Aguilar Tonehammer 500

[Graham Lindsley]

Hello all, been a long time since i have been on here.
Am looking for some advice please.
I am currently running an Ashdown RM500 with a Fender Bassman 4x10 with my Stingray4HH

I am looking at replacing the Ashdown RM500 - i am not quite happy with it. Am driving it quite hard and seem to lose tone when playing high up the neck.
I have read about the Aguilar tone hammer 500 and can only see awesome reviews.
Can anybody confirm that the Aguilar is much better than the RM500?
Am open to other suggestions - need something light and within the similar price range
Thanks, see you on the other side!!!

 

[Jazzjames]

The TH500 sounds pretty weak to me when driven hard. Had one for years and whilst I liked the tone at lower volumes, it struggled at higher levels. It never missed a beat and is nicely made, but just couldn’t quite deliver what I wanted. It’s loud, but shouty loud, not beefy loud, at least compared to others. I’d still be happy to use one, though.

I read that the Ashdown amp you have is a pretty beefy class D amp, so can’t imagine the TH500 is going to be appreciably better.

If volume and slam are priority, look at the Quilter BB800. I have one as my backup/travel amp and it is ridiculous what it can do. The EQ is a bit different, but works really well.

 

[jthisdell]

I have loved my TH500 for 7 years, lots of gigs and no problems.

Not familiar with Ashdown stuff.

What kind of tone are you looking for? What genres? What volume level? IMHO it is well worth it to go amp shopping in person. Drag your gear to the shops and pug in your cab with their heads, etc. Yes this is a big hassle and usually will involve a road trip but you shouldn't buy gear based on reviews or videos. Your profile shows you are also looking at GK, GK and Aggie are opposite ends of the tonal spectrum. Personally I demoed both through my cab and could not get anything out of the GK that i liked, but that is just me. The TH tone controls are a little unusual. The Bass is set very low at 40hz, you can run it with the gain completely off (which I do) and the Drive is actually a combination HPF LPF, it rolls off the very lows and then as you turn it up it rolls off the very highs. If you are not familiar with filters it is kind of counter intuitive to roll off the very lows and then boost the bass but it works.

 

[Graham Lindsley]

Thanks man. Tone wise i always look for a nice grunty bottom end but a nice clean top end..... if ever achievable!!! The band i play in covers mainly punk but our own songs are vary from indie to punks with a little ska & shag thrown in. Basically looking for a really bright punchy sound but in the past, when I get this, I lose good bottom end

 

[jthisdell]

Thanks man. Tone wise i always look for a nice grunty bottom end but a nice clean top end..... if ever achievable!!! The band i play in covers mainly punk but our own songs are vary from indie to punks with a little ska & shag thrown in. Basically looking for a really bright punchy sound but in the past, when I get this, I lose good bottom end

Then you may be happier with the GK tone.

 

[blmeier7]

Based on the description of tone you are wanting I would say the Tone Hammer is not going to meet your needs. Bright with a punchy top end is not what the Tone Hammer does. I would typically turn the highs almost all the way up on my TH and still felt like I could use more… I also like a brighter tone. The TH has lots of focus in the low mids and mids, but somewhat lacking through the deep lows and highs - it just wasn’t designed to do that sound. I’d recommend looking at GK or Genzler.

 

[Jazzjames]

There’s no question Aguilar make great stuff. Maybe the AG700 would be better? Bit more power than what you have now, and with a voicing more in tune with what you described.

 

[blowinblue]

Owned my TH 500 since 2013. And I love it. Powering a quality 4 ohm cab, it has always had enough oomph to harm my hearing. But who am I to try and convince someone else that hearing loss is irreversible?

M. M.

 

[Smokey P]

Personally I do not like the tone hammer heads and think you should consider a used Mesa subway or genzler unit.

 

[Al Kraft]

There’s no question Aguilar make great stuff. Maybe the AG700 would be better? Bit more power than what you have now, and with a voicing more in tune with what you described.

+1...if Aguilar gear is readily available (just a guess since you have the TH), then the AG700 will get you a voicing much closer to what you described and quite similar to GK.

 

[landrybass]

Am driving it quite hard and seem to lose tone when playing high up the neck.

Sounds like a quality of the bass, not really the amp. My old Musicman felt like it did the same thing. Just dead spots all up in the higher registers.

 

[PrimitiveMan]

Thanks man. Tone wise i always look for a nice grunty bottom end but a nice clean top end..... if ever achievable!!! The band i play in covers mainly punk but our own songs are vary from indie to punks with a little ska & shag thrown in. Basically looking for a really bright punchy sound but in the past, when I get this, I lose good bottom end

Yeah sounds like you are describing GK type sound.

 

[Dilver]

I play a Stingray and a Fender Flea Jazz Active into a TH500 with two Bergantino 12” cabinets. I can’t imagine I’d ever need anything louder for jams, bars or small club gigs. But I don’t play large venues.

 

[Wicked G]

I actually ditched my Tonehammer 500 for a Rootmaster 500 several years back and preferred the Rootmaster by a lot. I could get more grunt, lows and highs from it than the TH. I also like the AG700 the couple of times I got to check it out. Although @landrybass could be right and it could be more of a bass problem than the amp?

 

[pglaser01]

This is definitely GK territory

 

[SLO Surfer]

I’ve owned and gigged the TH500, GK MBF800, and AG700. The TH500 is best at old school mid-centric sounds, but doesn’t extend well into the lower and upper frequencies. GK can get super bright and/or subsonic with extreme highs and lows. AG700 falls somewhere in between.

For your needs I’d totally recommend the GK MB class D offerings.

 

[PikeoftheLake]

Have you considered checking out other cabs? I'm sure something like a barefaced would really make that Ashdown come to life.

 

[InhumanResource]

Hello all, been a long time since i have been on here.
Am looking for some advice please.
I am currently running an Ashdown RM500 with a Fender Bassman 4x10 with my Stingray4HH

I am looking at replacing the Ashdown RM500 - i am not quite happy with it. Am driving it quite hard and seem to lose tone when playing high up the neck.
I have read about the Aguilar tone hammer 500 and can only see awesome reviews.
Can anybody confirm that the Aguilar is much better than the RM500?
Am open to other suggestions - need something light and within the similar price range
Thanks, see you on the other side!!!

They’re very popular but the few times I have tried them out, I found them pretty unimpressive. Best bet is to go try and find one to hear, otherwise you can take a chance on it or audition others to see what kind of sound you like in an amp.

 

[NKBassman]

Thanks man. Tone wise i always look for a nice grunty bottom end but a nice clean top end..... if ever achievable!!! The band i play in covers mainly punk but our own songs are vary from indie to punks with a little ska & shag thrown in. Basically looking for a really bright punchy sound but in the past, when I get this, I lose good bottom end

Then you may be happier with the GK tone.

+1, I think. The TH500 can do clean, but that's not what it does best. I think you should look at the GK MB500 or MB800, or Mesa Subway series instead.

 

[BigDrew]

Based on what you play, Hartke may fit the bill.