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The Official MTD USA Thread

#5,981
SLaPiNFuNK said:
Yup... One of the neck bolts was just a little bit loose... Guys at the Bassexchange tightened it up and its all good now...

After dropping that many folding bills on something, I didn't exactly want to start adjusting stuff myself just yet...

So all is even better than before now... yay :D
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Good to hear that things worked out!

On a side note, I just went down to see Mike T. and pick up the 535 that he re-necked for me. The bass originally had an ash/maple neck, which I found to be a little more "grindy" sounding than what I was looking for. Mike installed a new maple/maple neck which smoothed the sound out quite a bit. I definitely like the sound of the bass better now (and the neck feels fantastic - a bit slimmer than the original neck), BUT (and this may come as a shock to Vic ;)) I'm beginning to realise that I'm much more of a "wenge guy" than I am a "maple guy" when it comes to fingerboards. In fact, I'm even leaning away from maple on non-MTDs as well. It's funny, because I always thought I was more into the snappiness of maple than the richness of, for example, rosewood but that's turning out to not be the case. Consequently, I may very well be putting my ash/walnut/maple/maple 535 up for sale in the very near future.
 
#5,982
SLaPiNFuNK said:
After dropping that many folding bills on something, I didn't exactly want to start adjusting stuff myself just yet...
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I can understand that, but seriously, they're not delicate. You should see me adjust a neck sometime when I'm removing relief (tightening the rod). I literally take my 535 and put the endpin on the carpet, brace it on my knee and pull the headstock back to bend the neck enough to beat string tension as I tighten the rod. IMHO it's by far the best way to tighten a rod, but it looks a bit scary even tho I'm just barely moving the neck. :)

I mean, don't go after any screws with a breaker bar, but really, don't be afraid to turn stuff. IMHO, EVERYBODY should do their own setups and such. :)
 
#5,983
Vic said:
I can understand that, but seriously, they're not delicate. You should see me adjust a neck sometime when I'm removing relief (tightening the rod). I literally take my 535 and put the endpin on the carpet, brace it on my knee and pull the headstock back to bend the neck enough to beat string tension as I tighten the rod. IMHO it's by far the best way to tighten a rod, but it looks a bit scary even tho I'm just barely moving the neck. :)

I mean, don't go after any screws with a breaker bar, but really, don't be afraid to turn stuff. IMHO, EVERYBODY should do their own setups and such. :)
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I hear ya... I have come to a point now though where I don't really bother making adjustments on my own like that, id rather take it to a "professional" who happens to be just down the street from me...

My upright bass, I can, but would never change the strings on my own.

My electric basses, I can, but wouldn't touch the truss rod. Ill tweek action and intonation, but thats about it.

Unless its my Jazz basses. I am known to loosen the strings, un-bolt the neck, and throw it in a suit case strings still on the pegs. Get to where ever, and bolt it back up / tighten the strings again. :hiding:
 
#5,984
SLaPiNFuNK said:
I hear ya... I have come to a point now though where I don't really bother making adjustments on my own like that, id rather take it to a "professional" who happens to be just down the street from me...

My upright bass, I can, but would never change the strings on my own.

My electric basses, I can, but wouldn't touch the truss rod. Ill tweek action and intonation, but thats about it.

Unless its my Jazz basses. I am known to loosen the strings, un-bolt the neck, and throw it in a suit case strings still on the pegs. Get to where ever, and bolt it back up / tighten the strings again. :hiding:
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Again, just MHO, but I think you're being WAY too paranoid. Agreed, upright is a whole different ballgame, but as long as you do them one at a time, you should be good. Especially if you take it in at least twice a year to have the bridge and soundpost checked/adjusted as needed (which I would not do... that IS an expert thing.)

However, electrics are like tinkertoys compared to that. Seriously... we should all do our own setups. I love to just tweak mine from time to time... keeps them all "perfect" (to me) all the time, for free, with no waiting, and no drive to a store, and no special tools required. Everybody, and I mean everybody, who plays one of my basses comments on how great they play... and trust me... I'm NO genius. ANYONE can do this. Just basic mechanical stuff... and IMHO fun to do.

Anyway, FWIW.
 
#5,986
SLaPiNFuNK said:
I completely effed up a pbass neck when I was a teenager stripping the truss rod. I guess if I had the proper sized allen wrenches I would adjust the truss rod on my own... probably about time I get one haha
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I said no special tools required... I never said no correct tools required... :)

Seriously tho... yeah, a set of decent keys is cheap these days... you should have a set. :)
 
#5,988
SLaPiNFuNK said:
I'm lazy... need to get off my butt and get a set.... I know no special tools needed, but correct tools is a must!

I once epoxied a frettless neck with marine epoxy... oops! Details!!
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Ok, maybe you should take it to the shop... assuming this isn't a one day joke thing. :)
 
#5,989
Haha.. I actuall know what I'm doing...

But that was early 90s before the resources of the interwebs and just heard jaco put epoxy on his fingerboard and me not knowing what kind to use...

I still do and have set up my basses many times before especially when I would play on the road, but these days its been easier and to take them to a shop.

If I didn't just buy this bass I would have checked out the bolts myself, but if there was a deeper problem, I would rather have the NEW bass checked out professionally and get it taken care of properly.
 
#5,992
FunkyFrosty said:
How would an Avador body/Wenge neck/Maple board sound on a 535???? Theres a used one close by for sale.

I think the 535's are great but dont want to get too hi-fi.........
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I think I know the bass you're talking about (the owner lives in Toronto). Unfortunately, I haven't tried the bass so I can't tell you for sure how it sounds. If the bass is close by I would simply make an appointment to try it out. Others (including Mike Tobias) can tell you how a given combination should, in theory, sound but that doesn't necessarily mean the bass in question will actually sound that way.
 
#5,994
bass12 said:
I think I know the bass you're talking about (the owner lives in Toronto). Unfortunately, I haven't tried the bass so I can't tell you for sure how it sounds. If the bass is close by I would simply make an appointment to try it out. Others (including Mike Tobias) can tell you how a given combination should, in theory, sound but that doesn't necessarily mean the bass in question will actually sound that way.
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Lots of soundclips Link Removed.
 
#6,000
Here's my latest addition LOVE this bass

Tulipwood body, Burl '10 top" with cherry sunburst, catalyzed satin finish, Wenge/Wenge neck, matching headstock and trussrod covers, illuminated dots
 

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