Aguilar and Fender guys, I need your help please

JBassHead

JBassHead

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Oct 13, 2015
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#1
I have an Aguilar Tone Hammer and a SL112 mini rig. I used it at church where I play gospel and I was disappointed to find that my low b string does not cut through very well no matter what I do eq wise. Also the E-G strings project well but sound very brittle especially as you move past the 12th fret.

Now what has me conflicted is that there is an old Fender Bassman 150 combo amp (112 i think***) at our church so I decided to plug into that instead. I was surprised to find that I was blown away by the tone! The full range on my Bassmods EF5 was tight, full and punchy; even the low b! The bass was nice and even across all strings and the highs were not glassy. The only real let down of this amp was that i had to crank it a bit compared to my TH to get the same volume.

Now my problem is that I don't know what accounts for most of the difference in sound between the two. Is it related to my voicing of my TH500 or my SL112 that or both? Is it because the fender is a tube amp? Or maybe i am mistaken and the bassman actually has a 115?

Im honestly frustrated and ready to just sell all my gear and start over again. I dont know whether to get just a new cab or replace the TH500 and keep the SL112. How do I get close to the Fender Bassman 150 sounds?!?

Thanks
 
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#2
If you really enjoy the way the bassman sounds, just get that. But my bet is that if you added another sl112 to your rig then you'd be more in the ballpark of what you're looking for. It would also help everyone if you said where you turned all the knobs on your tonehammer. I really enjoy the sound of my tonehammer pedal but I could see how it wouldn't be for everyone. And after a quick googling, seems like that bassman is just solid state but maybe it has a bigger woofer.
 
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#3
Muyy said:
If you really enjoy the way the bassman sounds, just get that. But my bet is that if you added another sl112 to your rig then you'd be more in the ballpark of what you're looking for. It would also help everyone if you said where you turned all the knobs on your tonehammer. I really enjoy the sound of my tonehammer pedal but I could see how it wouldn't be for everyone. And after a quick googling, seems like that bassman is just solid state but maybe it has a bigger woofer.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks for chiming in.

I usually run my both amps flat with a slight bass boost; maybe like 1 o'clock. I was thinking of maybe just going with fender but they don't make the bassmans anymore, and also the portability factor would be an issue. This is the one we have at church that I like...
Fender Bassman 150 Bass Combo Amp

Would the Fender Rumble 500 head be anything similar to the bassman? And also I would much prefer to find a single 112 cab that can perform like the bassman rather than dish out another $1000 on an SL. But youre right, a second cab would definitely help the low b come through clearer i guess
 
#4
I like the TH500, but was not as impressed with the tone of the SL112 cabs for what I was looking for as a 4 string player. I'm not sure how long you've been using the TH, but I found it took a while to learn how to get the most out of the flexible, but not instantly intuitive controls.

An additional cab or a different cab would most probably make a difference, but I suspect spending a little more time experimenting with the EQ and other voicing controls may help. IME having a very flexible EQ/voicing set-up can be as much of a blessing as a curse.

If that Fender combo is the one I'm thinking of, it's solid state and nothing particularly exceptional. Obviously if you like the sound better, then there's nothing wrong with that. However, I think your rig should be able to sound quite a bit better even if you don't like the voicing as much. Good luck!
 
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#6
Al Kraft said:
I like the TH500, but was not as impressed with the tone of the SL112 cabs for what I was looking for as a 4 string player. I'm not sure how long you've been using the TH, but I found it took a while to learn how to get the most out of the flexible, but not instantly intuitive controls.

An additional cab or a different cab would most probably make a difference, but I suspect spending a little more time experimenting with the EQ and other voicing controls may help. IME having a very flexible EQ/voicing set-up can be as much of a blessing as a curse.

If that Fender combo is the one I'm thinking of, it's solid state and nothing particularly exceptional. Obviously if you like the sound better, then there's nothing wrong with that. However, I think your rig should be able to sound quite a bit better even if you don't like the voicing as much. Good luck!
Click to expand...


Yea I have a 5 string bass so I need that extended range. Ive havent had the TH for long aswell so maybe there is some playing around to do. And the more I think about it, im starting to lean toward it being a cab problem because when I run the sound into my computer using the di, the bass is much more fuller and tighter that through the single SL112.

Thank for your 2 cents!
 
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#7
Al Kraft said:
How about the Gain and Drive Controls? Where do you have them set? They have a surprising impact on the amp's voice and are actually quite interactive.
Click to expand...


I keep the drive all the way off, and the gain set equal or slightly lower than my master volume. I heard the drive rolls off some lows
 
#8
Drive will in fact tighten lows and roll-off/smooth some highs - may not be a bad thing if teh cab is overwhelmed by the low end your feeding it. I'd try the Gain lower (you can go to zero) and Master higher. Lower Gain gives a flatter EQ to my ear.

Also be aware that the EQ controls are quite powerful, so a little goes a long way. The low EQ control is centered around 40Hz IIRC and has a ton of plus/minus potential on tap.

I don't treat the Gain or Drive controls the way I would on other amps and have been much happier with my sound by just seeing them as more a part of the EQ/voicing equation. I know that sounds odd, but it helped me.
 
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#9
I play a 5-string at church and need two 112s to get a decent low B. I needed extremely lightweight cabs so I built a pair using Eminence Basslites that came in at 22 pound each with tweeters. (I didn't want to shell out the $$$ to get similar light weight from a cab manufacturer like Barefaced.) When I tried to play with only a single 12, I EQ'ed up the bass to compensate and that blew up the woofer (at low volume too!). So I never play with less than the pair, ever.

Bob
 
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#10
My 2 cents.

I cannot comment on the Fender amp, don't know it, never heard it. I've been using Aggie amps for roughly seven years now and still like them a lot.
As others have mentioned, the SL cabs are not very powerful, they were basically designed for portability, not big oomph. They are the least powerful of the Aggie cabs.
- I'd try either adding a second 1x12 cab,
- or using different cabs, one or two 2x10, a 2x10 and a 1x15, etc. Whatever you can get your hands on, try it.
- You could use the mid EQ on the TH to bring your bass forward. Try the EQ frequency knob pointing towards the "I" of the "MID" and boost that slightly.
That's roughly 250Hz and usually adds a great boost, has helped me quite a bit to cut through in a busy mix.
 
#12
Al Kraft said:
Drive will in fact tighten lows and roll-off/smooth some highs - may not be a bad thing if teh cab is overwhelmed by the low end your feeding it. I'd try the Gain lower (you can go to zero) and Master higher. Lower Gain gives a flatter EQ to my ear.

Also be aware that the EQ controls are quite powerful, so a little goes a long way. The low EQ control is centered around 40Hz IIRC and has a ton of plus/minus potential on tap.

I don't treat the Gain or Drive controls the way I would on other amps and have been much happier with my sound by just seeing them as more a part of the EQ/voicing equation. I know that sounds odd, but it helped me.
Click to expand...



Thanks, Ill make sure to try this. What would be your cab recommendations then?
 
#13
Jeff Scott said:
The Tone Hammer 500 has gobs of great bottom end, so I suspect the cab, and/or the cab is just too small for the space you are playing in. If you sit really close to the SL112, like 18" or so (nearfield) does it have the bottom end you like? Where are you set up? Is there a wall right behind you? Or, are you out, away form any walls by a good distance?
Click to expand...


So I was sitting beside and slightly in front of my SL bass cab and found it was lacking low end mostly on the E-G strings. The Low b had some decent low, it just felt as if some of the frequencies were getting cut off and not ringing out. As a result it sounded muffled and lower volume compared to E-A strings. I did not have these two problems with the Bassman. As for the position of the SL cab itself, It was maybe 1meter to 1.5 meters from the wall.

Now the other idea that im fighting with is if there is something wrong with my TH500 :s...
 
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#14
I've been using a TH500 for several years and it works like a dream with any number of Bergs and Barefaced cab configurations.

I know some good players who use 2 SL112's but I've never tried them. IME two 112's always sound better than one.
 
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#16
With the gain almost off and the drive fully off, turn the master up a bit to a comfortable hearing level. Then crank the mid-level a bit, and then sweep the mid freq to identify find the voice that you don't like for your partitulcar application. Then decrease (maybe to zero) the mid-level to reduce the offending frequency. The result will be a clearer bottom. Need more top or bottom then up the bass or treble. Probably have to check this at each venue but they are all different anyway.
:thumbsup:
 
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#17
JBassHead said:
I have an Aguilar Tone Hammer and a SL112 mini rig. I used it at church where I play gospel and I was disappointed to find that my low b string does not cut through very well no matter what I do eq wise. Also the E-G strings project well but sound very brittle especially as you move past the 12th fret.

Now what has me conflicted is that there is an old Fender Bassman 150 combo amp (112 i think***) at our church so I decided to plug into that instead. I was surprised to find that I was blown away by the tone! The full range on my Bassmods EF5 was tight, full and punchy; even the low b! The bass was nice and even across all strings and the highs were not glassy. The only real let down of this amp was that i had to crank it a bit compared to my TH to get the same volume.

Now my problem is that I don't know what accounts for most of the difference in sound between the two. Is it related to my voicing of my TH500 or my SL112 that or both? Is it because the fender is a tube amp? Or maybe i am mistaken and the bassman actually has a 115?

Im honestly frustrated and ready to just sell all my gear and start over again. I dont know whether to get just a new cab or replace the TH500 and keep the SL112. How do I get close to the Fender Bassman 150 sounds?!?

Thanks
Click to expand...


The SL cabs are awful. And you need someone to sit down with you and show you how to EQ the Tone Hammer, it's not an everything at noon plug and play amp.
 
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#18
@honeyiscool , didnt you prefer the fender rumble v3 112 to the Aguilar SL112 to use with your tonehammer head when you had that?

The SL112 was too spendy for me to check out, but I bought one of the rumble 112 cabs from honeyiscool and have been happy with it. I use it under the rumble 200 combo. When I unplug it it literally cuts the ooomph in half, and I am playing drop C with it.
 
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#19
Take this for what it's worth. I have only played a tone hammer once, but it was through one of the new Fender Rumble cabs, the 1x15 if I remember correctly. It sounded great, not glassy at all. It had plenty of booty. I was at a friend's house, it was his gear. He uses a 5 string Squier CV jazz with flats, I was using a 4 string p bass with rounds. I didn't change the eq controls at all. Still sounded fantastic no matter which of us was using it.

Take your head and try it with different cabs, I'll bet you will find something that you like.
 
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#20
I bought an SL-112 and a TH350 at one point about 2 years ago for my small rig. I found that I wasn't that jazzed on the sound from just one SL-112. It didn't seem to have the depth that I was looking for, and was a bit too low to high middy for me. However, when I added a 2nd SL-112, the sound was significantly better including seeming fuller and fatter in the low end and less mid-focused. Of course, when you have to bring 2 to get the sound you want, it kind of defeats the purpose of getting a small/lightweight cab. But with 2 SL-112'a it does sound pretty good and took care of my concerns about more mid-low and less low low than I normally like.

So although the rig sounds quite good with 2 cabs, it's my studio space rig (along with the TH-350)... way better than your average studio space rig, and not terribly big at 50 pounds for the two cabs, but it's not my go-to rig for gigging. At $750 list for each SL-112, I think a person can do better... I now use Barefaced cabs for gigs which are not much more expensive than the SL-112, but IME are worlds ahead in tone.

Another possible thing is the Drive on the TH amp. I pretty much leave it off because what it actually does, mostly, it shift the EQ toward the mids. So if you are using the drive knob, try doing without on that and see how you like it then.

Finally, if you get the sound you want out of using the Rumble 150, then why not just use that?
 
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