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What's wrong with the Tone Hammer 500?

#81
OK, So lets look at relativity. I'm assuming we are grown men. Now I'm 60. -(I'm not that good at math so I rounded away from my point)- I schlep a 31+lb Ashdown 500 from my trunk to the inside of the venue + 2 basses 25 lbs, a 100 lb 2-15, bag 10lbs, stand5, fan2, etc. so lets say 150 lbs of stuff. So If I took away 25lbs of that stuff 31-25=6lbs (average micro head) that leaves me 125 lbs left for a reduction of 1/6 of the total. Even if I had to lug all this up 3 flights of stairs, say 15 minutes total, is having and amp that reduces my labor by 1/6 or or 16.666666%. Is that gonna make me 83.33333% happier? Is it going to make my life better by 83.3333%? Shouldn't I exercise 16.6666% more?
All these things are really relative, aren't they?
 
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#82
Rockbobmel said:
OK, So lets look at relativity. I'm assuming we are grown men. Now I'm 60. -(I'm not that good at math so I rounded away from my point)- I schlep a 31+lb Ashdown 500 from my trunk to the inside of the venue + 2 basses 25 lbs, a 100 lb 2-15, bag 10lbs, stand5, fan2, etc. so lets say 150 lbs of stuff. So If I took away 25lbs of that stuff 31-25=6lbs (average micro head) that leaves me 125 lbs left for a reduction of 1/6 of the total. Even if I had to lug all this up 3 flights of stairs, say 15 minutes total, is having and amp that reduces my labor by 1/6 or or 16.666666%. Is that gonna make me 83.33333% happier? Is it going to make my life better by 83.3333%? Shouldn't I exercise 16.6666% more?
All these things are really relative, aren't they?
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Huh? ;)
 
#87
Played a good friend's TH500 and a pair of SL 112s the other night and was not impressed. Although I admit that I did not have a lot of time to dial in a my sound. That said I believe the rig should have sounded better flat that it did. I have a pair of Revsound RS112s (28 lbs each) on order and will try the TH500 head again with those before I decide which lightweight to buy. I am 64 and have gigged for 50 years. You can bet whatever amp I end up buying will be lightweight and my heavy rigs will be retired. BTY i own a TH preamp and I'm not a big fan, so I may not be an Aquilar guy.
 
#89
MightyMag said:
Played a good friend's TH500 and a pair of SL 112s the other night and was not impressed. Although I admit that I did not have a lot of time to dial in a my sound. That said I believe the rig should have sounded better flat that it did. I have a pair of Revsound RS112s (28 lbs each) on order and will try the TH500 head again with those before I decide which lightweight to buy. I am 64 and have gigged for 50 years. You can bet whatever amp I end up buying will be lightweight and my heavy rigs will be retired. BTY i own a TH preamp and I'm not a big fan, so I may not be an Aquilar guy.
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You may not be an Aguilar guy. No shame in that.

But for sure, these amps need to be given some time to find your sound. The gain, drive, and mid controls are the key and work like nothing you've used before.

You can't just jump on someone's rig and get your sound. I've been gigging since '71. This amp is like nothing we've used before.
 
#90
I have the opposite experience to some of you lot, I find this amp extremely plug and play! I found a great tone with my Warwick's straight up by setting gain to just below audible clipping, a pinch of drive, and left all the EQ at 12 o'clock. It gets left there majority of the time and works well with my Berg CN212. Of course, I find when I do want something else, the EQ and gain structure is very flexible and gives lots of variation.
 
#91
I too had a great tone almost instantly. Basically if you love the tone of a V4B you'll be happy with the TH, otherwise you won't. Definitely not the amp for those of you into high power "clean". I kinda think of mine as the polar opposite of my GB Shuttle 3.0 which is painfully transparent and great for when you really want to work on your crappy technique at home where nobody can hear you LOL (also great for DB I'm told).
 
#92
johnsonabq said:
You may not be an Aguilar guy. No shame in that.

But for sure, these amps need to be given some time to find your sound. The gain, drive, and mid controls are the key and work like nothing you've used before.

You can't just jump on someone's rig and get your sound. I've been gigging since '71. This amp is like nothing we've used before.
Click to expand...


Your point is very well taken. This is why I intend to take another run at it with my cabs and some time for dialing. I can't dismiss all the love the TH is getting from many of you long term bassist without giving it a fair audition.
 
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#94
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#95
There's really nothing "wrong" with the TH500. Seem like good folks, great reliability record, super light, plenty loud, adaptable, nice layout...

I honestly wish I liked it.

I had the loan of one for a couple of months and wasn't sorry to give it back. I'm P-bass, flats, going for B15-ish tone... and there's something, to me, slightly but ineradicably burpy and forwards and contemporary about the TH500's mid/upper mids that doesn't suit me or the music I do. (Bear in mind that my idea of contemporary is likely not the same as yours. Language, huh.)

"Ah, but you need to play around with the Gain, Drive and Mid shift..."

Oh, I did. For weeks, and in two or three different bands. And a friend did too, and he uses much the same gear and has much the same aims, and we would adjust it in the break.

Over time we gradually went from "It's vile, kill it with fire" to "Well, with the Bass just so and exactly this amount of mid-boost at such-and-such and Gain at 11.284 o'clock, it was passable tonight" to "Oh, forget it". Even my singer - my singer!!! - said he far preferred my old amp.

So the amp I was trying to replace stayed instead. Hey ho.

Just not a Tone Hammer fan, I guess. You mileage may vary by a vast amount.
 
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#99
Since the time I posted on #56 I've grown up a bit. My TH500 is a great backup amp. I've realized that it's more than good enough for a micro. And every time I watch the Aguilar factory tour on youtube where they openly show how they are assembled I respect both the company and amp even more. Aguilar does not give bass players the runaround if there is need for service. This is a tough and reliable amp with no frills let it be just like that. I'm glad that it's not at all like the competing micro amps. Each company has its own sonic signature with micros - fair enough.

By the way, what I have not read yet is a TH500 rig with 2 DB115's. It's always DB112's or GS 112's almost every time !

I don't use any Aguilar cabs any more, I greatly prefer my fEARful cabs instead with this little amp.
Regarding the title of this thread, man there is nothing wrong with the TH500.
 
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#100
DerekW said:
What is it that people don't like about this amp that they are turning around and selling them so quick?
Click to expand...

"Early adopters", the guys who buy the "new stuff" because it's new and creating a buzz usually sell pretty quickly when they move onto the next "new thing".

Some guys find their situation changes and they have to sell.

Some guys find they prefer the sound of a different amp.

I haven't heard one report of a TH500 failure, or any other issues, so I guess even though there might be a few in the classifieds, there's actually nothing wrong with this amp.
 

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