Aguilar - Official 'Tone Hammer 500' 3.8lbs 500w Thread #3

[theretheyare]

I plan to get a TH500 in a week or two, and I think it would do wonders for my old 4Ohm ACME B2 (the other cabs of choice would be a pair of old Avatar 112s). Any ideas? (I certainly appreciate KJ Jung's thoughtful insights on all things ACME). Thanks in advance!

[rodl2005]

I thought the TH500 may be too coloured for upright, but as mentioned in the Berg thread, I've possibly changed my mind.
One of my fave upright rigs is a SVT-VR/CL etc & Ampeg 810, so "coloured" is my way I guess 
I'll sure report back here after I do try the TH500 (& either AE112's, 3015 modded PF115HE's or NV412) with my (Realist fitted) upright.
The bass eq is very powerful (allowing the bass shy modded PF115HE to be dialled in just nicely) & the sweepable mids & " ass-end tightening" drive control might make it very sweet for my upright.

[shwashwa]

patitucci uses it for upright and sounds great. you mean now im going to have to get another amp??!!

[KJung]

Originally Posted by IntrepidCellist

I wouldn't describe the TH500 as "slow" in response feel. It's very up-front and punchy.

+1 Unique amp. Very warm, very fat, but just punchy as heck. It doesn't sound so much 'tubey' as it does 'Aguilar'. It is its own thing, and an interesting combination of deep bass, VERY punchy mids, and a very organic top end. Hard to describe.

[pauliebass]

Originally Posted by KJung

+1 Unique amp. Very warm, very fat, but just punchy as heck. It doesn't sound so much 'tubey' as it does 'Aguilar'. It is its own thing, and an interesting combination of deep bass, VERY punchy mids, and a very organic top end. Hard to describe.

I describe it as my perfect bass tone.

[shwashwa]

Originally Posted by KJung

+1 Unique amp. Very warm, very fat, but just punchy as heck. It doesn't sound so much 'tubey' as it does 'Aguilar'. It is its own thing, and an interesting combination of deep bass, VERY punchy mids, and a very organic top end. Hard to describe.

can you get that feel from the pedal, or do you need the amp, which seems like it has an extra knob compared to the pedal?

[KJung]

Originally Posted by shwashwa

can you get that feel from the pedal, or do you need the amp, which seems like it has an extra knob compared to the pedal?

Most feel that the pedal can get you very close put between your bass and most amps. I have never A/B'd them directly but have spent time with the pedal.

The big difference is that the drive is 'all or nothing' on the pedal, versus the interactive variable drive control on the head. That, IMO, is meaningful but probably not 'world changing' for most. It does allow you to really vary/reduce the low end and top end of your tone, very nicely emulating a traditional sealed multi-10 box. The pedal won't do that as well, and the drive on/off behaves more like a 'distortion/overdrive' sort of button to me.

I guess my view of this is, given the very impressive perormance of the power section of the TH500 along with the small size and very lightweight, if you use the pedal ALL THE TIME and it is 'your sound', then getting the TH500 makes much sense... simple, and you get a bit of an upgrade with the variable drive control.

On the other hand, if you use the TH pedal as a effect to fatten up your tone or add distortion on limited occasions, then the pedal with another amp with a significantly different voice makes much sense.

IMO and a bit of IME.

[shwashwa]

well, its hard for me to justify another amp, having 2 walter woods' and an AI and an swr baby blue, and i generally dont want distortion, and if i do i have the vt pedal, sooo.... pedal? i thought i read somewhere that the drive knob does something other than distortion?

Originally Posted by KJung

Most feel that the pedal can get you very close put between your bass and most amps. I have never A/B'd them directly but have spent time with the pedal.

The big difference is that the drive is 'all or nothing' on the pedal, versus the interactive variable drive control on the head. That, IMO, is meaningful but probably not 'world changing' for most. It does allow you to really vary/reduce the low end and top end of your tone, very nicely emulating a traditional sealed multi-10 box. The pedal won't do that as well, and the drive on/off behaves more like a 'distortion/overdrive' sort of button to me.

I guess my view of this is, given the very impressive perormance of the power section of the TH500 along with the small size and very lightweight, if you use the pedal ALL THE TIME and it is 'your sound', then getting the TH500 makes much sense... simple, and you get a bit of an upgrade with the variable drive control.

On the other hand, if you use the TH pedal as a effect to fatten up your tone or add distortion on limited occasions, then the pedal with another amp with a significantly different voice makes much sense.

IMO and a bit of IME.

[Green Lantern]

Just played 3 services in a church that seats about 450 people. The TH500 and DB212 was just awesome. What a sound with my active Fender jazz. I heard my bass through the DI in the house and adjusted my EQ to get the tone I wanted. Killer tone that Aguilar!

[KJung]

Originally Posted by shwashwa

well, its hard for me to justify another amp, having 2 walter woods' and an AI and an swr baby blue, and i generally dont want distortion, and if i do i have the vt pedal, sooo.... pedal? i thought i read somewhere that the drive knob does something other than distortion?

+1 on the drive knob. Per my post above, it is basically a complex EQ control that simultaneously reduces deep low end and upper treble, and at extreme settings, adds some harmonic complexity and distortion. You lose a bit of that with the pedal, since the on/off button is similar (to my ear) to the drive control on the amp cranked up pretty well.

With a nice, relatively neutral platform like the Walkter Woods, that pedal would add some more meat in the low end of the Walter, and a bit more mid complexity and warmth. Of course, the VT pedal can do that in a bit of a different way (Ampeg versus Aguilar), so not sure how much it will add. To me, with the Walter that doesn't have a strong low mid presence to me (gigged them for years and years), the strong, fat, big low end of the TH pedal might really add some nice 'bigness' to the Walter tone, and add some EQ capability to the rather limited AI preamp EQ section.

[shwashwa]

yeah, i always run the walter and the AI with some sort of pedal out front for low mids, whether it be the vt pedal, my PZ pre (which is kind of nice for sweepable mids) or the para driver (which always seems to have a muffled quality to it).

Originally Posted by KJung

+1 on the drive knob. Per my post above, it is basically a complex EQ control that simultaneously reduces deep low end and upper treble, and at extreme settings, adds some harmonic complexity and distortion. You lose a bit of that with the pedal, since the on/off button is similar (to my ear) to the drive control on the amp cranked up pretty well.

With a nice, relatively neutral platform like the Walkter Woods, that pedal would add some more meat in the low end of the Walter, and a bit more mid complexity and warmth. Of course, the VT pedal can do that in a bit of a different way (Ampeg versus Aguilar), so not sure how much it will add. To me, with the Walter that doesn't have a strong low mid presence to me (gigged them for years and years), the strong, fat, big low end of the TH pedal might really add some nice 'bigness' to the Walter tone, and add some EQ capability to the rather limited AI preamp EQ section.

[gustobassman]

So i have a question for the Aggie TH500 world. I want to upgrade my pre and pickups in my MTD Heir 5, and was thinking about getting another Aggie OBP-3. I had a bass years ago with that pre and i loved it.. Now, getting back to the awesomeness of my TH500, would it be redundant to get that pre even though i currently use the TH500?

This may be a silly question.. silly answers are ok.

[KJung]

Originally Posted by gustobassman

So i have a question for the Aggie TH500 world. I want to upgrade my pre and pickups in my MTD Heir 5, and was thinking about getting another Aggie OBP-3. I had a bass years ago with that pre and i loved it.. Now, getting back to the awesomeness of my TH500, would it be redundant to get that pre even though i currently use the TH500?

This may be a silly question.. silly answers are ok.

I can't really answer your question exactly. However, can say that even though the literature says the Tonehammer preamp is 'based on the OB-3', I hear VERY little similarity with those two products. The OBp-3's I've had in basses were very clean, very hi fi, very treble extended, etc., versus the warm, fat mid present and rather organic/non hi fi TH tone.

So, not redundant IMO and IME. Whether the OBP-3 is an upgrade or improvement over what you have is hard to know.

[gustobassman]

Originally Posted by KJung

I can't really answer your question exactly. However, can say that even though the literature says the Tonehammer preamp is 'based on the OB-3', I hear VERY little similarity with those two products. The OBp-3's I've had in basses were very clean, very hi fi, very treble extended, etc., versus the warm, fat mid present and rather organic/non hi fi TH tone.

So, not redundant IMO and IME. Whether the OBP-3 is an upgrade or improvement over what you have is hard to know.

It's the stock Heir pickups. It's the Korean version, not the Chinese. I was told i can get the American Bart replacements from MTD so i was gonna look into that. I had an OBP-3/Bart combination that i really dug, but i had read the same literature you did which made me curious.

[shwashwa]

can someone link a youtube clip of a prime example of what some people are calling the "aguilar tone" i think hearing it first hand will do more than words

[astack]

This:

Aguilar comparison DB359, DB750, DB680 & TH500

[Andy Will]

Originally Posted by gustobassman

So i have a question for the Aggie TH500 world. I want to upgrade my pre and pickups in my MTD Heir 5, and was thinking about getting another Aggie OBP-3. I had a bass years ago with that pre and i loved it.. Now, getting back to the awesomeness of my TH500, would it be redundant to get that pre even though i currently use the TH500?

This may be a silly question.. silly answers are ok.

Not a silly question at all!

The way I have always set up my rig is to set my basic tone with the amp (currently the TH500) then use my Bass to make any urgent adjustments on the fly during the gig. Normally I set the Bass lower/flat on my OBP then boost slightly if a fatter or Bassier tone is required according to the song.

Also, for some gigs you may need to use provided backline where the onboard EQ could be a lifesaver in getting your tone.

The amp is the starting point for my sound carefully tweaked during sound check. Also, if you set the gain on the amp to a 'just below overdriven' setting and leave your volume knob on the bass around 80-90% open, you can then push it up for certain songs and play a bit harder to engage some grit from the amp without an external overdrive pedal.

This may all seem obvious, but using your gear this way eliminates the need for EQ pedals (unless your Bass sounds bad fundamentally), an overdrive (in emergency situations) and even with some TH500 settings the sound can be lightly compressed eliminating the need for certain types of compression (not all of course).

I also normally have the Tonehammer pedal on my board to get my amp sound and a high quality DI in one for stand in gigs and rehearsals where setting up an amp would be an issue. So, all 3 Aggie pre-amps have their purpose.

Just wish the Tonehammer pedal could be updated to match the AGS setting to the TH500 as it's my favourite drive to date. (Hoping the Dave's consider this). Maybe some kind of pedal modification might be possible in the future?

(Edit: Forgot to mention I run my OBP-3 preamp at 18v which gives a little more boost)

[StrangerDanger]

My new rig!

[TXLawDawg]

Originally Posted by StrangerDanger

Attachment 309744
My new rig!

Ain't it great?

[StrangerDanger]

Originally Posted by TXLawDawg

Ain't it great?

Amazing is all I can say.