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The Official MTD USA Thread

#7,801
Congrats! We will need pics of that AG-4 and the 535 Redwood/Wenge ASAP please:bassist:

My 534 continues to sound pretty darn well on anything I've been lucky enough to play lately. From a Hawaiian/Hula to Hip-Hop to Reggae and last Saturday's jazz (Standards) session...this thing flat out kills! WAY more versatile than i had ever imagined. It's been 5 months of total bliss since it arrived back in December...dare I say GAS free, although i'd love a 534/24 Makore Body, Flame Maple Top w/Rosewood FB one day...just sayin:p
 
#7,802
Ugh...this is awful...I'm stuck at work until 7:30pm (home by 8:15pm)

And THIS just arrived---- ImageUploadedByTalkBass1369236986.609869.jpg
 
#7,807
#7,813
First impressions after about an hour of playing my "new to me" MTD 535-24 through a nice headphone amp and acoustically...

A) The preamp is DIVERSE...going to take some time to learn how to get the most out of it...any suggestions would be welcome from the more seasoned owners

B)The acoustic sound is sheer bliss...I've never heard/felt anything resonate and sustain like this bass

And it FITS me so well...access to the upper area on the fingerboard is EASY and it sits on me so nice and balanced

C)The construction is flawless...the wood is mesmerizing (front as well as back)

Gotta crash now...more info as time allows

My first free day will be Friday!!!
 
#7,814
CTC564 said:
A) The preamp is DIVERSE...going to take some time to learn how to get the most out of it...any suggestions would be welcome from the more seasoned owners
Click to expand...

For me, I find the preamp voicing starts with the trim pot in the cavity. With my previous MTD's, I had the trim up quite a bit and was getting that "modern", MTD tone. With my current MTD, I have the need to fit into a couple of different, diverse band settings so I needed something a little more vintage.

I turned the trim pot down and found this accomplished a couple of things.

First, the range of the eq became much more useable. Before with the trim up, anything more than 50% on any of the eq's was unusable for me. Now, the entire range of the eq knobs is good.

Second, I am now able to get a much more vintage type sound from the bass. I can still get the modern MTD tone back with a couple of eq settings but the bass can give me much more than that.

Regarding specific settings, on a gig, I'll have the volume all the way up (I control volume with a pedal, post effects), pickup pan 50% to the bridge pickup, bass cut 40%, mid boosted 40% with the switch in the middle position and the treble flat. This gives me a nice low mid tone that plays well with the other instruments but can still be heard. If I need a little more low end for a particular song, I'll either pan the pickups towards the neck pick up or boost the bass eq a bit. They both give me more low end but in slightly different ways.

All the above is IMO and enjoy your new bass. It's a beauty.
 
#7,820
Here's a photo a friend took with his iPhone at my last gig. Pretty typical restaurant/bar gig except for the fact that there's way more space than we usually get.

This 434 kills it in settings like this with it's tight low end. Some of my other basses have a hard time being heard. Not this one.


giggingmtd_zps0ae08543.jpg
 

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