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Tone Hammer DI appreciation thread

#243
Ritter667 said:
I do not own a Tone Hammer pedal, and have never owned one, but I have considered buying several times.

Also I do use the Aguilar Tone Hammer amp emulation on my NUX Melvin Lee Davis Bass Preamp in my amp-less setup, and am really satisfied with the result, clear favorite to the other two amp simulation options in that pedal, but have considered perhaps replacing the NUX preamp for a real Tone Hammer preamp, and then combine it with an IR loader of some kind, to get the cab simulation I get from the NUX now.

The way I would definitely use it would be with the AGS circuit engaged for saturation always on low gain overdrive, and I kind of feel this is what it is intended for, the extra foot switch seems a bit pointless to me as there is no way to level match anyway.
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I also have the MLD and also use the TH sim. I have no idea how well it emulates the original, but I think it sounds pretty good on its own.

Under your plan, you’re going need at least two pedals to achieve your goal, this post
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/aguilar-tone-hamer-di-vs-storm-king-vs-agro.1653069/#post-28521866 claims they can nail the AGS sound with a Walrus Audio Ages. No idea if that’s true, but if it is, it seems like the best of both worlds, with the MLD: TH preamp with loadable IRs (and hpf/lpf, noise gate, and drive), coupled with AGS that has a level so you could switch it off if you wanted a cleaner sound.
 
#245
GrowlerBox said:
And some compression, like any distortion, but perhaps a little more than is typical for a “straight” OD/distortion circuit.
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I thought the AGS added too much distortion too early for my taste. I was wanting to keep the gain barely on. Maybe that's not a problem tho.

With the TH amp, I think the "Drive" - which I guess is like the AGS - is about the same as the AGS when set to 2-3 o'clock. But you have a little more play in the gain before the break up starts to happen.
 
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#246
hennessybass said:
I thought the AGS added too much distortion too early for my taste. I was wanting to keep the gain barely on. Maybe that's not a problem tho.

With the TH amp, I think the "Drive" - which I guess is like the AGS - is about the same as the AGS when set to 2-3 o'clock. But you have a little more play in the gain before the break up starts to happen.
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Having a variable drive control (like on the amp) is a much more useful and versatile set-up than the THDI on/off AGS IMO.
 
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#247
Al Kraft said:
Having a variable drive control (like on the amp) is a much more useful and versatile set-up than the THDI on/off AGS IMO.
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This observation/complaint about the THDI is so ubiquitous that I find it difficult to believe either that Aguilar hasn’t addressed it or that some canny pedal modder hasn’t come up with a “fix” (i.e. a volume pot, probably stacked with the gain pot to avoid having to drill another hole in the case and spoil the symmetry). If there is one, perhaps someone could enlighten me.
 
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#248
GrowlerBox said:
This observation/complaint about the THDI is so ubiquitous that I find it difficult to believe either that Aguilar hasn’t addressed it or that some canny pedal modder hasn’t come up with a “fix” (i.e. a volume pot, probably stacked with the gain pot to avoid having to drill another hole in the case and spoil the symmetry). If there is one, perhaps someone could enlighten me.
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I agree. I am surprised there isn't an optional version where the AGS footswitch switch is removed and replaced with a drive knob (similar to the set-up on the TH heads). Now I recognize there is more to it than just a knob replacing a footswitch, you likely need to have some additional circuitry. However, the box is already pretty large (at least the first edition one I own) and it could be as simple as component or two substitution within the existing AGS circuit.

This is the same kind of perplexing behavior from Aguilar over the years where they never added information to their manuals such as the wonderful advice from TB ember Eublet on how to get the most out of the TH controls. I own and like the THDI and TH500, but Aguilar has to know that their control set can be a little confusing, bordering on frustrating for a first time user. However, once mastered, I'll be the first to admit that those controls offer a lot of versatility.

While it took a lot of time, the TECH 21 folks finally added a mid control to the BDDI (along with some other features and improvements) which has greatly improved the pedal's performances for many of us.
 
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#250
I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread, but it appears the THDI has been discontinued?

I've looked at a few retailers that carry the heads, but none have the DI in stock. It's not listed as a backorder.

I'm curious if it's done, or if it's in the process of being refreshed?
 
#251
_Some Dude said:
I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread, but it appears the THDI has been discontinued?

I've looked at a few retailers that carry the heads, but none have the DI in stock. It's not listed as a backorder.

I'm curious if it's done, or if it's in the process of being refreshed?
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Since they recently released an AG preamp and appear to have updated all the other pedals in a new cosmetic style, I suspect they are working on an updated version of the THDI. I can't imagine them abandoning such a great and fairly unique product.
 
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#252
THDI v2?! I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere.

https://reverb.com/item/85368257-aguilar-tone-hammer-preamp-direct-box-v2

IMG_0460.jpeg
 
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#253
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#258
pisces_bass said:
I’m curious how the V2 will operate. The way I use V1, with AGS always on, means my settings are different than if I were switching the drive feature on and off. The whole sound and behavior of controls is so different with AGS on, it’s like V1 is two different preamps...and it can be optimized for one sound or the other.
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I think that’s the design of it. BUT I do think they missed a real opportunity by turning it into a two channel preamp simply by adding a volume control to the drive side to avoid the spike when engaged. Even a very small set-and-forget knob would have been appropriate.

If you search many of the forums, there’s a lot of confusion about the drive setting and the volume spike. Calling it a V2 would imply that there have been improvements on the design. A little disappointing for me.
 
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#259
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#260
mezatron said:
I think that’s the design of it. BUT I do think they missed a real opportunity by turning it into a two channel preamp simply by adding a volume control to the drive side to avoid the spike when engaged. Even a very small set-and-forget knob would have been appropriate.

If you search many of the forums, there’s a lot of confusion about the drive setting and the volume spike. Calling it a V2 would imply that there have been improvements on the design. A little disappointing for me.
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But if you look closely at the top right corner of the pedal, the color of the label for the small knob matches suspiciously with the Drive footswitch label:
1729731958210.png


Could this be a drive level control knob?
 
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