I finally got my DB751, after years of contemplating this purchase and a longer-than-expected delivery time. I set it up with my two SL115 cabinets and played through my old Fender Precision and Jazz basses. I am a fan of warm, fat, supportive tones and for the most part play old blues, kicked-up country, southern rock and Americana - so vintage tone is where it's at for me. My main gigging rig has been an Ampeg SVT-VR through a Heritage 810, although over the past year, I have enjoyed playing my Tonehammer 700 through the SL115s.
Basically, in terms of tone, I found the DB751 to be the "best of both worlds" between the TH700 and SVT. I love the baked in warmth that Aguilar amps have - I respect that others might not. The only other amp I've tried with similar warmth have been Thunderfunk amplifiers. The power section of the DB751 is absolutely massive and has a big, fat, musical slam more similar to the SVT or other all tube amplifiers I've played. Maybe even a bit fatter - and certainly cleaner, smoother and more even sounding. I'm pretty certain it won't get the gritty vibe the SVT gets when you start pushing it, but I won't know that until I get it out on a gig.
It is, needless to say, a VERY loud amplifier with a lot of presence. Although only 50W more than the Tonehammer, it certainly felt much bigger - almost like it had limitless power and headroom. To get the tone to open up, I cranked the gain to noon, but could barely turn up the master at all without rattling the walls. My band is moderately loud, so I am guessing this amp will fit in quite well. But, there are better choices of course for bedroom or small gig amplifiers - this amp just wasn't built for those purposes. The fans are loud too - I guess they were selected for efficiency instead of low-noise, given the amp is designed for larger scale applications where ambient noise isn't a factor anyway.
It was super easy to dial in - basically everything but the master at noon. Maybe EQ a click or two in either direction, but for the most part, everything stayed close to noon. I've never felt like amps have to do that - knobs are there to be twisted - but I do like that simplicity of operation.
The amp seems very well built, as do my Aguilar cabs - they feel durable and super high quality. Some folks complain about how heavy this amp is, but to be honest I've felt it was a huge relief after years of lugging the SVT. I have mine in a Gator case - between the side handles of the case and the front handles on the amp, it is super easy to move around.
I've been able to hear enough of this amp to say it may be the best amp I've ever played - but I have to reserve that judgement until I get it out on some gigs. I love the SL115s, but want to try it with my Heritage 810 also. So far, though I'm happy with my purchase!
Basically, in terms of tone, I found the DB751 to be the "best of both worlds" between the TH700 and SVT. I love the baked in warmth that Aguilar amps have - I respect that others might not. The only other amp I've tried with similar warmth have been Thunderfunk amplifiers. The power section of the DB751 is absolutely massive and has a big, fat, musical slam more similar to the SVT or other all tube amplifiers I've played. Maybe even a bit fatter - and certainly cleaner, smoother and more even sounding. I'm pretty certain it won't get the gritty vibe the SVT gets when you start pushing it, but I won't know that until I get it out on a gig.
It is, needless to say, a VERY loud amplifier with a lot of presence. Although only 50W more than the Tonehammer, it certainly felt much bigger - almost like it had limitless power and headroom. To get the tone to open up, I cranked the gain to noon, but could barely turn up the master at all without rattling the walls. My band is moderately loud, so I am guessing this amp will fit in quite well. But, there are better choices of course for bedroom or small gig amplifiers - this amp just wasn't built for those purposes. The fans are loud too - I guess they were selected for efficiency instead of low-noise, given the amp is designed for larger scale applications where ambient noise isn't a factor anyway.
It was super easy to dial in - basically everything but the master at noon. Maybe EQ a click or two in either direction, but for the most part, everything stayed close to noon. I've never felt like amps have to do that - knobs are there to be twisted - but I do like that simplicity of operation.
The amp seems very well built, as do my Aguilar cabs - they feel durable and super high quality. Some folks complain about how heavy this amp is, but to be honest I've felt it was a huge relief after years of lugging the SVT. I have mine in a Gator case - between the side handles of the case and the front handles on the amp, it is super easy to move around.
I've been able to hear enough of this amp to say it may be the best amp I've ever played - but I have to reserve that judgement until I get it out on some gigs. I love the SL115s, but want to try it with my Heritage 810 also. So far, though I'm happy with my purchase!
