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Hellzero

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Everything posted by Hellzero

  1. Hellzero
    It's not a pre Gibson series as the first Gibson serial number is 1094... Check this from Michael Tobias himself : "After several attempts to move the business to larger, better equipped facilities, I sold Tobias Guitars to Gibson on 1/1/90. The first Tobias Gibson serial number was 1094. At that point, Gibson was instrumental in moving us to a bigger shop in Burbank and setting us up with a great spray booth and dust collection system. We finally met So. Cal safety codes. Basses built during the 1990-1992 era were built initially by the same crew that had helped establish Tobias Basses as one of the most sought after basses on the planet. We added several people during 1990, and ended up with a great ten-man shop. Business was still very good. We were not able to make anywhere near enough basses to fill the orders. Instead of trying to jack up production, we tried to get outside vendors to build for us. We had 110 Model T basses made for us by a very fine builder in New England, and then we got the Terada factory in Nagoya, Japan to make the Standard bass for us. This was and is a great bass, but the dollar-to-yen ratio killed the project. There were about 400 Standards. Late in 1992, it was decided that in best corporate interests Tobias Guitars would move to Nashville. After much deliberation, no one from the original Tobias Guitars crew went to Nashville. The final LA Tobias/Gibson serial number is 2044. Despite Gibson's ownership of Tobias, all of the basses made up to 2044 were built by my regular crew. We also built about 60 basses that were not numbered or finished by us. Those would be the first production from Tobias/Nashville. I left the company in December of 1992, and was a consultant for Gibson as they set up operations in Nashville. They had some trouble at first, but have since done a fairly good job making Tobias basses." To be complete, this is also important : By contractual agreement, Michael's consulting agreement with Gibson had a one year non competition term. That ended in December of 1993.
  2. Hellzero
    I've been buying my first headless 34 years ago and since then have been owning and playing hundreds, really, of headless basses. I never had a problem with the clamping system as long as you cut the strings after clamping them with the needed pressure of the hex screw. I've put some White Nylon's on my Leduc U-Basse 4 fretless and simply noticed that the G string needed more screw pressure when clamped. After that it was staying in tune perfectly and I could detune it and retune it without any problem. Before that, some headless fretless basses have had Black Nylon's without any issue at all, even my sixers. Check your clamping screw, the clamping side must be slightly flat rounded (slightly flat ball shaped to match the pressing point) without any asperity that could cut the string. If you have this kind of hex screws, you are in big problem, so round them much flatter and it will be fine :
  3. Hellzero
    🤣
  4. Hellzero
    Sadly yes... No packaging means no insurance.
  5. Hellzero
    This is what happens when you drill in the dark and fit the tuners when drunk. Or maybe it's a new MDP prototype ?
  6. Hellzero
    The mighty 80's best ever cover band. ... I think people will know what it is.
  7. Hellzero
    Paris Midi or Vienna Midi are perfect 80's tribute band names.
  8. Hellzero
    Yes it is.
  9. Hellzero
    One finger keyboard.
  10. Hellzero
    Nice name for an 80's tribute band. You should suggest it. 😉 I'm kidding.
  11. Hellzero
    Already proposed before. 😉
  12. Hellzero
    Small County.
  13. Hellzero
    Don't Panic.
  14. Hellzero
    Nail Varnish.
  15. Hellzero
    Dx7.
  16. Hellzero
    Simple Ballet.
  17. Hellzero
    A Flock of Snowflakes.
  18. Hellzero
    They indeed offer the exact same full 30 days satisfaction warranty for U.K. customers, so you have nothing to pay for the return. Their lawyers are true donkeys, as U.K. is outside EEC, a simple sentence would void that free return warranty. 🤦‍♂️
  19. Hellzero
    What would be very interesting too is the basses these strings were fitted to. I've also tried almost every strings on the market and have noticed that excellent strings simply reveal the real character of a bass, so a dull bass will sound dull and a dynamic bass will sound dynamic, and so on. There's also another relationship that your tests seem to confirm, but that many refuse to admit, but let's wait for your basses list.
  20. Hellzero
    Ask for photos...
  21. Hellzero
    If you need the cut, yes, than go for the OBP-2 which is a bit more aggressive, simply due to the faster trace of cut/boost, so a bit more feathered settings are required. 😉
  22. Hellzero
    The BTB 575 is an old model from around 2010 that has been quickly replaced by the BTB 675. If there's an N in the denomination, it's certainly an NTF model, which simply means a natural finish. https://thebassgallery.com/products/ibanez-btb-575-mfm https://www.musicstore.com/en_OT/EUR/Ibanez-BTB-675-NTF-Natural-Flat/art-BAS0003145-000 2009 Ibanez Catalogue, BTB series :
  23. Hellzero
    Do you ever cut your EQ or only boost it ? If you only boost it, than go for the best ever Aguilar, the OBP-1, and it's a FET transistors preamp, which are way more musical. You'll also have the option of a passive path with a tone control. Best of both worlds.
  24. Hellzero
    Thanks for all the information. Here's a photo of the back of this bass, looks like an Energy with some added features, no ?
  25. Hellzero
    Excellent work and beautifully looking fretless bass. Congratulations !
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