lemmywinks

2 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

Looks like the 5’s don’t have a Babicz 🤔

They do, it's a Z series so looks different to the regular Babicz bridge.

1 minute ago, AndyTravis said:

But if you want a Tobias…and that’s what a Tobias now costs…are you being fleeced as such?

 

If that’s what @joel406 wants - I for one am happy for him; I’m sure it’s a considered purchase.

 

I also think the Tobias looks a damn sight nicer than any equivalent Cort.

 

And that’s a deciding factor too - albeit a personal one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tobias Classic is one of the ATG bass designs ever for me, it's fantastic that they're back and looking as good as they do regardless of who's building them. Given that they were always an odd acquisition for Gibson who never really knew what to do with the brand it's surprising they're being produced at all tbh.

29 minutes ago, joel406 said:

Looks like the Cort has different electronics than the Toby. Different body, neck and fret board woods as well. Plus, I'm sure being made by Gibson license adds a tick.

Yeah it has the licensed Bart Mk pups and pre which aren't great which is why I allowed an extra £500 for the Tobias' USA Bart setup.

 I don't think the wood makes much difference to overall cost, the Space series use maple/purpleheart/walnut and it doesn't really add a premium so the Gibson tax does seem to be around £500.

No idea if that Babicz bridge is an in-house licensed part or a USA Z series, they aren't cheap though. The A5 has (assume licensed) Hipshot tuners and bridge so basically equivalent hardware spec anyway.

38 minutes ago, Schnozzalee said:

I'm not an MM pickup guy, so I don't know about alternatives for that model, but there's better double soapbars for £1200.

 

That's just a Cort A4/A5/A6 and you're getting rogered for twice the price.

Cort A5 coming in at around £800, Thomann have the Tobias Classic V at £1.8k so allowing £500 for the (not inconsiderable) spec upgrade it does look like you're paying £500 extra to Gibson.

That trans black model though:

Had exactly the same issue and sold the 32" scale bass I briefly had, could never get used to it.

I can go between 35", 34" and right down to 24.75" and just play normally, I sometimes play my daughter's 30" bass and am fine on that but 32" just completely threw me. Just felt weird.

There's a Warwick Gnome iPro on FB Marketplace for £110 right now, that's the 280w version of the Gnome micro head. Slightly bigger but more powerful.

@SimonK we need a shot of all your TE gear in one place, if your back can handle moving them all on the same day that is.

It's a shame Markbass stopped integrating a kickback feature in their cabs, both the Standard and Club series could be angled back.

Try their FB page, they seem to respond to that more reliably.

Bugera Veyron BV1001T might be up your street:

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Bugera-Veyron-BV1001T-2000W-Bass-Amp-Head/1WNW

Actual power rating is around 700w or something like that.

17 minutes ago, crazycloud said:

Are these US made, and identical to the originals, or just a 'shape' and 'name' (and ugly headstock) cobbled together by Cor-Tek in Indo*?

Based on Gibson's history, it's far more likely the latter than the former, but I could be wrong. We'll see.

 

* Far from knocking Cort, as I have 2 recent Cort basses, and multiple Ibanez BTB and SRs they made and they're excellent.

Looks like Indonesian built but with US Bart pickups and pre. Given the use of Paulownia body wings (maple neck/core) and a Babicz bridge I'd lean towards Cort making them, my current main bass has Paulownia wings and the same bridge. Tbh I'd rather Cort made them than Gibson buggering things up.

The original Tobias company was bought by Gibson many moons ago, the original team carried on building for a short while post buyout (with a Korean import line, dunno who built those but they were well put together) then after that the general consensus is that quality dropped off and the brand disappeared. They were brought back for some super cheap (but perfectly decent) import basses a while ago which bore a superficial resemblance to the original design, think they have the asymmetrical necks as well.

Mike Tobias has been making basses under the MTD (Michael Tobias Design) brand for a while now, super high end USA built instruments with matching price tags and a top quality import line (originally Korean, now Chinese) which you can pick up used for around £600.

So these are basically the shape and name with no connection to the original company but do retain some design elements like the neck profile (assuming it's the same) and the use of Barts.

38 minutes ago, crazycloud said:

I have no nostalgia for the original Tobias basses, so I'm not seeing the attraction with these.

I do, an original USA Tobias is one of the basses I used to lust after when I was starting out. They're big money now, really regret not buying one in a full touring case for well under £2k when I had the chance.

Mike Tobias basses usually all have asymmetrical necks which feel great, hopefully whoever Gibson is contracting to build these does them justice.

2 minutes ago, itu said:

I like top loaders, no matter the weight. And a bridge does not have to be heavy in weight as long as it is rigid and relatively easy to adjust.

Gotoh 404BO is my favourite bridge, all the features you want without any extra fuss and doesn't look out of place on any bass.

Mainly about looks for me. If I have an old looking J/P then a BBOT is fine, totally suits the bass. If I have a more modern looking bass (Fender shaped or otherwise) with fancy pickups and woods then I want a chunky, well designed bridge on there.

Even on most of my more traditional basses I've had a standard Fender style bridge but with a solid block at the back like a Gotoh 201B.

I always thought Badass bridges were pretty ugly though, plenty of nicer high mass designs out there.

Bargain that, I have one of these and love it.

I love Tobias basses but they're long gone as an entity, this is just a shape that Gibson owns. if I wanted a cheaper version I'd keep an eye out for a used Korean Toby Pro from back in the day and stick some high end electronics in there, or just get a K series MTD which is the real budget Tobias.

These do look nice though, it's such a killer shape.

This is £400 if anybody is in Edinburgh and wants to save some £

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/684422607244565/

My mate has just won another prize in the instant win thing, 50p website credit. We're going out later to celebrate.

That's his 4th or 5th win so far.

Do you have a pic of the rod they used? Might help other folk if the owner of the company is being difficult about repairs/replacements.

24 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

The better ones tell you how many tickets so you can see the do something like sell £1000 of tickets for a £500 guitar. The odds are then reasonable.

My mate only ever goes for the low ticket numbers where the tickets are reasonably priced rather than going for items he really wants. He does use the Marshall as his main amp now but didn't really need/want a new amp, just went for it because his odds were better.

A mate of mine has won a Marshall valve combo and a Squier CV Tele along with a few vouchers.

If this is a top end luthier (Shuker, ACG, Iceni/Zoot, Sei etc) or a popular brand then you may get decent resale value on it, otherwise prepare to be disappointed. Unfortunately the fastest way to lose money on a new bass is to order a custom instrument from a smaller builder, no matter how good the bass is people will always go for what logo is on the headstock.

Even then resale value will plummet compared to the new cost, there's been top end custom basses sold in the Marketplace here for new MiM Fender prices.

My Korean Cort built Hohner JJ Pro also came with pretty much that exact style of neckplate, that was a 90s bass IIRC.

Pm incoming!

1 hour ago, Killerfridge said:

Not to derail, but have we heard any updates with this one, assuming you're talking about who I'm thinking about

No idea, I assume the fella is still trying in vain to get Jon to build him a bass.

Was the first thing I though of when I looked at this thread though!

This isn't a small builder beginning with the letter L is it?