Thundersteel Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 It finally arrived, and it's in better condition than I anticipated. It has its share of minor scratches and dings, but it's not bad for a bass that was made between 1990 & 1992. Tobias had so much success he had to seek outside vendors to help manufacture them. This is their "Standard" model, and these were built at the Terada factory in Nagoya. According to founder Michael Tobias himself, these were "great basses." The bodies were made in Japan, and then sent to Michael's shop in Burbank to dress the frets and install the electronics. There were only about 400 made, and there would have been more, but the dollar/yen ratio at the time killed the project. The pickups are Bartolini, and the controls are Volume, Balance, and stacked Treble/Bass boost/cut. What's odd, though, is there is also a Mid boost/cut control, but it's inside the control cavity, I emailed Michael and asked him why, and he replied, "Actually the only reason is because we didn’t want it that way. I wanted it to appear different than a basic which was our most popular model then. The standard would have been direct competition." I may move it to the outside where the others are located for ease of access. I bought the bass from Elderly Instruments in Lansing, MI through Reverb. Mike said the bass should be worth anywhere from $1,500 - $1,800; I got it for <$1,000. The previous owner wanted it converted to fretless, and I must say Elderly did an outstanding job. The fret slots are filled with maple strips, and the fretboard is as smooth as glass. It came with a nice SKB case, too. It sounds great, too. No fret buzz! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Haynie Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 I remember a Tobias bass that came into the local music store in the 90s. The asymmetrical neck was noticeable and felt good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundersteel Posted July 19, 2020 Author Share Posted July 19, 2020 Delivery status has been changed to "pending." Great. At least it left Atlanta after spending 23 hours there. EDIT: It has arrived; please see original post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjamiam Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 51 minutes ago, Thundersteel said: Delivery status has been changed to "pending." Great. At least they changed the status to keep me guessing. FIFY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchman Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 Those maple strips look like frets!! I think I could play that fretless just because of the fret markings. I think that is an awesome idea!!! Great Score!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy p Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 Don't know jack about basses but that is really nice-looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchee Posted July 21, 2020 Share Posted July 21, 2020 On 7/18/2020 at 9:44 AM, Thundersteel said: I bought the bass from Elderly Instruments in Lansing, MI through Reverb. Mike said the bass should be worth anywhere from $1,500 - $1,800; I got it for <$1,000. The previous owner wanted it converted to fretless, and I must say Elderly did an outstanding job. The fret slots are filled with maple strips, and the fretboard is as smooth as glass. It came with a nice SKB case, too. It sounds great, too. No fret buzz! 3 hours ago, Dutchman said: Those maple strips look like frets!! I think I could play that fretless just because of the fret markings. I think that is an awesome idea!!! Great Score!!!! Congrats on the snag! I'm glad they did a pro job on the fretboard, I've seen some fretted basses sloppily converted by amateurs where the fretboard was all chipped up, from the frets being yanked out, that wound up needing wood filler even with the fret marker strips. I'm a hack at playing fretless, but I've got a mutt MIM Fender Jazz Bass with a Special Edition JB fretless neck and a factory "Road Worn" Series '60's JB body in alder, that a previous owner put together; it's fun and light (8 lbs. 3.5 oz.)! Indeed, no fret buzz, but you still want to be able to do the occasional mwah. Anymore, I don't really use the fret markings except for intonation, I've messed around on bass enough over the years where finger placement comes pretty naturally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killerteddybear Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 7 hours ago, Dutchman said: Those maple strips look like frets!! I think I could play that fretless just because of the fret markings. I think that is an awesome idea!!! Great Score!!!! Fretless basses are about 50/50 fretlines/unlined. I have both. Fretlines do help, but in the end you have to listen to your pitch. It's one of those things bassists rag on each other about - whether you need fretlines or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Haynie Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 9 hours ago, killerteddybear said: It's one of those things bassists rag on each other about - whether you need fretlines or not. That is a distraction from the real argument of whether a bass player who uses a pick is a real bass player or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAMERMAN Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Sweet bass. Very strange seeing an extra pot inside the control cavity like that but cool to know that's it's original and what the story was behind it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killerteddybear Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 2 hours ago, Steve Haynie said: That is a distraction from the real argument of whether a bass player who uses a pick is a real bass player or not. It's no argument. A real bass player uses both fingers or a pick, whenever the song suits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrjamiam Posted July 22, 2020 Share Posted July 22, 2020 Everyone knows a REAL bass player never even WANTED to play guitar. And besides, all the bands already had guitarists anyway. Congrats on a sweet score! Which is what a bass player hears when he buys a nice bass, and AT NO OTHER TIME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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