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The Official MTD USA Thread

#7,422
Hello,

Since I'm very close to buying my first MTD 535, here are some newbie questions. I have done some searches, but I didn't find real answers.

I once had the opportunity to play a 535, and it was a great bass. One thing that puzzled me though, was the fact that the preamp can do such extreme boosting, wich has a big impact on the overall gain. Plus it makes it harder to dial in subtle boosts or cuts, since a little nudge has a big effect. How do you guys deal with that in a live situation?

Second question: Since the scale is 35", I assume you can use lighter gauge strings to get the same kind of tension as on a 34". Am I right?

Last question: could anyone describe the difference between having 21 or 24 frets with respect to the sound? I can imagine especially slapping might sound different.

Thanks!
 
#7,423
BobaMosfett said:
Hello,

Since I'm very close to buying my first MTD 535, here are some newbie questions. I have done some searches, but I didn't find real answers.

I once had the opportunity to play a 535, and it was a great bass. One thing that puzzled me though, was the fact that the preamp can do such extreme boosting, wich has a big impact on the overall gain. Plus it makes it harder to dial in subtle boosts or cuts, since a little nudge has a big effect. How do you guys deal with that in a live situation?

Second question: Since the scale is 35", I assume you can use lighter gauge strings to get the same kind of tension as on a 34". Am I right?

Last question: could anyone describe the difference between having 21 or 24 frets with respect to the sound? I can imagine especially slapping might sound different.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hi there,

1st question: Don't have much experience playing live lately. Let other more experience TB members respond to this :)

2nd question: With lighter gauge, you can get lighter tension, but not sure if you can get it up to a 34" scale territory. If you like 34", you may want to custom order a 534 (no extra charge)

3rd question: Yes, there will be a different but mostly due to your slapping hand placement.
 
#7,424
BobaMosfett said:
One thing that puzzled me though, was the fact that the preamp can do such extreme boosting, wich has a big impact on the overall gain. Plus it makes it harder to dial in subtle boosts or cuts, since a little nudge has a big effect. How do you guys deal with that in a live situation?
Click to expand...
metallutca did a good job on questions 2 and 3, so I'll just pick this one up, as I've played mine live a bunch as well as in an "all in-ear" (Aviom-equipped) setup.

Yeah, you do have a lot of range with those controls, and if you boost stuff without cutting other stuff (or cut stuff without boosting other stuff), your overall gain will change. You can compensate for this somewhat with the volume control, but in my case, since I love the native tone/voice of the instrument as it is, I rarely have to use much EQ, so for me, it's not been an issue at all.

This gets to the second part of your question... if you don't need that much range, how do you deal with it? Well, I never really found it difficult at all, honestly. I just learned how to bump the controls a little in one direction or the other with no trouble at all. The fact that I never turn the knobs more than maybe 20% of their range has simply not been a matter of getting used to it, and it was easy.

The only control I've done more than that with is the treble, because these basses have SO much clarity and crispness up top, it's a very usable tone to cut it literally all the way, and consider the detent (centerpoint) to be a "max" setting. At least IMHO. Also, when strongly favoring or solo'ing the bridge pickup, I do bump the low mids or maybe the bass (sometimes even both). But other than that, I just bump a little from time to time from "flat" to adjust for a room, and it's not been a problem.
 
#7,425
Vic said:
The only control I've done more than that with is the treble, because these basses have SO much clarity and crispness up top, it's a very usable tone to cut it literally all the way, and consider the detent (centerpoint) to be a "max" setting. At least IMHO. Also, when strongly favoring or solo'ing the bridge pickup, I do bump the low mids or maybe the bass (sometimes even both). But other than that, I just bump a little from time to time from "flat" to adjust for a room, and it's not been a problem.
Click to expand...

100% agree...I'm with you on this one.
 
#7,428
BobaMosfett said:
Hello,

Since I'm very close to buying my first MTD 535, here are some newbie questions. I have done some searches, but I didn't find real answers.

I once had the opportunity to play a 535, and it was a great bass. One thing that puzzled me though, was the fact that the preamp can do such extreme boosting, wich has a big impact on the overall gain. Plus it makes it harder to dial in subtle boosts or cuts, since a little nudge has a big effect. How do you guys deal with that in a live situation?

Second question: Since the scale is 35", I assume you can use lighter gauge strings to get the same kind of tension as on a 34". Am I right?

Last question: could anyone describe the difference between having 21 or 24 frets with respect to the sound? I can imagine especially slapping might sound different.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

535s have been my main giging basses for the past three years. My default EQ settings are treble and bass flat (centre detent) with the mids bossted around 20% Depending on the 535, when I'm slapping I might either boost the treble a touch or roll down the mids to flat while boosting the highs and lows a bit. If I'm playing standards or material from the 40s or 50s I'll probably roll off the highs 50% or more and for reggae I often boost the bass. But what Vic said is spot on and it honestly never occurred to me to roll down the volume a bit if things get too hot.

Regarding the tension, I haven' noticed any difference in string tension between my 535s and my 34-inch basses.

I prefer 21 fretters over 24 simply because for slapping I prefer the sound and feel of being able to slap up around the 21st fret (especially since I use medium guage strings and not lights).
 
#7,429
Thanks for your answers, very helpful!

I guess if in a particular situation you want to boost, for instance, the lows 100%, you can always dial back the volume. I'm looking forward to some experimenting...

Are there any recommendations for a balanced set of strings for a 535? On my 4-strings I really like sunbeams 100-45.

Thanks again!
 
#7,430
BobaMosfett said:
Are there any recommendations for a balanced set of strings for a 535? On my 4-strings I really like sunbeams 100-45.
Click to expand...
Honestly, give the stock MTD strings a good testing before you decide to move on. I still like those as well as any other brand I've tried on mine.
 
#7,431
BobaMosfett said:
Are there any recommendations for a balanced set of strings for a 535? On my 4-strings I really like sunbeams 100-45.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...

Do you mean truly "balanced" like Circle K or Thomastik-Infeld strings or just balanced sounding?

I've experimented with a few sets of strings on MTDs and I always come back to using MTD strings. I am not a big fan of stainless steel strings in general but I do like the MTD nickel strings a lot on my MTD>
 
#7,437
On Saturday I was playing a show with my corporate band and we had our favourite FOH sound guy on the gig. After sound check a bunch of us were gathered around talking about the acoustics of the room and Reggie (the FOH engineer) mentioned the bass. He said that the bass in the band was the easiest thing because all he has to do was move the faders up and the sound is always great (though he'll also add just a touch of compression). I always play my MTDs on my corporate gigs (unless we're doing a jazz cocktail set, in which case I tend to favour my Rob Allen). Of course, I loved hearing this - especially considering that one of my two main 535s was apparently sold by a previous owner because the sound guy at the church he played in couldn't handle the bass. :smug: :)
 
#7,439
Baird6869 said:
Folks,

What strings would you recommend on a MTD 535? Nickel or stainless steel?

Options are both light (40-120) Foderas.... But I am unsure if i should use nickel or stainless.

I play a huge range of music, so I am just looking for broad generalizations as to one is better/different based on your experiences.
Click to expand...

Wow...This is VERY subjective. Personally, I prefer nickel strings overall. I personally think they are more musical to my ears. Meaning that they have a more "bell like" tone. Stainless strings have more "in your face" sizzle and they tend to be sticky. But, some people prefer the tone and feel.

What do you use on your other basses or what have you used? What did you like or not like about them? What is the sound you are looking for?
 
#7,440
Baird6869 said:
Folks,

What strings would you recommend on a MTD 535? Nickel or stainless steel?

Options are both light (40-120) Foderas.... But I am unsure if i should use nickel or stainless.

I play a huge range of music, so I am just looking for broad generalizations as to one is better/different based on your experiences.
Click to expand...

These days I prefer stainless steel, but that's partly because I kill strings really quickly and the steels seem to last just a touch longer. I also enjoy the zing of stainless steel. Feel-wise I do prefer nickel though. So, if you want edge, steel, if you want mellow (well, mellower) go nickel.
 

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