NAD - Joined the Aguilar bandwagon

[Danuman]

Chiming in having acquired a Tone Hammer 500 the other day.

I wanted to weigh in only after having put it through its paces, but after having done so, I must admit I feel slightly flummoxed by the contingent nature of the controls.

I absolutely adore my Eden WT-550, but it needed a check-up and unfortunately it hasn't been the same since. (deliberation with the repairman currently ongoing)
In the meantime I stumbled upon a good deal for a TH500 in great nick, and since I wasn't too happy with my current backup, I snatched it up.

It sounds pretty good so far, but I'm not quite sure it's going to sound great. Any tips?

[paulmcnamara]

If you download the manual for the TH 500 from the Aguilar website, there is a section in there that explains the relationship between the gain, drive and the EQ, especially the mid. It encourages one to experiment..... might be worth a look.

[Danuman]

Cheers, yes actually a manual came with it. I get that the drive knob creates a more vintage voicing, but “The lower the GAIN control setting, the “flatter” the EQ applied” sounds a bit enigmatic to me. Does that imply it kind of does the same (i.e. tame the far ends and/or boost mids) as you turn it up?

The interaction between gain, drive and mids certainly doesn’t feel very straightforward... I suppose I may have to get used to some pretty wild eq’ing! 

Edited September 15, 2018 by Danuman

[BassBod]

I liked mine, but the “drive” side of it defeated me.  It seemed to me like a Sansamp that I could never unplug!  I love Sansamps, but I use them sparingly, and know where the off switch is.  

I think experimenting with your bass/cab is the only way.  But I also thinks it’s fair to say none of the micro amps will do the full “heft” of an older amp like the Eden.  Now, I’ll go sit in the corner...😳

[Lozz196]

If looking for a more modern sound back off of the Drive and use your Gain for any fur/hair to the sound, the lows and highs are more extended. For more vintage sounds do the opposite, back off of the Gain and use the Drive, this seems to raise the bass frequencies and drop the high-end frequencies so more like an old valve amp.

[chris_b]

IMO these are great amps, they have their own sound and the one thing they are not going to do is sound like your Eden.

I found the TH500 to be pretty intuitive. I kept  the drive switched off until I'd got a sound I liked out of the rest of the amp.

[Danuman]

So far it certainly sounds very usable, but I still feel like I'm missing a trick. I was a bit shocked at how far the master volume had traveled by the end of the night, but I was running just a single 112 and I suspect it might have something to do with settings over on the preamp side.

I'm hoping the TH will complement my WT-550. As brilliant as I think the Eden is (hopefully will be again soon), it's not terribly versatile. The TH seems to like my Octave Deluxe a lot, so that's a good start.

[paulmcnamara]

I used to like the enhance dial on my old Eden amp..................... it was capable of such sweet tones, alas.  Now I have just got a Helix LT and will try it out this week at rehearsal straight to the effects return of the TH 500..... should be interesting.......... But good luck with your experimenting.

[Danuman]

Sometimes I think I like the sense of dimension the enhance knob seems to add, but invariably I end up turning it back down again and thinking it sounds better that way. My Eden is still in the shop though... Starting to worry it’s never going to be the same again.

I haven’t yet found a setting on the TH500 that gives me what I want though. I like the general character of the amp, but the bass shelve seems to go from weedy to overpowering instantly, without ever getting punchy. The sweepable mids don’t seem to hit that spot either. I don’t know, maybe that just means the amp doesn’t particularly suit my cabs...

[dannybuoy]

Drive rolls off highs and lows and adds distortion dependent on the gain level. Don’t be afraid to roll your mids way back when using lots of drive, it’s a great way to get Sansamp style modern rock sounds. It took me a long time to discover this, having it drummed into me that bass needs mids to be heard. But with the drive up, the treble control morphs into more of a high mids control so you can boost it without getting that shrill high end. With the mids flat or boosted the drive gets very woolly which is great for blues/Motown type stuff. A very versatile amp!

[Danuman]

On 13/10/2018 at 12:07, dannybuoy said:

Drive rolls off highs and lows and adds distortion dependent on the gain level. Don’t be afraid to roll your mids way back when using lots of drive, it’s a great way to get Sansamp style modern rock sounds. It took me a long time to discover this, having it drummed into me that bass needs mids to be heard. But with the drive up, the treble control morphs into more of a high mids control so you can boost it without getting that shrill high end. With the mids flat or boosted the drive gets very woolly which is great for blues/Motown type stuff. A very versatile amp!

Cheers! I did experiment with this a bit already, but I'll give it another shot!

I also tried boosting lows and then taming them with the drive knob - hoping to create some sort of low mid bump - but it didn't seem to do the trick. I really do hope that it's in there somewhere, because there's a lot to like about this amp, but I really need for it to have a more focused punch.

[acidbass]

I didn’t like the whole ‘each knob has an effect on the other’ thing. Could never get a sound I liked out of it, played through various Barefaced and Aguilar cabs. There was always a horrible gain in the sound when it approached gig volume, even with Drive completely off.

On the other hand, my DB751 sounds quite simply superb.