NPD Aguilar Tonehammer

[pendingrequests]

After been recommended this from Chris Tomlin's (Worship Leader) bass player, I found one in Music Maker in Dublin.

I was after an EQ pedal with a DI functionality, so it was either this, the SansAmp or the JHS Colour Box.

What sold this was the AGS overdrive functionality and the robustness after hearing some horror stories with the SansAmp.

Still toying with levels; going from the clean EQ'd signal, to the AGS as it is a bit extreme in terms of boost.

But overall, thoroughly recommend it as an alternative to the SansAmp and to be honest, a lot more prettier!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUdeNZeFK6k

[dannybuoy]

Yeah I heard about the boost issue, shame really. But it's good to leave it on permanently set to mild levels as when on it introduces a speaker sim effect on the DI which is useful for taming any distortion pedals that come before it. I've been tempted to pick one of these up myself.

[Lozz196]

Yep I always leave the AGS on and get the amount of gain/drive I want from the Gain control. I do this with the amp as well, set Drive on full, then Gain to suit.

May well be selling mine soon though Danny.

[pendingrequests]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1430326925' post='2760374']
Yep I always leave the AGS on and get the amount of gain/drive I want from the Gain control. I do this with the amp as well, set Drive on full, then Gain to suit.

May well be selling mine soon though Danny.
[/quote]

Ah thats a good idea actually. Will tinker again and hopefully get a happy medium.

[xroads]

The TH pedal was not built as 2-channel amp, as far as I read. Therefore, it's an either chanel 1 or channel 2, because they have a noticeable volume jump.
I always play on channel 1, which gives the Aguilar signature sound, and agree that it would be a nice feature of the pedal to use both channels as
switchable option.

[krispn]

Read this for how the tone hammer can be used as either a clean unit or a drive channel its post 16 by Eublet

I've added the section I refered to in the next post. Makes good reading!

[url="http://www.talkbass.com/threads/sansamp-para-driver-vs-aguilar-tone-hammer.755083/"]http://www.talkbass....-hammer.755083/[/url]

Few years back when I had a tone hammer I sat and went through all this stuff eublet said in his post and you can hear what he means clearly.

I'm now tempted to get one again and try it with my current rig!

Edited May 16, 2015 by krispn

[krispn]

The Tone Hammer is a totally different animal. With the AGS off, it's just an uber clean EQ with gain boost. Very high quality, and the sweepable mids are fantastic. You know how everyone raves about the Sadowsky outboard preamp/DI pedal. I had one, until I got my Tone Hammer. The TH covered the Sadowsky thing VERY well. The low control has the same 40 hz setting with the AGS off, as does the 4k treble setting. The sweepable mids on the TH are just wonderful, though I do wish it would go up to about 2k. No big deal.

The EQ on the TH is flat when it is engaged. When you also turn on the AGS, at the lowest setting, there is no hair on the notes at all. Again, NO hair at all unless your bass is just SUPER hot in terms of output. What does happen when you engage the AGS is that highs are immediately rolled off in a way that simulates a vintage tweeterless cabinet. So the tone gets warmer sounding off the bat, even though the lows and mids are still the same. The Treble control now acts more like a Presence knob does on the Sansamp stuff. It dials in grindy mids in the 2.5k region. Very slick. The lows are tightened up a bit as you boost them, so instead of getting really deep and boomy, they get fat and vintage. Again, still no hair on the notes because the AGS gain is fully counter clockwise. The mid control still allows you to cut/boost mids where you want them. Very slick. Vintage tones with no hair.

As you add more AGS gain, the tone gets warmer until you get some hair, and then it starts overdriving. With the EQ flat, the overdrive tone is VERY mid-oriented such that it can sound a bit nasally and harsh. But remember, this is with the EQ flat, and most folks who are used to hearing a classic tube amp (think SVT for example) should note that an SVT is no where near flat. There's a mid scoop. So to get rid of that nasally midrange in the TH, you have to cut mids as you boost the gain. Setting the knob around 2-3 o'clock puts the mid control around the 750 hz mark, where you'll get some classic SVT'ish mid scoop going. Start cutting the mids there to get the tone you want. Cut to anywhere from 10 to 8 o'clock, and you can pretty much close your eyes and thing your running through the BDDI and not the Tone Hammer. The cool thing is that you aren't having to use a Blend knob at all to control that mid scoop. Just scoop the mids as deep as you like to get the tone you're after, and then adjust the Treble (which now more like a Presence, remember?) to get the amount of cut you want. Then, dial up the bass if you want it fat and deep, or cut it back to keep a thinner tone. Very slick, and way cool.

Here's another trick about the TH that I use a good bit. I'll scoop the mids ALL the way out around 750 hz for a rock tone. With the Bass/Treble boosted to around 2 o'clock, this is very similar to the "Fat Tube" setting from the BDDI manual. But the cool trick is instead to cut treble and bass back. I'll set bass to 11 or maybe 10 o'clock, and cut treble all the way back to 8 or 9 o'clock. The result is a very warm, lower-mid dominant tone (because the upper mids and lows are cut back so far), with a subtle, understated top end. It's very B15'ish and sounds awesome with a P bass or jazz with flats. At this point, if you want more depth, rather than boosting the bass, you move the mid frequency knob clockwise, which pools out upper mids and articulation. If you want more of that, then you move the knob counter clockwise to bring those upper mids back into the tone. The highs and lows stay the same, so it's an easy way to adjust your tone on the gig to get more/less articulation in the mix.

These are just a few examples of what the Tone Hammer can do. I'm a huge fan of it obviously, but I came from being a BDDI user for quite a while, and I just never could bond with the new VT pedal. I still love and have a deep respect for the BDDI, and while I don't use one myself much anymore, I know I can always make it work. The Para Driver I wouldn't bother with myself.

A lot of folks around here have slammed the Tone Hammer because you can't use the AGS like a second channel, where you can engage/disengage overdrive at will without causing volume differences. I guess I can understand that, but really that's not the Aguilar'sdesign intent. Instead, think of it more as a single channel tone shaper, that will "hammer" (pardon the pun) your tone into a wide variety of directions. It just takes a little time playing with the controls to figure out what does what. I still learn new things about it all the time. It's not that it's complicated, but rather that the AGS circuit ties in very closely to the mid control, so changing the mids affects the overdrive tone, and the more gain you add, the more the low end tightens up to prevent things from getting muddy.

[Lozz196]

Great review krispn, sums up the Tonehammer very well. I think it`s a great pedal, very versatile, and invaluable to me seeing as I use the Tonehammer amps, I can get my sound using provided rigs easily.

I agree with the AGS comments as well, it`s not a 2-channel pedal, this is simply another feature and like anything adding gain, it`s going to get louder. I`ve not tried the mids at the 2 o`clock/3 o`clock setting - mine usually at around 10 o`clock - but will give that a try.

Also agree about the pedal with the AGS off, it being very clean - when boosting the gain without the AGS on I find you get a much more modern gainy sound, still great, mind, and from what I`ve read this is more true to the traditional Aguilar sound. All in all, great pedals (and amps).

Edited May 16, 2015 by Lozz196

[krispn]

The review was from the link I posted - not my words but stuff that I did notice but said so much more eloquently than I could have. Im seriously thinking about another one (currently using a Basswitch for preamp/eq/di) as my drive unit - might be a good choice as they are really solid.

[Lozz196]

Well I`ve just recorded with mine today and our producer was very impressed with the TH. An Ampeg man through and through he was very impressed with the way the TH can do a great SVT sound (which is the sound I use).

[Bass Pedal Geek]

I had the TH for a couple of years but eventually uninstalled it from my board and sold it later on. Can't even remember why anymore. As I rememeber it actually sounded great but I think I just needed some tonal variation at some point. Well, now I want one again! :-/

[pendingrequests]

[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1431810512' post='2775286']
The review was from the link I posted - not my words but stuff that I did notice but said so much more eloquently than I could have. Im seriously thinking about another one (currently using a Basswitch for preamp/eq/di) as my drive unit - might be a good choice as they are really solid.
[/quote]

Thanks for the very detailed post Kris! Certainly helpful. I am getting much more comfortable with it now.

Played a show on Saturday supporting Rae Morris and their sound guy DI'd the Tonehammer and DI'd my Ampeg PF500 with a Radial J48. It was one of the best tones I have ever got from amp, in terms of FOH sound.

The Tonehammer was just getting all my clean tone, and the Ampeg captured all the dirt.

If I could always have two channels coming from my desk, life would be that little sweeter!

Edited May 19, 2015 by pendingrequests

[krispn]

I may start pushing for two channel bass di on my regular gig

[Chiliwailer]

[quote name='krispn' timestamp='1431810512' post='2775286']
The review was from the link I posted - not my words but stuff that I did notice but said so much more eloquently than I could have. Im seriously thinking about another one (currently using a Basswitch for preamp/eq/di) as my drive unit - might be a good choice as they are really solid.
[/quote]

Cheers for that, I've been enjoying mine for some time, will be looking at it in a new light now

[krispn]

I may be picking up a Tone Hammer 350 this week and look forward to revisiting these settings again. Plus we have a new desk in the band so could try two bass signals - send a clean one FOH and a 2nd to blend in a bit of filth.

Any of you guys give them a go and what did you think?

[krismpos]

I'm resurrecting this topic as I face a trouble with my TH. I've been using it since May, and love it but never used the DI section as there was always one provided by the venue. Last Thursday I decided to try it out and the result was so noisy that we couldn't use it. At Pre EQ mode the noise was relatively low, but Post EQ was simple unbearable. I've researched a little and found out that some people had this issue with the first edition of the pedal, many years ago. So I contacted Thomann and they told me to send it back to examine it. I'll keep you updated in case anyone's interested.

[Lozz196]

Interesting, I`d not heard that - and luckily for me also not experienced it from my own TH as I`ve DI`d many times from it.

Edited October 30, 2016 by Lozz196