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The Official MTD USA Thread

#14,281
DrGroovenstein said:
Have you owned or played an MTD 535 or 635 before? What struck you about what you played - did you note the specs? Otherwise, my recommendation is to do some listening on youtube and demos and contact Daniel / Mike at MTD for recommendation. That said, while the results are all awesome, they can swing quite wildly from ones expectations (tone in your head). If you read up on the thread, you'll find many reflections on this.
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I have not owned one before. But I think for me the the tone of the mids and highs really pulled me in. I want something that has a piano like sounds in the mids but still has incredible thump on the low end. I think about a precision low end sound with a jazz higher end if that makes sense. I guess I should just get a PJ bass lol
 
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#14,282
confident_4ever said:
Well guys/gals

I have decided to start thinking of what i want in a 635, but I am a little overwhelmed by all the options. I have never played a wenge neck, is there a big difference? what, in your view are the most impactful upgrades (sound wise)?

preference wise I would want it as versatile as possible with a very expressive mid. I also need the low end to naturally thump deeply. Not sure if I am expressing this right. I also would like a smaller MM spacing for comfort. yikes I feel confused already :)
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One can generalize to some extent regarding wood types and the way they are supposed to affect the sound of a bass, but you can never be sure. I've had several wenge-necked MTDs - some with the same body woods - and they all sounded quite different from one another (despite their having some common sonic characteristics). Wenge can be extremely punchy in the low mids, with a touch of compression. It can also sound over-compressed, depending on the individual bass. My first 535 had an ash body, maple top and wenge/wenge neck. I've tried to re-create the sound of that bass in other 535 builds a couple of times but never got there. Another one of my favourite 535s, and one that (I think) matches the description of what you are looking for, has an alder body, maple top and maple/rosewood neck. But it's the only 535 I've ever played in that wood combo. The most "piano-like" tone I ever got from an MTD was with a black limba body with ebony top and a wenge/wenge neck.

I guess the best place to start is by identifying some MTDs you like the sound of and (assuming you know the specs of those basses) go from there.
 
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#14,283
confident_4ever said:
I have not owned one before. But I think for me the the tone of the mids and highs really pulled me in. I want something that has a piano like sounds in the mids but still has incredible thump on the low end. I think about a precision low end sound with a jazz higher end if that makes sense. I guess I should just get a PJ bass lol
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I think under the pickup covers, the MTD Bartolini pickups are like P pickups!
 
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#14,284
bucephylus said:
I do have a slightly heftier instrument that I gig. It’s an Alembic. There are definitely tone / feel aspects which cut both w(eigh)ays. LOL.

My particular issue is that I worked VERY hard with Mike for a spec instrument. I really wanted the instrument to come in under 9 1/2 pounds; which is my comfort zone. Somehow, due to tonal prefs / possibly forgetting convos / difficulty predicting final weights at Mike’s end, the instrument came in just shy of 10 pounds.

IF the B bridge can be refitted with reasonable effort, the instrument would be just a shade over 9 3/4 pounds; which is a bit closer to my target.

Much ado about nothing. But, with as much effort / cost into a project as this has been, I’d prefer not to give up on it.

Very much YMMV.
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B Bridge received and installed. So far, no issues with saddle adjustment and string height. Unlike the A bridge, the B bridge has no lateral spacing adjustment. It is, however, absurdly light; yet still very solidly made.

Mike had paused and eventually said he didn’t want to put an 18mm bridge on this neck; “too tight.” Well, it is tight; but, I’m perfectly good with the minimal distance to the fingerboard edge. Works for me. No intonation issues; and I believe my left hand fingering is sufficiently accurate for it not to be a problem. Other players might not agree.

Punchline is that I can def feel the nearly 2oz loss of weight on my shoulder. So, at this point, the whole test is a success.
 
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#14,285
bucephylus said:
B Bridge received and installed. So far, no issues with saddle adjustment and string height. Unlike the A bridge, the B bridge has no lateral spacing adjustment. It is, however, absurdly light; yet still very solidly made.

Mike had paused and eventually said he didn’t want to put an 18mm bridge on this neck; “too tight.” Well, it is tight; but, I’m perfectly good with the minimal distance to the fingerboard edge. Works for me. No intonation issues; and I believe my left hand fingering is sufficiently accurate for it not to be a problem. Other players might not agree.

Punchline is that I can def feel the nearly 2oz loss of weight on my shoulder. So, at this point, the whole test is a success.
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Glad if it worked out. Any drilling? how does the base plate line up- I know the B is smaller than the A...
 
#14,286
MattLplaysBass said:
Glad if it worked out. Any drilling? how does the base plate line up- I know the B is smaller than the A...
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Mike had a 3 screw A bridge installed. The B bridge has 4 screws; so drilling is required.

I removed the A bridge, drew a pencil line through the centers of the 3 holes, marked crosses 9mm from center (location of inner holes on the B), placed the B bridge, placed score marks in the center of each B hole, drilled 1/16” pilot holes at score marks, drilled 7/64 holes to proper depth, and finally installed the bridge.

I had measured the G saddle elevation on the A bridge, set the G saddle on the B by caliper, and set the remaining heights and stagger by eye prior to install, which turned out to be really close, requiring minimal adjustment.

The base plate footprint is nearly identical. The mass difference is due to more material being removed in the B bridge.
 
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#14,287
bucephylus said:
Mike had a 3 screw A bridge installed. The B bridge has 4 screws; so drilling is required.

I removed the A bridge, drew a pencil line through the centers of the 3 holes, marked crosses 9mm from center (location of inner holes on the B), placed the B bridge, placed score marks in the center of each B hole, drilled 1/8 pilot holes at score marks, drilled 7/64 holes to proper depth, and finally installed the bridge.

I had measured the G saddle elevation on the A bridge, set the G saddle on the B by caliper,, and set the remaining heights and stagger by eye prior to install, which turned out to be really close, requiring minimal adjustment.

The base plate footprint is nearly identical. The mass difference is due to more material being removed in the B bridge.
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Did you get it from Hipshot? Or MTD?

I have an FBass with the B style bridge, and I don't care for it, but it's not a deal breaker, but it is DEFINITELY easier with taper/exposed core strings.
 
#14,288
MattLplaysBass said:
Did you get it from Hipshot? Or MTD?

I have an FBass with the B style bridge, and I don't care for it, but it's not a deal breaker, but it is DEFINITELY easier with taper/exposed core strings.
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I get my new hardware from Best Bass Gear.

The A bridge is much more well made. The saddles are locked into channels, and have all kinds of adjustment. But, that design inherently has more material in the body of the bridge.

The B is kind of an improvement on the Fender bent plate, but retains some of the shortcomings of that design. Once the strings are secured, though, most of those issues go away.

FWIW, the bass also sounds a good bit more lively and open with the B bridge.
 
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#14,289
bucephylus said:
I get my new hardware from Best Bass Gear.

The A bridge is much more well made. The saddles are locked into channels, and have all kinds of adjustment. But, that design inherently has more material in the body of the bridge.

The B is kind of an improvement on the Fender bent plate, but retains some of the shortcomings of that design. Once the strings are secured, though, most of those issues go away.

FWIW, the bass also sounds a good bit more lively and open with the B bridge.
Click to expand...
I’ve read that Mike prefers the B bridge… i agree with your assessment of the designs, but I’ll put up with more material in the A for the (imho) better design.
 
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#14,291
All -

I'm looking for a 5 string and have convinced myself that nothing but a 535-24 will do - I bought a Kingston AG5 from 2017 that has a great feel - perfect spacing, length and neck, and is nice and light.. but i'm not a fan of the tone at all, it doesn't seem to cut thru at all, and i'm not crazy about the Bartolini pickups or 3 band eq either.

I've started to look at used 535-24's and wonder if anyone has a rough serial# <--> year made table? Most ads on reverb do show the serial# on the back of hte headstock but don't list the year. I've gone thru the current and sold reverb ads and come up with the following:

#273 - mid-90s
#434 - 2000
#704 - 2001
#130? - 2006
#1387 - 2006
#1594 - 2007
#1754 - 2008

#2013 - 2010
#2960 - 2017
#3016 - 2017
#3102 - 2018
#3359 - 2020
#3450 - 2020
#3666 - 2023

so at least I can vaguely tell when a bass was made. The only real reason I take that into account is fret wear, and its tough to tell if a bass was a closet queen or played every day. Has anyone ever had to get a MTD neck refretted?

thx all!
 
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#14,293
thumbslapper said:
All -

I'm looking for a 5 string and have convinced myself that nothing but a 535-24 will do - I bought a Kingston AG5 from 2017 that has a great feel - perfect spacing, length and neck, and is nice and light.. but i'm not a fan of the tone at all, it doesn't seem to cut thru at all, and i'm not crazy about the Bartolini pickups or 3 band eq either.

I've started to look at used 535-24's and wonder if anyone has a rough serial# <--> year made table? Most ads on reverb do show the serial# on the back of hte headstock but don't list the year. I've gone thru the current and sold reverb ads and come up with the following:

#273 - mid-90s
#434 - 2000
#704 - 2001
#130? - 2006
#1387 - 2006
#1594 - 2007
#1754 - 2008

#2013 - 2010
#2960 - 2017
#3016 - 2017
#3102 - 2018
#3359 - 2020
#3450 - 2020
#3666 - 2023

so at least I can vaguely tell when a bass was made. The only real reason I take that into account is fret wear, and its tough to tell if a bass was a closet queen or played every day. Has anyone ever had to get a MTD neck refretted?

thx all!
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If you get the seller to send you a pic of the inside of the rear cavity, there’s usually a date in there

IMG_5463.jpeg
 
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#14,300
thumbslapper said:
All -

I'm looking for a 5 string and have convinced myself that nothing but a 535-24 will do - I bought a Kingston AG5 from 2017 that has a great feel - perfect spacing, length and neck, and is nice and light.. but i'm not a fan of the tone at all, it doesn't seem to cut thru at all, and i'm not crazy about the Bartolini pickups or 3 band eq either.

I've started to look at used 535-24's and wonder if anyone has a rough serial# <--> year made table? Most ads on reverb do show the serial# on the back of hte headstock but don't list the year. I've gone thru the current and sold reverb ads and come up with the following:

#273 - mid-90s
#434 - 2000
#704 - 2001
#130? - 2006
#1387 - 2006
#1594 - 2007
#1754 - 2008

#2013 - 2010
#2960 - 2017
#3016 - 2017
#3102 - 2018
#3359 - 2020
#3450 - 2020
#3666 - 2023

so at least I can vaguely tell when a bass was made. The only real reason I take that into account is fret wear, and its tough to tell if a bass was a closet queen or played every day. Has anyone ever had to get a MTD neck refretted?

thx all!
Click to expand...
Getting my Kingston AG5 re-fretted with the MTD Evo Gold wire was easily the best mod I ever did to that bass! If you have the 2+2 screw pickups, I recommend contacting David Daw at MTD Kingston and seeing if you can get the updated (2+1 screw) pickups. Those combined with the stock NTMB+F are very much the Gouche sound.
 
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