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The Official MTD USA Thread
- Thread starter johnpaulbass
- Start date
So, Mike has neck blanks tapered for either 17mm bridge spacing or 19 mm spacing. I actually was looking for 18mm spacing, like the MM SR5 / Ken Smith tapers. We arrived at 17.5mm because a) Mike’s neck blanks are slightly oversized so that he can carve them down; and b) HipShot makes a nice 17.5mm bridge. The result is close enough for my purposes. BTW, the neck is fab, as you might imagine.
Hi everyone, I'm about to order my first MTD and was hoping to get some opinions on wood options. I'm currently torn between either a Ash body with full Wenge neck or Ash with a Maple/Ebony neck.
Would love to hear if anyone has had experience with either or better yet, both!
Would love to hear if anyone has had experience with either or better yet, both!
how are you purchasing it? with mtd, probably the best thing to do is get word to mike about the sound you're looking for, let HIM give you some wood options and then you make aesthetic decisions from there.
100% correct. Nobody is better at translating tone goals to wood choices than Mike. Call him and ask!
Edit... make sure to also include your playing style, the type(s) of music you cover most, and also basses you've played in the past that you've liked the best.
i've had several MTDs over the years, and while they've all been incredible instruments, they've all also eventually found new homes. they've all been 535s, except most recently a USA Saratoga 5. this past NAMM show i picked up a new 635 from mike. ash body/neck, maple board, walnut top. i've been battling with 6 strings over the years, and am trying again. i'll still primarily be a 5 guy, and plan to spec a new bass with Mike this year (probably a 534.
but especially for worship music (not so much for the cover band) the 635 is mind blowingly good. it's mix-forward mids slice through anything, it's punch is super dynamic, and the b string tight and very focused. it takes a super low setup too. trying to develop a lighter touch these days too. i do find myself boosting the bass a little bit sometimes, but the clarity is just typical off-the-charts MTD. holy crap.
but especially for worship music (not so much for the cover band) the 635 is mind blowingly good. it's mix-forward mids slice through anything, it's punch is super dynamic, and the b string tight and very focused. it takes a super low setup too. trying to develop a lighter touch these days too. i do find myself boosting the bass a little bit sometimes, but the clarity is just typical off-the-charts MTD. holy crap.
I had a 635 and a 535 with those same specs, and it was amazing how different the two were. The 635 was sweet sounding, with a beautiful piano-like quality. The 535 was totally rude, sounding like a rusty chainsaw cutting thru a wedding cake. I bought them both at the same time, but ended up with the 635 as my #1 for many years. Kinda regret selling it, but I had my reasons at the time.
Of any 6 strings that I've ever played, the MTD's have always been the best playing; at least for me.
I don't think I've ever tried an ebony-boarded MTD but I've owned three ash/wenge 535s and one black limba/wenge 535s. All of the wenge-necked 535s I've owned have sounded different but one shared sonic characteristic was that they did all seem to have a bit of compression baked in.
- Oct 23, 2005
- 1,439
- 1,378
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: MTD Basses, Bartolini, Genzler Amplification, GHS, Tsunami Cables, Sonic Nuance
My first MTD had an ebony board on maple, and I didn't really care for its ultra high end, like above 8/10 kHz top end vibe - which is not to say I don't like those frequencies, but I wanted it to have that aggressive peak down lower where it would have more impact. Going with birdseye on maple did that for me, and going birdseye on ash got me all the way there (without sacrificing that ultra high end, just shifting the main area of treble brightness down lower).
strange, as i had a 535 with these same specs and it was awesome... tho the body was a particularly light piece of ash (custom spec'd) which added a really nice dynamic bloom. maybe that was the diff. still regret selling that bass, it was truly spectacular, but i was on a mission to make all my 5's 34" scale at the time... kinda' still am.
agreed. i've also owned usa peavey cirrus and alembic epic as legit runners up, but nothing touches a 635 IMHO.
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my first 535 was maple burl on ash body and maple neck with a black ebony board. that bass sounded and played incredible, but it had a particularly climate sensitive neck and i got tired of tweaking it all the time. you can ask tom (and mike fredricks, if you know him) about that bass. it killed at the first bowlus bass bash.
despite its mtd iconic stature, i've never been a fan of the wenge necks. at least for me, something strange about them with string life. when the strings were new, all was well, but as string tone aged, the tone fell off fast... almost like the wenge amplified the negatives of aging strings. i think a lot of it had to do with that compression you're talking about. i always felt like it was in the mids in a place that was sweet for slap (which i rarely do, and suck at), but fairly harsh for fingerstyle (my main thing) at least for my tonal prefs, the mid profile for that neck is just not my thing. i need maple (or ash, with an mtd).
I think you're right about wenge and dead strings as I've noticed a bit of the same thing. Having said that, I really do like the sonic character of the wenge in most circumstances that I've encountered - provided that my strings still have some life in them.
I think overall my favourite MTD has been my alder/maple top/maple neck/rosewood board 535. Punchy and tonally rich, great for fingers and slap, more "open" than my wenge 535s. I really didn't have any luck with my ash/ash/maple 535. While it sounded good recorded it disappeared a bit in a live mix and there was a real loss of presence when switching from fingers to slap (an issue I haven't had with any of my other MTDs).
i've also played that combo and totally loved it. yes, definitely more "open" and i'd say especially even across the spectrum. great and super versatile "evenly voiced" combo.
i think with the wenge, it's a bit mid forward in the low mids, but scooped in the high mids. i like the "lesser voiced" maple neck, and then get a mid boost from the ash body that i like.
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That's interesting. I actually was under the impression that maple would be more aggressive sounding than ebony.
I think you're right about wenge and dead strings as I've noticed a bit of the same thing. Having said that, I really do like the sonic character of the wenge in most circumstances that I've encountered - provided that my strings still have some life in them.
Would you say the issue with dead strings is very pronounced with the wenge neck?
- Oct 23, 2005
- 1,439
- 1,378
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: MTD Basses, Bartolini, Genzler Amplification, GHS, Tsunami Cables, Sonic Nuance
It is, in my experience or way of thinking about it, just lower in the frequency spectrum where it has more impact. More mid-treble grind, less super high air/sparkle.
Honestly, it's not something I ever thought about all that much. I think MTDs in general (at least the ones I've played) sound more "right" with non-dead strings. I certainly wouldn't let the above comments put you off wenge. But it depends what kind of sound you are looking for. I used to keep one of my 535s with dead strings on it specifically for reggae. In that context the dead strings worked fine but I wouldn't have used that bass for my other gigs (where I like to have a more snappy sound). And, of course, two basses with exactly the same specs can end up sounding quite different from one another.
