I wonder how a Mike Pope preamp would sound in my MTD, especially compared to the Bartolini.
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The Official MTD USA Thread
- Thread starter johnpaulbass
- Start date
I’ve owned and gigged a handful of Mike’s Tobias 5’s. Towards the end of gigging those, I replaced the TCT preamp with the Pope, and felt it was much more open, uncompressed, potent, and transparent; such that it really brought out the character of each bass. My 6 string Nashville era Classic still carries the Pope with Nordstrand Zen Blade prototypes, and is my favorite all time 6.
Based on all that, the 534 Mike recently built for me has the Pope. I went maybe a bridge too far trying to use the Pope with the Nordstrand Fat Stacks. In single coil mode, that instrument is simply killer. But, I haven’t been able to figure out any wiring scheme, using either Carey’s schematic or Mike Pope’s coil tap, which produces a satisfying humcancelling performance.
So, unfortunately, Mike T has probably been less than impressed with what the Pope does. But, actually, I’m still not sure the problem is in the Pope.
In any case, my 534 sounds the biz in single coil mode; and I would definitely recommend that rig to anyone who wants something other than the Bartolini thing.
The Bart thing, IME, lends itself to a more specific and tame studio vibe. No doubt there are players who dig it for that aspect. It was always a little too compressed and non-dynamic for my needs. YMMV.
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I'm assuming the body is ash rather than the neck (I don't think Mike likes pairing ash necks with ebony boards)? I've never played an ebony-boarded MTD but it's something I've been curious about.
I would assume you are correct. Mike does not make an ash neck with an ebony board. I am assuming the neck is maple with an ebony board
The maple neck with ebony board is going to be brighter than the ash neck with BEM board. The ash/BEM is slightly more compressed sounding. Basically just different flavors of good.
"In theory" should be added to the above descriptions. When it comes to wood combos you can never be too sure about how a bass will actually sound until you hear it.The maple neck with ebony board is going to be brighter than the ash neck with BEM board. The ash/BEM is slightly more compressed sounding. Basically just different flavors of good.
I think Mike said the ash/birdseye neck should sound similar to an all wedge neck, because wedge was becoming scarce.
Aww... This probably means wenge may appear on CITES' protected list in the coming years.
As of now wenge is not listed on any of the CITES protected species lists that I can find. Here is one:
Checklist of CITES species.
However, wenge is consider to be an endangered species bu the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which is an international scientific advisory and advocacy group. ICUN provides advice to CITES and other entities, but they don’t have any rule-making authority.
Checklist of CITES species.
However, wenge is consider to be an endangered species bu the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which is an international scientific advisory and advocacy group. ICUN provides advice to CITES and other entities, but they don’t have any rule-making authority.
Perhaps. Mike is, of course an excellent source of info.
My 534 is Northern Ash / roasted BEM. I would call the roasted BEM tight but somewhat open. I would call the wenge necks I’ve played tight and compressed. I vastly prefer the roasted BEM; which is why both of my builds over the last few years have it. Great neck.
I've personally never felt that an ash/maple neck sounded like wenge. They both sound throaty, but I always felt that the ash/maple had less solidity to the notes than the ever punchy, in your face wenge. YMMV.
My 534 is ash/maple/ebony and you'd be surprised how warm it can be. Again, it's bright, but at a different frequency point than maple such that I feel it accentuates the low mid and makes it seem warmer than a maple neck, but it has the bite when you need it. It fit my needs over a maple/maple neck that I felt kept getting lost in the mix and a ash/maple neck that needed my full attention to tame.
My 534 is ash/maple/ebony and you'd be surprised how warm it can be. Again, it's bright, but at a different frequency point than maple such that I feel it accentuates the low mid and makes it seem warmer than a maple neck, but it has the bite when you need it. It fit my needs over a maple/maple neck that I felt kept getting lost in the mix and a ash/maple neck that needed my full attention to tame.
I only had one MTD with an ash/maple neck but based on that experience I'd have to say I agree with your assessment. The ash/maple had a growl to it but the note fundamentals were not as strong as with the wenge-necked MTDs I've owned.
Well, it took seven weeks longer than I was told it would, but they're here and beautiful!
