Tobias (bass guitar makers)

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Tobias is a brand of bass guitar originally made by luthier Michael Tobias starting in the 1970s and later bought out by Gibson Guitar Corporation. The basses are famous for their high quality and being among the pioneers of neck-through 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.

In 1990 Gibson Guitar Corporation purchased Tobias and moved production to Nashville. 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 Michael worked with Gibson and continued to produce basses.