MTD Kingston Bass Z5 - MTD ZX Bartolini pickups - Tobias TCT
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- Опубліковано 13 чер 2016
- UPDATE!!!!!
The preamp is now publicly available from Bartolini via part number TCT-5.4AP (can be ordered here: fatbasstone.com/products/bart...!
UPDATE 2!!!!
I have since discovered that the pickups came wired in series and I switched the pickups to parallel wiring (which I prefer). The video of the bass with parallel wired pickups (as well as a few other changes) can be viewed here: • MTD Kingston Bass Z5 -...
Specs:
Burl Maple top
Mahogany body
Maple neck/board
Bartolini MTD ZX upgrade pickups and Bartolini HRTCT-5.4AP preamp
For bookings or consultations:
www.adamsaylorbass.com
Sounds great!!! Reminds me of the older Tobias bass tone. Bottom, punch, and growl with clarity without sounding thin! I recently got a Kingston Super 5 which is AWESOME and my first MTD! I'm seriously considering getting a Kingston AG6! I stayed away from MTD basses because I didn't care for the tone of most of the ones I heard but I'm now an MTD convert!!!
Bro I’m sooooo interested in going MTD for my next purchase! You really master their tones effortlessly🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🔥🔥🔥
My bro! HMU man, we'll get you set 😎
Awesome video Adam! I'm in love with my modded Z5 as well. Nordstrand Big Blades and preamp, so I didn't go for emulating a ZX or an American MTD really. The ergonomics, lightness and unplugged responsiveness of this instrument are dynamite. Punches so far above it's weight on price.
It's neat to hear your story about recreating a Tobias Bart preamp!
Thanks! I've heard those big blades and they are their own monster for sure! I really like the American MTD tone and even more so the tone of Mike's original Tobias basses, so that's why I went the direction I did. Having this bass with Mike's Bartolini pups in it and an old Tobias preamp is like having the best of each instrument put into 1 bass. I'm still blown away when I plug this bass in and start to play it, everything just works. The action is insane which makes the playability awesome...add that to the incredible tone that comes out of it and it's an unbeatable playing experience. So happy with this bass!
I can't believe I found this video. I was considering the same thing.
Wow Adam, your famous! Didn't realize you have a vid up! :-p
🤷🏼♂️😝
I put some Aguilar single supers in mine sounds great.
canvoodoo I’m in the process of doing the same in mines. How did it sound compared to the stock electronics? I don’t wanna get rid of this bass but I need a lot more output and a lot more low end punch
I feel you on that.
Get you a 70' ish Gibson Grabber G3 with the blade pup's and you will never let it go. I wish I could buy those pickups.
I am a big MTD fan and have a KZ4 with an Aguilar OBP3 in it and now it throws down the thunder and makes a HUGE difference in the tone of these basses. MTD Kingston basses to me are the most comfortable and best playing basses you can get for a reasonable amount of money but i do feel the electronics need to be swapped out to get the best sound from these instruments.
Stratisfied Absolutely. The stock pickups in the Z's are actually pretty good, but they definitely need a better preamp to bring them to life and then the ZX's already come with Bartolini stuff. I would also say that the Super and AG Kingston models are the closest to their handmade counterparts. The electronics are way more similar in the Super (especially after Bartolini upgrades) and AG Kingston to what Mike actually uses where the KZ(X) stuff is kind of it's own. thing.
Hello i have to recive in a few days a KZ4 ( i found one like new with a good price) what do you think I have to change (First)..the Peamp- or the pickups, ... OR maybe the Peamp AND the Pickups.. Regards
Hello Stratisfied do you change only the preamp ? or the preamp and the Pickups?? Thank you
Hey Adam.. thanks for this video!! Got me excited to get that special Bart upgrade. May I know your current Z5 is running on 9V or 18V?
It is still 9v like it was stock. The components used in the HRTCT-5.4AP preamp module only allow for it to be wired for 9v, 18v would overload the circuit.
Thanks for that information!! I am now enquiring through my local dealer, Bassfreq, for the same "tobias" sounding preamp as yours.. i hope they offer to me too. Appreciate you sharing on this video!!
That's cool that bassfreq is your dealer, love his vids! He carries the Kingston line so he deals with Dana B. Goods. They can get it for him and they try to keep a few of them on the shelf ready to ship so you don't have wait for it to be handwired 😊.
Beautiful... I'm looking to buy this bass in the next few months! Thoughts? Mostly jam band music! Little jazz.... Thx
It's my main player man, it covers it all. Especially with the Bartolini electronics, it's just an awesome instrument! I know there is a NAMM model B stock available right now at a steal of a price. It's a ZX model too, so it already has the Bartolini stuff in it.
I have a souped up MTD Artist with a Lace MM pup and a 3way toggle. Maybe it's me but my Lakland 5501 has always sounded better than any MTD I have heard. I love the MTD neck. The Growler and Killer Bee are the only MTD basses that have a good tone and maybe it is time to buy that back from Gibson.
Richard Mccain the beautiful thing about having so many options is that people can be very specific in their preference. I personally think the stock pickup in the early Artist model placement sounds very much like the original Fender MusicMan basses. I actually opted for another stock pickup that could be wired in parallel and a two band active preamp to make mine as old school StingRay as possible and it sounds great.
Hello, can you please write to me what are the sensors? Exact type or link. Are they the same size as the original?
Thanks D. Stárek
David Starek The pickups are model # XXP25CX-T (MTD) and XXP25CX-B (MTD) and they fit in the stock cavities with no modifications. I suggest asking for my version which are wired in parallel so you can then have the choice to wire them in parallel or series (based on your preference) as the normal ones come hard wired in series and CANNOT be changed. You can easily get these by going to www.danabgoods.com and contacting them.
I so want one of those, looking for an ending five string to get old with.
Cliff Kindred if you are stateside, check Guitar Center's used gear. You can find great deals there and on Reverb for good condition used ones 😀. Then you just upgrade them as you want/need.
Adam Saylor, yes I'm in Michigan so there's several guitar centers, just usually the case of opposites with money and opportunity. Honestly hadn't expected much out of them, in store usually carry that weird level of quality where it's either too expensive or too low of quality. But much appreciated!
Cliff Kindred I always search their whole store used database. They'll due a SIT transfer to a local store and you can immediately return it after trying it if you don't like it.
Cliff Kindred there are more than a 1/2 dozen good candidates in GC's used gear section. You can email me @ bass.saylor@gmail.com if you want to talk more about them/scope them out together.
That sounds amazing. what would I need to make a stock Kingston sound like that?
Michael Chin-Chan do you have a Z5?
Not at the moment...I'm thinking of getting a z5 or a sire v7 or m7...
I love that mtd tone but can't afford a 'real' mtd.
Michael Chin-Chan Well you have a few options. The MTD ZX basses come with the Bartolini pickups and preamp (different than mine) already in them. Or you could buy a new/used Z5 and do the Bartolini upgrade with either the standard ZX upgrade package or what I put in mine.
What did you put in yours?
Michael Chin-Chan I have my HRTCT-5.4AP preamp as well as a parallel wired version of the MTD ZX pickups.
love it , great sound what would one cost?
Not sure I'm understanding your question. Are you asking how much a bass would cost or just the upgrade?
up grade
+ronnie craft PM me @ bass.saylor@gmail.com
Just ordered this. Not the same pup and preamp config. It’s the stock MTD preamp with wood cover pups.
Honestly, the stock wood covered pickups are designed by Mike, they're just not made in the US. They're closer to his handmade pickups than the ZX pickups are. They are low impedance split coil pickups, the main difference is that the stock Z pickups are normal P splits while Mike's handmade basses use a reverse P split orientation. They should pair well with the TCT, even better if you buffer them 😁.
Adam Saylor so the stock Z5 sounds more like a P bass?
@@jpeesbass this is where things get complex haha. The coils are still wound like split-coil jazz pickups, but the magnet orientation is in the normal p location for the Z basses and it is reverse p for the handmade basses. Make sense?
Adam Saylor I think I get it. I love your tone! I’m definitely going to look into the same upgrades on your bass.
@@jpeesbass I recommended doing the xxP25cx Original Quad Bright pickups. You can have them wired P/reverse P so you can choose btwn quad coil (old Tobias if wired in parallel) and reverse P (new MTD) tones.
Doesn’t sound like I’m playing with a nickel on a metal fretboard 😂😂😂😂 I was dying
Some people like that sound, and it works for some styles (like Robert Trujillo with Metallica)....just not my thing 🤷🏼♂️🤣
Adam Saylor still chuckling about that comment ! Love your tone man , sounds fantastic!
Much appreciated! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Sooooo. Clean
Bernaldo Rolle 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼☺️
Adam Saylor how much would this whole setup cost me I wanna buy a new bass this year
Bernaldo Rolle directly email me @ bass.saylor@gmail.com.
which set of pickups you got?
These are the MTD ZX upgrade pickups.
Adam Saylor where can i can this set up, because i triple the money of what that bass cost and still sound shitty, so i wasn't crazy after all. i knew what i heard, people around me kept saying i'm just chasing sound.
+BassStudent4life What do you have now?
man, you name it, i've done it to that bass. from ntmb with quads/bassmods with quads, now back to ntmb with bart cb series. i changed the bridge/tuning keys. I should have saved all that money and buy a real mtd.
plus.google.com/u/0/+KARLOSJOZEF/photos/photo/5657171892909403762?pid=5657171892909403762&oid=112827612395131764795
+BassStudent4life Phone won't let me open the link. Is it the sunburst Kingston I see you use in some of your videos?
Im not trying to be negative, or intentionally condescending.. But I just wanted to point out that it may seem like they went over the top putting together a custom circuit. And recieving it pre-wired is unheard of... The fact is it’s really easy to connect a discrete Jfet buffer with an existing preamp pcb and a monkey can cut/strip and solder wire for the 9v/gnd/signal outs for an electrical engineer who’s done nothing else 9hrs a day for the past 40 years is well.. You can imagine
Now I’m not that aforementioned trained, seasoned professional design engineer by a mile!! Yet I’ve traced, breadboarded, created layouts & built every Bartolini bass pre on Veroboard. Which isn’t difficult and there’s only been a couple different circuits.. I’ve designed a buffer/gain circuit from scratch and again I dropped out of berklee, I didn’t go to MIT!
90% of what we see as new is really a new name for the Circuit Bartolini’s tweaked. After they’ve exhausted thier remaining obsolete
op-amp or transistor supply.
They have had to change component values & tweak physical layouts so the part new part fits, tests, and performs to desired tolerance equivalents. Voltage’s, input impedance, resistance to temperature & high voltage drift etc.. with the new op-amp in-circuit.
First tested via computer simulation, then oscilloscope’s and other test equipment in controlled environment, and finally Artist tested. Which is a long, very costly and sometimes difficult process. But in the end it’s not an original circuit! 😉😉