Aguilar Tonehammer Amps EQ + more

[BassAdder60]

Since owning the Tonehammer 700 head I’ve learnt a lot about the quirky nature of its Gain / Drive and EQ section.

So much so that I can see why some past users have not liked the tone at first or struggled to make sense of it !!

 

The input gain control is unlike typical bass amps and is recommended to try many settings as they all alter the EQ and how it works with the drive section. 
Turn down the gain and boost the drive makes a huge difference to the mid frequency control. 
Turn off the drive and increase the gain and the mids become more active and adjustable ( less dark sounding )

The EQ is powerful and a little goes a long way

Most users never see the clip light come on and even Aguilar say it’s not an issue if it does !! 
I can max my input gain with a passive bass and it doesn’t clip !

It does allow for clean or dirty tones and a lot in between 

Anyone trying it quickly in a store would struggle at first with the EQ or where to set the gain level. 
It really sounds like a tube amp in its warmth and very pleasant growl if required 

Edited June 10, 2023 by BassAdder60

[ikay]

Here's the blurb from the TH manual which explains the interaction between the gain and drive controls:

 

The Drive control changes the gain structure and EQ interactively with the Gain control position. By modifying the circuit structure, Drive gives a “vintage voiced” EQ and gain structure that adapts to how you set the Gain control. The lower the Gain control setting, the “flatter” the EQ applied. The higher you set the Gain control, the more saturated the gain structure becomes, and the more the bass is tightened and the treble smoothed. The Drive circuitry surrounds the midrange controls, enabling you to get a huge variety of tonal characteristics by simply adjusting the Gain, Mid Level, and Mid Freq controls.

 

I'm a little confused by the above. If you turn the gain right down to get a flatter response, doesn't this also drastically reduce the level of the input signal and the resulting volume you can get out of the amp?

[Dan Dare]

5 hours ago, ikay said:

If you turn the gain right down to get a flatter response, doesn't this also drastically reduce the level of the input signal and the resulting volume you can get out of the amp?

 

It does to a degree, but if you want flat/clean, a TH is probably not the ideal choice. The AG 700 (which is what I use) would be more suitable. 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Dan Dare

[BassAdder60]

The  ToneHammer isn’t really a clean hi Fi sounding amp and the AG700 does that well.

 

However you can get close by turning gain very low and boosting master volume .. naturally you lose overall amp volume but with 700w it’s still very useable. 
 

Even with gain at 12 o’clock it’s more clean than dirty, very tube amp sounding 

[fretmeister]

I really want to try one now!  

[MichaelDean]

Me too!

[BassAdder60]

A huge advantage too .. the TH700 will run into 2.67 ohms so for 4ohm cabs with 8 ohm cab works a treat or perhaps 3 x 8ohm cabs !!

[BassAdder60]

In addition … running the new Ampeg SGT-DI in front makes a great sounding amp very flexible with many tones available 

[BassAdder60]

Band rehearsals I ran my SGT pedal into the front of the Tone Hammer 700 

 

This sounded as good as any valve amp and in fact better than my old V4B or CTM100 heads.

 

You get power, headroom and warm valve tones plus added “ drive” when required all in a lightweight package 

 

For me there is no need to run additional pedals in front of the SGT as the Ampeg provides everything I need and the added Di output 

 

For anyone who loves the Ampeg tone but was not blown away by the PF series heads or nervous about shutdowns then the SGT pedal really is like a good Ampeg in a box 

 

I’m sure most amps would play nicely with it but the Tone Hammer amps already sound valve like so adding the SGT just makes it a perfect match in my opinion.

 

Decided the cab sims are not needed ( more beneficial for recording ) so I turn them off for my PA Di signal 

[krispn]

On 10/05/2023 at 12:09, BassAdder60 said:

Since owning the Tonehammer 700 head I’ve learnt a lot about the quirky nature of its Gain / Drive and EQ section.

So much so that I can see why some past users have not liked the tone at first or struggled to make sense of it !!

 

The input gain control is unlike typical bass amps and is recommended to try many settings as they all alter the EQ and how it works with the drive section. 
Turn down the gain and boost the drive makes a huge difference to the mid frequency control. 
Turn off the drive and increase the gain and the mids become more active and adjustable ( less dark sounding )

The EQ is powerful and a little goes a long way

Most users never see the clip light come on and even Aguilar say it’s not an issue if it does !! 
I can max my input gain with a passive bass and it doesn’t clip !

It does allow for clean or dirty tones and a lot in between 

Anyone trying it quickly in a store would struggle at first with the EQ or where to set the gain level. 
It really sounds like a tube amp in its warmth and very pleasant growl if required 

 

Check out the first post…

Yyou might have seen this before and it may apply to the amp too. Be good to hear back if it works…

 

 

[BassAdder60]

Interesting topic and some parallels to the amp I think in particular how the drive alters the tone / EQ

[krispn]

I used a TH preamp pedal as a drive unit and really liked it. Using the info from that post really opened up my understanding of how to set it up. 

[msb]

I’ve just bought a TH350. 
And am looking forward to spinning the knobs. 
This is just for home use. Just for me , and the long suffering Herself that puts up with my practice.

[AnalogBomb]

On 10/05/2023 at 12:09, BassAdder60 said:

Since owning the Tonehammer 700 head I’ve learnt a lot about the quirky nature of its Gain / Drive and EQ section.

So much so that I can see why some past users have not liked the tone at first or struggled to make sense of it !!

 

The input gain control is unlike typical bass amps and is recommended to try many settings as they all alter the EQ and how it works with the drive section. 
Turn down the gain and boost the drive makes a huge difference to the mid frequency control. 
Turn off the drive and increase the gain and the mids become more active and adjustable ( less dark sounding )

The EQ is powerful and a little goes a long way

Most users never see the clip light come on and even Aguilar say it’s not an issue if it does !! 
I can max my input gain with a passive bass and it doesn’t clip !

It does allow for clean or dirty tones and a lot in between 

Anyone trying it quickly in a store would struggle at first with the EQ or where to set the gain level. 
It really sounds like a tube amp in its warmth and very pleasant growl if required 

Very, very useful! 

[BassAdder60]

I love my TH700 amp as an amp as close to a valve amp tone but I’ve decided to move mine on ( as new ) and fund a new amp for a different band requirement ( cleaner tone ) 

[msb]

My approach was always to buy another and keep both , because there were going to be times I wanted to use what I liked about the first one. 
I like different amps.

[BassAdder60]

I have a policy of 

 

Keep the ABM600 as my main amp 

Try different amps and if I decide there is something new I would like try I tend to sell one to buy the other !

 

Last three years I’ve purchased a lot of new amps ! 

[msb]

There’s a lot of European amps that have little presence here , the main reason I initially signed up here was to get a better handle on some of that stuff. I’m kinda nerdy about amps , but I do tend to hang on to them. Here it’s mostly Mesa , GK , Markbass , Fender, Ampeg , Traynor. 
I need to add the little Aguilar to the pic.