Tobias basses return!

[joel406]

3 minutes ago, Dood said:

I do like Sweetwater’s webshop where you get clear photographs of every bass they have in stock and you can choose the one you want. Very helpful when instruments have differing wood tops for example. I think this is the one I picked from the current stock as a favourite. Looking forward to hearing that it has arrived safely.

 

We at Bass Gear Magazine are enquiring about getting some over as soon as. I think these Tobias basses need my in-depth review treatment, don’t they? 

I have high hopes. I could have just gotten myself a MTD 534 and been happy. But they all seem to have wide string spacing. Wide necks. I prefer Fender-ish spacing. These look like their close. I will find out tomorrow. 

[lemmywinks]

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:

 

[joel406]

26 minutes ago, lemmywinks said:

 

 

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:

 

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.

[Kev]

1 hour 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.

To be fair, there is a big pickup/preamp upgrade there.  Licensed Barts are generally awful, US Bart setup is incomparable.

 

But not a lot else.

[AndyTravis]

1 hour ago, Schnozzalee said:

 

Members wrapped up in marketing and subsequently getting fleeced - Not great.

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.

 

Edited Tuesday at 19:57 by AndyTravis

[lemmywinks]

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.

[lemmywinks]

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.

 

 

[AndyTravis]

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

[Cosmo Valdemar]

3 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

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

They all do... just a less chunky one. Looks more like a BBOT with big saddles.

[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.

 

[AndyTravis]

Must wear my spectacles at some point 

[Dood]

I much prefer Gotoh tuners, the res-o-lite models especially over hipshots. 
 

[Bagman]

2005 Gibson Tobias Growler (Arkansas) 

 

a well made instrument- I have read of Gibson being “sloppy” but this was top shelf.  Sold to a guy with an original Tobias - and he loves it 

[Bagman]

1995-96

tobias  Gibson growler Memphis

 

Imo this has lower QC than the Arkansas version but the Bartolini electronics are incredibly versatile 

[kuetsum]

3 hours ago, joel406 said:

I have high hopes. I could have just gotten myself a MTD 534 and been happy. But they all seem to have wide string spacing. Wide necks. I prefer Fender-ish spacing. These look like their close. I will find out tomorrow. 

Michael do provide 17mm spacing.. if that's what block you to get a 534.

[AndyTravis]

45 minutes ago, Bagman said:

1995-96

tobias  Gibson growler Memphis

 

Imo this has lower QC than the Arkansas version but the Bartolini electronics are incredibly versatile 

now that’s a beauty 

[joel406]

17 minutes ago, kuetsum said:

Michael do provide 17mm spacing.. if that's what block you to get a 534.

I have seen one. The $6k usd price was somewhat restrictive.

[joel406]

Another note to be added. Of the 3 retailers I've spoken too, all have said that Gibson is making only one run of these. After that they are discontinued. So, get now while you can or forever hold your peace.

[crazycloud]

5 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

so allowing £500 for the (not inconsiderable) spec upgrade

Hardware wise the Cort has Hipshot at both ends, and the Tobias has Gotoh 707s and a Babicz, so it's arguable there's any quality or any performance difference.

 

In terms of electronics the US Barts may be better to some people, but are not universally so, especially to me. If I were to change the PUs in my A6, it would be to something very different, like the 916 Super Ferrites or Nord BS. The Mk1s get a lot of crap, but they're not that bad. See here:

 

 

I paid under 650UKP (just checked it's 608) for my A6 new and delivered under a year ago and the store still has 2 in stock at that price.

 

4 hours ago, Kev said:

To be fair, there is a big pickup/preamp upgrade there.  Licensed Barts are generally awful, US Bart setup is incomparable.

I've done the swap a few times, for myself and for other people and have been seldom impressed for the cost difference. The exception was a set of Singularities I did for a well regarded player, but that was also HB to SC.

 

I agree with the post above by @AndyTravis that the shape of the Tobias is sexier, but the jigsaw piece headstock cancels that out.

 

Here's mine.

 

[tauzero]

5 hours ago, Kev said:

To be fair, there is a big pickup/preamp upgrade there.  Licensed Barts are generally awful, US Bart setup is incomparable.

 

But not a lot else.

 

The MK1 Barts get unfairly maligned. They're just neutral pickups, people seem to want coloured pickups which seems irrational to me.

[lemmywinks]

I've had a few basses with the licensed MkI stuff in, the pickups are ok and I've always half heartedly defended them on here because they're... well... ok. They aren't an upgrade over pretty much any in house pickup and are there as a cheap way for Cort to slap a high end brand on their spec sheet at a low cost which is something they've always liked doing! If I picked up a bass with MkI pickups in I might keep 'em, I might not.

 

The MkI preamp is where most people should direct their anger though, hated that thing and if I was looking to improve a Cort/Ibanez with licensed Barts then that's the first thing that would go as the rest is sound. The Markbass pre (licensed again) they're using in some models now is a much better (but still not great) preamp choice IMO, as is the in house Vari-Mid used on a lot of the Ibanez range. The in-house (think it may have had a Fishman license slapped on it) preamp in my old Korean C5P was also much nicer IMO, while it worked at least.

 

Horses for courses obviously, some people love them stock but most don't and people always seem to blame the pickups which actually sound decent enough if wired passive. Every bass with USA Barts in I've played has been excellent, nothing that I'd change on any of them.

 

 

 

My main bass is currently a Cort GB Modern 5 which has USA Nordstrands, Babicz bridge, lic Hishot Ultralites and the lic Markbass preamp in it (which I'm going to change at some point), ended up costing me £460 used after I'd sold the hard case it came with. It sounds light years ahead of the last lic Bart equipped Cort I owned (a B5), most of Cort's licensing deals are a great way to add quality and value to a sensibly priced bass but that MkI preamp is just not for me really.

[Kev]

7 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

The MK1 Barts get unfairly maligned. They're just neutral pickups, people seem to want coloured pickups which seems irrational to me.

They may do, but from first hand experience, they are muddy, dull and lifeless, lacking any character, or "colour", to redeem them.

 

8 hours ago, crazycloud said:

I've done the swap a few times, for myself and for other people and have been seldom impressed for the cost difference. The exception was a set of Singularities I did for a well regarded player, but that was also HB to SC.

 

I ripped out BH-2's (very similar to MK1s) from an Ibanez and replaced with a full US bart setup, night and day difference, totally transformed the bass.  Horses for courses I guess!

[joel406]

I owned 2 Mike Lulls that had the full US Bart setup. Oddly enough both were 9v. While great instruments I couldn't get along with the 35" scale. I have seen Lulls in 34" since moving both of those on. But again at $5k usd I chose to pass. Now the Classic I now wait for seems to have the full USA Bart and pre, lets hope the neck and balance pan out. Tracking says it will arrive in the next 6 hours. Kinda excited. I was an old Toby fan from back in the day. Big Chris Squire fan. Remember "On the silent wings of freedom"? Still love that song. Coming from a hopeless Fender freak. I have 13. This is a big change.

[crazycloud]

26 minutes ago, Kev said:

I ripped out BH-2's (very similar to MK1s)

BH2s are parallel HBs, whereas the Mk1 are split P style construction. Not similar at all.

 

28 minutes ago, Kev said:

from an Ibanez and replaced with a full US bart setup, night and day difference, totally transformed the bass.

Did the same and it wasn't worth the money for the minor sonic change, to me.

[Kev]

3 minutes ago, crazycloud said:

BH2s are parallel HBs, whereas the Mk1 are split P style construction. Not similar at all.

 

Did the same and it wasn't worth the money for the minor sonic change, to me.

That'd be the horses for courses bit  

 

And ah, maybe I am thinking of another licensed Bart then, perhaps the BH-1?

 

Edit* quick google search seems to suggest there have been MK1's with split coils and humbuckers, not too surprising!  

Edited Wednesday at 09:51 by Kev