gerryk

I've just last month bought an MTD 535 in Amp Shop LA. I have several other basses (lakland US5, Skyline 5 fretless, 1980 MM and couple of good JBs plus Warwick Thumb 5) and this is a beautiful instrument. A little while back a friend asked me to check out a preamp problem he was having with his MTD 535. I was knocked out by the playability of the bass, and it kept niggling at me, so when I spotted this particular config (see below) i had to go for it! It's really light, well balanced and great to play, though I do like long scale and wide string spacing. The sound is very flexible; I particularly like the mid frequency center selection switch on the MTD, as opposed to the dip-switch method used by Lakland, as it makes for quick dial-up of many different sounds, though in reality I'll only ever really want 2 or 3 max. MTDs have a reputation for tending towards thinner lighter sound, but I used it through an ancient Peavey MKIII bass top and EBS 112, and it was great, though I did have bass up high and mid freq. at lowest freq. setting (250 Hz), slightly boosted. When it arrived, the action was ridiculously low - thought I'd got a Strat! - so i've been toying around with action/neck relief for best combination. There was one odd problem: I found that playing a tritone at 10/11 frets on A/D strings created nut-side buzz - that's why I chose to slacken neck before adjusting action. Seems to have settled now, and can't wait to take it out next week! The MTD is essentially a big sounding bass with ample ability to add barking mids or old school rumble. MT puts a lot of stock into keeping the electronics transparent, allowing wood characteristics to dictate sound voice. The Lakland US is possibly even bigger sounding, and is a heavier instrument, both in weight and size: the US neck is bigger, though still great to play, and dead spot free (honestly!), the first instrument I've owned to boast that. Recorded it's huge; truly a safe bet if you only bring a single bass to studio. it's too soon yet to say about the MTD, but so far so good. There are some really great feature vids on Youtube showing Mike talking in his workshop. Having played 2 of these basses, I can rate them extremely highly, for playability, sound, and excellent finish. Pics added, note truss rod cover (it's matching wood finish!) off while tweaking. Alder body, Rosewood fingerboard, spalted mango top. Sorry about dodgy pics. [attachment=44726:MTD_Front.jpg] [attachment=44727:MTD_Front_CU.jpg] [attachment=44725:MTD_back_CU.jpg]

[quote name='gcordez' post='759706' date='Feb 28 2010, 12:43 PM']How you getting on with the Oliv D? I love the G, but some people say the D is a bit thumpy and indistinct. I went for the Eudoxa D instead but remain curious about the Oliv.[/quote] Funny enough, I prefer the D to G, especially bowed. I have fond that this spell of rather extreme weather has led to the strings being wildly sharp when i pick up the bass, but they are quite stable once tuned. I saw on the shop website that they recommend not "overtuning" them to stretch them when first fitted new, this may be reason some have found D thumpy??? How is the Eudoxa working out?

Hi Geoff I have a lovely Bryant orchestral model. I can highly recommend these basses. A friend of mine who works with orchestras a lot, as well as swing bands and various other genres put me on to them - he has 2 of them, and other bassists in the orchestras rate the Bryant well above the price - nearer three times in fact! That having been said, I recently brought my bass to a guy in Galway (yeah I know, a bit of a treck for yourself) for repair, and he loaned me a Chinese bass priced at €1800 to use while I waited on mine to be done. The bass blew me away, and I almost decided to buy it for gigging situations where I wouldn't want to put Bryant in the firing line!. He sets them up himself, and really gets every last ounce of quality out of the instrument, with excellent playability that really left the Bryant feeling like a monster after getting used to the silky action on the Chinese one. The Bryant is optimised for arco, with highish action and no adjustable bridge, and to be honest, the bow showed the shortcomings of the Chinese one compared to the Bryant. In any event, I'm really suggesting that you check out some of these cheaper basses, as they can surprise. If you're interested in contacting the luthier I refer to, I can send you on contact info. His name is Tom Barrett, and he only spends 6 months in Ireland before returning to States each year (in may I think). he likes to clear his stock before returning, so you might get a good deal in April... Cheers, and happy hunting, GerryK

Hi Steve, These songs are not really difficult if you have time to listen and get them "under your hands". Since you don't have time, you should probably try to get say 2 of them off pretty good. This will show the guys what you can do, given a little time. I'd be up front about the songs I don't know; blagging through can give a bad impression. Best to come clean on what you've been able to cover in time. Walking on Sunshine is very simple and repetitive, so too is Let's stick together, which has a really great groove, so could be a good choice to impress them without wrecking your head trying to remember convoluted arrangements (several bands I've played with did Sweet Child in the most odd keys for sake of the singers, and I had to transpose the intro melody on the fly!!! ) One other easily overlooked thing is to focus and concentrate on what you're playing and not on the people watching you - this greatly helps to steady any nerves. Focus on the drummer, and try to lock on to his feel - they all have their own subtleties and own take on songs, especially if they've been playing them a long time in a band. If you're playing a song bassline verbatim off the record, but the other four guys are doing something different that it doesn't fit with, they're right, even though they're wrong! All above IMHO! Best of look, most of all, have fun, Gerryk.

I'm using Pirastro Olives on D & G, Obligato on A & E. I really like them, they've transformed the sound of my Bryant bass, even with the bow, their very nice, though it took some time to adjust to the different feel and response. I chose this combination in exasperation, after reading tons of stuff and talking to guys about it. I rarely succumb to marketing bumf, but I love love Patitucci's sound, and he claims to use this string combo on his site. I bit the bullet and dipped into my credit card ($220 odd from Quinn Violins). Tuning pretty steady.

I started about 4 yrs ago, thinking I could handle the transition from electric (playing over 30 yrs!), after all, it's exactly the same, only a bit bigger right??? I quickly realised, after experiencing similar fatigue/soreness issues to yourself, that I must be doing something wrong. First I got a great bass book, Rufus Reid's "The Evolving Bassist". This is a powerhouse of great tips for posture, hand position, technique etc. One very crucial thing he says is that the weight of the bass should be balanced against your body - in fact, ideally you should be able to take your hands away without the bass falling - so that your thumb is free to move lightly up and down the neck, without taking the weight of the bass. I found it particularly hard to come to terms with the 1 2 4 fingering technique coming from electric, but it's the tried and tested way to develop good reliable intonation and mobility on this large instrument. Another very good free source of info is a guy called Bassius on Youtube. Simple no-nonsense tips from a good player with good tone. All that said, I still found the services of experienced players invaluable. A single "point me in the right direction" lesson from a great older bassist called Dave Fleming (who played for many years with jazz guitarist Louis Stewart), made a huge difference, because no matter how good the material online or in books is, you absolutely need a teacher to watch you and correct the things you cannot see for yourself. By the way, I recently started taking arco lessons from an orchestral virtuoso, and two pivotal things he gave me were; 1. practice in front of a large mirror, to watch what you're doing almost with the perspective of a teacher; 2. A good bow grip is the basis of good arco sound - he actually marked the points on my fingers where I should be applying grip to the frog of the bow. Also, "a little and often" is a great guide to practice regime - I found out the hard way that overdoing it can lead to painful blisters on left hand fingers! Conversely, for various reasons from time to time I might miss out on practice for several days, and coming back I would find that my intonation was very bad, my fingers tender etc. So much of playing upright is muscle training. If you only pick it up for 10 minutes every day, you're reinforcing habits that you want to make 2nd nature. The other comments about left hand position and bass height I totally agree with, and the most frequent point made about getting a good teacher is paramount imho. Hope that rant is of some benefit, have fun!

Hi BassBus, That's a great collection of basses - I thought I had a lot of basses! How do you find the NS EUB? I nearly went for one, but ended up getting Messenger EUB (http://www.messengerbass.com/) from a luthier in the US. Beautiful instrument, but no real substitute for an acoustic upright. Thanks for the bump by the way. Gerryk.