Aguilar Tone Hammer 350

[KJung]

Another knob-noob question here. I just posted this in the TH500 mega-thread, but I'll try here as well since this page is getting more attention than I give it credit for. Good links will suffice for answers too...
1. What is the mid-frquency at noon? Aggy lists the knob's range as "Mid Frequency: 180Hz – 1 kHz" but not its positions across the spectrum.
2. Coming from an Ampeg world, I always seemed to favor position "3" a la Ampeg's signature 5-position sweepable mids. Which knob position get's be closest to that stock "3," which I believe is 800htz? This will just be a starting point to further refine my tone.

Thanks again!

Semi-parametric EQ usually increase evenly by octaves (i.e., doubling the center frequency at equal intervals on the knob). My ear suggests the Aguilar circuit follows this general rule.

Therefore, 360hz should be at roughly 11 o'clock, and 720 at roughly 3 o'clock, with the maximum 1K at the full 5 o'clock setting. Given what sounds like a pretty wide Q (full octave) to my ear, setting an exact center point is not really that important, so my estimates should be 'close enough'.

So, 800 hz should be close to 4 o'clock or so on the freq knob.

 

[RJHall]

KJung, you haven't let me down yet! Thanks for the thorough answer. I'll see what my ears think of the 3-4oc position and go from there...

 

[jnammy]

in my less scientific approach, I thought setting the mid freq at 12:00 gave me the most ampeg sounding aggressive mids; anything before that sounded too bass heavy to be ampeg and anything after 12:00 sounded to high-mid rangey.

also, i guess this is obvious (not to me at first), but i think the th350's default signature sound is meant to be found at all knobs at 12:00.

 

[KJung]

in my less scientific approach, I thought setting the mid freq at 12:00 gave me the most ampeg sounding aggressive mids; anything before that sounded too bass heavy to be ampeg and anything after 12:00 sounded to high-mid rangey.

also, i guess this is obvious (not to me at first), but i think the th350's default signature sound is meant to be found at all knobs at 12:00.

The exact setting of the mid freq will be quite dependent on the bass and cabinet. And, given how much different the inherent voicing of the Aguilar and Ampeg heads, you are correct that just matching the center point of the two mid circuits might give very different results!

 

[jnammy]

i was still having trouble getting aggressive mids from the amp, so i played with the gain, drive, mid level, mid freq knobs and realized that the key for me was to turn down the bass knob down to about 10:00 and then the pillowy bass went away and the mids started to bark while still sounding thick. with almost every other amp, i have to turn up the bass to about 1:00-2:00 since i favor my bridge pickups. btw, i'm playing through 1x12 + 2x10 neo cabs; if i were just using a 1x12, i'd probably do with a bit less mids and more bass. these are my new favorite th350 settings:

 

[nostatic]

I always found the amp to be fairly mid-forward - you can't really dial that out without gutting the tone. It is not a "hi-fi" sounding amp, but I always liked that feature.

I shouldn't have sold my TH350 - would be a good backup/rotation choice.

 

[jnammy]

i wasn't actually trying to dial the mids out, i was trying to accentuate them to get an aggressive sound (not hi-fi, but more like ampeg) and turning down the bass knob to 10:00 did it for me, which i didn't even think about for the first couple of months that i had it.

 

[camthebassman]

i was still having trouble getting aggressive mids from the amp, so i played with the gain, drive, mid level, mid freq knobs and realized that the key for me was to turn down the bass knob down to about 10:00 and then the pillowy bass went away and the mids started to bark while still sounding thick. with almost every other amp, i have to turn up the bass to about 1:00-2:00 since i favor my bridge pickups. btw, i'm playing through 1x12 + 2x10 neo cabs; if i were just using a 1x12, i'd probably do with a bit less mids and more bass. these are my new favorite th350 settings

Thanks for this reminder to twist the dials every once in a while!! I get stuck on a setting and forget just how versitle that pre-amp section really is. With a 4 string playing through 110(practice) and 210 (gigs), the bass knob can produce dramatic differences in tone. Rolling the bass down from 2 to 11 (o'clock) really cleans up the bottom end for me - no mush. I don't play with tweeters so the 4k treble control has no real affect on my tone, but the mid controls, coupled with gain and drive adjustments can completely alter the tone, everything from thump, thump to some very gnarly and agressive distortions. I like to play with just a bit of bite so generally keep the Gain around 10 o'clock, Drive between 9 and noon, and mid freq at 9 and the mid level around 1 o'clock. This is a good overall setting for my all -era cover band where I play both a P and a Reverend XL J. I don't need to adjust anything throughout the gig. If I want more grind/bite I dig in more while finger picking, or play with a pick. If I need distortion for a song, I have a Zoom box programmed with a couple levels of nasty. I can also switch the pickups on the J to single coil, parallel, or series configurations which will cover anything from Zombie to Please Please Me.

Awesome little rig! Enjoy!

 

[DaveKirkpatrick]

Another small gig under the belt with the TH350. Small (and sadly mostly empty) room with ACME B1. Sounded awesome. Still tweaking/getting used to the interaction of the gain/drive/mid controls. Lots of great sounds in there. Very touch sensitive amp- I love how the amp responds when you dig in.

 

[scotch]

Another small gig under the belt with the TH350. Small (and sadly mostly empty) room with ACME B1. Sounded awesome. Still tweaking/getting used to the interaction of the gain/drive/mid controls. Lots of great sounds in there. Very touch sensitive amp- I love how the amp responds when you dig in.

Cool! I'm continually more impressed with the TH350 as well. The only gig limitation with it is how much cabinet you use. The preamp is nicely colored & you really do have to spend some time getting the mid controls and drive controls working together to get your sound. Sounds amazing "flat", though!

 

[wolffire99]

Can anyone recommend a nice gig bag in the $50-$150 range that fits the TH350 well?

 

[Freddy-G.]

Can anyone recommend a nice gig bag in the $50-$150 range that fits the TH350 well?

How about this one?
Link Removed

 

[jnammy]

i had that bag and the only drawback is that you can't fit that many cables into the outer pocket. you can fit the power adapter cable and two speaker cables max, but if you're carrying extra cables or really long ones, I'd go with a larger bag.

 

[scotch]

Can anyone recommend a nice gig bag in the $50-$150 range that fits the TH350 well?

You mean a guitar gig bag with a large enough pocket, right?

 

[KJung]

i had that bag and the only drawback is that you can't fit that many cables into the outer pocket. you can fit the power adapter cable and two speaker cables max, but if you're carrying extra cables or really long ones, I'd go with a larger bag.

The TH500 bag has plenty of room. The 'problem' with the TH350 bag is that the 350 is so small, the bag itself is very small, which results in the cable pocket being small! Ok for a power cable and a couple small speaker cables, but that is about it.

 

[scotch]

Played a medium size room last night with questionable pa. The house rig was a new solid state Ampeg 'Portaflex' (weird) into the matching 1x15. I popped my Aggie TH350 on top and into the 1x15. Didn't even sweat filling the room! Volume was under 11o'clock. (Must have been a 4 ohm cab) Plenty of booty from this tiny little amp! I love it more every week.

 

[AMp'D.2play]

I'm fixin' to pick up a TH350 this weekend as a gigging back-up to my TH500. Part of me wants something different to add a little variety, but the TH500 sounds so good, I figure I may as well keep it in the family!

I know with the Aguilar quality, having a spare will be like a belt AND suspenders, but I don't want to tempt Murphy's Law.

 

[husky123]

I know with the Aguilar quality, having a spare will be like a belt AND suspenders, but I don't want to tempt Murphy's Law.

Your second part is EXACTLY why I always bring a spare to a gig...to assure I will have no problems with the front line. The one time I don't, well, you know...

 

[rodl2005]

Played a medium size room last night with questionable pa. The house rig was a new solid state Ampeg 'Portaflex' (weird) into the matching 1x15. I popped my Aggie TH350 on top and into the 1x15. Didn't even sweat filling the room! Volume was under 11o'clock. (Must have been a 4 ohm cab) Plenty of booty from this tiny little amp! I love it more every week.

How'd you like the TH into the Ampeg PF115HE ??
I like the "lo-fi" sound & find the TH can really get a "sealed 810" vibe outta pretty much any cab, but I quite like em with these cabs myself.
Mine've been modded with Emi 3015's but the main flavour is still there.

 

[scotch]

How'd you like the TH into the Ampeg PF115HE ??
I like the "lo-fi" sound & find the TH can really get a "sealed 810" vibe outta pretty much any cab, but I quite like em with these cabs myself.
Mine've been modded with Emi 3015's but the main flavour is still there.

It sounded pretty rad! I may not like every amplifier Ampeg makes, but their cabs never disappoint!