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What is this Tobias model?

Roy Vest

Roy Vest

Jun 11, 2019
68
55
Rustburg, Virginia
#1
IMG_6018.jpeg
 
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#6
Not a growler, and if it's a killer B the pickup routes have been widened for the EMGs. My first thought was the older MIK Toby models but I don't know if there was a bolt on. The MIK Toby pro had EMG40 sized pickups. Knob locations are unusual too. @Roy Vest do you own it? If not is it listed somewhere? Where?
 
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#7
Reedt2000 said:
Not a growler, and it it's a killer B the pickup routes have been widened for the EMGs. My first thought was the older MIK Toby models but I don't know if there was a bolt on. The MIK Toby pro had EMG40 sized pickups. Knob locations are unusual too. @Roy Vest do you own it? If not is it listed somewhere? Where?
Click to expand...

Odd for sure. It has the control layout of a first generation Growler, minus the two mid switches. The headstock face is black much like a version of the Growler, but the logo was silk screened on those.

*** It's a Tobias that was built by Pedulla (I believe these were only made for a short time before the Gibson purchase). I knew they had made neck thru models but maybe this was made around the time of the Killer B model. Definitely the same logo on the headstock, same control layout too.

I will say that the pickup positions look different, but this is the closest of any Tobias model that I have seen.
img_0245-jpg.3534071


This pic came from the TB classifieds:
SOLD - Tobias Model T 5 made by Pedulla

In either case it looks like a nice instrument.
 
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#12
I highly doubt it's a Growler, Gibson used poly on their painted Tobias basses, They would throw bodies away rather than deal with trying to remove that stuff. The 5 piece laminated neck is a Killer B item, It may be a KIller B prototpe.

Again, The headstock inlay/logo (it's actually a very thin pearl venner that is overlaid onto the peghead face) and the control layout are clearly Pedulla era.

The Pedulla basses that had the peghead adjustment at the headstock were neck through.
 
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#14
Reedt2000 said:
Not a growler, and it it's a killer B the pickup routes have been widened for the EMGs. My first thought was the older MIK Toby models but I don't know if there was a bolt on. The MIK Toby pro had EMG40 sized pickups. Knob locations are unusual too. @Roy Vest do you own it? If not is it listed somewhere? Where?
Click to expand...
The Toby Deluxe was bolt on and had jazz size pickups. I owned one. There's another post with someone that modified one with soap bars. I don't recall them selling in that body color though. It could have been painted over. I do think it's a 'real' Tobias due the name being printed on the bottom of the neck. Just not sure of what model.
 
#15
DWBass said:
The Toby Deluxe was bolt on and had jazz size pickups. I owned one. There's another post with someone that modified one with soap bars. I don't recall them selling in that body color though. It could have been painted over. I do think it's a 'real' Tobias due the name being printed on the bottom of the neck. Just not sure of what model.
Click to expand...

The Toby Deluxe was imported.
 
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#16
Very curious! I came across this exact bass on ebay back in December, 2008 when I was first looking for a fretless bass. Not knowing anything about Tobias basses at the time, I opened a thread about it, simply to find out if someone could tell me if Tobias necks were similar to my Pedulla.

Well - the same discussion took over, with everyone trying to figure out what the heck it was: Killer B or Growler? Knowledgeable people were saying, neither Killer B's or Growlers came in this color, with that hardware, those pickups, etc.

As the thread shows (post 14) I eventually emailed Gibson about it, and the reply came back that it was a 1996 custom order, and as such they had no further specs on it. That explained all the head-scratching on the thread:

So - being a custom, I suppose anything goes, and indeed did it: The color, the wood (see attached pic below from the 2008 ebay auction where it appears to be quilted maple under the finish), the electronics and bridge.

The bridge – now here's one for the books. It's actually what Pedulla used for the Thunderbass and MVP. It's the same one on my two 19mm Pedulla Thunderbasses. I would expect the original buyer supplied it to the factory.

The EMGs are wider (front to back) than the stock Barts, and the Schaller bridge is a bit longer than the stock Killer B bridge. Those two things probably combine to account for the pickup being right up against the bridge. In both cases, the center screws for the pickup are dead-parallel to the volume knob. IOW, the pickup locations are basically the same as the stock Killer B.

IMO there are two possibilities: Based on the knobs, it's a Growler with a Killer B neck. Or a full Killer B, but they just didn't drill for the 5th knob.

In any event, the Reverb seller is the one who bought it from ebay in 2009, as he says he's had it for 14 years.

History shows I made a fatal error in not picking up that one back then. I eventually spent more than twice as much for a second Thunderbass that I had converted to fretless. And then getting it re-fretted a few months ago because I eventually decided I liked that one better than my first one. Yikes.

body front view.JPG


Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Pedulla Club #45 Unique Arrangements of Hymns, P&W Standards, and Original Tunes
Administrator, Official Tobias Club #133
Administrator, Fretless Club #943
Big Cabs Club #23
My Basses
My Rig: Stage and FOH Friendly
I opened a thread about it
 
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#17
WayneP said:
Very curious! I came across this exact bass on ebay back in December, 2008 when I was first looking for a fretless bass. Not knowing anything about Tobias basses at the time, I opened a thread about it, simply to find out if someone could tell me if Tobias necks were similar to my Pedulla.

Well - the same discussion took over, with everyone trying to figure out what the heck it was: Killer B or Growler? Knowledgeable people were saying, neither Killer B's or Growlers came in this color, with that hardware, those pickups, etc.

As the thread shows (post 14) I eventually emailed Gibson about it, and the reply came back that it was a 1996 custom order, and as such they had no further specs on it. That explained all the head-scratching on the thread:

So - being a custom, I suppose anything goes, and indeed did it: The color, the wood (see attached pic below from the 2008 ebay auction where it appears to be quilted maple under the finish), the electronics and bridge.

The bridge – now here's one for the books. It's actually what Pedulla used for the Thunderbass and MVP. It's the same one on my two 19mm Pedulla Thunderbasses. I would expect the original buyer supplied it to the factory.

The EMGs are wider (front to back) than the stock Barts, and the Schaller bridge is a bit longer than the stock Killer B bridge. Those two things probably combine to account for the pickup being right up against the bridge. In both cases, the center screws for the pickup are dead-parallel to the volume knob. IOW, the pickup locations are basically the same as the stock Killer B.

IMO there are two possibilities: Based on the knobs, it's a Growler with a Killer B neck. Or a full Killer B, but they just didn't drill for the 5th knob.

In any event, the Reverb seller is the one who bought it from ebay in 2009, as he says he's had it for 14 years.

History shows I made a fatal error in not picking up that one back then. I eventually spent more than twice as much for a second Thunderbass that I had converted to fretless. And then getting it re-fretted a few months ago because I eventually decided I liked that one better than my first one. Yikes.

View attachment 5177026

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Pedulla Club #45 Unique Arrangements of Hymns, P&W Standards, and Original Tunes
Administrator, Official Tobias Club #133
Administrator, Fretless Club #943
Big Cabs Club #23
My Basses
My Rig: Stage and FOH Friendly
I opened a thread about it
Click to expand...
Very cool :thumbsup:

And if that's the case the price is decent.
 
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#18
I contacted the seller on Reverb, and the bass weighs 10.5 lbs. That, plus the apparent quilt wood and 5-piece neck, pretty much confirms that it's a custom Killer B, not Growler. Perusing the Talkbass Growler classifieds ads, the Growler had no wood options – only came as swamp ash, and typically weighs about 8.5 lbs.

Probably the only actual Growler piece it has is the truss rod cover with Tobias lettering. That seems to have come only on the 1990s Growler, not Killer B – again, from what I can find in the TB classifieds. But it would be an easy after-the-fact addition, or – again – probably could have been specified on a custom order.

Seller made me an offer I couldn't refuse, so it's headed to Corpus Christi!

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Pedulla Club #45 Unique Arrangements of Hymns, P&W Standards, and Original Tunes
Administrator, Official Tobias Club #133
Administrator, Fretless Club #943
Big Cabs Club #23
My Basses
My Rig: Stage and FOH Friendly
Pedulla Club #45
 
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