Aguilar comparison DB359, DB750, DB680 & TH500

[Pickebass]

I took a little bit of time today to make a "quick" comparison of the Aguilar. I ran all the amps at 12 o'clock thru the DI post EQ. I recorded all of these direct with no effects at all. I used the following to record

Sadowsky NYC5 (full volume bass and treble, halfway)
Protools 8.03
Powermac G5 with 5GB of RAM
George L 1/4" cable

All levels are the same. No error correction, normalizing or retakes. One quick recording... Not my best playing, but you get the idea...

Free File Hosting Made Simple - MediaFire

I also have a passive recording with my 68 jazz.... full out and tone half way. BTW the stuff in my avatar is what I used for the recording

[Limeman]

Wow... you can really hear the lack of the tubes in the TH500. Nice tone, but decidedly "dry" in comparison.

[OldogNewTrick]

good one, thanks for taking the trouble !

DB680 - (one of) my all-time favourite pre amps, thanks for reminding me why.
DB359 - bit too tubey for me, but still well defined tone
TH500 - DaveB was right, definitely the same tonal family as the DB750, nice round SS sound. As is, tis a bit too thin for me, but I bet it fattens up nicely when twisting the bass knob. However not quite in the same league as the DB680 and DB359..............
DB750 - purely on tone it's my least favourite, bit too wooly.

Nice playing btw.

IMO

[vision]

Thanks for doing this! I can't listen now because it's blocked at work, but I'll check it out later today.

[babebambi]

Originally Posted by OldogNewTrick

DB680 - (one of) my all-time favourite pre amps, thanks for reminding me why.

yup yup

[Humblerumble]

Thanks for doing this. Actually I play a DB750 and I have a Tone Hammer pedal, but I think I would be happy with any of the four based on your clips.

[Kirkowitz]

Thanks for taking the trouble. All great sounding amps in their own way.

[Overdrive777]

Sound great but different!

[mattyiop]

Pickebass,

How would you compare the sound of the Aggies

(I cant listen at work)

[rummy]

Thanks!

[Pickebass]

Originally Posted by mattyiop

Pickebass,

How would you compare the sound of the Aggies

(I cant listen at work)

I can say this, the DB359 is the warmest amp around. In some cases, too warm. The 680 is kinda like having a Dr's scapel, the EQ is the strength of the unit. You can really sculpt tone. The DB750 is a wooly monster. Big fat tone. The TH500 is reminiscent of the DB line, but you can't beat tubes and huge transformers. I'll make a quick car analogy

DB680-911 carerra s4(very precise and fast!)
DB359- Mercedes E550 (Big and comfortable)
DB750-Hummer H2 (just goes thru everything)
TH500- Mercedes ML500 (very capable, just not the big boy)

They really are 4 different units aimed at 4 different uses. I think a more fair comparison for the TH is the Markbass or shuttle 6.0
For the DB359- Orange 200b,
DB750- Genz Benz 1200,
DB680- I really believe this unit has no direct competitor, Although many would say the Eden Navigator, but it's totally in a different place (no offense to eden users, the Navigator IS a great unit)...

My $.02

[babebambi]

Originally Posted by Pickebass

I can say this, the DB359 is the warmest amp around. In some cases, too warm. The 680 is kinda like having a Dr's scapel, the EQ is the strength of the unit. You can really sculpt tone. The DB750 is a wooly monster. Big fat tone. The TH500 is reminiscent of the DB line, but you can't beat tubes and huge transformers. I'll make a quick car analogy

DB680-911 carerra s4(very precise and fast!)
DB359- Mercedes E550 (Big and comfortable)
DB750-Hummer H2 (just goes thru everything)
TH500- Mercedes ML500 (very capable, just not the big boy)

They really are 4 different units aimed at 4 different uses. I think a more fair comparison for the TH is the Markbass or shuttle 6.0
For the DB359- Orange 200b,
DB750- Genz Benz 1200,
DB680- I really believe this unit has no direct competitor, Although many would say the Eden Navigator, but it's totally in a different place (no offense to eden users, the Navigator IS a great unit)...

My $.02

more like the org Hummer, H2 is NOT the real deal, IMO ...

[Scott McArron]

Love that DB750 tone, but it can be just a bit wooly. A Telefunken in V1 tightens it up perfectly to sound much closer to the 680, IMO. Wouldn't play it any other way.

I'd love to see how the TH500 could be EQ'd to be closer to the 680, if that's at all possible. To me, it just seems like another lightweight amp, but with nothing special to it, like the RH750 with all it's bells and whistles, or the GB ST900 with it's much more fat tubey sound in a lightweight package. So I don't really get what this has that any other lightweight amp has besides more lightweight class D tone. Not even a headphone output? If it were closer to $500 OTD, I might consider for a practice amp, but it's not much of a contender in today's lightweight world, IMO, and I LOVE aguilar. 5 years ago it might've been cool.

[gillento]

Originally Posted by Scott McArron

... To me, it just seems like another lightweight amp, but with nothing special to it, like the RH750 with all it's bells and whistles, or the GB ST900 with it's much more fat tubey sound in a lightweight package. So I don't really get what this has that any other lightweight amp has besides more lightweight class D tone. Not even a headphone output? If it were closer to $500 OTD, I might consider for a practice amp, but it's not much of a contender in today's lightweight world, IMO, and I LOVE aguilar. 5 years ago it might've been cool.

After my recent short Streamliner600 /TH500 comparison and my years of positive Markbass SA450 experience I'll have to second this...
The TH500 confirms my Aguilar experience: I LOVE their cabs (12" GS, DB & SL) but can't find a sound I like with their heads (db750, AG500, TH500).

[jeremynyc]

Just did a soundcheck at an outdoor festival in Louisville, KY (5000 capacity) with the the TH500. Absolutely awesome.

My setup is:
76 p bass with roundwounds
DB410

And I have been using a gb shuttle 6.0 for the head (I have db751 on order so using the genz Benz in the meantime).

The bassist for the opening band offered to let me borrow his tonehammer 500 and let me just say that it blew the pants off the shuttle. HUGE difference and leagues above other lightweight heads I've used. I've been really struggling to get a nice fat sound out of the shuttle but with the TH500 it was just there. The eq was super musical and useful. The bass knob gave some nice fullness and the drive kicked everything up a notch too without getting clanky or grindy. It jut added a bit of wool that made it feel a bit more rock and roll. Finally I could just get a sound I liked!

It's so good it made me wonder if I'll even need the 751, but I might just have to get both!

[E-Mac]

If my experience with the TH mirrors that, then I'll be super happy. I bought a 750 this week on TB, and ordered a TH500, sl112, and sl410. We'll find what stays and what goes...

I play a p-bass with TI flats.

[GregC]

Gotta bump this and say thanks very much for taking the time to do these clips and share them! I'm especially appreciative of the passive fingerstyle clips, that's my thing.

[emjazz]

I can't believe how much I liked the sound of the passive clip of the DB680. Incredible sound.

[Pickebass]

Originally Posted by emjazz

I can't believe how much I liked the sound of the passive clip of the DB680. Incredible sound.

Still one of the best sounding preamps. I've had it for 7 years and it never dissapoints.

Interesting comments overall. As far as EQ, I made in effort not to modify. The TH500 EQ does alot for the amp.

[easye]

gotta agree thanks for the clips. I recently picked up a db680 and it is awesome still getting the hang of the eq but straight out flat eq it sounds pretty awesome. Played a 751 up at aguilar a few weeks ago and it sounded great also.