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Tone Hammer 500 vs Tone Hammer pedal...comparable?

bassjnky1

bassjnky1

Aug 15, 2010
188
73
Clover, SC ...(Charlotte, NC area)
#1
I have a very short GAS list at the moment (even I can't believe it) but one of the amps I am interested in is the Tone Hammer 500 that receives a lot of good reviews here. There was a link to a very impressive audio review here on TB last week and the sound samples were very good.
If I already have a good class D power amp (Crest Prolite 3.0) would what would be the difference in tone between the amp or the pedal + power amp setup?
 
#3
Almost the same entirely. The AGS on the pedal is on or off, and then you control the drive by dialing up the gain. On the TH500, the AGS is controlled by a vairable Drive knob that is also pushed by the Gain knob. The AGS rolls of treble and lows instantly for a more vintage tone, while the Drive knob on the TH500 slowly rolls the two off. By my estimation, the AGS is roughly equivalent to the Drive knob being set around 3 o'clock give or take. Otherwise, EQ and overdrive are virtually identical.
 
#4
I've had the Tone Hammer Pedal for about 4 years now and I'm a big fan of the pedal. My main use of the pedal has been running it as a DI to my interface when playing through headphones. However, I recently tried using it as a DI in a live setting to FOH and found the noise floor to be unacceptable. I switched back to my Groove Tubes Brick and the noise was gone. Tried the ground lift and that didn't help either. Gain and master on the TH pedal were both around noon. I was playing a passive P bass.

I bring this up to see if anyone else might have comments on the noise level of the pedal in this environment. This info might benefit the OP in making a decision between the TH pedal and amp.
 
#5
UpwardGroove said:
I've had the Tone Hammer Pedal for about 4 years now and I'm a big fan of the pedal. My main use of the pedal has been running it as a DI to my interface when playing through headphones. However, I recently tried using it as a DI in a live setting to FOH and found the noise floor to be unacceptable. I switched back to my Groove Tubes Brick and the noise was gone. Tried the ground lift and that didn't help either. Gain and master on the TH pedal were both around noon. I was playing a passive P bass.

I bring this up to see if anyone else might have comments on the noise level of the pedal in this environment. This info might benefit the OP in making a decision between the TH pedal and amp.
Click to expand...
The TH should be dead silent. I've played through 4 or 5 different ones and they all were just that EXCEPT one, which was the first one I ever owned. Aguilar had a run of a small number of pedals which had an internal issue that caused excessive noise. The situation was much worse in a noisy environment, and would even get louder if you touched the pedal. Ground lift has no effect on it. They've mostly repaired all those units that were identified out in the wild, but it could be that you have one of those still. It's worth reaching out to them to find out.
 
#7
UpwardGroove said:
Thanks @Eublet. I just sent off an e-mail to Aguilar. I bought mine new in August 2010. Based on this thread - Tone Hammer noise?!?!? | TalkBass.com - I think mine might be from the batch with the issue.
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Cool and good luck! I actually sent a quick iphone video to Aguilar when I told them about mine. I may have said it wrong earlier, but I think touching it eliminated much of the noise, kind of like touching the strings on your bass. It made it easy for Aguilar to see that the pedal had an issue.
 
#13
Bubby Brown said:
How suttle is the difference in your experience? I almost pulled the trigger on the DI a couple of times hoping to get the preamp version in pedal form.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how seriously my comments should be taken. I have experience with both but it's still pretty anectotal at best. I would swear I preferred the TH500 to the pre with a power amp but still chose to go with the pre/poweramp. I Think it's really good too. For my purposes the AGS part is all but worthless. It's still the best pedal pre I've heard. Actually sounds like a 'real' amp :)
 

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