|
MTD
American Handmade Basses
American
basses are available in 4 (MTD435), 5 (MTD535), 6 (MTD635), and 7
(MTD735-24) string configurations. These basses all have 35"
scale bolt-on necks, with 21 fret (plus 0 fret) standard on the 4, 5
and 6 string models, 24 frets optional, 24 frets standard on
MTD735-24. Standard necks are maple with a rosewood fingerboard. Ash
necks are available at no extra charge. Optional fingerboards are
Honduran rosewood, maple, zirocote, ebony and Rose of the Mountain
have an additional upcharge. Wood body choices are medium weight ash,
domestic tulip wood (aka eastern yellow poplar), alder, or mahogany.
The necks and
bodies are available in a variety of combinations. The most popular are:
Other
combinations are available upon request. The standard finish is a
catalyzed acrylic urethane satin that looks and feels a lot like oil
but is many times harder without building great thickness. This
allows the bass to breathe, sounding more wooden. There are other
options listed on the price list.
The bodies and
necks are ergonomically carved to allow comfortable access to the
extended scale bass. In general, ash (medium weight) has more growl
and is more aggressive, poplar bodies have more punch, mahogany is
more piano like with a slightly darker overall voice. Alder makes a
very warm, big sounding, punchy bass, slightly compressed.
Adding a top
helps to focus the low end. A hard top tends to create a quicker
response with more bite and definition while a soft top will tend to
round out the voice.
A wenge neck
and board add compression and focus to the speaking voice of the
bass. A maple neck and rosewood board is more open and slightly
warmer than a maple neck and maple board. Ebony on maple is very
quick in its response with lots of snap. I have been trying ash as a
neck material and found it to be leaning towards wenge but more open.
The pickups
and active electronics are a proprietary design for MTD made by Bill
Bartolini.
The controls are: master volume and a pan pot, treble, mid, bass cut
and boost, with center click (from neck to bridge). The three
position switch selects the mid range cut and boost point. Down is
lower mids, center is middle and up is upper mids. When the mid pot
is at center click, the switch has minimal effect. This EQ has 2
batteries and is a +/- 9 volt system.
-
There is great
variety in the settings of the EQ. The basses can be made to sound
very traditional by cutting the mids all the way at 1000 (switch in
top position), and boosting the bass and treble to 10 with the blend
pot at center. This offers a great slap tone. Boosting the mids at
250 ( switch in lower position), with bass at 10 and treble at 9-10
with the blend pot on the bridge pick up gives the early Bartolini
TCT tone. This offers a very percussive finger tone. These are just
suggestions. The tone will vary depending on the rig and technique used.
Bridges and
tuners are custom manufactured for MTD and the American model by Hipshot.
MTD uses the Buzz
Feiten
Tuning System for all hand made US basses This revolutionary tuning
system enhances tuning dramatically, allowing the player greater
freedom of expression The available, new Korg DT-7 tuner makes using
the BFTS a snap. While the DT-7 is required for setting intonation,
any standard tuner can be used to tune the instrument. Check this
link to Buzz Feiten's website for helpful tuning tips with the DT-7
and the Buzz Feiten tuning system. |
