tom.hastings

Thank you for the responses, guys. Some very useful advice there. The general consensus seems to be that the 12" speakers have a lot to offer an all-round, as do the 10" speakers to a similar degree. The 15" cabs don't seem to be getting much of a look-in though. But, the best thing to do would be to try and find somewhere that actually stock Aguilar and try them out. I've been struggling to find any places close to Manchester. Any suggestions? Most places that stock them appear to be down south. The problem with trying gear out in the shop is that it might sound amazing by itself, but put it with a full band and it's a totally different sound. I feel it may be a trial and error, slow build job. It may interest you to hear Aguilar's response to my email. Seems like a nice chap and gave a very speedy response: Hello Tom, Thank you for considering Aguilar gear! It is great to have a distributor in the UK now as it helps to expand our reach to more players there! I would have to say that a 410 is a great place to start here. You can go with an 8 ohm cab to start and then add a second cab – such as a 212 or 115 – at a later date. The 10” speaker is very balanced with plenty of lows. I would say that is a bit “tighter” due to the smaller diameter of the driver. The 12” speaker has a bit more ‘roundness’ in the lows but still plenty of definition in the mids. I am probably going to recommend our DB series cabs for you but feel free to let me know more about the music you are playing and I can assist further on that point. I am in love with our new MM pickup! It sounds great – definitely more of that classic tone BUT with a much more even response in all registers with no dead spots. I cannot recommend these enough! Please let me know if I can assist further.

Hello Bass Chat, I recently made an enquiry to Aguilar about their bass cabs and pickups, but I was wondering what the bass communities' opinion on the subject is as I'm sure you wold be able to offer a more impartial critique. Here's what I sent: Hello, I'm looking for some advice with regards to which Aguilar products would best suit my playing. I am a bass player from the UK who plays in a wide variety of bands and I record studio sessions for artists of a variety of genres; so I need the most versatile all-round sound I can find. I am going to change my current setup and I've been very impressed by what I've heard about Aguilar as an emerging brand. It seems like everyone is talking about it over this side of the pond and it's only a matter of time before it explodes over here. I caught a band a while back whose bass player had an Aguilar rig and I've never had tone envy quite like it! Because none of the UK music shops near to me stock Aguilar I'd like to make sure I've asked the right questions before I commit to buying and getting them exported over. I'll give you some info about my current set-up and what I'd hope to achieve from buying Aguilar equipment. I currently play a 4-sting Stingray through an Ashdown 500w AMB head with a 4x8" cab and a 15" cab. The problem I'm having is that my 4x8" cab is throwing out too many mids and the 15"cab isn't giving me enough bottom end on stage. So when I crank it up I give the sound engineer a headache who then wants me to turn down because all the low end is distributed front of house, but not on stage. After brushing up a bit on some forums, the general consensus is that15" bass cabs aren't as popular as they used to be - because the low end usually only delivers to the back of the venue, which is typically controlled by the front of house PA anyway, and the sound it gives on stage is very muddy. Forums suggest that a 4x10" cab is the answer to this, as it will offer plenty in the bottom end and still cater for the mids to give the bass sound a tight punch. What would the virtues be of using 12" speakers be compared to 10"? The forums offer very little insight into the difference between the two apart from suggesting that 12" speakers offer more in the bottom end, less in the mids, but runs the risk of having similar problems to 15" cabs. I'm having trouble deciding which setup I should get. I'm considering the 500w Tone Hammer head with a 4x10" cab (and possibly adding a 15" cab if I'm not getting enough bottom end). Alternatively, I'm considering using a 2x12" cab instead of the 15" cab, or maybe even a 2x12" cab and a 2x10" cab. I'm not sure which combination would give the best all-round tone. Any advice on the most versatile setup would be greatly appreciated. I've also seen a very interesting YouTube video on Music Man pickups and OBP preamps and I'm curious as to what these would offer my bass guitar. Are they seen as a pickup to be put into basses in order to emulate the Stingray sound or would they be an improvement on my current Stingray pickup? If they are designed to emulate the Stingray sound I guess it would be pointless to consider swapping them for my current pickup unless it is seen as a genuine improvement to the pickups already in my bass.I'd be grateful for some impartial advice on that. Thank you for your time and I look forward to purchasing Aguilar in the near future. Kind regards, Tom Hastings