Veteran bass maker tells the history of his popular instrument manufacturing business, and what he plans to do next
Exclusive interview with FBPO’s Jon Liebman
August 11, 2014
Michael Tobias began building instruments in 1974, while working at The Guitar Shop in Washington, DC, mostly on acoustic instruments. Having gained experience with Martin, Gibson and Fender guitars, as well as banjos, mandolins and even sitars, Tobias eventually opened his own shop in California.
After selling his company to Gibson in 1990, Mike launched MTD (Michael Tobias Design) in 1994 and has since developed a very popular line of high quality bass guitars. Included among the artists that play MTD basses today are Andrew Gouché, Jimmy Haslip, Robert “Bubby” Lewis, Norm Stockton, Gail Ann Dorsey, Pete Bremy, Jerry Watts, Alexis Sklarevski and many others.
FBPO’s Jon Liebman caught up with Mike and his son, Daniel Tobias, at the 2014 summer NAMM show in Nashville.
Watch our interview with Mike!
