MTD Michael Tobias Design 5 strings (2005 - Rare)

3'900.-

14.07.2026

1084, Carrouge VD

Très rare car manche entièrement en ébène.
Excellent état - comme neuve !

The MTD 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.

Other finishes are available upon request.

MTD Handmade American 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, makore has similar properties to mahogany, however it has more sparkle and presence.

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.

We have been using ash as a neck material and found it to be very similar to wenge in its focus but more open. We think it works best with a maple board.

ELECTRONICS

The pickups and active electronics are a proprietary design for MTD made by Bartolini Inc. which consist of a master volume and 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.

The EQ has 2 batteries and our new proprietary Bartolini/MTD preamp is +18 volts. It will debut at NAMM 2020, replacing the previous +/- 9 version while keeping the same voicing.

EQUALIZATION

MTD 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.

HARDWARE

Bridges and tuners are custom manufactured for MTD American Basses by Hipshot. All MTD Handmade Basses use the revolutionary Buzz Feiten Tuning System which enhances tuning dramatically, allowing the player greater freedom of expression.