Tone Hammer...seriously?

[raul]

recent poll here about preamps got me curious about this little box of magik...is it really that awesome? lots of people seem to think so...i've never played one, but am itching to and about to pull the trigger on a preamp for my GK 1001RBII to give it some more grit and growl and all that stuff etc...ya know?

was thinking of Tone Hammer, Paradriver or the PBDDI...but dang...that Tone Hammer seems cool...as cool as can be...but so do the others...want an awesome preamp to add more to my sound...ya know?

[Shish]

Tronografic Rusty Box

[bassboysam]

Originally Posted by raul

recent poll here about preamps got me curious about this little box of magik...is it really that awesome? lots of people seem to think so...i've never played one, but am itching to and about to pull the trigger on a preamp for my GK 1001RBII to give it some more grit and growl and all that stuff etc...ya know?

was thinking of Tone Hammer, Paradriver or the PBDDI...but dang...that Tone Hammer seems cool...as cool as can be...but so do the others...want an awesome preamp to add more to my sound...ya know?

I tried the Tone Hammer and did not like it at all, I found it very woody sounding and I could never EQ it to my liking. I was not a fan of the OD circuit either.

[Zitch]

Originally Posted by bassboysam

I tried the Tone Hammer and did not like it at all, I found it very woody sounding and I could never EQ it to my liking. I was not a fan of the OD circuit either.

+1 For what you want to do dont waste your money on the Tone hammer, been there done that. Look at the Tronograpic rusty box as suggested or Darkglass microtubes (best you can get in my opinion) or if your on a budget like me I used a Way Huge Green Rhino.

[chessrocks]

Originally Posted by Zitch

... or if your on a budget like me I used a Way Huge Green Rhino.

That looks interesting.

One thing I've always wondered about that one: What does that "curve" control do? And how does one "fine tune the corner frequencies" of their tone?

That one just sort of puzzles me.

[BassBrass]

Originally Posted by chessrocks

That looks interesting.

One thing I've always wondered about that one: What does that "curve" control do? And how does one "fine tune the corner frequencies" of their tone?

That one just sort of puzzles me.

I agree. It's kind of nonsense until they define it. I couldn't find a definition when I was looking last week. My experience is that full left, like 7 o clock, simply allows the most mid-range, or so it seems. I treat it like I do an Attack Goat...full left allows mids through, noon to 5 o clock produces a scooped tone. GRhino was just on my board for a week though. I'm using a Zvex Distortron now. I'd been planning on trying one for a while. Lows are a bit lower and there's plenty of midrange. And "corner freq." whatever that is...

[P-oddz]

Originally Posted by raul

recent poll here about preamps got me curious about this little box of magik...is it really that awesome? lots of people seem to think so...i've never played one, but am itching to and about to pull the trigger on a preamp for my GK 1001RBII to give it some more grit and growl and all that stuff etc...ya know?

was thinking of Tone Hammer, Paradriver or the PBDDI...but dang...that Tone Hammer seems cool...as cool as can be...but so do the others...want an awesome preamp to add more to my sound...ya know?

All depends on what you're trying to do. Are you trying to make up for tone problems with your amp or your bass? Are you looking for a dirt pedal so you can play a more distorted or overdriven tone? Are you wanting it as an always on solution, or a temporary (per song, EQ fix).

I play the Tone Hammer and love it, personally. I use it to give my passive Fender Jazz a little bit more EQ control and a slight bit of hair before it hits my amp. It's also a great recording tool. As for the previous comment on it being to "woody", I'm not even sure what that means. , but I digress.

The pedal is not meant to be a kick-on type of distortion. You set your tone and leave it. Always. So if a kick on dirt is what you are looking for, than I would suggest looking elsewhere. You need to figure exactly what you are looking for in your tone, before you can figure out the right tool for it.

[bassbrad]

Preamps seem to be all the rage these days and not without good reason. I do a lot of recording sessions so i was eager to try all those boxes to ad to the kit. I tried Tone Hammer, WTDI, Hartke Bass Attack, EHX Metaphors, MXR M80, Radial tone Bone, all the Sans Amps and a few others but not really my thing. Wound up staying simple with a Submarine or Yamaha NE1 or use whatever the engineer prefers.

[Marial]

I love mine, it warms up and fills out my passive Hwy 1 Jazz's tone perfectly.

[Unrepresented]

Originally Posted by BassBrass

I agree. It's kind of nonsense until they define it. I couldn't find a definition when I was looking last week. My experience is that full left, like 7 o clock, simply allows the most mid-range, or so it seems. I treat it like I do an Attack Goat...full left allows mids through, noon to 5 o clock produces a scooped tone. GRhino was just on my board for a week though. I'm using a Zvex Distortron now. I'd been planning on trying one for a while. Lows are a bit lower and there's plenty of midrange. And "corner freq." whatever that is...

Sounds sorta like the contour knob on GK amps.

[Lowbrow]

Originally Posted by P-oddz

All depends on what you're trying to do. Are you trying to make up for tone problems with your amp or your bass? Are you looking for a dirt pedal so you can play a more distorted or overdriven tone? Are you wanting it as an always on solution, or a temporary (per song, EQ fix).

I play the Tone Hammer and love it, personally. I use it to give my passive Fender Jazz a little bit more EQ control and a slight bit of hair before it hits my amp. It's also a great recording tool. As for the previous comment on it being to "woody", I'm not even sure what that means. , but I digress.

The pedal is not meant to be a kick-on type of distortion. You set your tone and leave it. Always. So if a kick on dirt is what you are looking for, than I would suggest looking elsewhere. You need to figure exactly what you are looking for in your tone, before you can figure out the right tool for it.

+1 - the Tone Hammer is a great tone-shaping preamp - if what you're looking for is a tone-shaping preamp. I've found this post to be a terrific description and guide for using some TH functions - I'm using it strictly with the AGS function engaged, which does impart a good amount of vintage gruffness, but I keep the AGS level very low which gives more of a natural vintage sound shape - turn it up and you get something approaching overdrive, but it is not to my liking - too square-wave, if you get my meaning.

As for the "woody" comment - well, perhaps the poster needed to spend more time with the TH - it can be downright glassy and very modern sounding if that's the way you want to go so I cannot say that woody is an accurate all-encompassing classification. It is extremely versatile and yields a variety of great sounds, but it is not a kick-on overdrive IMO.

If you want your amp to have a good basic gruff vintage amp vibe, the Tone Hammer using low-level AGS can be very useful.

[P-oddz]

Originally Posted by Lowbrow

+1 - the Tone Hammer is a great tone-shaping preamp - if what you're looking for is a tone-shaping preamp. I've found this post to be a terrific description and guide for using some TH functions - I'm using it strictly with the AGS function engaged, which does impart a good amount of vintage gruffness, but I keep the AGS level very low which gives more of a natural vintage sound shape - turn it up and you get something approaching overdrive, but it is not to my liking - too square-wave, if you get my meaning.

As for the "woody" comment - well, perhaps the poster needed to spend more time with the TH - it can be downright glassy and very modern sounding if that's the way you want to go so I cannot say that woody is an accurate all-encompassing classification. It is extremely versatile and yields a variety of great sounds, but it is not a kick-on overdrive IMO.

If you want your amp to have a good basic gruff vintage amp vibe, the Tone Hammer using low-level AGS can be very useful.

True that!
I'm still confused about "woody" tone though.
I understand "wooly", but not "woody". Especially when referring to the tone of pedal (sorry, previous poster, maybe you could shed some light).

[P-oddz]

Just found this. I would classify this as modern tone. He says it was recorded with a Tone Hammer in the comments.

Slap bass groove - "Bastien Burger style"- Bassistik - YouTube

[bassboysam]

Originally Posted by P-oddz

True that!
I'm still confused about "woody" tone though.
I understand "wooly", but not "woody". Especially when referring to the tone of pedal (sorry, previous poster, maybe you could shed some light).

By woody I mean everything sounded like it was almost an upright, it also sounded very dry.

[Vlad5]

I've tried both the Para Driver and Tone Hammer... both are very good choices for:

1. Eq'ing
2. DI'ing
3. Final boost before the amp (Tone Hammer).
4. Adding overdrive grit into the signal (Para Driver).

+1 to LowBrow's suggestion above... Check out that thread, and others similar.

Honestly, you can't go wrong with either DI, BUT if you don't need a DI, any good eq pedal will work too (I use a Submarine Designer myself). My plan is to add a JDI or similar for recording, one day, and thus have everything the above pedals have to offer, just separately...

[DosiYanarchy]

I recently spent some time with the Tone Hammer and got the following impressions:

Through the bass and rig i was using (Squire VM 77 jazz, TC Combo) - the EQ didnt do that much - sounded useful to fine tune the basic tone of your bass but it doesnt give super radically different sounds, unlike the Tech 21 VTbass. Its not a criticism, but just an observation from the time i spent with it. I quite liked the AGS circuit, it sounded alot more transparent than the Aguilar AGRO pedal (i've owned one, and tried it a few times since and directly A/B'd it with the Tonehammer).

If the tonehammer was half the price, I would heartily recommend it to anyone but I personally felt that I could obtain both a more versatile overdrive and a more comprehensive preamp at a lower price point.

Having said that - I found Lowbrow's application of the tonehammer (ie: with the AGS always on, not as an optional drive) could yield more positive results for me IF I had a generally distorted basic tone (as opposed to clean) - not saying that Lowbrow's basic tone is a distortion, but looking at the TH as one basic sound, rather than a two channel pedal actually makes it more appealing as there are some EQ curves I would prefer in an overdrive that I would not want so much on a clean tone - the AGS circuit has no tweakability separate to the regular EQ.

I really love the Green Rhino but it is NOT a preamp, but an overdrive based on a Tubescreamer, works really well on bass and 'Curve' control seems to control the mid scoop. (tube screamers are known for having a 'bump' in the midrange frequencies.)

[Virgil]

I hated it. I tried it with 2 SL 112's. I had the volume at 8:00, and when I hit my low B, it farted. I know it was the amp, because I tried the cabs with a different amp, I had no problem at all. Get a Markbass or Epi 501 etc.

[P-oddz]

Originally Posted by Virgil

I hated it. I tried it with 2 SL 112's. I had the volume at 8:00, and when I hit my low B, it farted. I know it was the amp, because I tried the cabs with a different amp, I had no problem at all. Get a Markbass or Epi 501 etc.

OP was talking about the Tone Hammer preamp.

Sounds like you are talking about the Tone Hammer 500(?)

[Lowbrow]

Originally Posted by DosiYanarchy

I recently spent some time with the Tone Hammer and got the following impressions:

Through the bass and rig i was using (Squire VM 77 jazz, TC Combo) - the EQ didnt do that much - sounded useful to fine tune the basic tone of your bass but it doesnt give super radically different sounds, unlike the Tech 21 VTbass. Its not a criticism, but just an observation from the time i spent with it. I quite liked the AGS circuit, it sounded alot more transparent than the Aguilar AGRO pedal (i've owned one, and tried it a few times since and directly A/B'd it with the Tonehammer).

If the tonehammer was half the price, I would heartily recommend it to anyone but I personally felt that I could obtain both a more versatile overdrive and a more comprehensive preamp at a lower price point.

Having said that - I found Lowbrow's application of the tonehammer (ie: with the AGS always on, not as an optional drive) could yield more positive results for me IF I had a generally distorted basic tone (as opposed to clean) - not saying that Lowbrow's basic tone is a distortion, but looking at the TH as one basic sound, rather than a two channel pedal actually makes it more appealing as there are some EQ curves I would prefer in an overdrive that I would not want so much on a clean tone - the AGS circuit has no tweakability separate to the regular EQ.

I really love the Green Rhino but it is NOT a preamp, but an overdrive based on a Tubescreamer, works really well on bass and 'Curve' control seems to control the mid scoop. (tube screamers are known for having a 'bump' in the midrange frequencies.)

What I found really attractive and impetus to go for the Tone Hammer was how Eublet (see link in my above post) described the AGS as an old-school EQ: tighter bass (which to my ear sounds like a higher frequency band) rather than the 40hz fundamental, which I feel adds too much sub bass; treble control affecting ~2.5k rather than 4k, which to my liking is about as high as I like my highs; and an extremely adaptable mid control. Given the AGS bass/treble tone stack, the right mids are EVERYTHING to me, and the Tone Hammer really delivers. So much, in fact, that I'm still twiddling to taste! But I'm enjoying every minute of it. Keeping the AGS control (the Gain knob) at minimum or slightly higher really does give you this reconfigured tone setup without any OD, until you begin to turn it up to about 9 o'clock. I've also tried setting my VT Bass in line before the Tone Hammer, and, while I need to be careful with output settings to control amp clipping, the results are very sonically seductive and offer many great options. Almost too many for a chronic twiddler like myself.

[P-oddz]

Originally Posted by Lowbrow

I've also tried setting my VT Bass in line before the Tone Hammer, and, while I need to be careful with output settings to control amp clipping, the results are very sonically seductive and offer many great options. Almost too many for a chronic twiddler like myself.

I have always had mixed feelings about the VT Bass... I wanted to love it, but never seemed to find its place. Then I threw it AFTER my Tone Hammer, twiddled a bit, and found its place!

The Tone Hammer/VT combo is now an always-on combination for me. It really doesn't make much sense, with all the EQ'ing and amp simulating going into my standalone-wonderfully-sounding Bassman TV15... but it all just sounds great combined, for some reason.

The combo of the TH into the VT, going direct for recording sounds stellar also (I know it's completely a**-backwards and negates the T Hammers' DI, but it just sounds awesome to me).

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the TH before or after the VT in the chain (not to hijack the thread or anything).