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Tone Hammer 500 vs DB 751

P

poppinsmac

Aug 10, 2007
372
2
#1
Just curious if anybody could chime in on the differences between these two amps. I realize there are quite a few differences, but I'm wondering if anybody can qualify them somehow.
It's been years since I've played a 751 and I remember it being the best tone I had heard up to the time, but now I need an amp and nobody in town stocks one I could try out.

I know I like the TH500 and the price difference is huge, so I'd like some opinions
 
#2
I gig a TH500 but have also auditioned the 751. The 751 has a narrower selection of tones. It's pretty much set it and forget it but it has great tone character - not sure if this is due to the 3 tube design. It is provides a thick and meaty tone. The Tone Hammer 500 can sound very similar but has the advantage of a Drive knob and a pair of knobs for mid sweep. And of course the TH500 is all SS. It also has a thick and meaty tone. When it's all said and done, I feel that the TH500 can get a wider variety of tones. Aguilar does great work and their all SS designed TH500 gives up no tone to the 3 tube design of the 751.

Now, I wanted more power out of my TH500 one day so I connected it to a power amp. Wow!, there's the huge power.
 
#3
DrumsAndBass said:
I gig a TH500 but have also auditioned the 751. The 751 has a narrower selection of tones. It's pretty much set it and forget it but it has great tone character - not sure if this is due to the 3 tube design. It is provides a thick and meaty tone. The Tone Hammer 500 can sound very similar but has the advantage of a Drive knob and a pair of knobs for mid sweep. And of course the TH500 is all SS. It also has a thick and meaty tone. When it's all said and done, I feel that the TH500 can get a wider variety of tones. Aguilar does great work and their all SS designed TH500 gives up no tone to the 3 tube design of the 751.

Now, I wanted more power out of my TH500 one day so I connected it to a power amp. Wow!, there's the huge power.
Click to expand...


+1

If Aguilar came out with a Th1500 I would be all over it.
 
#5
I got a chance to check out a TH500 last week and I was very impressed with the overall tone, voicing, and effectiveness of the EQ. Reminds me a lot of my DB680 in terms of clarity which I love. I would imagine the 751 is similar to the 750 and 659 which sound great, but are more limited in their EQ and a bit wooly for my tastes. I could easily fall in love with the TH if they bumped its power another 2 or 3x. In that regard, the 750/751 deliver in spades.
 
#7
I own a TH500, DB750, and a DB751. They all have the inherent Aguilar sound (which I describe as being a modern-vintage tone that's tube-like with a round bottom and punchy low mids, but with extra clarity and crispness in the high end and high mids), but they all do it in their own unique way.

TH500 - A awesome SS head that weighs in at something like 4lbs. You put this amp in a bag and forget it. Due to its drive knob and sweepable mids, its user is given a huge tonal plate to play with and shape to their own desire. It's perhaps the most capable of getting a modern tone. It's a good sounding amp, but the tone does not have the heft or three-dimensional aspect that its big brothers have.

DB750 - I call this the SVT killer. It does everything you'd expect an SVT to do, but much better. With a simple tube roll in the v1 position, you can have an amp with a tone that fills out an entire bands' mix with it's punchy low in and smooth, put prominent, low mids. The high end provides modern crispiness that helps your basslines come out and become more audible within the whole mix. For anyone doing rock, funk, gospel, or r&b, this is the head to judge them all against.

DB751 - This is my lease favorite of the 3. They changed the sweep in the mids to affect the higher register instead of the low. A tube roll might even this out a bit, but I have yet to try it. As it stands, the amp has a pillowy and woolly low end that gets muddy in the mix. If you take it down too much the low end completely drops, but with it cranked any its simply a muddy mess. I have yet to find the right balance between the lows and mids to make it work in my band. The high end is also clinically crisp and bright. Supposedly the amp uses an active EQ section instead of a passive. This makes sense as I tend to need to cut all my knobs back just so I'm not overpowering my speakers. Again, I need to try a tube roll, but a stock 751 is inferior to a stock 750 IMHO (most others seem to disagree, but having played 75+ gigs with each I feel pretty confident saying that.

Hope this helps!
 
#8
I won't be popular for saying this, since the TH500 is so good and so beloved here, but...

There's a much more "expensive" quality to the DB751. It's smoother, thicker, deeper, but I won't say brighter or faster. But I will say more "sheen" and just has a quality to it, which to me is superior in one day.

The previous post to mine describes it well -- TH500 is not quite as 3 dimensional.

However, for day to day purposes in all genres and situations which are not in an arena gig situation, the TH500 is my pick! It does everything so well, and sounds so good, while fitting in my gig bag.
 
#9
Thanks all for feedback so far-wont comment on each because I'm on my phone at the studio and writing isn't annoying.

jmattbassplaya said:
I own a TH500, DB750, and a DB751. They all have the inherent Aguilar sound (which I describe as being a modern-vintage tone that's tube-like with a round bottom and punchy low mids, but with extra clarity and crispness in the high end and high mids), but they all do it in their own unique way.

TH500 - A awesome SS head that weighs in at something like 4lbs. You put this amp in a bag and forget it. Due to its drive knob and sweepable mids, its user is given a huge tonal plate to play with and shape to their own desire. It's perhaps the most capable of getting a modern tone. It's a good sounding amp, but the tone does not have the heft or three-dimensional aspect that its big brothers have.

DB750 - I call this the SVT killer. It does everything you'd expect an SVT to do, but much better. With a simple tube roll in the v1 position, you can have an amp with a tone that fills out an entire bands' mix with it's punchy low in and smooth, put prominent, low mids. The high end provides modern crispiness that helps your basslines come out and become more audible within the whole mix. For anyone doing rock, funk, gospel, or r&b, this is the head to judge them all against.

DB751 - This is my lease favorite of the 3. They changed the sweep in the mids to affect the higher register instead of the low. A tube roll might even this out a bit, but I have yet to try it. As it stands, the amp has a pillowy and woolly low end that gets muddy in the mix. If you take it down too much the low end completely drops, but with it cranked any its simply a muddy mess. I have yet to find the right balance between the lows and mids to make it work in my band. The high end is also clinically crisp and bright. Supposedly the amp uses an active EQ section instead of a passive. This makes sense as I tend to need to cut all my knobs back just so I'm not overpowering my speakers. Again, I need to try a tube roll, but a stock 751 is inferior to a stock 750 IMHO (most others seem to disagree, but having played 75+ gigs with each I feel pretty confident saying that.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Think this is pretty helpful-what do you mean by "tube roll" though?
I remembered I have a buddy with a DB 750 who said I could borrow it to test and I thought they were pretty similar but but I guess testing one wouldn't be a good indication of the other?
 
#10
I guess I should also say what tone I'm after, too.

I use a p bass that has the Aguilar p/j set in it, and I rarely use the j (but like to have it on tap), and I have two DB 112s.

My bass is 95% of the time strung with flats and I like a pretty big and warm sound. Finger style or pick depending how lazy in feeling, and very little top end.

Pervious to this I was using a tone hammer pre into a vintage big tube power amp which I absolutely loved but my power amp kept developing problems and I had to sell it to buy something more reliable.

I play in an original souther rock back, a 60s/70s cover band (the band, Neil young, joe cocker, etc), a blues band and a few other pickup and session things
 
#12
I played both the TH500 and the DB751 through a single DB112 at BassClubChicago, using my Clement fretless bass. I was blown away by the DB751. One of the best sounding amplifiers I'd ever heard my fretless bass play through. I have a Genz Benz Shuttle 6.2-12T but GAS over a multiple DB112 + DB751 rig. All the time.
 
#13
Lorenzini said:
I won't be popular for saying this, since the TH500 is so good and so beloved here, but...

There's a much more "expensive" quality to the DB751. It's smoother, thicker, deeper, but I won't say brighter or faster.
The previous post to mine describes it well -- TH500 is not quite as 3 dimensional.
Click to expand...
I agree. It's sort of the same comparing the PF500 and SVT tube amp. Very similar tones, but lacking that 3-dimensional quality that tube amps have, or in the case of the TH500/DB751, lacking what the hybrid has. That said, they're all quite good amps IMHO.

Sort of got what JMatt said about the Aggie heads as they do sound like they were inspired by the SVT to a degree, but seriously now... ;)
 
#15
I have both the TH500 and DB751 and gig both regularly. I also have a '73 SVT and have gigged that too. You can most definitely hear that SVT thing going on in the Aguilar amps but in a slightly "modern" way.

I agree with what a lot are saying. The TH does sound sooooo good to my ear.....warm, smooth with a very complex and chewy midrange. Just when I have my ear trained and can't think it could possibly get any better, I plug into the 751. Holy cow.

The 751 is my favorite amp of all time. Aguilar hit a grand slam with that one.

They both can cop similar tones but the big brother lays the thickness and whoop ass that little bro just cannot recreate.
 
#16
micahbell said:
Think this is pretty helpful-what do you mean by "tube roll" though?
I remembered I have a buddy with a DB 750 who said I could borrow it to test and I thought they were pretty similar but but I guess testing one wouldn't be a good indication of the other?
Click to expand...


By tube roll I mean buy different kinds of preamp tubes to try in the preamp :) My favorite was a Tung Sol in the v1. It got rid of some of the low end wooliness and tightened the overall sound. Sound awesome in a mix as well as soloed!
 
#17
JimmyM said:
Sort of got what JMatt said about the Aggie heads as they do sound like they were inspired by the SVT to a degree, but seriously now... ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah, yeah, yeah :D

I honestly do think Aguilar was trying to get a slightly more modern SVT tone out of their heads when they started producing the DB750. To me, they have exactly what I thought my CL was missing. Of course, not everyone wants the extra high end crispiness :)
 
#18
jmattbassplaya said:
I honestly do think Aguilar was trying to get a slightly more modern SVT tone out of their heads when they started producing the DB750. To me, they have exactly what I thought my CL was missing. Of course, not everyone wants the extra high end crispiness :)
Click to expand...
I don't get that one. SVT will take your head off with crispiness if you want it. But I do get not everyone preferring what I like, and I like Dave B, so it's all good.
 
#19
I really like SVTs but had a hard time with them because I loved the sound of them cranked to an obscene level when the band is jamming and messing around, then at a gig for the places I play you have to have it so low I always was disappointed.

For now this all needs to be back burnered. I was dreaming big at work but after some talking and finance looking I can't swing the DB. I think ill keep my Tone Hammer on order, then work my butt off and reevaluate this fall
 
#20
micahbell said:
I really like SVTs but had a hard time with them because I loved the sound of them cranked to an obscene level when the band is jamming and messing around, then at a gig for the places I play you have to have it so low I always was disappointed.

For now this all needs to be back burnered. I was dreaming big at work but after some talking and finance looking I can't swing the DB. I think ill keep my Tone Hammer on order, then work my butt off and reevaluate this fall
Click to expand...

You can sometimes find them used for around $1,100-$1,200. Definitely not cheap, but not much worse than a used SVT, either. To me, it's definitely worth the price.
 

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