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Tone Hammer DI appreciation thread

#141
johnk_10 said:
IMO, Aguilar probably chose their power supply for reliability rather than its current capability. besides it would be hard to find one with anything less and 100ma, but even a 50ma one would still work fine with it.
Click to expand...
This answer is exactly what I think as well. Aguilar didn't likely consider it smart to waste time and money designing their own pedal power supply. I strongly suspect they they researched what was out there that easily met their requirements and offered the best reliability and lowest noise, and then had their name printed on a production run of them. There was no reason to reinvent the wheel, even if the best fit for them was significantly more capable than what they actually needed. That's how I would have approached it if given the task.
 
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#142
Made this printable preset sheet for myself and thought I'd share with my fellow TH peeps.


Tone Hammer Presets Blank.jpg
 
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#143
Al Kraft said:
Someone may have already posted the link to what I call "Eublet's TH Rosetta Stone post" back in March 2011, but I figured I would just add it in as cut and paste below. Once you "get it" the TH is very versatile and a lot less frustrating. FWIW, Eublet's observation in a later post was IIRC that the AGS on setting is roughly the same as the Drive control on the TH head being at 3 o'clock - given that, it's obvious why AGS on/AGS off is such a dramatic change with Gain up on the TH DI.

From Eublet's March 2011 post:
Click to expand...

Could someone post the link to Eublet's original post? I looked everywhere and cannot find it anymore. Thanks!
 
#148
I've gone back to using the TH DI as a clean preamp with seperate pedals providing a range of overdrive options.
My pedalboard these days is literally my whole preamp as I can use it standalone if we are playing an ampless\cabless stage (straight to mixing desk), or straight into my current amp of choice (Hartke LH500) the board does all the preamp and tone shaping.
The AGS is a nice feature, but I find that I have other pedals that achieve the AGS function and sound a little better to me.
Not knocking it at all. TH DI is still my favourite preamp pedal I've ever tried....and fur whatever reason if I only have it and a bass I know I can get a tone that sounds great every time.
 
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#150
Hi, I have a question: what is the XLR output for if there is no cabinet simulation?
To connect the pedal directly to the mixer and then mic the cab from there?
Or nothing if an IR loader is added in chain with its XLR output after the Tone Hammer pedal (however, thus making useless the fact that the Tone Hammer pedal already has its XLR output which would in fact be unused)?
Or is it not properly required to have a cab in the mix using a pedal like the Tone Hammer?
I don't know about anything else. Please help.
Thank you very much in advance because I've been puzzling over this issue for quite a while
 
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#151
EmpInfNed said:
Hi, I have a question: what is the XLR output for if there is no cabinet simulation?
To connect the pedal directly to the mixer.....?
Click to expand...

Yes

EmpInfNed said:
Or is it not properly required to have a cab in the mix using a pedal like the Tone Hammer?
Click to expand...

Yes

Every preamp/DI box does not need to feature cabinet simulation. It's perfectly fine to send bass signal to mixer without cab simulation.

Btw: the AGS feature has EQ profile similar to cabinet response...
 
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#152
EmpInfNed said:
Hi, I have a question: what is the XLR output for if there is no cabinet simulation?
To connect the pedal directly to the mixer and then mic the cab from there?
Or nothing if an IR loader is added in chain with its XLR output after the Tone Hammer pedal (however, thus making useless the fact that the Tone Hammer pedal already has its XLR output which would in fact be unused)?
Or is it not properly required to have a cab in the mix using a pedal like the Tone Hammer?
I don't know about anything else. Please help.
Thank you very much in advance because I've been puzzling over this issue for quite a while
Click to expand...
No need for a cab sim or cab. You could think of it as an active DI box with some extra knobs - DI’s don’t need cabs and neither does the THDI. As mentioned, the AGS gives some (analogue) cab simulation but this isn’t something that is ‘essential’ in a bass DI.
 
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#153
Loving my Tone Hammer. I had it plugged in with 18v adapter at my last gig, but forgot about phantom power until it powered up not plugged in when I connected to the board. Has anyone experienced any differences running with phantom power vs running with the 18v power adapter? I went ahead and plugged it in at the gig since I didn’t know.
 
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#155
No need for cab sim - unless you want it.
If you are running in-ears or want some control of the house mix.
Like others said - the AGS is kind of doing cab-sim before there was cab-sim.

As far as the power question - phantom and 18v power should be exactly the same.
I’ve posted before about what type of power overrides what type - but can’t remember right now.
 
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#156
pisces_bass said:
Sometimes the TH is just the thing. That gritty, edge of breakup thing the AGS circuit just nails was what I needed for today’s gig.
Click to expand...

I felt like this on Sunday.

We played outdoors in rainy weather. There was a rather long walk from the parking lot to the "stage" (there was no real stage, just a place on the grass under a tent).

I decided to leave my pedalboard in the car and travel light: just my bass with TH in the gigbag.

The TH replaced several pedals: overdrive, EQ, HPF/LPF and DI box.

Edit: and it did not require power adapter which I appreciated because the grass was wet...
 
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#158
hennessybass said:
FYI - direct from Aguilar - about phantom power / power supply:

If you had the power supply and phantom power connected, the power supply would take precedence and power the pedal, not phantom power.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Next gig I will just go phantom and see if there is any noteable difference. Since it is supposed to run on 18v power supply I wouldn’t think there would be but we’ll see.
 
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#159
I've been going back to a cleaner sound (ie less overdrive) over the last year or so. I've always loved bass with some overdrive, but I find that a cleaner signal has more punch, no matter how much clean is blended.

So lately I've been running a very simple signal chain of Pbass (EMG GZR) with pick - tuner - EBS Multicomp - THDI - Hartke LH500 - Ashdown ABM 410\810.

THDI setting;
AGS - on
Gain - 7\8 o'clock
Bass - 1 o'clock
Treble - somewhere between 10 and 12 o'clock
Mid frequency - 3 o'clock
Mid level - 11 o'clock

Happiest I've been with my tone for a long time. The AGS gives me enough fur to sound like a driven tube amp but stays very clean. To be honest I don't like the sound of the AGS on with gain any higher than 8 o'clock. Too gnarly and loses that clean punch but at really low gain it's nice - including the high end roll off.

In regards to cab sim....I actually have a dedicated IR loader at the end of my pedalboard. I usually use it when I play acoustic gigs with no onstage rig (straight to mixer). But I recently played a large function in a proper 500 seat function room. Rig was onstage for stage sound. No micing - just DI to desk for FOH. I ask the sound guy if he want cab sim or no cab sim. Tried both - he said the tone straight from the THDI sounded much better and was way easier to mix as opposed to run a cab IR as well.

Still really dig the THDI.
 
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