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***SOLD*** MTD 535-24 lined fretless - flamed redwood/mahogany
£1750

GrammeFriday

By GrammeFriday,
in Basses For Sale

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GrammeFriday Proficient

GrammeFriday

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Posted (edited)

For Sale, this stunning lined fretless MTD 535-24:

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[b]Construction:[/b]
Mahogany body with flamed redwood top, maple neck and stripey ebony fingerboard. The headstock matches the top wood and the truss rod cover matches the fingerboard.
Two octave fretboard, 35" scale. Truss rod works perfectly, no dead spots anywhere on the neck, perfect string-to-string balance and amazing playability all the way up to the 24th fret. In other words, everything works perfectly and has the solid, precision-engineered feeling that you would expect from a USA MTD.

Somewhat heretically for an MTD fanboy, I'm not personally convinced that 'tonewoods' make all that much audible difference to the sound of basses - to me, MTDs sound like MTDs - but what I will say is that this bass is STUNNING to look at. The flamed redwood top in particular is a thing of hallucinatory beauty and wonder. The previous owner described it to me as 'almost holographic', and he's absolutely right. There are two main patterns in the wood - the larger and darker 'tiger stripes', which go from top to bottom (when the bass is in playing position), and the smaller and lighter horizontal stripes that follow the elegant contours of the body. Not only do these two different patterns criss-cross each other in a very aesthetically pleasing way, but they also seem to be lying at different depths in the wood, and shimmer and move when you view the bass from different angles - hence the 'holographic' description. Needless to say, my crappy pictures do it absolutely no justice whatsoever - you need to see it in the flesh to really appreciate how amazing it looks. And yet at the same time this is really not an ostentatious, 'coffee table' bling instrument at all; on the contrary, its looks are actually very subtle and understated, and all the more classy for that, in my opinion. It even gets admiring oohs and aahs from people who normally can't stand natural wood finishes on basses.

[b]Electronics:[/b]
All original - the classic custom MTD Bartolini soapbars and custom MTD Bartolini 18v preamp with 3-band eq. Controls are volume, pickup pan, treble, mid and bass, all boost/cut, with three way mid-frequency selector switch. USA MTD electronics are famously (some would say notoriously) powerful, but the super-hot output can be tamed by adjusting a trim pot that sits in the electronics cavity - this allows you to adjust the output of the bass so that it exactly matches that of your other bass(es). This will please the FOH guy, who will now not have to frantically adjust your level every time you switch between fretted and fretless basses.

[b]Weight/ergonomics:[/b]
A very comfortable 4.4kg. Balances perfectly on the strap - no neck dive at all. As with all MTDs, this bass has an asymmetric neck profile, which really is a joy to play - it does wonders for your left hand technique by keeping your thumb naturally on the back without you even noticing. Asymmetric necks should be standard on all basses, IMO!

[b]Sound:[/b]
Bridge for knockout punch, neck for ultimate mwah and sustain, and both pups for the classic MTD growl. The combination of those huge, outsize soapbar pickups and the bonkers 18v preamp gives you incredible detail and tonal variety. If you have only ever played passive basses or 9v actives before, playing an 18v USA MTD for the first time is a bit like seeing the world in colour after a lifetime of black and white. Despite all this power and variety, you'll find that all the sounds you need are really easy to dial in - I've found that Mr Tobias gives you just the right number of knobs to tweak for his basses to be eminently usable in real life gigging situations, even if you are a bit of a 'set and forget' technophobe.

[b]History and condition:[/b]
This bass is MTD #1738. It was born in September 2008. (The exact date is given in the letter of authenticity signed by Mr Tobias himself, which will of course be included in the sale.) This bass is a real working instrument and not an exhibition piece, so it inevitably has collected some bumps and signs of wear over the years, but it is still in excellent condition overall, and plays as well and sounds as fantastic as it must have done when it was brand new. I bought it from fellow Basschatter Bossajazz in August 2014, and it has been my sole fretless since then. The small but clearly visible dent in the front that you can see in some of the pictures above was already there when I bought it - the previous owner told me that it was caused by a music stand falling on it! Obviously, this didn't put me off buying it; on the contrary, it made the instrument more appealing me, as it meant that I didn't have to feel nervous about taking it out of its case and actually playing it at gigs. There is a small bump on the headstock, and there is some marking on the fretboard due to the fact that it has been strung for most if not all of its life with roundwound rather than flatwound strings, but this is something you can see more than feel, and certainly does not affect the playability of the instrument in any way. I'm not an expert on fretless fingerboard lifespans but I dare say that this fretboard has decades of playing life left in it, and unless you are very young indeed, and/or a very dedicated fretless player, it will almost certainly outlive you.

[b]Strings:[/b]
Currently strung with DR Sunbeams 45-130. Mr Tobias puts roundwounds on fretlesses as standard, and I have continued this tradition as it sounds incredible with nickels - harmonics ring for days, and the growl and mwah you get are off the scale. However I have also put flats on it a couple of times and they sound awesome too.

[b]Case:[/b]
This bass comes with its original and very posh (and heavy!) MTD hard case. Lovely purple lining!

[b]Price and shipping costs:[/b]
£1750 delivered in the UK, or £1700 collected from my house in South Birmingham. You are very welcome to come and try before you buy. I am also happy to ship internationally; if you are overseas the bass will be £1700 plus the international courier price to your door. Payment via electronic bank transfer or cash on collection, please.

[b]Reason for selling:[/b]
The worst possible reason - I urgently need to raise money to pay some upcoming bills, hence the very reasonable (for an MTD) asking price. The band in which I played fretless is now on an extended hiatus, so this lovely instrument is not getting played so much nowadays, and is therefore very sadly first in line.

[b]"Any trades?"[/b]
Although cash is king, I am open to trades, especially part-exchanges involving cash my way. Trade deals involving a TC Electronics RH750 head and/or a TC RS 210 cab would be particularly welcome.

[b]More pictures:[/b]
[url="http://s1333.photobucket.com/user/grammefriday/library/MTD%20535-24%20fretless"]http://s1333.photobu...5-24%20fretless[/url]

[b]More specs:[/b]
[url="http://www.mtdguitars.com/specifications/"]http://www.mtdguitar...specifications/[/url]


Thanks for looking!

Edited by GrammeFriday
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