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The Official MTD USA Thread

#12,581
iplay5strings said:
I've had to use TH heads as backline and wasn't super impressed with them, something with how they shape the mids just made everything too wooly for me...but that's personal preference not tech specs based YMMV
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Likewise. I think what I haven't liked about the Aguilars I've used in the past may be more a function of the cabs than the amps, but again I've never personally owned any Aguilar gear so I have not been able (or not bothered to) sort through why I didn't care for the tone.

Moving on, very excited about my own 434 build -- the spec is kind of unconventional:

- alder body
- box elder top
- ebony board
- transparent black stain
- 34" scale / 24 fret
- A-style brass bridge
- Gotoh tuners

I have a pic of the top but Safari won't let me post it here...
 
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#12,582
Here’s the top…
 

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#12,583
I've heard people refer to "wooliness" with the THs and I would love to know exactly what that refers to sonically. I can make a (probably reasonable) assumption but I have yet to encounter anything I would define as "wooly" coming from a TH 500. I do hear the TH 500 as being more "tube-like" than most of the class D amps I've played but they're still very clean sounding to my ear. Who knows - could be the amp-cabinet pairing, the bass-amp paring or (again) my ears.
 
#12,585
bass12 said:
That's nice. What kind of finish have you chosen? Edit: sorry, I just saw that you'd already mentioned the stain colour in your previous post.
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Thanks! Yeah the stain made it a tough call — a lot of the tops I looked at were so nice I felt like it’d be a crime to over it up at all, but both Mike and Daniel thought this would take a trans black really well. They have some great inventory right now, including a whole block of maple burl that came in recently.
 
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#12,587
bass12 said:
I've heard people refer to "wooliness" with the THs and I would love to know exactly what that refers to sonically. I can make a (probably reasonable) assumption but I have yet to encounter anything I would define as "wooly" coming from a TH 500. I do hear the TH 500 as being more "tube-like" than most of the class D amps I've played but they're still very clean sounding to my ear. Who knows - could be the amp-cabinet pairing, the bass-amp paring or (again) my ears.
Click to expand...
We're entering into the world of "esoteric terms that mean different things to different people" :laugh:, but the best way I can describe it from my experience was like playing your bass with the tone knob rolled back to about 75%. My lows were pillowy, the mids were more rounded/hollowed out, and the attack just wasn't quite there. That's what some people like/are going for, and that's fine...it just wasn't my thing.
 
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#12,588
I know this is getting to be pointless debate, being inherently subjective, as you suggested @iplay5strings, but most MTDs are so naturally bright that I find sometimes a bit less of a modern amp/cab rig can pair nicely with them. I know, I use pretty much PA cabs myself (Genzler Bass Array cabs with 4 x 3" paper cone drivers in front of the LF ones), so that may seem questionable coming from me, but honestly I think my MTDs work for my own preferences a bit better with the non-Array cabs that Genzler makes (still with tweeters) or other more standard bass cabs, due to the super high clarity of the basses and also the cabs' frequency responses. I sometimes user darker amp and cab models than I ordinarily would have with other basses to mitigate the super hi-fi MTD USA vibe, when I want to mitigate it, that is.
 
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#12,589
Combinator said:
I know this is getting to be pointless debate, being inherently subjective, as you suggested @iplay5strings, but most MTDs are so naturally bright that I find sometimes a bit less of a modern amp/cab rig can pair nicely with them. I know, I use pretty much PA cabs myself (Genzler Bass Array cabs with 4 x 3" paper cone drivers in front of the LF ones), so that may seem questionable coming from me, but honestly I think my MTDs work for my own preferences a bit better with the non-Array cabs that Genzler makes (still with tweeters) or other more standard bass cabs, due to the super high clarity of the basses and also the cabs' frequency responses. I sometimes user darker amp and cab models than I ordinarily would have with other basses to mitigate the super hi-fi MTD USA vibe, when I want to mitigate it, that is.
Click to expand...
I hear you there and have done my own tricks to mitigate the things you speak of with my 535. To be fair, all my experience with the Aguilar stuff has been with my MTD Beast which is purposely (and shamelessly :laugh:) a Super J/Marcus Miller bass with the B Axis/TCT setup. So while it's still a bit more hi-fi, it's also still within a more "traditional bass" footprint and the Aguilar stuff was just giving me too much of the "p bass with flats" vibe :roflmao:
 
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#12,590
Aram said:
Likewise. I think what I haven't liked about the Aguilars I've used in the past may be more a function of the cabs than the amps, but again I've never personally owned any Aguilar gear so I have not been able (or not bothered to) sort through why I didn't care for the tone.

Moving on, very excited about my own 434 build -- the spec is kind of unconventional:

- alder body
- box elder top
- ebony board
- transparent black stain
- 34" scale / 24 fret
- A-style brass bridge
- Gotoh tuners

I have a pic of the top but Safari won't let me post it here...
Click to expand...

That will be nice. I have transparent black burst stain on my 534.
 
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#12,591
Combinator said:
I know this is getting to be pointless debate, being inherently subjective, as you suggested @iplay5strings, but most MTDs are so naturally bright that I find sometimes a bit less of a modern amp/cab rig can pair nicely with them. I know, I use pretty much PA cabs myself (Genzler Bass Array cabs with 4 x 3" paper cone drivers in front of the LF ones), so that may seem questionable coming from me, but honestly I think my MTDs work for my own preferences a bit better with the non-Array cabs that Genzler makes (still with tweeters) or other more standard bass cabs, due to the super high clarity of the basses and also the cabs' frequency responses. I sometimes user darker amp and cab models than I ordinarily would have with other basses to mitigate the super hi-fi MTD USA vibe, when I want to mitigate it, that is.
Click to expand...
I agree. I generally like a more modern than old school rig sound, but it's because I always feel like it's easier to cut high end than "manufacture" it. With a generally HiFi rig and an MTD, I feel like i don't ever have to worry about a natural sounding high end. It's already all there.
 
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#12,592
Vic said:
I agree. I generally like a more modern than old school rig sound, but it's because I always feel like it's easier to cut high end than "manufacture" it. With a generally HiFi rig and an MTD, I feel like i don't ever have to worry about a natural sounding high end. It's already all there.
Click to expand...

I found this to be true as well. Basses that have a natural “brightness” tend to sound better through just about any rig. I can always boost some bass and low mids as needed.

But if a bass is naturally “muddy” sounding, it’s very hard to change that with just EQ.
 
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#12,593
iplay5strings said:
We're entering into the world of "esoteric terms that mean different things to different people" :laugh:, but the best way I can describe it from my experience was like playing your bass with the tone knob rolled back to about 75%. My lows were pillowy, the mids were more rounded/hollowed out, and the attack just wasn't quite there. That's what some people like/are going for, and that's fine...it just wasn't my thing.
Click to expand...

+1 That jives with my experience, as well. This is why in the current Aguilar lineup, I prefer the AG700.
 
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#12,595
Justin Keoni said:
What preamp/DI have you guys found works best with the 535 MTD-Bartolini setup?
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I'm a Bartolini guy in general but I'm a big ol' fan of the East Uni Pre with these basses especially, due to its passive tone which is handy on these very bright stock Barts but also its integrated dual channel buffer with user-settable gain, so you still get the intended buffered pickup path in active mode (and a true passive, separate audio path as well with no buffer). And you can fine tune all the EQ points and sweep the mids, which is super cool.
 
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#12,597
Justin Keoni said:
What preamp/DI pedal have you guys found works best with the 535 MTD-Bartolini setup?

I see a lot of talk about the Le Bass, the Olympic MK. III, and even the Aguilar, but I’m curious if there’s one that most prefer for its clean tone. Other options are the Mark Bass, EBS, Darkglass, etc.
Click to expand...
The Avalon U5 works well for a crystal clear tone. The Noble isn't quite as transparent, but it also sounds great to my ears. If we're strictly limited to pedals, I've had success with the Sadowsky SPB-1 or -2.
 
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