aguilar tone hammer

dalconthenovice · #1 12-17-2010, 12:28 PM

so i'm lookin to buy myself a birthday present and i've seen how people really love this thing and i've tried finding reviews etc etc but its not really explaining to me

what it does

how to work it

where should i put it on my chain

help a newbie out?

kosmicwizard · #2 12-17-2010, 01:47 PM

it is a pre-amp, DI. A lot of where you put it in your chain depends on your amp and if you are trying to bypass your existing pre in favor of the tone hammer. Try it as a pedal between your bass and head, and then try it in your send/return effects loop and go with sounds best to your ears. Cheers.

CTbass613 · #3 12-17-2010, 01:48 PM

a great unit, i use it for my main preamp for my rig. If you kick in the AGS feature you can use it as a distortion pedal

scott0606 · #4 12-17-2010, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kosmicwizard

it is a pre-amp, DI. A lot of where you put it in your chain depends on your amp and if you are trying to bypass your existing pre in favor of the tone hammer. Try it as a pedal between your bass and head, and then try it in your send/return effects loop and go with sounds best to your ears. Cheers.

Just out of curiosity, what would you say is the advantage to putting it in the effect loop?

GrowlerBox · #5 12-17-2010, 02:31 PM

The effects loop on most heads bypasses the internal pre-amp, so you can use the Tone Hammer as your pre-amp and your head as a power amp only. Notable exceptions include the Markbass F1 (which I have), so I use my Tone Hammer out in front and use it for additional EQ (its bass and treble bands happen to complement those of the F1 very nicely and there's the sweepable mid) and for the odd song we have that benefits from the overdrive/AGS. On paper, the Tone Hammer looks like a waste of time for me -- my EUB has an 18V pre-amp, and I have a high-end head (at least, I think so!) -- but for my purposes, the AGS is the perfect OD and the aforementioned extra EQ options are useful. The DI is very clean, and gives me the option of sending a flat signal to FOH (the F1 DI is post-EQ).

OtterOnBass · #6 12-18-2010, 04:59 AM

What about sweepable mids? Are they the bassist's cure-all?

GrowlerBox · #7 12-25-2010, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OtterOnBass

What about sweepable mids? Are they the bassist's cure-all?

Not quite sure what you mean by that, but I certainly find it handy. The F1 has fixed high and low-mid adjusters, and the sweep allows me to find a frequency that's not working in the room I'm in and dial it out (the usual situation), or add a bit to cut through. Probably no-one else notices or would give a damn if they did, but it makes me happy

Hippos Melas · #8 12-25-2010, 09:08 PM

I've read that the Tone Hammer has some noise to it, hissing or something. Do a search for it to dig up more info...I truly can't remember where I read that but it was on TB somewhere.

OtterOnBass · #9 12-28-2010, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrowlerBox

Not quite sure what you mean by that, but I certainly find it handy. The F1 has fixed high and low-mid adjusters, and the sweep allows me to find a frequency that's not working in the room I'm in and dial it out (the usual situation), or add a bit to cut through. Probably no-one else notices or would give a damn if they did, but it makes me happy

I've read an opinion that if bassists had a sweepable mid-range EQ, GAS would be quenched and everyone would be able to find a tone they like. In other words, the search for the perfect tone would end because everyone could highlight the frequency they like.

GrowlerBox · #10 12-28-2010, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hippos Melas

I've read that the Tone Hammer has some noise to it, hissing or something. Do a search for it to dig up more info...I truly can't remember where I read that but it was on TB somewhere.

I was one of those few that had the problem. Aguilar replaced the unit, no hassles at all (via their NZ distributor). I never got to find out what the problem was with my particular pedal, because it was stolen from the distributor's car after he picked it up from the post office (

), but I've discovered since that the connection point for a ground wire inside the case was inadvertently painted over before soldering on a few of the pedals.

In any case, my new one is noiseless, on or bypassed.

GrowlerBox · #11 12-28-2010, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OtterOnBass

I've read an opinion that if bassists had a sweepable mid-range EQ, GAS would be quenched and everyone would be able to find a tone they like. In other words, the search for the perfect tone would end because everyone could highlight the frequency they like.

I hadn't thought about it, but maybe that's true. After something of an effects buying spree, culminating in the Tone Hammer purchase, I certainly haven't even looked at buying anything else. In fact, that and my tuner are all I use 99% of the time, and the Tone Hammer is always on.

So there you have it, save yourself some big bucks and buy a Tone Hammer

.

P-oddz · #12 12-29-2010, 09:23 AM

I use my Tone Hammer as an always-on tone shaper. It gives my passive jazz ('62 RI with lower output pickups) a little volume boost, an added eq shaping, and a little grit from the start. The AGS adds a little bit of "tube-like" saturation to your signal - from a warmer/fuller tone, to an aggressive OD (also depending on your pickup output and playing dynamics).

Most people find the AGS as an unusable version of a stomp box OD as there is no volume control for the AGS, and when turned on has considerable more output than the clean channel (making level adjustments on the fly impossible and too overbearing in volume difference). For me, my tone is with the AGS engaged and the gain turned up to about 10-11. It gives me a nice little bit of grit before my preamp gain pushes it that much farther. That said about its AGS downside (as a stomp version OD), the pedal plays really nice with other pedals, and I just use a different stomp OD to push it that much harder. Mine sits at the end of my pedal chain, with an Agro, an Octamizer, and a Zvex Distortron all sitting before it.

There should be no noise that comes from the unit (and there is also a ground lift switch to help eliminate any that you would ever encounter).

As mentioned before, the XLR out can send a pre or a post EQ setting to the front of the house for PA support, and also for recording DI.

lipancek · #13 01-22-2011, 05:10 AM

Hi there. I am new here.
I was wondering if you can damage the Tone Hammer unit in any way by reversing the polarity of the power supply?
This is exactly what happened to me by being a bit careless. Now, everything seems to work just fine, but I read somewhere the damage could be very subtle.

Thanks for your answers...

Marko.

GrowlerBox · #14 01-23-2011, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lipancek

Hi there. I am new here.
I was wondering if you can damage the Tone Hammer unit in any way by reversing the polarity of the power supply?
This is exactly what happened to me by being a bit careless. Now, everything seems to work just fine, but I read somewhere the damage could be very subtle.

Thanks for your answers...

Marko.

If it sounds OK, you're probably fine. If you still have any concerns though, the guys at Aguilar are very helpful if you contact them directly.

caesarbass · #15 01-23-2011, 06:25 PM

I just did a quick review of this pedal at TheBassHang.com. I use this pedal all of the time, especially with my old p-bass and my Lakland 4-94 in passive mode. The sounds you hear on the review are "direct" from the Tone Hammer.

caesarbass · #16 01-23-2011, 06:29 PM

Here's a quick link to the review:
http://thebasshang.com/aguilar-tone-...erview-part-1/

zarker · #17 01-24-2011, 08:09 PM

Are there any other pedals with a sweepable midrange EQ?

caesarbass · #18 01-24-2011, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zarker

Are there any other pedals with a sweepable midrange EQ?

That's a good question...I did some Google searching and the only one that I could find was the SansAmp Para Driver, not exactly "bass specific" but has a parametric EQ....the MXR DI and the ToneBone are not sweepable....interesting!!
I'm sure someone out there will find a pedal with sweepable mids.

CElton · #19 01-25-2011, 06:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zarker

Are there any other pedals with a sweepable midrange EQ?

EBS Microbass.

blastjv · #20 01-25-2011, 07:16 AM

Maybe this is too obvious a question to ask, since no one else has asked it (or maybe everyone's just too polite), but if you don't know what the Tone Hammer does, why are you looking to spend money on it? It ain't exactly cheap.

I've never used one, but have heard good things, and have been VERY happy with any Aguilar gear I've owned/used. Maybe it would be great for you, maybe not... I would suggest having some clear goals in mind before spending money on ANY gear... (and often ending up with a bunch of gear that isn't working out for you)

Just my 2 cents...

-JV