Aguilar Tone Hammer 350

[KJung]

Shows also what a nice cab the AE210 is too.
Thanks KJ:thumbup:

I really love that cab. It is the 'final' revised version of the AE210, which has a smoother top end than the original (revised crossover) and was configured to use in a vertical/offset format. Sounds GREAT in mix... fat and articulate! Most heads sound pretty darn good through it. I hear a lot of that tone in the upcoming Bergantino CN series. It again also brings to mind the Aguiar DB112, which is another one of my favorite small cabs. I still have not heard the SL112, so can't comment on that one.

To VELALV, I assume your budget is for amp/cab together. I would think a TH500 and a single DB112 would look great, and pretty much cover your volume needs, and allow you to expand to a second DB112 down the road. If you purchase carefully from Musician's Friend, and call them, you can probaby get 10%-15% off the purchase. The TH350 would work fine also, but that little bit more ooomph from the TH500 might make a difference with a single 8ohm cab in carrying the room. I would think the Bear ML112 or the upcoming Bergantino CN112 would be great also.

Also, yes, my Nordstrand VP5 is a bit of a more refined, modern take on a P Bass. A bit more open low end, and a top end that is a bit sweeter than the rougher, classic Fender tone. Some of my P Bass buddies describe it as 'the best PJ they have ever heard'. Works really nicely for me in a mix, where I can dial that tone control down a bit and it doesn't get into the dreaded 'mud' of some P's live. And, the top end is very usable through the entire range of the passive tone control, even with a clean, full range cab. Special instrument IMO!

 

[KJung]

PS to VELALV... a bit over your budget, but if you don't mind the extra weight (about 12 more pounds), the Bergantino HD210 is wonderful. I bit more low mid push than my AE, and similer, if a touch smoother up top. REALLY nice 210 that is very small, a bit on the heavy side (I believe around 50+ pounds), and that can really wump hard with a head like the TH500. Not that far off from the DB210, but more wump and a bit more balanced tone, and nicer crossover.... very smooth transition from the woofer to the tweeter.

 

[scotch]

FedEx delivered my SL 112 today! Wow! Yeah, Deep, punchy and so surprisingly loud for its' size and weight! Ridiculous.

Just in time, too, for a trial-by-fire this evening. Rehearsal and 2nd guitarist audition for my surf rock band. Loud setting. Will report back....

 

[scotch]

A long loud rehearsal tonight (the guitarist we auditioned got the job)... The SL 112 handled it easily! I'm going to spend some more time with the cab tomorrow in my home studio and with an upright bass & then give a more detailed report.

Overall, really impressed!!!

Yes, my pedalboard is almost as big as my rig! Lolz...

 

[KJung]

A long loud rehearsal tonight (the guitarist we auditioned got the job)... The SL 112 handled it easily! I'm going to spend some more time with the cab tomorrow in my home studio and with an upright bass & then give a more detailed report.

Overall, really impressed!!!

Yes, my pedalboard is almost as big as my rig! Lolz...
View attachment 320866

Nice. I like the look of that cab!

 

[scotch]

Upright amp? You betcha! Works great with my K&K BassMax piezo, even without a separate preamp/buffer.

 

[Abrahampost]

I've pretty much settled on the Aguilar TH 350 or 500. Not sure which though. I'll be playing with 2 guitarists and a fairly loud drummer in a straight ahead rock and roll gig, mostly playing in small to medium clubs. I haven't decided on cabs yet but I'm thinking I could go with the 350 and a Berg NV610 and be able to cover everything. But what about a couple 12's or a 2X12?

I picked up the TH500 when they first came out and loved it. I used it with the gs 2x12 and man did i have tone for days... and plenty of headroom on top. Eventually I traded for my current head(mesa m600) because i wanted the foot switchable channel, compressor, and extra eq. If I ever go back to a micro head it will certainly be the TH. The weight saving of the head just didn't make sense since I am lugging around the 212.

 

[pauliebass]

Upright amp? You betcha! Works great with my K&K BassMax piezo, even without a separate preamp/buffer.

What upright is that?

 

[scotch]

What upright is that?

It's a Shen plywood 3/4 bass. Good road/touring bass! I just put a K&K BassMax in it this morning - it really thumps through the Aggie rig!

 

[velalv]

I thought about getting one of those as well. Shen is one of the few companies that actually make lefty upright basses. I would love to be able to play both upright and electric, but I really need to work on my electric technique and timing first, and still need to get an actual rig for myself instead of having nice basses that I plug through just any ole' rig I can get my hands on.

How is the mids on the TH working when you play with the upright? Any special EQing you do with it versus the P bass?

 

[scotch]

The TH350 / SL112 set flat with tweeter off sounds pretty epic with the double bass. I also keep the 'Drive' control a lot lower than I normally would. The Mid control has a BIG effect on the upright tone! Great for manipulating the overall voice of the bass, but not narrow enough for notching feedback.

With an electric bass, I crank up the Drive and Gain, add a little Bass and adjust Mids to taste/room. I'm surprised how much I actually like the SL112's tweeter! Normally, turn tweeters off, but the Aggie sounds a little sweeter with overdrive than is typical.

 

[qwench]

Thanks for the updates Scotch and the rig looks great!!
Are you planning on adding another SL112 down the road or just gigging with the one? Will it be elevated on gig situations? or?

Just curious...I am having a helluva a time deciding on whether to order TWO SL112's to go my ToneHammer 350 or TWO of the DB112's in White Hot...

My back likes the idea of the SL112's but my preference and pocketbook like the DB112 in white hot (probably one DB112 and one DB112NT)

Hmmm...decisions...decisions...

 

[velalv]

I am in the same boat. I play mostly CCM stuff and a little urban Gospel (and am definitely a fan of Sixpence!) and am in the same boat, but would probably go for 500 vs 350 since it seems to match well with 2 cabs and power maximization.

Thanks Scotch for the responsive posts! I appreciate them.

 

[scotch]

I've been playing through the TH350 and SL112 all morning. Double bass and electric. I couldn't be happier with this rig! UNLESS it was through 2 SL112's!!!!

Yeah, I'll definitely get another SL112 at some point. It really throws into the room. It even sounds good behind the cab through the port. It's just so small & light, I feel like such a ninny showing up to a gig with it!

I have been playing with it on the floor. Works great that way, haven't felt the need to put it on a stand. At last night's rehearsal, I had to basically stand next to the cab & it still projected well and I could hear it just fine over the drums and two loud Princeton Reverbs and a Deluxe.

I could do a Sixpence gig with 2 cabs, I think. One SL112 wouldn't quite do it. Or, at least, it might - but I'd be worried about blowing the driver. I play with more bottom end than is typical & use an octave-down pedal a lot. Speaking of which, the SL112 is actually reproducing the subs from the octave pedal really well! I used my regular settings last night & nothing farted out. Phew!

Very impressed with the TH350 and SL112 combo. Sounds great, extremely flexible, mid-forward but not overbearing (12's always have more mids it seems) and a usable tweeter (that's a first for me). It's so lightweight it feels like it's an empty box!

The Tone Hammer amp is proving to be a pretty great preamp for the double bass piezo too! I'm surprised. I may not need the Fishman Platinum Pro that I had planned on using. I may need some sort of mid-notch filter for feedback, but otherwise I really dig that the Aguilar setup sounds natural and woody. I'm quickly falling out-of-love with the Fishman...

Great products!

Full disclosure: I did receive an artist discount on the cabinet. This is a new professional relationship- I had already purchased the following Aguilar products on the open market:
DB900 Tube Di
OBP-3 Onboard Pre
Tone Hammer DI
Octamizer Pedal
Filter Twin Pedal
Tone Hammer 350 Amp

I already feel confident recommending the cab to anyone playing smaller rooms and non-doom genres! The TH350 I've used through an Ampeg fridge & that amp can KILL at 4 ohms!

 

[AMJBASS]

Only thing I don't like about the Aguilar with the Upright is the low end extension. I use an Fdeck preamp which corrects this, but without it I find I am getting too much cone excursion.

I've been playing through the TH350 and SL112 all morning. Double bass and electric. I couldn't be happier with this rig! UNLESS it was through 2 SL112's!!!!

Yeah, I'll definitely get another SL112 at some point. It really throws into the room. It even sounds good behind the cab through the port. It's just so small & light, I feel like such a ninny showing up to a gig with it!

I have been playing with it on the floor. Works great that way, haven't felt the need to put it on a stand. At last night's rehearsal, I had to basically stand next to the cab & it still projected well and I could hear it just fine over the drums and two loud Princeton Reverbs and a Deluxe.

I could do a Sixpence gig with 2 cabs, I think. One SL112 wouldn't quite do it. Or, at least, it might - but I'd be worried about blowing the driver. I play with more bottom end than is typical & use an octave-down pedal a lot. Speaking of which, the SL112 is actually reproducing the subs from the octave pedal really well! I used my regular settings last night & nothing farted out. Phew!

Very impressed with the TH350 and SL112 combo. Sounds great, extremely flexible, mid-forward but not overbearing (12's always have more mids it seems) and a usable tweeter (that's a first for me). It's so lightweight it feels like it's an empty box!

The Tone Hammer amp is proving to be a pretty great preamp for the double bass piezo too! I'm surprised. I may not need the Fishman Platinum Pro that I had planned on using. I may need some sort of mid-notch filter for feedback, but otherwise I really dig that the Aguilar setup sounds natural and woody. I'm quickly falling out-of-love with the Fishman...

Great products!

Full disclosure: I did receive an artist discount on the cabinet. This is a new professional relationship- I had already purchased the following Aguilar products on the open market:
DB900 Tube Di
OBP-3 Onboard Pre
Tone Hammer DI
Octamizer Pedal
Filter Twin Pedal
Tone Hammer 350 Amp

I already feel confident recommending the cab to anyone playing smaller rooms and non-doom genres! The TH350 I've used through an Ampeg fridge & that amp can KILL at 4 ohms!

 

[KJung]

Only thing I don't like about the Aguilar with the Upright is the low end extension. I use an Fdeck preamp which corrects this, but without it I find I am getting too much cone excursion.

That wonderful filter is a pretty nice tool for any DBer to have with almost any rig. +1. Very useful tool to control the deepest low end without losing any 'perceived' fatness/wump!

 

[scotch]

I have been experimenting using he HPF on my Fishman into the ToneHammer rig. Rolling off some subs does focus the tone a bit. Still, I like those huge low subs! Let the front of house engineer cut what he,she must- I want my bottom on stage! (we'll see how this works out in practice, lol!)

 

[ersheff]

Hey, y'all.
A few more quick impressions of the TH350 followed up by some questions.

First show last week with the head was with a single Bag End S15-D at a pretty small place. Started out feeling like I was almost too loud, but by the end of the night the whole band got louder, and I was just barely starting to light up the clip LED at that point. I think I had input, drive, and master all at noon, bass boosted slightly.

Played last night with an additional S12-D on top. Had my input gain and master at noon, drive at like 9:00. Was loud enough and no clip light action.

Still, I'd like to see what else it could do:

-I recall seeing someone on here posting about getting the best out of the headroom of this amp. What's the best approach here? Run Master full and increase gain until you get to the desired volume? With the Master and input at only noon, I assume I still have a little clean headroom left in this amp.

-Would matching my cabs (2 X 15's instead of 1X15 and 1X12) have an significant impact in volume? I like the sound of the 12 with the 15 just fine, though it's more out of necessity than choice (I just bought the 15, but the 12 is on loan from my dad). Bag End lists the sensitivity as 100db on the 12" and 103db on the 15". Does this mean I'll get at least a 3 db increase by getting the second 15"? Are there other factors at play here?

 

[KJung]

Hey, y'all.
A few more quick impressions of the TH350 followed up by some questions.

First show last week with the head was with a single Bag End S15-D at a pretty small place. Started out feeling like I was almost too loud, but by the end of the night the whole band got louder, and I was just barely starting to light up the clip LED at that point. I think I had input, drive, and master all at noon, bass boosted slightly.

Played last night with an additional S12-D on top. Had my input gain and master at noon, drive at like 9:00. Was loud enough and no clip light action.

Still, I'd like to see what else it could do:

-I recall seeing someone on here posting about getting the best out of the headroom of this amp. What's the best approach here? Run Master full and increase gain until you get to the desired volume? With the Master and input at only noon, I assume I still have a little clean headroom left in this amp.

-Would matching my cabs (2 X 15's instead of 1X15 and 1X12) have an significant impact in volume? I like the sound of the 12 with the 15 just fine, though it's more out of necessity than choice (I just bought the 15, but the 12 is on loan from my dad). Bag End lists the sensitivity as 100db on the 12" and 103db on the 15". Does this mean I'll get at least a 3 db increase by getting the second 15"? Are there other factors at play here?

The clip light does not indicate 'power amp clipping', but rather 'preamp clipping', and is impacted by everything, including the master volume. So, it is not particularly an indicator of 'running out of headroom'. Running the Gain high and master low or vice versa won't really impact this. More than most other amps, the gain control really is more of a tone control than an 'optimum input level control. So, more like a tube preamp.

You will get a BIT more volume using that 15, but not 3db over the 112. Not sure of the formula though. I think you would get roughly the 'average of the two efficiencies' (i.e., the average of 112/115 versus the average of 115/115 increase), but I'll leave that to someone who knows exactly.

Clearly, it won't change your life, and if you dig the 115/112 and it is loud enough, I'd stick with it. Makes more sense to keep the cabs you dig and move up to the TH500 if you need a bit more open low end and a touch more volume IMO.

 

[ersheff]

The clip light does not indicate 'power amp clipping', but rather 'preamp clipping', and is impacted by everything, including the master volume. So, it is not particularly an indicator of 'running out of headroom'. Running the Gain high and master low or vice versa won't really impact this. More than most other amps, the gain control really is more of a tone control than an 'optimum input level control. So, more like a tube preamp.

You will get a BIT more volume using that 15, but not 3db over the 112. Not sure of the formula though. I think you would get roughly the 'average of the two efficiencies' (i.e., the average of 112/115 versus the average of 115/115 increase), but I'll leave that to someone who knows exactly.

Clearly, it won't change your life, and if you dig the 115/112 and it is loud enough, I'd stick with it. Makes more sense to keep the cabs you dig and move up to the TH500 if you need a bit more open low end and a touch more volume IMO.

Yeah, I maybe SHOULD get the TH500. But I'm at a point right now where $200 makes a big difference...
At some point, I'll have to pay for that second cabinet, whether I keep my dad's or look for another 15". I think I'll get by fine with the TH350 for now. It's such a big improvement over my old GKMB115, which I got by with fine for 2 years. If I'm ever playing big enough spaces often enough to warrant yet another upgrade, then I'll certainly look at something with more juice. But preliminary tests look good for the TH350. Just want to make sure I'm getting the most out of it.

Can I just say again that S15-D's sound amazing? I don't know why any 4-string player would need anything to go deeper, and it's just so GOOD.