The Official MTD USA Thread

[Benjamin Koshy]

So on a recent trip I saw this beauty sitting in a store and thought it was a very interesting combo for an MTD. Quilted maple top with a full gloss finish, maple body, wenge fingerboard and headstock, maple neck. This thing played like butter. I thought it was priced a bit high, but I don’t know if it’s a rare one with the full gloss top. What would be a good offer I could put in on it? Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks!
View attachment 5368680

The condition looks pretty good. Depending on the build year I'd say ~$3500-$4000... but this also depends on the seller and what their trade-in policy is like (some stores take in a bass for a certain percentage of how much they think they'll get when selling it for and as a result may be higher than the average used price).

 

[dangomez66]

So on a recent trip I saw this beauty sitting in a store and thought it was a very interesting combo for an MTD. Quilted maple top with a full gloss finish, maple body, wenge fingerboard and headstock, maple neck. This thing played like butter. I thought it was priced a bit high, but I don’t know if it’s a rare one with the full gloss top. What would be a good offer I could put in on it? Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks!
View attachment 5368680

Cool bass, rare gloss finish for an MTD. Which store did you see it for sale?

 

[GrooveDaddy]

So on a recent trip I saw this beauty sitting in a store and thought it was a very interesting combo for an MTD. Quilted maple top with a full gloss finish, maple body, wenge fingerboard and headstock, maple neck. This thing played like butter. I thought it was priced a bit high, but I don’t know if it’s a rare one with the full gloss top. What would be a good offer I could put in on it? Any thoughts or recommendations? Thanks!
View attachment 5368680

Odds are it was probably refinished by a previous owner (e.g. not by Mike/Daniel) ... makes it a little less authentic-y in the MTD community, but it probably still looks/plays killer.

 

[bass12]

I'm pretty sure Mike did make some gloss-finished 535s. A quick email or text could sort that out though (if no one on here knows for certain).

 

[bass12]

The condition looks pretty good. Depending on the build year I'd say ~$3500-$4000... but this also depends on the seller and what their trade-in policy is like (some stores take in a bass for a certain percentage of how much they think they'll get when selling it for and as a result may be higher than the average used price).

To me $3500 - $4000 sounds about right. I wouldn't expect to pay more than $4000 for a 535 from that period (and $4000 would be reserved for a truly unique 535, which I don't think the 535 in question is).

 

[Justin Keoni]

I'm pretty sure Mike did make some gloss-finished 535s. A quick email or text could sort that out though (if no one on here knows for certain).

Mike confirmed through some pictures that it’s an original gloss finish from his factory. Pretty neat to learn about and pretty amazing that he remembers every piece that he’s basically ever created.

 

[DrHooper]

Mike confirmed through some pictures that it’s an original gloss finish from his factory. Pretty neat to learn about and pretty amazing that he remembers every piece that he’s basically ever created.

When I went to pick up my 535 in 2013, I brought along my Killer B that I bought in 1992, just for show and tell. Mike popped the back cover off, and, pointing to the solid buss wire connecting the preamp buts together, told me it was one of the last ones built by him and his crew in the Gibson factory before he told Gibson to pound sand. I mentioned the only problems I had ever had were with the jack. He said they had one person whose only job was to check and reject the jacks. They'd sit at a desk with a box of jacks, and a 1/4" plug. Insert plug and turn it upside down. If it fell off, it failed.
Incidentally, if anyone knows of a better quality barrel jack, I'm all ears. I still play that Tobias almost daily. I'm on my fourth or fifth jack. Or should I just bore it out and replace it with what Mike is currently using?

 

[MattLplaysBass]

Dang... the chechen neck kinda' blows my mind... and that top? I thought there were issues with the pistachio ones before? Hopefully they're remedied, because this bass is GORGEOUS!!!

MTD 534-24: Pistachio top, Chechen Neck, Birdseye Maple fingerboard – FretSpot.com



I'm quite happy with mine, but it does seem a bit "regular" compared to some of these NAMM ones...

 

[bassgrackle]

Dang... the chechen neck kinda' blows my mind... and that top? I thought there were issues with the pistachio ones before? Hopefully they're remedied, because this bass is GORGEOUS!!!

MTD 534-24: Pistachio top, Chechen Neck, Birdseye Maple fingerboard – FretSpot.com

View attachment 5370807 View attachment 5370808

I'm quite happy with mine, but it does seem a bit "regular" compared to some of these NAMM ones...

View attachment 5370811

Pistachio was an issue for finger boards. They make great body tops.

 

[Benjamin Koshy]

Dang... the chechen neck kinda' blows my mind... and that top? I thought there were issues with the pistachio ones before? Hopefully they're remedied, because this bass is GORGEOUS!!!

MTD 534-24: Pistachio top, Chechen Neck, Birdseye Maple fingerboard – FretSpot.com

View attachment 5370807 View attachment 5370808

I'm quite happy with mine, but it does seem a bit "regular" compared to some of these NAMM ones...

View attachment 5370811

That regular-looking MTD of yours is a beauty!

 

[MattLplaysBass]

That regular-looking MTD of yours is a beauty!

Thanks- it really is. But they really pull out all the stops for the NAMM basses…

 

[Combinator]

This was kind of a fun, interesting idea I've had for a while, and one that definitely warrants further exploration. Using a capo on my Kingston Super 5 and making just minor action adjustments, I played the same riff to compare effective scale lengths of roughly 35", 33", about 31", and about 29.5".

I made the conscious choice to stick to fingerstyle playing and using longer notes (along with a faster passage) across all 5 strings to try to highlight the variations in timbre as much as possible.

Surprisingly, to my ears - and headphones/speakers are definitely necessary to really pick out the differences - there isn't as much tonal change as I expected; there was considerable difference in feel though, that's for sure. And comparing the two extremes of lengths certainly sounds different. I did slap right at the end at 29.5", and that sounded weird, haha! String bends at that length can exceed like a perfect 4th though, so that's fun. Getting close to baritone guitar territory there.

One thing I noticed that now seems kinda obvious: if the pickups aren't moved backwards with shorter scale lengths, they're effectively moved forwards. That might make the most noticeable timbral change. Maybe? You tell me.

 

[MattLplaysBass]

Dang, this bass is already for sale used at GC…



[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[Nuage420]

Dang, this bass is already for sale used at GC…



[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Yeah it's a weird one with that finish. I was intrigued when I first saw it

 

[MattLplaysBass]

Yeah it's a weird one with that finish. I was intrigued when I first saw it

Probably looks great under stage lights... or a black light. Only play at cosmic bowls

 

[scubaduba]

I've seen it posted before that Mike recommends setting the rear pickup at 3/16" below the B string when pressing down the string at the 24th fret. I believe that's what I read anyway.

Does anybody set their pickups closer than that?

 

[Benko]

Dang, this bass is already for sale used at GC…



[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Woooh I absolutely lusted for this one when it came in their instagram feed...to know that it has been offloaded to GC for 60% of that sales price is a bit unsettling (now it's over budget unfortunately)

 

[g4string]

So I’m interested in a 535 on reverb. It has a tulip wood body. But for some reason, I just can’t get over the general idea of poplar (aka tulip wood) being a low budget piece of wood and have yet to pull the trigger. I guess maybe it’s too many trip to the homie depot. I dunno. Either way, I just view poplar as a soft, non dense soft wood, rapidly farmed to meet the needs of consumers.

So there has to be something different about Mikes poplar. Is it a dense hardwood? Do you view this as a cheaper alternative to ash or alder? How does it sound compared to ash or alder?

I have an ash bodied crotch maple topped 535 with an amazing BEM fretboard. The neck profile seems a little thicker than my last 535 so I’m not 100% I’m keeping. With that in mind, this poplar bodied 535 has my interest piqued. But again, the poplar stigma has kept me from pulling the trigger. I could use y’all’s help here.

 

[Nolan Tremblay]

My opinion on poplar is that this is simply a bias. It is plentiful and inexpensive, but honestly Maple absolutely fits into the same category, but few question its use for bass necks. Ash is very inexpensive as well. The reputation of Mr. Tobias’s instruments is one of the very best in the industry and if he believes and has the experience to say that poplar works well in his MTD basses for all of the reasons that it would need to, then I would 100% trust that.

I also suspect that he is making a selection of lumber with a different standard of quality than what appears at a home improvement store.

 

[DGbass70]

Please excuse my ignorance in this matter and I’m sorry if it has been asked before. Are the strap buttons (Dunlop?) on the MTD compatible with strap locks and if so which model? I have not seen or use a strap lock in decades so I’m clueless and the reason that I ask is because I bought a new strap for my bass and it was really painful to get it on the strap buttons and after I used it looks like one of the strap buttons became loose.
I tightened the strap button but I was wondering if I should just add the strap locks.
Thanks in advance for your input. Loving my 535 so far.