I would talk to Mike. He would be able to tell you if that is what you are looking for
B.C. Thanks. I drove up to his home yesterday and that's the combination we came up with. I just want some advice from other players just to get additional input.
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The Official MTD USA Thread
- Thread starter johnpaulbass
- Start date
B.C. Thanks. I drove up to his home yesterday and that's the combination we came up with. I just want some advice from other players just to get additional input.
Question for you guys...
What is the set pickup height for the barts? Has anyone changed the height for different tone?
What is the set pickup height for the barts? Has anyone changed the height for different tone?
I have a "swamp ash"/walnut 535/24 with an ash/maple neck, and it's scary how full and great it sounds. It's got all the breadth and dynamics typical of an MTD USA model, but it's also got some extra meat and potatoes in the low mids which really fattens up the sound. It's currently my favorite MTD of all I've played or owned.
I can't thank you enough! thanks, thanks, thanks!
I just want to make sure that I made the 100% right choice. I'm into slapping but also like playing Reggae. Michael Tobias told me that the Northern Ash has a "spike" in the mid-range vs. the Swamp Ash that has a "cut" in the mid-range.
Is your bass versatile? Is it good for slapping?
thanks again!
Yes, it has killer slap tone, and IMHO, the fingerstyle tone (my primary thing) is also to die for. I forgot to mention that as well... I have two ash bodied 535's... one is my older one, which is a regular heavier ash body with a maple burl top, maple neck, ebony board. That bass has a bit more aggression and bite. It has a bit more going on in the upper mids, some of which is probably what Mike is talking about.I can't thank you enough! thanks, thanks, thanks!
I just want to make sure that I made the 100% right choice. I'm into slapping but also like playing Reggae. Michael Tobias told me that the Northern Ash has a "spike" in the mid-range vs. the Swamp Ash that has a "cut" in the mid-range.
Is your bass versatile? Is it good for slapping?
thanks again!
On my latest one, it doesn't have the extra upper mid thing going on, but it has more going on in the lower mids. Admittedly, there's lots different between these two basses... not just the body wood, so FWIW anyway.
I've told this story before, but will give you the short version here... I was shopping for a wenge/wenge neck'd bass because I love the look and feel of that neck. However, those necks have a little bit of a choke in a place that just doesn't do well for my personal tastes. That's when Mike recommended the ash/maple neck for me instead. At the time, I was actually pretty ignorant to the whole ash neck thing, even tho other luthiers have been doing it... it was really foreign to me as an idea. But... I took the leap of faith on Mike's words "all the punch of wenge but without the choke", and it worked out great for me. The lower weight, under 8.5 pounds in my case, is also a really nice bonus for me and my lower back issues (mine is one of the very few lightweight ash bodied USA MTDs out there, because very few pieces of light ash meet Mikes tonal preferences for ash). Most of his ash bodied basses will be 9-10 pounds.
Bottom line... trust Mike... if you tell him the kind of music you wanna' play, and the kind of sound you want, he knows how to make that happen.
Hey ASM, I actually have the exact (well almost exactly) the same wood combo Vic does. Mine's Swamp Ash body with a Claro Walnut top and Ash neck and Maple board.
I can agree with what Vic says about the way this wood combo sounds. About the North Ash vs. Swamp Ash regarding the mids... I can't really tell if there's necessarily a "cut" in the mid-range, but it sounds very good live and it has no problem cutting in the band setting and I don't really need to mess with mids much at all.
I would consider the bass to be very versatile depending on how I blend the pickups and EQ the controls. And if you're definition of "good for slapping" is that you want it to have that MTD zingy-ness, then yea... it's good for slapping.
I think people associate that sweet MTD slap thing to the basses with the Wenge/Wenge neck, but I think this wood combo is a great compromise, if you can even consider it to be a compromise cuz it just sounds so good to me. I've also heard several members mentioning majoring "compressing" when strings begin dying on the Wenge/Wenge combo, and I don't really notice this on a very drastic level with my bass.
I can agree with what Vic says about the way this wood combo sounds. About the North Ash vs. Swamp Ash regarding the mids... I can't really tell if there's necessarily a "cut" in the mid-range, but it sounds very good live and it has no problem cutting in the band setting and I don't really need to mess with mids much at all.
I would consider the bass to be very versatile depending on how I blend the pickups and EQ the controls. And if you're definition of "good for slapping" is that you want it to have that MTD zingy-ness, then yea... it's good for slapping
.I think people associate that sweet MTD slap thing to the basses with the Wenge/Wenge neck, but I think this wood combo is a great compromise, if you can even consider it to be a compromise cuz it just sounds so good to me. I've also heard several members mentioning majoring "compressing" when strings begin dying on the Wenge/Wenge combo, and I don't really notice this on a very drastic level with my bass.
Hey ASM, I actually have the exact (well almost exactly) the same wood combo Vic does. Mine's Swamp Ash body with a Claro Walnut top and Ash neck and Maple board.
I can agree with what Vic says about the way this wood combo sounds. About the North Ash vs. Swamp Ash regarding the mids... I can't really tell if there's necessarily a "cut" in the mid-range, but it sounds very good live and it has no problem cutting in the band setting and I don't really need to mess with mids much at all.
I would consider the bass to be very versatile depending on how I blend the pickups and EQ the controls. And if you're definition of "good for slapping" is that you want it to have that MTD zingy-ness, then yea... it's good for slapping
I think people associate that sweet MTD slap thing to the basses with the Wenge/Wenge neck, but I think this wood combo is a great compromise, if you can even consider it to be a compromise cuz it just sounds so good to me. I've also heard several members mentioning majoring "compressing" when strings begin dying on the Wenge/Wenge combo, and I don't really notice this on a very drastic level with my bass.
Thank you for your feedback. I can't tell you how excited I am about this bass! I currently own a Tobias "Standard" 5-Sting and a Fender fretless 4. Bass is my primary instrument and I thought it was time for a second Tobias/MTD. Thanks again for your feedback.
ASM, are you ordering it through a dealer? You are a few miles from NJ Guitar and Bass Center. I assume you've been there. That's the closest store to Central Jersey that carries MTDs; I was able to try out two there.
Yes, wenge/wenge, ash body. Very comfortable to play and after spending time playing with the EQ I'm even more pleased.
Not sure yet! NJ Guitar and Bass Center is a pain in the a$$ for two reasons: 1 Limited selection. 2. Their store hours are awful! It feels like they're never open & I got sick of trying to keep up with their schedule. I may go through Bass Central.
I actually bought an Eddie Van Halen MusicMan guitar at NJG&BC a while back.
You're right about the store hours. However, they were really courteous when I went in the shop and had no problem letting me try out all the gear I wanted. Have you seen the two MTDs there? The spalted maple topped bass is my favorite one in the store. Man is that a sweet bass.
Is it still available. I think that is the one that my buddy Jerome picked up. TBer Alphaman. As always I could be wrong
Ok...I've been trying to read through this thread for a while now and I keep getting behind... I did get an Bloodwood/Ash/ Maple/ B.E. Maple 635 the 1st week of February. The bass is killer! I am happy to report this now! I must say there were some growing pains! The first 6 weeks I had it, I had some trouble working out my sound so I was sorta dismayed, especially when I got into bed at night not satisfied with what I had heard, thinking how much lighter my wallet felt. I talked to Cory about this a couple of times and was on the verge of getting rid of the bass. I kept working with it and got something else to hear it through besides my Ampeg SVT4Pro/ Ampeg PR410 cab setup. I was able to hear so much more after I went to an Epi 410 with Eden WT550. The differences were unexplainable! It was like night and day! With the Ampeg setup, it seemed that the low and high frequencies were just cut out. I didn't get the sound improvement I was looking for with the Ampeg rig. Just based on what I'd heard and was reading about the MTD USA's on the boards daily, I knew there had to be some other weak link in my setup. I have since gone to playing the Berg HS210's with either the Eden WT550 head or a GB Shuttle 12 Max. This just goes to prove that if you get a really nice piece of gear like this MTD 635, you have to examine the rest of your gear because some other piece of equipment can hamper your experience. Everything works together as a package to give you "the sound."
I know MTDs have some of the best B strings on the market, but do any of you guys string your 535s E-C?
Count me and Jason (TB:Vision) in on this. Something about the nature of the wenge/wenge neck combo seems to accentuate string death somehow.
Jerome (Alphaman) can.
That MTD thru an Eden 550 with either a Berg or Epifani would sound great (IMO). Not to bash the ampeg stuff, but the clarity/definition of the bergs and epifanis brings out the best of a bass like that.
+1 The deep bass and '8k+ sizzle' that are the hallmarks of a wenge/wenge MTD are also the first areas to 'die' when a string starts to age.
However, IMO, better to 'have and lose' than 'never have'
+1 to the post above, if you have enough cash and the will to keep relatively new strings (especially the MTD steel roundwounds) on a wenge neck MTD, that's where most of the 'MTD ooohs and aaahs' come from (i.e., that's the classic MTD tone to my ear).
