Stingray through a tone hammer

[JBeaver]

Hey everyone. I’m reaching out to see if anyone else is experiencing the same kind of “issue” I’m having. I got a used stingray special a couple months ago, the thing plays like a dream. But I’m having some issues with the sound/tone through my tone hammer. I don’t feel like I’m getting that classic stingray bite/growl out of it. I’ve watched countless YouTube videos and looked up other forums to see if anyone else plays a ray through a TH and got some help but I’m still not happy with the tone.

It sounds kind of dulled and muddied to my ears no matter how much I crank the treble and mess with the gain and drive knobs (they work together to shape the tone aside from the b/m/t knobs.

I’m leaning towards getting a new head, but wanted to make sure it wasn’t just me before I pull the trigger and take a hit on selling the tone hammer. I was going to try and get to a store and see if I can demo a GK legacy 500, darkglass microtubes 500, Ampeg pf500, and maybe a hartke head as well.

Any tips or advice would be appreciated. I just got back into playing during the pandemic and only ever had a hartke kickback up until now, so I’m not very well versed in the world of standalone heads. Thanks!

 

[five7]

A GK head will give you a great ray sound. I sold my aggy for the dullness you mention.

 

[Monahan]

Congrats on the new bass!

Keep in mind that the new StingRay Special features a default tone (for lack of a better term) which is mellower than the model it replaces. So the tone you're looking for may not necessarily be different because of the amp. If you have access to other amps you might be able to trouble shoot things a bit before selling off your amp

 

[Pineweasel]

I'm playing a 90s 3-band Stingray through a Tone Hammer and I like the way it cuts down the top-end sizzle. But that's the nature of its voicing - it's designed to approximate the sound of an old valve amp. It sounds like you want a more transparently voiced amplifier. Interesting to read because I'm hoping to get a Special at some point.