Non ADA Gear > Basses

SUB ray5-ws First impessions

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rnolan:
Well the SUB 5 string finally came today.  :whoohoo!: (the pic below is from their web site but this is what it looks like (actually, even better in the flesh)). Price point $500 AUD
So got it home on the bench, B string was wrapped around the machine head shaft top down (not bottom up (never seen that before)) so very little string break over the nut and it had a bit too much neck relief (not surprising). Tried to adjust the neck relief but it didn't want to turn mmm, neck off time. Whipped off the strings (kept them to measure where to cut the new ones, and who knows they might come in handy, normally I'd cut them near the PU so they are easy to pull through the bridge plate holes and chuck them).  Took the neck off to adjust truss rod/neck relief, very tight but got it to loosen (went that way first  ;) ), then managed (with much more force than I would have liked) to give it a 1/4 turn more than it came with.  Put the neck back on and gave it a good drink of fretboard oil (3) also gave the frets a quick gentle 1200 rub between oilings.  Next a set of DR 45 - 125 Fat Beams, had a bit of trouble getting the last bit of the B through the bridge plate hole but didn't have to ream it (the hole) in the end.  Neck relief was good, did the action/intonation, sounded great through the Carvin BR510 although the 10"s were struggling a bit with the low B (E up was awesome), may need to get the Carvin 18" cab (or similar) to cope.  I've now got this bass on a stand next to me, and it's beckoning me to play it.  So I did and lowered the action as far as I could (~went from "a bit high for me" to silky smooth, mmmm), I'm a guitar player, and this bass is great to play  :thumb-up:   At this price point, with a good setup, what a bass.

Peter H. Boer:
Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice  O:-)

rnolan:
Hey Peter, Now I really wish it was mine, I just plugged it in through my TLA Ivory (hybrid) valve pre amp and into the Behringer Truths with truth sub, all flat, little bit of tube warmth from the TLA, this bass is amazing, very much like it's expensive versions, you plug them in, they just sound great.  And this ones really got character, kept me captivated all night.

Peter H. Boer:

--- Quote from: rnolan on March 21, 2014, 09:23:52 AM ---Hey Peter, Now I really wish it was mine, I just plugged it in through my TLA Ivory (hybrid) valve pre amp and into the Behringer Truths with truth sub, all flat, little bit of tube warmth from the TLA, this bass is amazing, very much like it's expensive versions, you plug them in, they just sound great.  And this ones really got character, kept me captivated all night.

--- End quote ---
You got a TL Audio Ivory? A VP5051 by chance?  8)
I use a TLA VP5051 as clean channel for my bass with recordings also (and run the MB-1 parallel on a distortion patch.
Highly Modable the TLA Ivory range, Machinator modded mine and they became even better ;D

rnolan:
Hey Peter, I've got a 5001 quad valve preamp (bit of a misnomer as it's a hybrid where you can wind in some tube (2 x 12 AX7s using one triode per channel and each channel is completely discrete, no mixing available).  This, and a bunch of other gear (including a Focusrite Platinum Penta stereo compressor, 2 Rode NT5s', TC M One XL (I've been using this), a Roland DAW (still in the create)) was given to me by a friend who's wife wanted it out of the garage.  :whoohoo!:
Last night was the first time I'd turned the 5001 on, sounded very nice on the SUB ray5, all flat, little bit of tube wound in, so I can hear why you'd use it as a clean channel for recordings, I was enjoying it so much (the SUB and TLA together) that I didn't even turn on the record (had protools up and left it sit there as I was enjoying just playing the SUB through the TLA), then ahh 4.30 am time for bed (and by now I'm playing in B).  I'd read some not so great reviews about the 5001 but my ears told me immediately they were wrong/on drugs whatever.. The TLA is very (very) nice on bass (and I suspect on other signal sources).  Next I want to try the NT5s' through it on acoustic guitar and my Rode NT1 on vocals, I recon it will be very good, take the edge of that slight metallic-ness that Rode mics have by adding a bit of tube warmth.
Must try to catch up with Machinator, he and I were working on an idea for a 2 RU 8 channel valve line mixer (with 6 pre/post sends), perfect for ADA preamp users to bring your rig together properly, I've designed the front panel layout, now the idea needs a good clean tube circuit.

SUB ray5 went home today (smiles all round), probably just as well, it and I were bonding big time, much longer, I may not have been able to let it go, (and only got it on Friday arvo)

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