

Any MTD guys here who own, or have owned an F-Bass, BN5 or BN6? Whats your opinions? Specifically tone, playbility, and sound...

the newer ones have an extreme amount of noise when the back pickup is soloed, in both single coil and humbucker modes. And to make matters worse, George Furlanetto refuses to admit his basses have a problem, but they do. I have played two of them that exhibit a LOT of noise, almost as much as a Fender Marcus Miller jazz bass, when the back pickup is on by itself. If you add any top end eq on the bass, the amount of noise is totally out of control, and is completely unacceptable for an instrument in this price range. I don't know if it's the pickups or the preamp, but something in there hums like a banshee, and I'm not talking about a little bit of normal single coil pickup noise.

They are gorgeous, world class instruments except for that. Playability is superb, they are generally absolutely stunningly beautiful to look at, are superbly built out of the finest woods and have a fabulous sound except on the two recent 6 strings I have played, the back pickup is SO noisy it cannot be used on its own, which unfortunately severely limits the sound pallette available on these basses. It's the sound that I personally use most often, as it has the widest dynamic range and tone pallette available under ones fingers without delving into the electronics. It is also where the personality of both the player and the instrument are, and where you get the most percussive, woody, and acoustic sounds. And what is even more strange is that the older ones did not seem to do this, so it's a recent dilemna that I really think should be addressed by the maker.



It is such a shame, as they are a world class instrument from my own country that I so want to be proud of and would love to own and play, but, what can I say, the noise coming out of them is just terrible. I wouldn't own one as they are now. Recording to follow soon.

IMHO of course.

Sincerely,
Cameron

 

[BassSaxMan]

Both great, but very, very different. The FBass, to my ear, is a smoother, mellower, more refined Fender J tone. The MTD is all about bright, wide, aggressive active electronics and big, active tone.

If you like a Fender J, but tend to want a little more 'satin and smooth' to your sound, the FBass is great. If you have very little interest in a Fender J tone, and want it modern, crisp, big, aggressive and a bit 'electronic', the MTD's are amazing.

Another way to put it, the FBass sounds pretty much the same in passive mode and with the preamp engaged and the tone controls boosted slightly. The MTD has no passive mode (due to somewhat unusual active Bartolini pickups).

Fit and finish is great on both, although I was never a fan of that very soft FBass Nitro finish. I understand George has revised his finish to be more durable, but have not seen it.

IMO and IME from my experience on quite a few gigs with both these fine instruments.

Edit: Also, there is a BIG difference in feel when these basses are 'on the strap', with the FBass hanging quite a bit to the right of the body, and the MTD pushing first position quite a ways away from the body. The FBass feels unique in standing position (I don't dig it), while the MTD just moves first position out a touch from the standard 'J/P' feel.

100% dead on in my experience.

 

[KJung]

the newer ones have an extreme amount of noise when the back pickup is soloed, in both single coil and humbucker modes. And to make matters worse, George Furlanetto refuses to admit his basses have a problem, but they do. I have played two of them that exhibit a LOT of noise, almost as much as a Fender Marcus Miller jazz bass, when the back pickup is on by itself. If you add any top end eq on the bass, the amount of noise is totally out of control, and is completely unacceptable for an instrument in this price range. I don't know if it's the pickups or the preamp, but something in there hums like a banshee, and I'm not talking about a little bit of normal single coil pickup noise.

hmmm... while I experienced the 'normal' amount of single coil hum with either pickup solo'd in single coil mode, I didn't experience any noise at all in hum canceling mode. I've played a bunch of these also, and I've never heard this reported by anyone else.

Once again, I hear things pretty much the opposite of what you report

 

[KJung]

KJung,
So would it be safe to say that if I were wanting a Norm Stockton/Andrea Gouche, go for the MTD. Or for a David Hughes/Alain Caron type sound and tone go for the F-Bass.

That's a touch of an oversimplification, but I guess I would go along with that

 

[vision]

That's a touch of an oversimplification, but I guess I would go along with that

+1...Norm Stockton and Andrew Gouche have very different flavors of MTD tone.

 

[VroomVroom]

I had a BN6, and couldn't comment on the tonal differences any better than Ken has already done. I will say that the overall tone was a little bit soft for my tastes, and while I loved the sound - and playability - it wasn't as versatile as I would've liked. Of course now I feel the exact same way about my Roscoe SKB, so...as always...this just proves that it ain't easy being me sometimes. Anyway, here's an old shot of mine - excuse the ugly cat behind the bass.

Link Removed

I assume I had one of the 'later' BN6 models. No issue with the finish, and no noise when soloing the back pickup...which realistically I never did (nor do with any of my instruments) in any musical setting. I would recommend F Bass instruments to anyone in the market - I love 'em! I classify them as one brand that everyone should check out, if for no other reason than to disqualify them from your hunt for the right instrument.

 

[tyjacks]

That's a touch of an oversimplification, but I guess I would go along with that

Thanks for the reference about the F-Bass and MTD tonal differences.

Does anybody have a pic of a MTD, 535 or 635, with a Rosewood top?

 

[tyjacks]

greenbass,
Thanks, for the pic of the bass, it really looks good. Not really into the really high treble sound, I want a little more subtle sound. Some tones have to way much treble and over brightness, kinda like a banjo. I've got an MTD 535, Tulipwood body/MapleBurl top, Maple neck/Rosewood FB on standby, but I'm really diggin the Fclef, F-Bass (VF) sound... my $.02...

 

[leloupa]

Hello MTD fans,
this is a message from Belgium. I recently bought a used MTD through e-bay.de from a man in Germany who seemed to have bought it from 'the low end'. It's listed in their sold category. My bass is the one with a natural Korina body with a wenge neck and board.
It's the best bass i ever layed hands on in my 24 years of playing experience !!
So i've been putting myself through some mind breaking questions these days..
First of all...can anyone amongst you tell me more about the fretless Burl top MTD the low end is offering at the moment ? I'm seriously thinking of buying it.
The results will be that i'll have to sell my 34.5" Marleaux fretlesses. Combining 2 different scales with 2 diffrent string spacings will probably resolve in problems when i'll start using an MTD fretless.
What must i do ? ...

 

[Georges Abitbol]

the newer ones have an extreme amount of noise when the back pickup is soloed, in both single coil and humbucker modes.

Hi Cameron,
We're on the MTD thread but...
I own a F BN5 and a MTD 535. I love them both.
Could you tell me when you have played these Fs? What was the production era?
On my 2006 BN5, I have NO problems of noise but I'd like to purchase another F so...

 

[vision]

Hi Cameron,
We're on the MTD thread but...
I own a F BN5 and a MTD 535. I love them both.
Could you tell me when you have played these Fs? What was the production era?
On my 2006 BN5, I have NO problems of noise but I'd like to purchase another F so...

I've never noticed that issue when soloing the bridge p/u on the many F Basses I've played over the years, the most recent being a 2007 model.

 

[donnercruz]

I thought I'd post pics of my MTD's, especially since I hadn't seen an acoustic posted yet. I also have a 535 and a 535 lined fretless.

 

[smakbass]

Acoustic Mtd???

 

[Vic]

I thought I'd post pics of my MTD's

VERY nice!

 

[Vic]

Acoustic Mtd???

Yep! Tho he does make very few of them, so it's very long wait times on them. Rare beauties!

 

[donnercruz]

I've had this one for quite a while. I got to pick it up at Mike's shop. It was a great trip to the MTD mecca. It's ABG #7.

 

[emjazz]

I thought I'd post pics of my MTD's, especially since I hadn't seen an acoustic posted yet. I also have a 535 and a 535 lined fretless.

QUOTE]



Now THAT'S an MTD that I could live with!!!!!! Someone please tell me more about that....what's the price on one of those?

 

[Tony G]

An acoustic MTD.........what is this world coming to. :scowl:




j/k

 

[DRay521]

I LOVE the acoustic. Love it. Passionately. Ok well maybe not. But it's extremely extremely satisfying to behold.

 

[donnercruz]

Not much to tell about it. It has a bolt on neck and a fairly small body, making it a little neck heavy. There is a fishman pickup, which sound great. I took off the standard strings and went with the Labella tape wounds which gives it a much warmer, smoother tone. It sounds great. I don't pull it out often, but love it when I do. I've considered selling it becuase it doesn't get played much, but have a hard time thinking of parting with it when I play it. It was $2700 and change when I bought it way back when.