The Official MTD USA Thread

[red_rhino]

Did anyone here struggle to find or manipulate their tone/sound to their liking? Or maybe realized that the MTD sound wasn't for them?

As others have mentioned, sometimes you gotta take the tone stack to what you think are "extremes" to dial in your sound. Every MTD I've owned has been somewhat unique in terms of its tonal voice, but there's only been one I knew was not for me the instant I played it; a Norm Stockton signature. All the others sounded great, and I have a little bit of regret for each one I've sold.

Even the pre-Gibson Tobias instruments were a bit like that. The TCT preamp is capable of some extreme settings and the individual controls interact, thus finding your sound takes some experimentation.

 

[Nuage420]

If the Super pickups were in the traditional location do you think the tone would have been more to your liking?

Absolutely. There was plenty of great tones but my go-to is the solo neck and the pickup location simply didn't cut it. I have thought about if I could do it again I would be happy with even a single coil added above the two that I could flip on with a switch.

 

[DrGroovenstein]

The super is pretty extreme pickup location. I know it would never work for me. The 535s and 534 I have owned have been excellent - no regrets just stupidity in selling. I will get another 534. I've also had a Saratoga and a Norm Stockton, I thought they played great but wasn't into the tone as much as I would have expected. The Saratoga had an Ash neck and I think that was just too harsh for me but I don't think I was willing back then to go to the extremes of the EQ. I think if I had it today, I'd probably love it. The Norm Stockton just didn't do it for me. Beautiful instrument, however.

 

[JCMuziq14]

I haven't played many basses but the moment I plugged it in and heard it, I knew it was something special, by far, at least for me. Even unplugged the bass sounds great to me. I guess I just have to spend more time messing with the preamp.

 

[bass12]

I haven't played many basses but the moment I plugged it in and heard it, I knew it was something special, by far, at least for me. Even unplugged the bass sounds great to me. I guess I just have to spend more time messing with the preamp.

What is it about the sound that you aren’t happy with? I have to say I’m not a fan of the idea of having to do a lot of EQing to get the basic sound I want out of a given bass.

 

[krfoss]

I found the bass a little bright for my tastes, so I turn the treble down nearly 80%. That’s where it’s at for me. I agree the MTD can handle extreme eq setting, and in some cases thrives in it.

 

[Jugghaid]

Yeah, the super pickup placement is going to give you a way different vibe. Had a valenti with a similar mid forward thing.

But my 535-24 is my favorite out of a LOT of nice high end basses. Both playability and tone. Just a perfect fit.

 

[Taustin Powers]

Yeah, the super pickup placement is going to give you a way different vibe. Had a valenti with a similar mid forward thing.

But my 535-24 is my favorite out of a LOT of nice high end basses. Both playability and tone. Just a perfect fit.

View attachment 5384120

You can never post too many pics of that bass!! Beautiful walnut top and BEM board.

 

[Taustin Powers]

I found that the Super pickups in traditional layout did not work for me. Not bad by any means - just not for me. I replaced them with the traditional pickups and preamp, and now I feel right at home!

 

[bucephylus]

I’m not exactly familiar with how Daniel views the tonal palette; but, Mike seems to favor articulation. My feeling is that the stock MTD / Tobias voicings are / were mostly useful in certain recording environments.

Most of my gigs are cover gigs, with a healthy dose of R&B and R&R. I have struggled with the stock Tobias / MTD sounds in many of those gigs; where the aspects of the sounds that appeal just disappear in the mix.

At one point, @tombowlus recommended that I try the Pope preamp; and that has made a world of difference. That preamp happily sits in my current MTD, which is monster. The sad part of the tale is that Mike very kindly worked with Mike Pope to do that build; but, neither of us understood the pickup shielding parts of the circuit. So, Mike never got to hear the glory. I only got that part after Mo Mina helped me out subsequent to the build.

One very minor side comment: I’m not too sure about the benefits of the BF tuning arrangement one way or the other (I DO have decent pitch discrimination); but, I absolutely ADORE the zero fret part of the build. First instrument I have ever had which tunes DOWN accurately without whiplash. At some point, its about the little things.

 

[acolwe]

I’m not exactly familiar with how Daniel views the tonal palette; but, Mike seems to favor articulation. My feeling is that the stock MTD / Tobias voicings are / were mostly useful in certain recording environments.

Most of my gigs are cover gigs, with a healthy dose of R&B and R&R. I have struggled with the stock Tobias / MTD sounds in many of those gigs; where the aspects of the sounds that appeal just disappear in the mix.

At one point, @tombowlus recommended that I try the Pope preamp; and that has made a world of difference. That preamp happily sits in my current MTD, which is monster. The sad part of the tale is that Mike very kindly worked with Mike Pope to do that build; but, neither of us understood the pickup shielding parts of the circuit. So, Mike never got to hear the glory. I only got that part after Mo Mina helped me out subsequent to the build.

View attachment 5384250

One very minor side comment: I’m not too sure about the benefits of the BF tuning arrangement one way or the other (I DO have decent pitch discrimination); but, I absolutely ADORE the zero fret part of the build. First instrument I have ever had which tunes DOWN accurately without whiplash. At some point, its about the little things.

I put blades and a Pope into my MTD 535 (now sadly sold), a great combo. After experimenting with the stock PUS/preamp, I found that the MTD preamp was the biggest factor in creating the hi-fi MTD sound IMO. The MTD PUs sounded very warm and ideal with the Pope preamp.

 

[bucephylus]

I put blades and a Pope into my MTD 535 (now sadly sold), a great combo. After experimenting with the stock PUS/preamp, I found that the MTD preamp was the biggest factor in creating the hi-fi MTD sound IMO. The MTD PUs sounded very warm and ideal with the Pope preamp.

The MTD pickups are spec from Bartolini. They are very nice pickups. They are also very well made, including being internally shielded - VERY expensive. The Zens, made by Carey Nordstrand, are more open sounding; which suits my gig needs. But the Zens are NOT internally shielded.

So, the pickup cavities using stock MTD pickups need not be shielded; and Mike doesn’t generally shield them. The Zens require cavity shielding. Without the cavity shielding, the Zens literally don’t work in the preamp circuit. It’s far more than just a “hum” issue. The lack of ground plane completely messes up the Pope preamp circuit. Anyhow, probably TMI / TL;DR.

 

[acolwe]

The MTD pickups are spec from Bartolini. They are very nice pickups. They are also very well made, including being internally shielded - VERY expensive. The Zens, made by Carey Nordstrand, are more open sounding; which suits my gig needs. But the Zens are NOT internally shielded.

So, the pickup cavities using stock MTD pickups need not be shielded; and Mike doesn’t generally shield them. The Zens require cavity shielding. Without the cavity shielding, the Zens literally don’t work in the preamp circuit. It’s far more than just a “hum” issue. The lack of ground plane completely messes up the Pope preamp circuit. Anyhow, probably TMI / TL;DR.

Interesting. Others mentioned this problem. For some reason, my blades worked just fine with the Pope and the MTD/Bart preamp without a hitch. No idea why there was no problem. But others have brought up your problem before.

 

[Jugghaid]

You can never post too many pics of that bass!! Beautiful walnut top and BEM board.

And you have its 4 string sibling.

 

[JCMuziq14]

What is it about the sound that you aren’t happy with? I have to say I’m not a fan of the idea of having to do a lot of EQing to get the basic sound I want out of a given bass.

like krfoss mentioned, I think it’s the brightness of it. I almost always have to cut the treble completely. Currently I feel like it gets lost in the mix a lot so I’m trying to learn how to dial in the mids. I’m not saying I don’t like it, I just have to learn how to adjust what the bass offers to what I’m trying to apply it to. Thanks for all the feedback guys.

 

[krfoss]

like krfoss mentioned, I think it’s the brightness of it. I almost always have to cut the treble completely. Currently I feel like it gets lost in the mix a lot so I’m trying to learn how to dial in the mids. I’m not saying I don’t like it, I just have to learn how to adjust what the bass offers to what I’m trying to apply it to. Thanks for all the feedback guys.

When I cut the highs, I sometimes bring in the low mids slightly. Play with cutting highs, maybe cutting lows a little, then playing with the various mid frequencies to cut back in.

 

[bass12]

like krfoss mentioned, I think it’s the brightness of it. I almost always have to cut the treble completely. Currently I feel like it gets lost in the mix a lot so I’m trying to learn how to dial in the mids. I’m not saying I don’t like it, I just have to learn how to adjust what the bass offers to what I’m trying to apply it to. Thanks for all the feedback guys.

I haven't experimented with it myself but you might try adjusting the trim pot found inside the control cavity and see how that affects the sound. Are you using steel strings? If you are then perhaps try some nickels?

 

[Nine-and-three-Quarters]

I'm reading where a lot of people are having issues with the preamps on their MTD's. I'm wondering if these are older model MTD's or the newer ones?

Years ago (maybe 10 yrs +) I custom ordered a 634 and although it was one of the best playing instruments I've ever owned, I sold it within 2 days of having it because the sound was sooooo thin. The thinnest I've ever heard on a bass.

I loved everything about the bass otherwise. Mike has always been a top-notch builder on par with Fodera and the rest of boutique builders. But the sound just absolutely got lost in the mix. This was a lot of my other bass player friends experience also, who once tried or owned an MTD.

They all just eventually ended up selling them or changing the preamp. At the time I didnt even think of changing the preamp, I had so many other instruments it was just in and out if I didnt like them.

Anyhow, recently I had a friend call to tell me that he'd ordered another MTD because they had tweeked their electronics and that they sounded absolutely great now. This made me think about how great they played and the craftsmanship so I recently ordered one from a dealer.

And Let me tell you, these instruments are a night and day difference than what I remember (sound wise). The preamp is very musical now with plenty of bass, mids, and treble that is not too harsh or thin sounding.

The build quality is still as I remembered but with a few upgrades like magnetic covers and new bridge. The MTD spec sheet that is included with the bass references these recently upgraded electronics also. I absolutely love the tone of these newer preamps!

 

[Combinator]

If you don't love the amplified sound of any bass, MTDs included, but you love the instrument and the way it makes you play - change the pickup coil architecture. Whatever you have now (in US MTDs' case, split offset J style pickups in a reverse P config), try a different pickup coil scenario, not just a different brand. Have split/singles? Try dual or quad coils. Have a short fat P-bass coil? Try a Jazz style tall, narrow coil. Have dual coils already, hardwired one way? Try both parallel and series to see if one is more appealing. It's not easy to change the positioning of pickups, so coil changes make the biggest difference in my experience. Related: preamp changes usually don't make much difference if you tend to stick close to the center detents (unless you're going from buffered to non-buffered inputs or vice versa).

I've found I very much like dual coils in my MTDs

 

[Nine-and-three-Quarters]

BTW: I may be putting my newly acquired Namm 30th Anniversary MTD 635 up on the market and ordering me the same in 634 now that I know how they sound. I can play 35" scale but I'm a 34" scale guy to the core. I wanted to make sure I really liked the bass before I custom ordered another one. If anyone is interested pm me. You'll definitely get a better deal than I got for a brand new bass. And this one is special!