That bass was at Bass San Diego, and they said the body was made from a grafted trunk. I saw it up close, and it sure looked like that might be the case.
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The Official MTD USA Thread
- Thread starter johnpaulbass
- Start date
That bass was at Bass San Diego, and they said the body was made from a grafted trunk. I saw it up close, and it sure looked like that might be the case.
Hey guys, I'm GAS-ing a bit for an MTD (constantly really), so this thread is nice to browse. However, there are not enough pics of neck-through MTD basses;
so bring 'em on!
so bring 'em on!
Hey Guys,
It's a slow and relaxing weekend and I finally got the time to really sit and play with my 635-24... But something about the tone was not hitting me. It just didn't have that bumpin' poppin' powerful MTD tone that I've heard and loved. I decided to pop open the back cover to see where the trim pot was set and saw it was at 0 (10 o'clock). I decided to increase it big time and wow! Now it feels like the bass is really putting out.
Has anyone else done this, and where do you have yours set? Mine is at 6 o'clock... I believe max is about 8???
It's a slow and relaxing weekend and I finally got the time to really sit and play with my 635-24... But something about the tone was not hitting me. It just didn't have that bumpin' poppin' powerful MTD tone that I've heard and loved. I decided to pop open the back cover to see where the trim pot was set and saw it was at 0 (10 o'clock). I decided to increase it big time and wow! Now it feels like the bass is really putting out.
Has anyone else done this, and where do you have yours set? Mine is at 6 o'clock... I believe max is about 8???
This has been discussed a lot in the past, including by me. On all the MTD's I've ever owned, I've always cranked that to around 50%. IMHO it does more than just raise the output level, it seems to bring out the "rest of the sound" as well... and it doesn't seem much louder than the rest of my stuff either, so it's not like it imbalances my basses for switching between sets. I highly recommend this.
IMHO/IME.
Take the elex cover off the back. There's a little tiny trim pot in there. It's the only one. You'll find it turned all the way counterclockwise against the stop. Try setting it about midway between that stop and the clockwise stop and see what you think.
I figured it's been discussed before, how could it not be... But the search function wouldn't return anything on "trim pot"... And I agree Vic, by me saying the bass is really "putting out" I mean the same thing as when you say "the rest of the sound."
Btw, I took the bass to a rehearsal tonight in one of my bands that I was sure the bass wouldn't work for - Reggae/Funk/Latin/World/Soul type sound.... Boy was I wrong. I think I'm really starting to bond with this thing.
- Jun 24, 2006
- 2,560
- 90
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: MTD basses and strings; Bergantino Amps & Cabs
They are habit forming...and they ALL sound and feel slightly different. Mike makes them completely by feel.
They are like a stripped down Lemans Prototype...nothing is there for looks only - it is all about the great and totally unique MTD sound. They are balanced, light and beautiful works of sonic art.
Here here.
and there there.
Yeah, hope I don't sound pretentious, but I also never get tired of looking at either one of my current 535's. I've been through several at this point, but these two are definitely long term, maybe "forever" keepers... especially with the more personal friendship I've developed over the years and at NAMM shows with Mike at this point.
What I personally find so amazingly cool over the course of my bass playing life is, I still remember back when the Burbank basses were new, and I revered those and the Alembics as the "holy grails", the "unreachable stars" of basses. I never in my wildest dreams imagined I'd ever be able to own one... let alone become personal friends with the wizard behind the magic.
If it's also not over the top for me to say, the two I have now are particularly special, as well, even amongst MTD USA basses. One has a top that is unlike anything else in that wood type that Mike's ever built, and it's one of only three made from the billet, and the other two went to personal friends of Mike's (never officially hit the market). The other one is a custom build, and while lots of people have ordered custom builds from Mike, this one was done with I think a lot more coordination than typically happens on those... we worked pretty closely on it, and he got it 100.00000% perfect.
I'm both proud and privileged to have what I have now. I think about that every time I look at either of these instruments, and at least one is out in my bass rack all the time, so that's fairly often.
Anyway. My .02
I think they are ALL special...I have never played one that wasn't astonishing...
About halfway, and if you are fortunate enough to own more than one
, balance them using a good VU meter.I figured it's been discussed before, how could it not be... But the search function wouldn't return anything on "trim pot"... And I agree Vic, by me saying the bass is really "putting out" I mean the same thing as when you say "the rest of the sound."
Btw, I took the bass to a rehearsal tonight in one of my bands that I was sure the bass wouldn't work for - Reggae/Funk/Latin/World/Soul type sound.... Boy was I wrong. I think I'm really starting to bond with this thing.
I can't think of any more perfect music for that bass...in fact, I can't think of any music you can't play with it. In addition to all of the other stuff people have mentioned, they are versatile as well...adjust with eq, the balance control, and your fingers/brain for best effect.
Vic, could you show us pics of your three again? Too bad there's no 'picture gallery' function in this bass place, where we could just look it up in your profile...maybe if the mods are listening, they could suggest that.
Cheers,
Cameron
Why thank you!
Actually, I only have two now. I had an ash/maple-burl maple/ebony one for a while, but after I got the ash/walnut ash/maple one (posted just above here), I ended up letting that one go... even though it was absolutely DANGEROUS. Loved that bass... my first 535 ever. The other one I have is my Marilyn (#8). The walnut one above is just SO much the MTD in my head, as much as I absolutely love looking at all the pics posted and whatnot, I literally have no MTD GAS whatsoever.
Here's some original pics... their kinda' flash burned, but the glare helps show the angular flaming in the blistered ebony board. Shame you can't see it better in most lighting, it's a really particularly rare piece of wood, just like the top is.
Here's an "ok" pic of after I put the knobs on... knobs are made of the same wood layers as the body (done after the fact by Pete Skjold):
I REALLY need to shoot some new pics of this one. I should also point out that there is NO stain on that water cured redwood... that rainbow of colors is all due to the mineral deposts, and it's very iridescent in certain light.
Thank you !
I'm very proud of them all..
I once sold the Tobias but i bought it back. Its such an amazing instrument. The playability and sound was beyond a Fodera, was beyond a pre-gibson basic neck through, beyond a pre-gibson signature neck through. Really awesome.
The body was made by Mike as a try-out, Gibson put in 5-piece neck and its lousy electronics, it has 3 diffrent serial numbers by the way ! Marleaux put in programmable electronics and now this beast is the best, comfortable, fastest and most versatile 4 string i ever owned.
The Eclipse is strung E to C at the moment and do i need to say that my MTD's low B is a speaker killer ? Guess you all know.. Mike rules !!
I'm very proud of them all..
I once sold the Tobias but i bought it back. Its such an amazing instrument. The playability and sound was beyond a Fodera, was beyond a pre-gibson basic neck through, beyond a pre-gibson signature neck through. Really awesome.
The body was made by Mike as a try-out, Gibson put in 5-piece neck and its lousy electronics, it has 3 diffrent serial numbers by the way ! Marleaux put in programmable electronics and now this beast is the best, comfortable, fastest and most versatile 4 string i ever owned.
The Eclipse is strung E to C at the moment and do i need to say that my MTD's low B is a speaker killer ? Guess you all know.. Mike rules !!
Does anyone here have photos of the MTD booth from Anaheim 1999 NAMM? Would be greatly appreciated! MT's harddrive crashed a few years ago so he lost all the digital photos of that show. I am looking for a photo of a particular bass. Many thanks guys!
- Jun 24, 2006
- 2,560
- 90
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: MTD basses and strings; Bergantino Amps & Cabs
I've taken to perusing the Wishbass threads after reading this one just to try to get rid of the GAS attacks this induces...
Cheers,
Cameron
Cheers,
Cameron
I received my ash/walnut/ash/maple bass from Mike a couple of weeks ago and just put it through its paces: two nights of club gigs (in two separate rooms) and a studio session today. I love this wood combination! It's not as much of a slap monster as my ash/maple/wenge combo (which is probably still my favourite combo of the two, though not by much) but is, nonetheless, absolutely gorgeous sonically. On stage the bass was consistently punchy and full-sounding with less of a compressed tone than the wenge combo (this was just as Mike said it would be). While the bass is an absolute joy to play in a club setting, what really blew me away was the sound of the bass in the studio. I'd originally planned on using my Sadowsky on some of the tracks to be recorded. Well, the Sadowsky (bless it's heart) never even left the case! I'm too tired to go into any details right now (time for bed...) but man, that 535 helped the tracks sound that much better. There really was no need to use anything else.
- Jun 24, 2006
- 2,560
- 90
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: MTD basses and strings; Bergantino Amps & Cabs
