The Official MTD USA Thread

[bass12]

Is it possible to get a MTD without the BF system at all ?

I’m pretty sure I remember coming across one or two of Mike’s basses that were built without the BF system.

When setting up my own basses I generally do so with the presets. But I’ve had my luthier set up some of my MTDs and only later found out that he was ignoring the BF presets. I didn’t notice any difference. Of course, that’s not to say there was no difference - but in a playing situation (at least for the kind of playing I do) it wasn’t an issue.

 

[bass12]

That's the way Mike intends his instruments to be used and he sure as hell knows more than I do.

Yes and no. Mike builds great basses but he is not a bassist himself.

 

[ThisYouCanTrust]

Never seen or heard of one existing, so I'd go with no.

I thought all the old ones were made without it ?

 

[bass12]

I thought all the old ones were made without it ?

Tobias basses had no BF and I think the first MTDs were without it as well now that I think about it. @tombowlus would probably know.

 

[MMiller28]

I thought all the old ones were made without it ?

I didn't know that. My answer was mostly about getting a new one made without it.

 

[TolerancEJ]

@jebmd had posted the following in the Reverb Hot Deals thread. I thought this club would like to be aware of this availability. I have no affiliation with the listing or seller.

Not bad for a Gouche:

MTD USA Andrew Gouche 5 (USED)
MTD USA Andrew Gouche 5 (USED) | Mojo's Music | Reverb

 

[MMiller28]

There was an AG5 stolen in NYC recently, I can't remember his name to find the serial number. Japanese guy. It was all over Instagram.

 

[TolerancEJ]

There was an AG5 stolen in NYC recently, I can't remember his name to find the serial number. Japanese guy. It was all over Instagram.

Wow! Well the last picture in the ad shows the serial number quite clearly. If you know the owner, maybe alert them to check against their SN. It could be worth looking into.

 

[Acoustic356]

There was an AG5 stolen in NYC recently, I can't remember his name to find the serial number. Japanese guy. It was all over Instagram.

Wow! Well the last picture in the ad shows the serial number quite clearly. If you know the owner, maybe alert them to check against their SN. It could be worth looking into.

Not the same. The stolen one was SN 5. This is SN 7.

 

[bassgrackle]

Anyone install an active/passive preamp in their MTD themself. And if so what preamp did you go with?

 

[bucephylus]

Is it possible to get a MTD without the BF system at all ?

Sorry, somehow missed this Q.

Don’t know how much Mike himself is still building these days; but, he very definitely told me that he will build instruments without BF construction. You have to ask; and it is not his preference.

Couple other points, from my perspective.

First, the BF tuner ONLY has to be used when you are intonating the instrument. Like when you change the type of strings you are using. For that purpose, you MUST have a BF tuner; otherwise you literally will go stark raving mad trying to discriminate cHz with a standard tuner. It is a one time thing for each kind of string set. After that initial setup, standard tuners are perfectly useful.

Second, the tempered tuning result does sound more pleasing when you are chording; but, I can not discriminate any difference playing supportive bass lines in ensemble.

Third, OTOH, I’m not doing studio work, where otherwise subtle tuning aspects are scrutinized. I CAN absolutely see a pro studio player preferring this setup. One less thing to worry about.

My takeaway is that BF introduces a bit of fuss to produce an advantage that is somewhat subtle. OTOH, it isn’t all that demanding to get a $125 tuner to support a $6k bass; and not all that complicated to use it.

Confession: I kind of freaked out when I first switched string sets on my bass and didn’t have the tuner. I’ve actually got pretty decent sense of pitch and immediately recognized the problem. Didn’t realize that I absolutely needed the additional tuner. After a not terribly expensive and quick delivery from Amazon, the setup was easy peasey. You just have to get your head and ears wrapped around it.

 

[bucephylus]

Anyone install an active/passive preamp in their MTD themself. And if so what preamp did you go with?

I’ve got the Pope preamp in my 534. It has a Passive switch; but, the tone controls drop out. So, that probably isn’t what you are looking for. It’s more of a fail safe back up. Works pretty well though....

 

[MMiller28]

Anyone install an active/passive preamp in their MTD themself. And if so what preamp did you go with?

What are you looking to switch up?

 

[bassgrackle]

What are you looking to switch up?

I have a 535 that won’t work with any octave effects. I want to tone down the preamp to something more traditional.

 

[MMiller28]

I have a 535 that won’t work with any octave effects. I want to tone down the preamp to something more traditional.

Signal too hot or another reason? You can adjust the output in the cavity, but I'm guessing you know that.

 

[bassgrackle]

Signal too hot or another reason? You can adjust the output in the cavity, but I'm guessing you know that.

I turned it all down. It’s more of the overtones from the super HiFi preamp I think.

 

[MMiller28]

I turned it all down. It’s more of the overtones from the super HiFi preamp I think.

Gotcha.

How did your fingerboard problem work out? Mine actually started doing the same thing and Mike had to walk me through what he did to yours.

 

[soong]

How hard would it be to swap out the pre for something like a Mike Pope with a passive tone roll off? Would that help you achieve the sound you’re after?

 

[bassgrackle]

Gotcha.

How did your fingerboard problem work out? Mine actually started doing the same thing and Mike had to walk me through what he did to yours.

Fretboard turned out great. Such a silly issue in retrospect.

 

[bassgrackle]

How hard would it be to swap out the pre for something like a Mike Pope with a passive tone roll off? Would that help you achieve the sound you’re after?

wouldn’t be too hard if your good with a soldering iron. And even easier if the preamp is pre wired. Which is what I would prefer.