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The Official MTD USA Thread

#12,921
Acoustic356 said:
For those of us that prefer to buy used, we're at the mercy of the market.

I wonder if I can send mine back and have him shave an inch off this solid ash body...
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Understandable, there are body woods with plenty of resonance that are also light weight. Okume is super light weight.

Taking an inch off the back would totally mess with the integrity of the instrument. The only other option would be a chambered body. And that isn’t something to be done after the body is glued together either.

I would just keep an eye out for a second hand bass, there are a lot of good ones lately in this market.
 
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#12,922
bassgrackle said:
Understandable, there are body woods with plenty of resonance that are also light weight. Okume is super light weight.

Taking an inch off the back would totally mess with the integrity of the instrument. The only other option would be a chambered body. And that isn’t something to be done after the body is glued together either.

I would just keep an eye out for a second hand bass, there are a lot of good ones lately in this market.
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I love my Ash 534-24. Fortunately, I don't have to stand up and play it for 2 straight hours... It sees plenty of use in 10-15 minute segments. One of the best sounding 5 strings I've ever played.
 
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#12,923
DrGroovenstein said:
Here’s my 534-24, #2186. It’s from 2012. Majors body, amboina top, maple neck, ebony board. Pretty heavy, around 11 lbs. I picked it up used a few years back. I don’t think it originally had the inlay or wood knobs. I have a second matching truss cover sans inlay, depending on mood. Currently sporting Ernie Ball Cobalt rounds which are the bomb.

View attachment 4562878
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I'm the original owner of that bass, I had Mike do the inlay. I can't remember who did the knobs. The guy I sold it to had another truss rod cover built. Man that bass brings back memories and sings!!! Everybody that played that bass loved it. I just couldn't get use to the scale length. I have a Lynn Keller signature that fits me perfect. I'm gonna get another one built next year.

Thanks for posting pictures!!!
 
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#12,926
jpeeze said:
I'm the original owner of that bass, I had Mike do the inlay. I can't remember who did the knobs. The guy I sold it to had another truss rod cover built. Man that bass brings back memories and sings!!! Everybody that played that bass loved it. I just couldn't get use to the scale length. I have a Lynn Keller signature that fits me perfect. I'm gonna get another one built next year.

Thanks for posting pictures!!!
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That’s awesome! It sure does sing! It’s still in perfect shape, and I really like the inlay.
 
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#12,927
b5kL5u1.jpg


HfCDZQL.jpg


This is a 2001 MTD 435. Rosewood board. It has an ash body under the quilted maple top. I changed the knobs. It weighs 8 pounds 5 ounces.
 
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#12,929
MMiller28 said:
Love the colors in that burst
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I'm at least the second owner of this bass, so I don't know for sure what it is. I bought it on eBay, fifteen years ago or so. I would call it tobacco sunburst.

This bass sounds great. I am a True Believer in the 35" scale. Besides being essential for what I want in a B string, it fattens up the D and especially the G, so you can use the G without it sounding thin. The MTD necks are so comfortable to me that I don't mind the extra stretch.

But the tone is what has kept me on board for so many years. I've owned a lot of basses, including many high end ones, and I always kept the ones that sound the best.
 
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#12,930
FYI: 534-21/17mm is not an option. They don't have the tooling for it. If you want 34" and 17mm then you get 2 octave. Not a bad thing obviously, just a FYI.

I chose 21 fret just because I liked the look and was trying to keep the price at a certain point. But I cut something else unnecessary to keep things where they need to be.
 
#12,932
Jackass76 said:
How does one become a MTD USA Club member?
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First you must send us your home address. A team of ninjas will kidnap you from your home, blindfold you, and drive you to an undisclosed location, where you will swear eternal loyalty to Mike & Daniel while burning a sacred scroll in the name of St. Bartolini. You will then arrange tribute in the form of gold bullion to be delivered by submarine to Kingston NY in the dead of night as deposit for a custom build, using specs approved by the club membership.

in lieu of all that, we may agree to accept a shrubbery.
 
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#12,933
red_rhino said:
First you must send us your home address. A team of ninjas will kidnap you from your home, blindfold you, and drive you to an undisclosed location, where you will swear eternal loyalty to Mike & Daniel while burning a sacred scroll in the name of St. Bartolini. You will then arrange tribute in the form of gold bullion to be delivered by submarine to Kingston NY in the dead of night as deposit for a custom build, using specs approved by the club membership.

in lieu of all that, we may agree to accept a shrubbery.
Click to expand...

I just had to post my birthday and SSN…
 
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#12,934
Back in 2016 (not 2015...my bad), I was taken to the super secret alter to make my offer to the luthier gods and it worked out well. I was granted this masterpiece to my specs:

The MTD Super 4 #4. Ash Body (no top), Maple neck, Roasted Birdseye Maple Fingerboard, matching peghead and truss-rod cover, in a 34" scale and 24 frets.

Super4_2.jpg Super4_1.jpg

Michael and Daniel are the coolest people out there...I still play that bass everyday...its in my profile photo also.

ps...sorry for not smiling...Charlie didn't tell me when he was gonna take the photo, haha.
 
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#12,935
Jackass76 said:
Back in 2015, I was taken to the super secret alter to make my offer to the luthier gods and it worked out well. I was granted this masterpiece to my specs:

The MTD Super 4 #4. Ash Body (no top), Maple neck, Roasted Birdseye Maple Fingerboard, matching peghead and truss-rod cover, in a 34" scale and 24 frets.

View attachment 4569268 View attachment 4569269
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That is gorgeous! Okay, you’re in.

I really like the Super pickups and pre. I muse about updating my 434 with them, but I may have to charter a submarine trip to Kingston instead.
 
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#12,936
Jackass76 said:
Back in 2015, I was taken to the super secret alter to make my offer to the luthier gods and it worked out well. I was granted this masterpiece to my specs:

The MTD Super 4 #4. Ash Body (no top), Maple neck, Roasted Birdseye Maple Fingerboard, matching peghead and truss-rod cover, in a 34" scale and 24 frets.

View attachment 4569268 View attachment 4569269

Michael and Daniel are the coolest people out there...I still play that bass everyday...its in my profile photo also.

ps...sorry for not smiling...Charlie didn't tell me when he was gonna take the photo, haha.
Click to expand...
I love 34” scale instruments. Both my 534-24 and Saratoga fit into that category.

I would take the bass back tho… it seems like you’re missing a string or 2…
 
#12,940
This was a massive undertaking, done completely out of simple and foolish love for gear and tonal exploration. I painstakingly documented the isolated and blended tones of my favorite Bartolini pickup set with 3 different EMG Pickups models in my custom 635-24, in many combinations, and provided easy timeline links in the description as well for maximum ease of navigation and comparison.

I used the exact same set of strings on the same bass and captured all the samples over a contiguous 2-day period. More info is available in the video description.

I know which my favorites are, and now you can hear for yourself and draw your own conclusions!

 
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