Played the Midtown at practice last night and it did a nice job. I had raised the scerws on the neck pup and the output was excellent. I was especially pleased with the eveness I could achieve across all of the strings, except that the E-string wasn't as pronounced/loud as I would have liked. Gonna try to tweek it some more at home before next practice.
Now, I know I don't have the discriminating ear that many of you bass geeks here exhibit, but here are my impressions of the Midtown. It has a warm deep tonality and even with rounds on it, the mahogany keeps the tone from being harsh or solid-body like in nature. The pups are great, loud and clear. I found I preferred playing the bass with the switch in the center, using both pups with equal full-on volume controls. With the switch in the up or neck position, the sound was warmer and had less treble without the bridge pup. This bass did that for me and I'll try her out at a gig soon. If these are the same pups as the ones on the SG, I prefer them on the Midtown and will keep this bass.
I'm finding my preference is moving away from booming, semi-muddy bass, to something just a little more clear, i.e. more treble without too much high emphasis. The bass is comfortable to wear and the reach to the top of the neck is easy for me. There is a slight neck dive, I think those Grover tuners weigh a ton. My suade neck strap tamed it and I didn't have to hold the neck while playing. The neck profile worked for me during 2 hours of playing. That's the test for me. If the neck is too long, too wide or too fat, I'm usually looking to move the bass out. Yes, I'm fickle and I know what I like to play. This one got a stay of execution last night.
