Aguilar Tonehammer: TH-500 vs Pedal...

[Undertone]

Hi - I'd be keen to hear from anyone who's moved from a Tonehammer 350/500/700 as one of their main rigs, to using the Tonehammer Pedal on their board instead, and running it through whatever main amp they use (and what that is), OR vice-versa (moving from pedal to amp).  Or from anyone else with insightful views.

 

In particular, I'd like to know why they did this, what difference in 'sound' it made, the impact on (non-obvious) practicalities, and any other interesting aspects please.

 

I use an Aguliar Tonehammer 500 & 2 x SL112 cabs. It's not my main rig but I use it about 35-40% of the time.  After watching an interview with Dishan Abrahams, it occurred to me to consider how different it might be to simply have a Tonehammer pedal on my board and run it into my main amps (eg. Eden WT-800, WT-550 and others of comparable relative neutrality), dispensing with the TH-500 & SL112's.

 

Question: how do we feel then about the mix of Aguilar Tonehammer pedal sound going into something like an Eden WT-800?  (mixing sonic characteristics).  (I imagine not too bad as Eden, while slightly warm, are relatively neutral).  What would we say if it were a Trace instead?   And, what of the impact of cab voicing?  Do we feel that also dispensing with the SL112's would materially change the sound vs the Hartke HL series (more neutral) I use w my main amps?

 

I realise there are a lot of unknowns here - assume minimal effects used and funk, jazz-fusion & indie rock as main music styles.

Thanks.

[Lozz196]

I did this for a while as I was using a lot of shared/provided rigs at the time. I preferred to be able to use the Tonehammer DI with my settings then DI from that to FOH then use amp eq for on stage sound. I didn’t really notice that much difference in the sound over the variety of rigs aside from on the low end, on some amps I had to back off a fair bit (and I had a trebly/twangy sound rather than bass heavy).

[Undertone]

Thanks. That was Dishan's reason too - his sound in a go-anywhere pedalboard, then hope you get a decent amp at the gig and run it pretty much flat.

I'm kind of attached to my Aguilar hardware but if it means I can free up funds and space with minimal impact, then I should at least consider it.

 

Any other experiences out there?

[MrDinsdale]

You could just go into the fx return to rule out the amps preamp influencing the tone.

[Undertone]

Yes. Thanks. I'd read that from someone who does it with a large Trace Elliot. Not sure if it works with all amps (I'll check), but yes, thanks, that address the mixing of amp sonic characteristics. 

[countjodius]

I've been touring the Tonehammer DI for years (great preamp!) and use it as you've described.  The XLR out goes to FOH for a consistent tone every night, and the jack output goes to the amp.  95% of the time the backline rig I get is the standard Ampeg SVT and 8x10, and most the time I'll run that flat and it sounds good to me!  The same goes if I get an Aguilar TH head, as they are in that same warm and mid-orientated tonal camp.   On the occasions where the backline amp is a brand like Eden, GK or Hartke,  I'll usually run the TH pedal in to the FX return so that the head essentially becomes a power amp for the TH's EQ.  IME cab choice will dictate the tone a fair bit also, especially if you enjoy the warm mids of the Aggie cabs like I do!  I've found that some Hartkes can hype the mids of the TH a little too much, whereas some GKs can scoop them.  As you mentioned, there are so many variables in the chain (bass, strings, etc) that experimenting with your own set up will be key. Hope that helps!

[Undertone]

Hey thanks too - super useful.  This is great. Thanks