The Official MTD USA Thread

[iplay5strings]

Hi! Can anyone tell if MTD pickups come radiused or if MTD can do them radiused to match ramp curvature?

Unfortunately, technically the radius'd Bartolini pickups were a proprietary Tobias design, so Gibson could (and is absolutely petty enough to) sue if Mike did that. I've seen some radius'd Bartolini pickups in a few Ibanez basses (not sure how they're getting away with it), so it's not impossible. You may be better off going straight to Bartolini for that though.

 

[Vic]

You may be better off going straight to Bartolini for that though.

if you're right about the patent ownership and Gibson's position, that won't get him anywhere, as they won't be able to sell them to anyone but Gibson, either.

Even though bart is the manufacturer, it's still a proprietary design and exclusive to Gibson and the Tobias brand. Again, if you're right about Gibson's position and status on those.

 

[iplay5strings]

if you're right about the patent ownership and Gibson's position, that won't get him anywhere, as they won't be able to sell them to anyone but Gibson, either.

Even though bart is the manufacturer, it's still a proprietary design and exclusive to Gibson and the Tobias brand. Again, if you're right about Gibson's position and status on those.

Like I said, Ibanez has been using the curved top Bartolini's in some of their basses, so there must be some work around. Or they could just get a set of Kiesel Radium pickups.

 

[Vic]

Like I said, Ibanez has been using the curved top Bartolini's in some of their basses...

They've had radius'd pickups in their basses literally since the late 70's or early 80's (I owned a couple). probably gets them around whatever Gibson might own, plus, they're WAY bigger than Gibson at this point. Don't poke the bear.

Don't get me wrong, yah, go for it. Just sayin' I wouldn't expect to get them.

 

[Kenny Hubbell]

Hey need some advice here. I have a ad200b with the 2 obc115 cabs and a 535. Like the tone super transparent. (I hear ALL my playing shortcomings.lol) I’ve had a lot of problems with the head and am done!!! Problems are with this specific head and will probably get another one. Like most I love the big tube sound but this rig has its shortcomings. In order to keep up with my loud singer I get into the gain quite a bit and the tone goes ugly. I love the tone at low levels but the orange gets too distorty. Growl is good, distortion bad. I’m thinking of trading in the whole rig for the 50th anniversary SVT And 8-10. Weight not a problem. Rig will stay at practice most of the time. I did a search and didn’t come up with anyone with this combo. play mainly rock/ pop/ country. Love the idea of this rig but not sure of the reality. Thoughts? ( I’m a lurker and love the things I’ve learned here thank you in advance.)

 

[iplay5strings]

Hey need some advice here. I have a ad200b with the 2 obc115 cabs and a 535. Like the tone super transparent. (I hear ALL my playing shortcomings.lol) I’ve had a lot of problems with the head and am done!!! Problems are with this specific head and will probably get another one. Like most I love the big tube sound but this rig has its shortcomings. In order to keep up with my loud singer I get into the gain quite a bit and the tone goes ugly. I love the tone at low levels but the orange gets too distorty. Growl is good, distortion bad. I’m thinking of trading in the whole rig for the 50th anniversary SVT And 8-10. Weight not a problem. Rig will stay at practice most of the time. I did a search and didn’t come up with anyone with this combo. play mainly rock/ pop/ country. Love the idea of this rig but not sure of the reality. Thoughts? ( I’m a lurker and love the things I’ve learned here thank you in advance.)

Most guys swear by that monster Aguilar tube bass amp. If they ampeg sound is your thing then by all means, go for it. The Aguilar will still give you that tube-y vibe, but will probably be more versatile and not specifically classic/arena rock.

 

[Funkinthetrunk]

if you're right about the patent ownership and Gibson's position, that won't get him anywhere, as they won't be able to sell them to anyone but Gibson, either.

Even though bart is the manufacturer, it's still a proprietary design and exclusive to Gibson and the Tobias brand. Again, if you're right about Gibson's position and status on those.

Not sure if you can patent a pickup with a radius top any more than you can patent a instrument with a radius(ed) fingerboard. But I know about the proprietary thing and how Bartolini will not sell them. Peavey had pickups with radius on certain models once as do Carvins now. You can just get custom made wooden pickups covers with a radius and get custom innards to fit.

 

[Vic]

Not sure if you can patent a pickup with a radius top any more than you can patent a instrument with a radius(ed) fingerboard. But I know about the proprietary thing and how Bartolini will not sell them. Peavey had pickups with radius on certain models once as do Carvins now. You can just get custom made wooden pickups covers with a radius and get custom innards to fit.

clearly you can't, or other versions wouldn't exist, such as the older ibanez, the peavey you point out (and actually others). my point was the bartolini specific ones, which are specific enough to patent. i thought we were talking specifically about getting the bart radius'd that are used in the tobias brand instruments. if we're talking more generally, then disregard my comments.

 

[iplay5strings]

clearly you can't, or other versions wouldn't exist, such as the older ibanez, the peavey you point out (and actually others). my point was the bartolini specific ones, which are specific enough to patent. i thought we were talking specifically about getting the bart radius'd that are used in the tobias brand instruments. if we're talking more generally, then disregard my comments.

I was referencing the original Tobias pickups as those would be what I (and most others) consider to still be "Mike's pickups". So in my mind, if you're asking for radius'd pickups from Mike, you're (maybe albeit indirectly) asking for the Tobias pickups.

 

[Funkinthetrunk]

I was referencing the original Tobias pickups as those would be what I (and most others) consider to still be "Mike's pickups". So in my mind, if you're asking for radius'd pickups from Mike, you're (maybe albeit indirectly) asking for the Tobias pickups.

Mike doesn't own Tobias anymore...sounds weird. Have you tried asking Gibson?

 

[Funkinthetrunk]

clearly you can't, or other versions wouldn't exist, such as the older ibanez, the peavey you point out (and actually others). my point was the bartolini specific ones, which are specific enough to patent. i thought we were talking specifically about getting the bart radius'd that are used in the tobias brand instruments. if we're talking more generally, then disregard my comments.

You're right on about Barts...they will not sell proprietary electronics.

 

[Kenny Hubbell]

Most guys swear by that monster Aguilar tube bass amp. If they ampeg sound is your thing then by all means, go for it. The Aguilar will still give you that tube-y vibe, but will probably be more versatile and not specifically classic/arena rock.[/QUOTE

The Aguilar is definitely on the list. Like the sound for sure. Was just wondering if there was any MTD/ SVT players out there. Kind of a mismatch but I’d love to hear it. Thanks for your reply.

 

[iplay5strings]

Mike doesn't own Tobias anymore...sounds weird. Have you tried asking Gibson?

I don't think the OP would be happy with the Gibson ones. Even though they stayed with the curved tops, they drastically changed the sound from the way Mike's were made. It's one of the main reasons most don't like the post Gibson stuff.

 

[MDH bass]

does anyone have any idea if MTD would be open to doing a multi-scale bass ?

i've been ogling over their finishes, over their 'more-precise-version-of-a-growly-bright-Warwick' tone, but i've been a total convert to 37/34 format multi-scale (i've own shorter scale multis and parallels since and they didn't vibe despite being lovely otherwise).

 

[iplay5strings]

does anyone have any idea if MTD would be open to doing a multi-scale bass ?

i've been ogling over their finishes, over their 'more-precise-version-of-a-growly-bright-Warwick' tone, but i've been a total convert to 37/34 format multi-scale (i've own shorter scale multis and parallels since and they didn't vibe despite being lovely otherwise).

From what I've heard from Michael, he has no interest in a multi-scale instrument. He believes his design is perfect for the goals he wanted to accomplish. Daniel may be a little more open to it with him already moving in the headless direction, you could shoot him an email. Worst he can say is "no".

 

[Vic]

I don't think the OP would be happy with the Gibson ones. Even though they stayed with the curved tops, they drastically changed the sound from the way Mike's were made. It's one of the main reasons most don't like the post Gibson stuff.

that's new information for me. all i've ever read about the "post Mike" Tobias stuff is how the quality took a huge nose dive and the instruments generally just started sucking... especially for their price.

at least in my case, i definitely saw/experienced this. it was bad. real bad. warped necks, fretwork terrible and frets not even properly seated (not level, actually even coming out of the fingerboard in some cases), etc.

 

[iplay5strings]

that's new information for me. all i've ever read about the "post Mike" Tobias stuff is how the quality took a huge nose dive and the instruments generally just started sucking... especially for their price.

at least in my case, i definitely saw/experienced this. it was bad. real bad. warped necks, fretwork terrible and frets not even properly seated (not level, actually even coming out of the fingerboard in some cases), etc.

Yep, it was part of the collateral damage of Gibson cutting corners to make more profit. They ditched Mike's custom spec pickups and TCT setup for stock spec pickups and the NS2TMB "slap tone" cluster pre.

 

[Vic]

Yep, it was part of the collateral damage of Gibson cutting corners to make more profit. They ditched Mike's custom spec pickups and TCT setup for stock spec pickups and the NS2TMB "slap tone" cluster pre.

you know, now that you mention that, i do now remember the TCT going away for the generic ntmb... just didn't know about the p'ups. interesting. thanks!

 

[Element Zero]

does anyone have any idea if MTD would be open to doing a multi-scale bass ?

i've been ogling over their finishes, over their 'more-precise-version-of-a-growly-bright-Warwick' tone, but i've been a total convert to 37/34 format multi-scale (i've own shorter scale multis and parallels since and they didn't vibe despite being lovely otherwise).

That’s kinda what I’ve been waiting for… that and saving for a down payment on a new house, paying off my ‘19 sedan, saving for a new car once my wife’s conks out, 2 kids college funds, 401k… but it’s on the list! Lol

 

[Drummerboy2]

Like I said, Ibanez has been using the curved top Bartolini's in some of their basses, so there must be some work around. Or they could just get a set of Kiesel Radium pickups.

The Kiesel are nice too!