masterwork tools..

[animewatcha]

Besides the masterwork tools present in player's handbook and the RAW-legal 50gp entry, what other WOTC books have examples of masterwork tools ( for like spot, listen, survival, etc. )? DM didn't like me going the 'books for everything' route at character creation despite the 50gp a pop from WBL being taken out appropriately.

[Rubik]

The list of masterwork bardic instruments can be found in this guide: http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=9830

[Jowgen]

While not strictly masterwork tools, Arms and Equipment guide has a bunch of cheap mundane items that give at least a +1. There is a helmet for Listen, Shoes for Move Silently, Fingerblades for Sleight of Hand, and maybe something else. One of the Eberron books has a glenbacher weave (or something like that), which gives Diplomacy bonus, and I think there is another one...

THe only skills I've found it difficult to find non-book tools for are obviously the knowledge skills, spellcraft and UMD (mundane crystal thing that resonates with magic and "attunement gloves" might work).

[Troacctid]

DM didn't like me going the 'books for everything' route at character creation despite the 50gp a pop from WBL being taken out appropriately.

Which is honestly not unreasonable, considering you only get the bonus if you are using the tools when you make the check. I mean, maybe if you have Autohypnosis, you could completely memorize all the books, but otherwise you'd have to be referencing the book as part of the skill check, or you wouldn't get the +2. Also, reference books are heavy, and a low-level character without any extradimensional storage might have trouble lugging around a whole library.

Furthermore, most books aren't going to be so comprehensive as to cover every single usage of the skill--if you have a Spell Compendium, for example, it'll be helpful for Spellcraft checks to identify spells, but if you're making a Spellcraft check to determine the properties of a magic item, you'd need to reference a Magic Item Compendium, which would be another 50 gp. This is why an alchemist's laboratory is so expensive compared to other masterwork tools--it has every tool you could ever need for every type of alchemical item you might want to make.

...Anyway, regarding your actual question, Complete Adventurer has tools in Chapter 4 for Handle Animal, Balance, Hide, Forgery, Listen, and Ride, as well as a plethora of masterwork musical instruments.

[Uncle Pine]

To clarify: are you also looking for suggestions on how to fluff masterwork tools for any given skill?

Possible masterwork tools for the skills you mentioned in the OP:
- Spot: Goggles Do Nothing (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GogglesDoNothing) (double as cool headgear);
- Listen: masterwork prosthetic bat ears (double as kinky headgear);
- Survival: compass sundial wristwatch (doubles as cool anachronistic accessory).

[Hiro Quester]

I didn't make one for spot, but for listen my DM let me make an amplifying earring, that amplifies faint sounds when I'm in a quiet environment.

My masterwork survival equipment is a bunch of snares, fish hooks, and a field guide to edible plants and fungi, etc.

[Telonius]

This thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?111820-Masterwork-Tools-(3-5)) has a bunch of suggestions for masterwork tools.