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The Official MTD USA Thread

#7,961
LeonD said:
I haven't heard of this before. My MTD has a three way toggle switch but yours sounds different.

Is it internal or external? And does it control more than just the frequency of the mids?

Thanks.
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It is not widely known. In fact I have had my bass for over a year and this is the first time the topic has come up and therefore I have never discussed it. I will take a photo. I would not be optimistic about him doing this for you. I know he is concerned that if placed in the wrong hands, the bass could be adjusted to the point where it could sound awful and the next thing we would read on Talkbass is that MTD AG's sound like crap. I believe he is putting this second control in other basses, but it won't be adjustable like mine. Now I kind of wish I hadn't said anything, he may get an onslaught of emails and calls about this. Darn it. By the way, its internal. It just covers the sweep of the mids. Narrow and focused or wide, more open. God I hope Mike doesn't get pissed with me. Mike will not put a purple heart fingerboard on any other bass. I asked him before I ordered my AG and he flatly refused to do so. It may have something to do with his relationship with Gouche, and this being an exclusive feature of his Signature bass. My bass also has a three way toggle switch. From outward appearances, mine looks like any other MTD, but after many prototypes, he and Gouche had a meeting of the minds, and made changes that are exclusive to AG's. It is not a one trick pony as some would think. It can sound very traditional, almost Fenderish, or can very modern. It is very warm, I attribute that to the Alder body. And my tone is nothing like Gouche's, far more vintage.
 
#7,962
Brams77 said:
I think you better mail Mike about this, I can imagine it Being a combo specially for this artist bass, on the other hand I don't see any reason why he wouldn't use the fb if it was a custom order... But then again we are just speculating, It's better to get in touch with the maker of these basses if It's something you would like.
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I tried the custom order route and tried to order the Purple Heart, and he said "No." This is my 4th American MTD, and though we have a long history, he turned me down without a second of hesitation.
 
#7,963
Thanks, Virgil, for all the insight. That's all good to know. I honestly thought that the AG was pretty much just like any other MTD but all the points you mentioned make sense. Interesting that AG himself didn't mention half these things in the video I saw where he presents his signature model (then again, he seemed to have trouble remembering what the woods were!). And I doubt Mike T would mind you mentioning the details you have. If anything, I think more people would order the signature model if they were aware of the differences.
 
#7,964
Virgil said:
Hey guys. I have an AG. And there are additional differences than what has been mentioned here. First of all, the body of the AG is not the same size as a MTD 435/535/635. Second, the pickups are placed differently, Third, the Purple Heart fingerboard is only available on the AG. However, the biggest difference is the preamp. Which as I read the comments above, I realized that some of you have said that the bass lacks mids...nothing further from the truth. The preamp has an adjustment , just for the mids. You can adjust to what ever you want. You can make it more narrow or open. When I bought mine, Mike adjusted it while I played until I said what I liked. So you can't hear an AG and say it doesn't have mids. It may not be to your liking, but it is to the liking of its owner. I don't know whether Mike is going to make this available for other models, but mine sure has it. Finally, clips do not come close to the actual tone that comes from this bass. I wish we had a GTG so I could let you hear and play it for yourself. I know a bunch of bassist who said that they did not like MTD's. After they heard mine, they were blown away. Keep an open mind guys.
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That's good to know! Perhaps you could put up a decent sound example? I have had three MTDs in the past and there's fourth on it's way to my house, so I know and love MTDs. It's just the poor sound clips in internet that didn't make me love the AG. BTW, what's the difference between the US and the Kingston AG? Except the hardware?
 
#7,965
The big difference IMO is the neck. My Ag's neck is perfect. The treble side is thinner all of the way to the body. The Kingston neck is bulkier. The bridges are totally different and tuners as well as the headstock and preamp. So they are totally different. I tried to save myself a few thousand dollars and tried one out, and the Kingston just didn't do it for me. I met John Legends bassist, who tours with a Kingston, and likes it very much. but he records with an American. If I have time after work I will take pictures and post them. As for clips, I don't know how to do that. :-) I have a recording from a gig two weeks ago that will illustrate the tonal variations that's available with the AG. Personally, I hate Gouche's clip. Had I not been at Mike's shop when he was about to ship one out, and he let me play it, I don't know whether I would have bought one. I am going to suggest to him that he add clips to his website.
 
#7,966
Virgil said:
I tried the custom order route and tried to order the Purple Heart, and he said "No." This is my 4th American MTD, and though we have a long history, he turned me down without a second of hesitation.
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Ok... On the other hand he's not even half as bad as Ken Smith who is far more regid in wood combo's... He prolly intens on milking the ag cow for a while then...:smug: I don't blame him, in his shoes It's prolly understandable right...
 
#7,967
Brams77 said:
Ok... On the other hand he's not even half as bad as Ken Smith who is far more regid in wood combo's... He prolly intens on milking the ag cow for a while then...:smug: I don't blame him, in his shoes It's prolly understandable right...
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Sure. It makes sense that the AG model has some features (e.g. fingerboard wood) that are peculiar to that bass alone. As for Mike milking the AG cow, I don't think he makes that many of them.
 
#7,968
Virgil said:
The big difference IMO is the neck. My Ag's neck is perfect. The treble side is thinner all of the way to the body. The Kingston neck is bulkier. The bridges are totally different and tuners as well as the headstock and preamp. So they are totally different. I tried to save myself a few thousand dollars and tried one out, and the Kingston just didn't do it for me. I met John Legends bassist, who tours with a Kingston, and likes it very much. but he records with an American. If I have time after work I will take pictures and post them. As for clips, I don't know how to do that. :-) I have a recording from a gig two weeks ago that will illustrate the tonal variations that's available with the AG. Personally, I hate Gouche's clip. Had I not been at Mike's shop when he was about to ship one out, and he let me play it, I don't know whether I would have bought one. I am going to suggest to him that he add clips to his website.
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Thanks Virgil, very informative post from you! :) Would you just upload the part you recorded?
 
#7,969
Virgil said:
I am going to suggest to him that he add clips to his website.
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That's a good idea. It's funny that many of the details you mentioned, Virgil, aren't even described in the list of specs for the AG on the MTD website. Mike could definitely make more of a point of featuring that bass on the site (as it stands it's no wonder most people think the main difference is the colour! ;)).
 
#7,971
As I've said previously, I had the opportunity to play Virgil's AG for a number of hours. It has one of the best necks I've ever played. And I agree with Virgil, sonically it can go from a sizzle to a dark bark. It is just an absolutely awesome instrument...a real work of art. As a matter of fact I dug it so much I just put a deposit on one. :hyper: :bassist: :hyper:
 
#7,974
Neil said:
As I've said previously, I had the opportunity to play Virgil's AG for a number of hours. It has one of the best necks I've ever played. And I agree with Virgil, sonically it can go from a sizzle to a dark bark. It is just an absolutely awesome instrument...a real work of art. As a matter of fact I dug it so much I just put a deposit on one. :hyper: :bassist: :hyper:
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I'm in Europe there arnt Many around at all, but funny thing is like two small villages away someone has a small shop and actually has a brand new mtd ag... But the price.... Once they are here they get pretty much in fodera territory price wise, for the price It's even better to buy from a store in the US and ship it over or order direct from Mike.
 

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