BassAdder60

That’s what stopped me buying one plus the re-sale value when it comes to move it on

If this is a loud 100w tube amp I could be interested.. ideally a cleaner sound to the V4B at high volume !

I was very tempted to buy one of these after trying the PF800 and recent owner of the V4B ( now sold ) Instead I purchased the GK Legacy 800 from Polar Audio on EBay ( £549 ) and it’s a really nice and powerful amp

Just had a few minutes and the tone played with a pick is fantastic ! Shape Engaged ( too middy if not ) and treble and mids backed off on Ray results in a full punchy tone. Seems like the Ray like this is better than the PBass whereas the PBass to me is still a fuller finger style. For folk who say don’t use Shape Engaged ( I agree but ) if you adjust the EQ and put back mids and high mids you get a very full punchy sound with a lot of depth when pick playing Im getting there I think

Are you running the ABM600 with Shape engaged ? Button out ? With the Ray

I think I will try that gauge as I do find the G and D a tad feeble compared to the E and A I just checked my pickup height and set it 5mm from our plastic to underside of string

You’re right .. the ABM600 with Shape engaged pulls the mids ( which are plenty from the Ray ) I think I compounded my problem when I got the GK Legacy amp ( planned to be a backup )and this amp isn’t as tone friendly with a Ray compared to a Pbass What is surprising is the Ray34 doesn’t really have a hot active pickup I can use the passive input and leave input settings similar to where my Pbass would be set What strings do you plan to put on your Ray ?

Continued …. Band rehearsals last night, started with Ray and swopped over to my PBass ( there it was again my tone ) Came home with the intention to sell the Ray and even posted it on here .. however … I love playing the Ray but I need to get a tone out of it I like. Tried it with my ABM600 head and it’s better sounding than with the GK Legacy.. The GK head is a very mid voiced amp, pair it with a Stingray and it’s nasal city ! So I’m now looking at keeping the Ray34 and find a better combination of bass / amp and that looks like my ABM600!! Wow the joys and perils of tone chasing hey !!

Hardly a reason and definitely not why it’s up for sale ( but now withdrawn ) I do prefer my PBass though .. So I’m looking to mod the Ray and get a deeper fuller tone from it Not sure how but maybe a different pickup / preamp ?

I’ve decided to move mine on and will be sticking it in the for sale section soon Sterling Ray34 in Black Purchased new in May 22

I gigged the Legacy 800 last week and it did a fine job. Ih has a definite clarity to its tone so more modern sounding perhaps. I’ve learnt a new trick too with the Drive engaged ( loses a little bass ) and that’s max out the amps bass tone and this balances out with the drive on. Then use the Edge Control to brighten things up. Im liking it plus for home use it sounds great with headphones

Enjoy 👍

Ok .. I made a mistake with the Ray34 string gauge When I took the stock old factory strings off I assumed they were 40-100 .. they are not as they are EB super slinky 45,65,80,100 Now I can see my error as I put 40-100 on it and the G and D strings sounded weak. To get them sounding less weak with EQ I spoilt the A and E string tone. Then I fitted 45-105 thinking it was the solution and it helped as it matched the G and D but now my A and E were perhaps too bassy ! Just ordered a set of EB super slinky RW to put on it and it should be spot on. Phew !!!

Cab is Ampeg SVT212AV and I play a Stingray bass

Here’s my settings I don’t use bump but max the bass and back off the low mids a tad I gigged mine last week and bump added too much boom.

I think you’re right about the middy sound. Although the ABM600 sounds deeper standing in front it might sound too boomy to the audience The GK amp seems excessive in the mids especially near to the cab but out front it cuts through well

On my Stingray bass it has a slotted string tree for the A and D strings I changed string gauge from 40-100 to 45-105 and the A string doesn’t sit in the slot. Do you think this is an issue ( plays fine ) ??? I have a spare chrome string tree that I could file out if it’s crucial it sits in the slot

I’ve tried that and don’t care for it Far too much mids going on unless you’re playing an overdriven metal tone ? Also the treble maxed makes too much hiss through the horn

Wow that’s a low output volume! At rehearsals my Abm600 output is around 9 o’clock to 10 o’clock and we are a loud band !

Bass frequencies travel a long way and in all directions but close to your cab seems to be the worst place to hear them ( especially if a good sound makes you play well )

Standing next to my cab at last nights gig ( used GK Legacy for first set ) I thought it was an ok but not great sound. Some phone clips showed it sounded really good in the mix. Second set used my ABM600 and this felt and sounded nicer to my ears standing by cab. Vid clips I heard later sounded a good mix ( more like what I was hearing standing close ) but overall it sounded about the same out front It can really make you doubt your settings when standing close yet seems to sound so different to the audience which is what matters. This was without PA support in a large pub venue.

When I had the V4B reissue head the band said it was the best sound they have heard from me, it was good but for a band very overdriven ( great for rock ) It was tough saying goodbye to it but I have the excellent ABM600 and newly arrived GK Legacy and they provide me more tonal options The V4B is a truly wonderful amp but could do with a bit more clean headroom for live work I had the SVT CL in the past and was never pushed as it was too loud Ideally a 200w version would be nice

The Legacy 800 is very loud and more powerful than my ABM600 or certainly as close to it. The best way to describe it is a less bassy, more mids and top kind of tone With good EQ adjustment you can go super bright or deep and punchy and full. The ABM can go deeper and fuller but often find it’s not really needed I think for an American built product at just over £500 it’s a great amplifier. With Bob still running the company and directly being involved in the design ( as an engineer and musician) says a lot for the well thought out design. They are not a huge company so in that comparison not too dissimilar to Ashdown etc At first I struggled to get my Stingray sounding how I wanted it ( too much mids ) but my PBass sounds really nice. String gauge change on the Stingray made a far better match with the amp