Bassist Markus Setzer shared a video recently and the bass he was using caught my eye and my ear. This Ruokangas Steam Classic is a beautiful fretless that’s fitted with their Valvebucker MkII system. The setup matches a magnetic pickup capsule with a tube-powered preamp circuit that’s powered by a floor unit.
“We smacked the tubes into the bass, right under your fingertips, providing you a velvety smooth tube sound and more – detail and clarity that will cut through the mix better than any other bass,” Ruokangas writes on their website.
The control set begins with the Focus knob, which changes the sound from “unfiltered high fidelity sound with even frequency response” to “a low-mid pushing rock bass tone with rounded off high register.” From there the knobs include Bass and Treble controls to affect the timbre of the sound.
This fretless Steam bass is built with an alder body in a Bare Bone Black finish and a rock maple neck with an ebony fingerboard. The dark aesthetic earned it the name “Puma.”
Check out Setzer dialing in a beautiful tone in his video:
Update: He also shared this clip demonstrating the different sounds of the Valvebucker:
Ruokangas Guitars Steam Classic “Puma” Bass Photo Gallery:
