Building the uber-J. Part Ten.

The hardware. Hard indeed.

Today was Brass Day. I had to drive around for half a day though some shady neighborhoods to find a brass plate of the right size for the cavity cover and a rod to make the nut.

I finally found what I wanted and while I was there that little demon in me decided to also buy a rounded rod to make the headstock parts. Not sure it'll work but I'll give it a try.

Hope you like my porch ceiling too.....

Then I had to clean up the plate. I wish I had taken a picture first. That thing was oh-soooo dirty, scratched and stained with glue and tape...But it was the only piece they had in the right size. Those guys sell by the yard probably and I was more than happy to walk away with the only reasonably sized left over they had...scratches and all.
It took me about one hour to send it by hand with sandpaper up to 1200 and steel wool.
It's 60X45cm and .7mm thick. I should be able to cut about six to nine covers from this one

Here are the two rods....ops...a scratch.......
I'm probably going to cut a few nuts at once.

Here is a picture of all parts that I'm going to use on this project - except for the tuner-bridge which was in the previous pictures.

The two p-ups are J Bartolini 4x.

The Eq is an [sfx] Ultra-Tone. It was designed and assembled by my friend and electronics wizard Max of [sfx] fame (UK based company. Check out the web site here. Some cool stuff!).

I had a Preamp with DI designed and built by him some time ago and i am very happy with it. I told him that I was looking for an Eq for this project and I wanted one tone only but active and with a twist. He came up with this.
Basically by turning the knob cw or ccw the frequency shifts from very deep tones to piercing trebles. The Eq sports also 2 switches for a 50% mid freq cut or boost. Sounds interesting doesn't it? can't wait to hear it!!

I am going gold all the way... security locks, bridge, ferrules for the headstock, p-ups screws and the six neck screws. Brass plate and brass nut.

O(=<

Review: Tobias 5 strings

I have owned this bass for about nine years now. I bought it in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2003. Is the previous owner out there?

The serial number shows that this bass was completed on the 13th of May 1992. At that time Tobias had already been acquired by Gibson (on 1.1.1990) but basses were still made by Mike Tobias and original team at the Burbank Calif. shop. This makes it one of the last few basses built before the shop moved to the new facilities in Nashville, sometime in June I believe, which marked the end of Mr. Tobias collaboration with Gibson.

Construction.

The body is Swamp Ash with natural finish. The neck is a five piece Maple/Purpleheart laminate and it's a bolt-on - the preferred choice for a punchy sound. Under the 24 frets Pau Ferro fingerboard is a double truss rod which can be adjusted removing the plate located at the end of the fingerboard. As you can see from the pictures woods have aged beautifully.

The neck is perfect, straight and very fast with the asymmetric profile that is Tobias' trademark. The action can be set incredibly low and is virtually buzz free. It mounts two Bartolini p-ups and on board 3 bands EQ.

One impressive feature of this bass is that it is extremely light, even lighter than its slick shape would suggest - lighter than most 4 strings actually. But the sound is big, with a warmth and a growl that speaks directly to your guts.

A few details are really a joy to look at. The MOP inlay of the intricate logo and the stark contrast with the black glossy headstock cover is a very tasteful touch.

The head stock's angle naturally holds the strings down without any need for the usual metal bar just above the nut. Again, one cannot help but notice how all these details converge into a bass that makes inspired simplicity its style statement.


















The scarfed headstock joint at the back is more pronounced than on most basses and is so beautifully sculpted that your thumb can gradually tell you when it's approaching the headstock. A very nice touch indeed.

The neck joint is shaped in an almost heel-less fashion. Even just visually this is a far cry from the chunky squarish heels of most bolt-on of the time - and not only. The neck screws sit into ferrules and are arranged in slightly open layout, with the bottom screws further apart from each other that the top two. This seem to suggest that the neck end is shaped slightly wider than the rest of the neck. I'm not sure. I haven't disassemble it.

Overall, the attention to details shows just how much love and expertise had been put into it. Lets not forget, this was 1992 and this bass' price wasn't exactly at Alembic level.
















Electronics and sound.

I particularly like the way mids cut through. Dialing in a bit more of the bridge P-U produces a sound that is beautifully nasal, perfect for soloing. Bartolini P-U and EQ are exemplary in their simplicity and effectiveness - V/B/bass/mid/treble. A little EQ goes a long way without changing the voice of the instrument. A toggle activates/deactivates the EQ.

In the off position the three filter won't work and you can only adjust vol and balance. Even without EQ the sound is beautiful and gutsy.
When the sound spectrum of two P-U is wide I tend to dial in an overall sound I like, then use the P-U Balance almost like a master Tone control. I have developed this habit playing Wal. It works well with this bass.

I cannot find fault with this bass except perhaps that, it isn't the best bass for my slapping style. I tend to slap with my thumb perpendicular to the strings and the neck positioned horizontally. At this angle the 24th fret gets in the way. Many bass players actually like to hammer on the fingerboard. I don't - I don't like the harmonics it produces.

To be fair, this is an inherent problem I have when slapping with many 24 fret basses - except a Steinberger because of its unique layout and ergonomics. For slapping I prefer a 21 or 22 fret board with a body layout that pushes the neck slightly forward.

Having said so, if the preferred slapping style is with the neck at an angle, then this bass is spectacularly balanced and ergonomic.

For finger style I just love it and it's one of those rare instruments which allows the player to access frets from 20th to 24th really comfortably - including on the B string!

In fact, the Tobias is designed in such a way that the bass position itself slightly more towards the player's right shoulder. This makes playing around the 1st/3rd frets quite comfortable. But aside the problem I mentioned earlier, I feel it makes it a bit tiring for the right arm when playing at the bridge P-U for long time.

As a side note I will add that I have also played a number of Gibson made Tobias and the high end ones seem very good. However the Killer B I have played don't quite fell like this one.

This bass has sealed my respect for Michael Tobias' work and all the MTD (link provided below) I have played show how the vision has improved.

Thanks for reading.

>=)O

In a nutshell:
+ Growling machine. Very light. Comfortable neck. Bartolini.
- Must like the ergonomics. Hard to find.

Links:

MTD