The Official MTD USA Thread

[JimS]

I can tolerate one year but not confident I am willing to wait two years. (..although 24 months makes a ~$7000 outlay for a bass a little bit easier to absorb.)
I assume before two years are up, I will find a used MTD 435 that I like .

 

[bass12]

Whatever you order, it won't come out like you expect anyway - wood is a finicky thing.

This has been my experience. I've ordered several custom MTDs but my favourites have been the ones I bought second hand and got lucky with. Prices? I was paying between $4000 and $4500 new but that was in the early 2010s. Prices have no doubt gone up significantly since. I saw a 535 in the TB classifieds yesterday for over $6500. Ouch.

 

[DrGroovenstein]

Another thing to consider is that the body shape and scale length won't be perfect for everybody, so I highly recommend playing one before you buy. Find someone local and try out their bass. I tried and tried to get along with the 535, no good for me. The smaller body size puts the neck in a weird position for me. Believe it or not, the one inch difference of the 534 did it for me. I decided that I would give that a try after I got my hands on a Saratoga, which are 34" scale.

 

[Taustin Powers]

Out of all the basses I have owned, this one has one very unique quality. All the notes played on all strings are loud. With other basses, once I start thumb-slapping on the A or the D string, the notes become less forceful compared to the rest. The precussive elements are there, but the actual notes get weaker. On this bass, I can slap halfway up the neck on the D string, and it sounds loud, full, warm and punchy. Even my newer 435 with similar specs only gets pretty close, but not quite there. It has a myrtle top instead of walnut.

Is this what is sometimes referred to as "natural compression"? Would a good compressor get me similar results on other basses?

 

[DrGroovenstein]

Yes, that is how I interpret natural compression and a compression effect should get you in the ballpark. You can still get quieter notes though right?

 

[iplay5strings]

Buy used and see if you like it, turn it around and buy a custom if it works for you. Whatever you order, it won't come out like you expect anyway - wood is a finicky thing.

Plus there is a price list, so you should be able to price it out yourself.

Ordering — Michael Tobias Design

^ Best response. ESPECIALLY with Mike's build philosophy and his electronics being tuned as transparent as possible to leave the wood to do all the work. He doesn't want instruments even built from the same wood to sound the same because (as already stated) every piece of wood is unique and therefore so are each of his builds.

 

[BassJuju]

Donovan is great to work with and his prices are certainly fair. I’d never hesitate to recommend or buy a bass from him.

However, if you don’t want to wait, there are few listed in the classifieds.

 

[MattLplaysBass]

Donovan is great to work with and his prices are certainly fair. I’d never hesitate to recommend or buy a bass from him.

However, if you don’t want to wait, there are few listed in the classifieds.

that myrtle one is a beauty…

 

[bucephylus]

Probably a stupid Q; but the single issue I have with my 534 is that it is just a bit heftier than I had requested / hoped for.

So, I am going to try swapping the HipShot A bridge out for a HipShot B bridge. I really like the A bridge; but the B bridge is more than 1 1/2 oz lighter.

Jeez, I feel a bit like the people who used to drill out their bicycle parts to save ozs.

Has anyone else swapped the A for the B? I presume not, and I’m just being odd. Anyhow, I’ll report back with the results.

 

[vision]

Probably a stupid Q; but the single issue I have with my 534 is that it is just a bit heftier than I had requested / hoped for.

So, I am going to try swapping the HipShot A bridge out for a HipShot B bridge. I really like the A bridge; but the B bridge is more than 1 1/2 oz lighter.

Jeez, I feel a bit like the people who used to drill out their bicycle parts to save ozs.

Has anyone else swapped the A for the B? I presume not, and I’m just being odd. Anyhow, I’ll report back with the results.

I remember years ago someone on here going the other way and switching from Hipshot A to B, because I considered doing the same at one point. What held me back was that it isn’t an easy swap, first because of the hole placement, but second because I believe Mike and Daniel change the neck pocket depth if someone goes with an A style vs B style Hipshot. It isn’t impossible, but needs to be accounted for if switching (again - if I recall correctly.)

 

[bucephylus]

I remember years ago someone on here going the other way and switching from Hipshot A to B, because I considered doing the same at one point. What held me back was that it isn’t an easy swap, first because of the hole placement, but second because I believe Mike and Daniel change the neck pocket depth if someone goes with an A style vs B style Hipshot. It isn’t impossible, but needs to be accounted for if switching (again - if I recall correctly.)

Thanks @vision . I’ll get back with my findings.

 

[MattLplaysBass]

Probably a stupid Q; but the single issue I have with my 534 is that it is just a bit heftier than I had requested / hoped for.

So, I am going to try swapping the HipShot A bridge out for a HipShot B bridge. I really like the A bridge; but the B bridge is more than 1 1/2 oz lighter.

Jeez, I feel a bit like the people who used to drill out their bicycle parts to save ozs.

Has anyone else swapped the A for the B? I presume not, and I’m just being odd. Anyhow, I’ll report back with the results.

If you're only going for a few ounces, MTD has a custom A style bridge, which is a "modified Hipshot without all the extra cutouts and a bit less mass in the tray" (the answer I got when asking about it, and I ended up ordering it for my build), which may or may not save you some weight, but would definitely be an easier install. But they may not have it in your string spacing, so ymmv.

 

[songwriter21]

Probably a stupid Q; but the single issue I have with my 534 is that it is just a bit heftier than I had requested / hoped for.

So, I am going to try swapping the HipShot A bridge out for a HipShot B bridge. I really like the A bridge; but the B bridge is more than 1 1/2 oz lighter.

Jeez, I feel a bit like the people who used to drill out their bicycle parts to save ozs.

Has anyone else swapped the A for the B? I presume not, and I’m just being odd. Anyhow, I’ll report back with the results.

If you're only going for a few ounces, MTD has a custom A style bridge, which is a "modified Hipshot without all the extra cutouts and a bit less mass in the tray" (the answer I got when asking about it, and I ended up ordering it for my build), which may or may not save you some weight, but would definitely be an easier install. But they may not have it in your string spacing, so ymmv.

I don't recommend a lighter bridge. You want ligter weight in the neck. If you lighten the body end, you'll steer more towards neck dive. A heavy bass isn't heavy if it's balanced.

 

[songwriter21]

Anyone here replace the pickups of their MTD with MEC pickups? Wondering if that would give a little extra growl...

No offense intended but I couldn’t imagine anybody changing pickups in any bass to MEC. I’ve always replaced the MEC pickups in Warwick basses I have previously owned.

I can't question this position.

Well to be fair - and this from a formerly huge Warwick fanboy, longtime user and artist - MEC active models are for the most part copies of EMG and Seymour Duncan Basslines (depending on the specific model), and there are definitely folks with EMGs in their MTDs. Nick Shinz is one recently, and his short scale EMG loaded 5 string sounds great.

Never understood the distaste for EMG. To me, they're a wonderfully blank canvas that starts "hi-fi/modern", but can go anywhere. I had Modulus Q5 with a full EMG setup, and it could do anything from Motown or Reggae, to Tool or Alice in Chains.

Of course, who knows how that setup would be on one of Mike's creations.

 

[bucephylus]

I don't recommend a lighter bridge. You want ligter weight in the neck. If you lighten the body end, you'll steer more towards neck dive. A heavy bass isn't heavy if it's balanced.

FYI, this particular instrument has a medium/heavy Northern Ash body. I could remove the bridge entirely, and still have negative neck dive = neck rise.

 

[songwriter21]

FYI, this particular instrument has a medium/heavy Northern Ash body. I could remove the bridge entirely, and still have negative neck dive = neck rise.

Ah, Northern Ash...the culprit of mucho-heavy Peavey T-40s!

 

[red_rhino]

Never understood the distaste for EMG. To me, they're a wonderfully blank canvas that starts "hi-fi/modern", but can go anywhere.

+1. I've had them in a couple of jazz basses and they sound wonderful. Not sure I'd enjoy them in an MTD as much, as I like what the Barts bring to that party, but I can see how others would appreciate it.

 

[BassJuju]

So what is the preferred pickup if one chooses to replace the Bartolini’s? Pre?

 

[vision]

So what is the preferred pickup if one chooses to replace the Bartolini’s? Pre?

Depends on your goal in replacing them. More versatility? More warmth? More transparent? More traditional? Etc…there’s a ton of options. I’ve seen a decent number of swaps to Nordstrand, and I’ve also seen EMG and Duncan’s.

I personally think that even just staying within the MTD/Bartolini designed electronics gives you a huge range of those options. You can add passive tone control, or you can switch from the standard MTD/Bart soap bars to dual coils that let you switch between single and dual.

 

[LowEndLobster]

I love this thing so much