I chose this bass because of other reviews I had read. I just wasn't too impressed with the selection available in my price range.
Other than the dead spots, the only thing I don't care for is the weight of the bass. Had to get a wider strap to keep from killing my shoulder.
Overall though, this is a good bass.
Model Year: 2000
Price: $430.00 (new)
Where Obtained: musicyo.co,
Made in Korea.
Natural finish with active electronics.
Offset pegs make easier to get a good fit.
I've read other reviews that stated it was set and ready to go right out of the box. Mine sounded okay, but needed some adjustments. I've had a little fret buzz while trying to get the action as low as I wanted. I think some of it was due to the loose strings I replaced the factory ones with. I've since refitted with heavier ones and was able to get the action closer to where I wanted.
The neck is smooth and easy to play.
Currently running a Carvin Cyclops and a Zoom BFX-708 with the Tobias.
I think this bass could be used with whatever style of music you would play. I'm currently playing rock, but have played other styles and it could fit any.
You can generally make adjustment to create whatever sound you're looking for. I've had cheap passive basses in the past, and even though I think I prefer passive ones, the active electronics make it easy to make sound adjustments.
One negative in this area are the dead spots. I've had them on other basses. I was hoping this one wouldn't have them, but it does and I can't seem to get rid of them.
I've had a little noise, but it was due to the way I hooked my effects up. As long as I use an effects loop, it takes care of most of the noise.
The factory strings were okay, but I went ahead and changed them. Haven't had to make any changes since the initial setup, except when I changed the type (gauge)of strings. So far, climate changes haven't had much effect. Just the typical tuning stuff which I check anyhow.
For the money, this bass is a steal. Nice solid construction. It's a very workable piece in stock form. It seems to me that CMI Gibson did most of the scrimping on the hardware (which is fairly standard practice for huge manufacturers) although some of the parts were actually better than average. I would defintely buy another one of these basses, and as a matter of fact I did purchase a Toby Pro-5 which arrived at my house in 3 days in an absolutely gorgeous highly figured flamed maple for only $469. I was absolutely thrilled... (and the pick-ups in this one seem a bit better than the ones in the 4... go figure). Even though I've been playing for almost 27 years, I still can't afford to go out and drop $2,500 - $4,000 for a bass. It just isn't practical for me. I'd recommend either one of these basses as an instrument to grow with. As a beginner/intermediate you'd have an excellent base model to work from. As intermediate to expert you'd be able to make mods that would keep you satisfied and confident in owning an instrument that is easily as good as anything in the $1100 plus range.
Model Year: 2000
Price: $429.00 (new)
Where Obtained: musicyo.com
This particular bass was made in Korea. Ooooooh!! Ahhhhhh!
Okay no grunts or sighs from the gallery! The neck is a sandwiched five piece wenge, maple, wenge, maple, wenge and the body 'wings' are a very plain (not figured, grain is not highly visable) solid maple. It appears to have a matte finish poly-something. I know it's not hand rubbed (which I would have preferred) but what the Hey!... The bass has a very nicely laid out diamond shape control pattern of four knobs, not too close not too loose. Volume front, Blend (neck & bridge) left front, left back controls low end and right back high. My decision on how much I like the 'blend' knob is still under consideration. All the controls were nice and smooth. The neck is a pleasure to play, almost guitar like... very fast and sleek. The Pro-4 has a set of 'supposedly' custom wound pick-ups which I believe are manufactured by Gotoh. I found them to have average to weak output. The bridge was a better than average die-cast zinc w/ barrel saddles that have slots for the saddles to ride in. Tuners are probably value-line Gotoh... they're okay but I noticed a small amount of slippage. Overall, for the financial outlay... it's still a deal regardless of the many 'small' flaws. Pop in a set of hot PU's and a decent fully adjustable bridge (I installed a Gotoh string thru body that I got from Warmoth on mine) and I'd say you have a bass comparable to a $1100 model you'd get elsewhere.
I prefer drastically low action especially for quick scale work. If this means there are some buzzes here and there... so be it. It usually doesn't translate in live performances anyway. I use taper-wound strings so only the string core is resting on the saddle.
These allow me to get the string a tweak closer to the frets without bottoming out the bridge or forcing the truss rod to bend the neck like a pretzel.
I use my Toby with a Yorkville B400 head and a 4 X 10 cab.
My most used 'boxes' are a Tech21 Bass Compactor and a SansAmp DI. I occassionally hook up a MuTron Wah-Volume pedal and maybe my Zoom 506 to it. I play quite a few styles ranging from finger-picking to finger style to using a pick in the studio for some material. I find that with the tone controls I can get a really nasty slap-pop sound and then dial out most of the highs and get a fairly warm low tone for ballads and such. Stock the Toby compares favorably with basses in the $600 - $700 price range. The stock pick-ups leave room for improvement, but stick in a set of Bart's or EMG's and you're ready to shake stuff loose. It seems equally suited for stage or studio (with the mods I've made) But stock I'd have to rate it only as average for the PU's
Seems very stable and has given me no problems in the five months or so that I have owned it. I've adjusted it once since I've had it but that was to accomodate the mods. I did also have to put on a set of strap-locks. It would have been nice if they were included but let's remember the price was $429 for a pretty solidly built neck-through. I bought it fully expecting to make some modification(s) to the stock model.
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