Tobias is a
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...
of
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
s originally made by
luthier Michael Tobias starting in the 1970s, and later bought out by
Gibson. Nowadays, Tobias bass guitars are sold under the
Epiphone
Epiphone is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908. After taking over his f ...
division.
History
Tobias Guitars was established in
Orlando, Florida in April 1977. The vast majority of Tobias instruments are of
neck-through
Neck-through-body (commonly neck-thru or neck-through) is a method of electric guitar construction that combines the instrument's
neck and core of its body into a single unit. This may be made of a solid piece of wood, or two or more laminated ...
construction, a style of neck-body assembly where the neck of the instrument is a single piece of wood that extends through the body and had the sides of the bass glued to it rather than being bolted on. However, once purchased by
Gibson in 1990, a few bolt-on models were produced such as the Killer-B (with the "B" in the name standing for "
bolt-on
Bolt-on neck is a method of guitar (or similar stringed instrument) construction that involves joining a guitar neck and body using screws or bolts, as opposed to glue and joinery as with set-in neck joints.
Methods
The "bolt-on" method is u ...
") as well as the Growler Basses.
Tobias basses also were among the first to feature an asymmetrical neck, a design where the neck is thinner on the lower side than the upper. The first serial number was 0178, instead of the usual 0001, as a reference to the month the first bass was completed, January 1978.
In 1990, Gibson Guitar Corporation purchased Tobias and moved production to Nashville. The first Tobias bass under Gibson ownership bore the serial number 1094. Michael Tobias left the company in 1992 to found
Michael Tobias Design which produces a line of hand-made basses similar in spirit to the older Tobias basses. Basses below the serial number 2044 were built in the California factory headed-up by Michael Tobias; serial numbers after that were produced by Gibson with a transition period in which Tobias worked with Gibson and continued to produce basses.
Products
*Toby Standard
*Toby Deluxe IV
*Toby Deluxe V
*Toby Pro 4
*Toby Pro 5
*Renegade 4/5
*Growler 4/5
*Killer B 4/5/6
*Basic 4/5/6
*Classic 4/5/6
*Signature 4/5/6
See also
*
Michael Tobias Design
References
External links
Tobias bass guitarson Epiphone website
Michael Tobias DesignsMichael Tobias InterviewNAMM Oral History Library (2005)
Bass guitar manufacturing companies
Musical instrument manufacturing companies of the United States
Manufacturing companies based in Florida
Manufacturing companies established in 1977
1977 establishments in Florida
Companies based in Orlando, Florida
Gibson Guitar Corporation
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