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Worship Bass Pedalboards

So, I spent some time at church last night, primarily for rehearsals but also to compare the Mesa Subway Di to the Tonehammer Di.
A very interesting evening with some quite surprising results, I was expecting the Mesa to walk all over the Tonehammer…
I played the first few songs with the Mesa and then swapped to the Tonehammer.
The in ear tone both flat with no AGS and with AGS engaged and my settings was much easier to live with and dare I say it more musical and more mix friendly.

I stayed behind after rehearsal and did some A/B work with them playing around with different HPF settings on the desk and realised these two boxes are poles apart sound wise.

The Subway DI
Lower DI signal by around 8 db I reckon. Massive bass and low mid push compare to the Aguilar. A very immediate forceful slam when playing notes and what I can only describe as a hardness to the sound. Maybe similarities to the Carbine?
The Tonehammer DI by comparison in either mode sounds a lot softer and friendlier. It is warm but also crystal clear and with the AGS engaged and my settings, sounds perfect in a mix. It is well publicised that the Tonehammer DI has a significant roll off in the low and high end with AGS engaged, what was interesting was just how much sub low end content still comes through. The difference between HPF set at 30hz and 40hz was significant and I found myself being really happy with it at 30hz. The Mesa by comparison had to be rolled off from 40hz to give anything like the clarity to the low end that the Tonehammer delivered.
Maybe the 18v helps, maybe it is just a voicing thing or even a combination of the 2.
Anyway, ramble over, hope some of you find that interesting or helpful.
My conclusion is that for me and for the mix at our church the Tonehammer DI is simply in a different league, it is still after all these years a stunning piece of kit that delivers the goods and more than holds its own against newer shinier trendier boxes.
Very nice run down.

Great read.

My local guitar tech shop (Lull Guitarworks) has a TH500 head and GS410 cabinet in their showroom.

Simply stunning straight into the head, no pedals.

What are you using for a HPF?
I run a TH500 into a Mesa Subway 2x10 at home and honestly it's overkill lol. But that combo is what made me get the Tone Hammer pedal as my pedalboard base.
 
oh, and I have read a ton of pre-Amp reviews and threads, but not all of them talk about whether you can play aux-in through the cab or just headphones.

I'm also curious about preamps with aux options :)

I'm not sure if the following is what you're talking about, but here it is in case it's useful. I utilize an aux signal for practicing along with a recording or learning online. I've got 2 setups intended for practice:
Setup 1 - Small soundboard (that I happened to already have) is used to combine the bass guitar signal coming out of a pedalboard and any aux signal into an output that goes to a practice amp speaker or headphones.
Setup 2 - This setup is in another room near a computer. I use a Zoom 707II (I got it for cheap) to take a bass guitar signal and aux signal from a computer and output that into a speaker. The speaker can output to headphones if needed. This particular setup is not ideal for good sound, but works well enough for practice. And it's cheap :)
 
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I personally don't use one at the moment with the Tone Hammer. Not saying I shouldn't but with the AGS engaged the low end feels quite tight to my ear.

Still, somewhere down the line, I wouldn't mind adding a Broughton HPF/LPF.

I totally agree it is nice and tight, however there is still some sub content present and adding some HPF at the desk even at 30hz was a very minor tweek. Bear in mind that all rooms are different and we in particular have a lot of hard surfaces and no acoustic treatments so a little bit of control goes a long way!
 
I totally agree it is nice and tight, however there is still some sub content present and adding some HPF at the desk even at 30hz was a very minor tweek. Bear in mind that all rooms are different and we in particular have a lot of hard surfaces and no acoustic treatments so a little bit of control goes a long way!
No that definitely makes sense as it was my understanding that the AGS doesn't work in the same way that a true HPF does. I'll have to ask our FoH guy if he has been applying any HPF on my signal, I'm curious now. Our acoustic area isn't the most ideal either so I'm sure it would be beneficial.
 
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I personally don't use one at the moment with the Tone Hammer. Not saying I shouldn't but with the AGS engaged the low end feels quite tight to my ear.

Still, somewhere down the line, I wouldn't mind adding a Broughton HPF/LPF.


i JUST tried the Broughton HPF/LPF pedal.

Excellent unit.

BUT i found using a HPF alone is half a solution, for me at least.

half a "Pultec Trick".

you can compensate by bumping the bass control of your amp - that will get you there, kind of.

i returned the HPF/LPF and will be ordering the Resonant Filter EQ from Broughton.
 
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The Lowrider is great for that. It really fattens the low end without being too boomy.
That looks really cool, just got done reading up on it. I like that it doesn't have a ton of knobs to fidget with. The Broughton RFE is a little intimidating to me :laugh:

A Lowrider paired with a HPF?

It sounds like some folks still adjust the Lowrider dependant on the room they are in? Or could you set it and forget it?
 
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I'm also curious about preamps with aux options :)

I'm not sure if the following is what you're talking about, but here it is in case it's useful. I utilize an aux signal for practicing along with a recording or learning online. I've got 2 setups intended for practice:
Setup 1 - Small soundboard (that I happened to already have) is used to combine the bass guitar signal coming out of a pedalboard and any aux signal into an output that goes to a practice amp speaker or headphones.
Setup 2 - This setup is in another room near a computer. I use a Zoom 707II (I got it for cheap) to take a bass guitar signal and aux signal from a computer and output that into a speaker. The speaker can output to headphones if needed. This particular setup is not ideal for good sound, but works well enough for practice. And it's cheap :)

honestly, I think I'm kind of all over the place sometimes but I was hoping to have something where I can use just my pb through my headphones or use the board with amp and cab since my current amp doesn't have aux-in. I will eventually need a new Amp head anyway since I'm basically just using the TC Bam 200 and it does well but with the one cab isn't super loud Unless I push it - and I don't always want that sound.

I probably should just settle on a preamp pedal that I like that sounds good and get an amp with aux-in eventually. I can use my zoom b1four for now, but our old house has a lot going on in a small space so the zoom is a little noisy- and it just is a lot of set up and teardown to add that into the mix as opposed to just plugging the PB into the amp instead of just headphones. Life is super crazy right now and I'm not getting a ton of sleep so I might not be making any sense but I do appreciate everyone's input here and on Reddit lol
 
honestly, I think I'm kind of all over the place sometimes but I was hoping to have something where I can use just my pb through my headphones or use the board with amp and cab since my current amp doesn't have aux-in. I will eventually need a new Amp head anyway since I'm basically just using the TC Bam 200 and it does well but with the one cab isn't super loud Unless I push it - and I don't always want that sound.

I probably should just settle on a preamp pedal that I like that sounds good and get an amp with aux-in eventually. I can use my zoom b1four for now, but our old house has a lot going on in a small space so the zoom is a little noisy- and it just is a lot of set up and teardown to add that into the mix as opposed to just plugging the PB into the amp instead of just headphones. Life is super crazy right now and I'm not getting a ton of sleep so I might not be making any sense but I do appreciate everyone's input here and on Reddit lol


this is my latest thought for my new live rig

pedal 2024.png
 
That looks really cool, just got done reading up on it. I like that it doesn't have a ton of knobs to fidget with. The Broughton RFE is a little intimidating to me :laugh:

A Lowrider paired with a HPF?

It sounds like some folks still adjust the Lowrider dependant on the room they are in? Or could you set it and forget it?
You don't need to pair a Lowrider with a HPF... the Lowrider is a HPF that cuts and boosts at certain frequencies at the same time. Love my Lowrider!
 
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perfect pedal, and of course

not available.

HA!


Haha. There should be more coming this month. They sell out fast though. I had one for a while. I liked it for when I play with an amp, but that was one time in the past 6 months. I figured it was too much room to take up on the board for a few times here and there. I let the FOH handle the eq for the most part.
 
Has anyone got any recommendations on a nice overdrive for my board?
I tried my Grizzly but wasn't keen, too fizzy for my tastes.
I had a vintage Microtubes a while back and that wasn't bad at all. Have thought about Alpha Omicron, I think I would prefer something with a voicing rather than a flat response type pedal.
I tend to run Tonehammer with AGS on but only a hair above 9 o clock for reference and Precision bass with rounds.
 
Has anyone got any recommendations on a nice overdrive for my board?
I tried my Grizzly but wasn't keen, too fizzy for my tastes.
I had a vintage Microtubes a while back and that wasn't bad at all. Have thought about Alpha Omicron, I think I would prefer something with a voicing rather than a flat response type pedal.
I tend to run Tonehammer with AGS on but only a hair above 9 o clock for reference and Precision bass with rounds.

Ive really been enjoying the Kasleder Jellyfish
 
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