Aguilar TH500 Mid Frequency Knob

[quilanthegreat]

I am hoping other TH users can shed light on the Mid Frequency ("MF") knob. I feel like adjusting the MF knob only introduces very subtle variations in tone. Honestly, even from completely off to completely dimed, I feel like it is hard to audibly hear much of a difference. I tested this by keeping the Mid Level knob at 12:00, turned the MF knob both incrementally and drastically. I know the soldering joints are in tact because leaving the Mid Level knob off and then bringing up the MF knob introduces volume.

I have owned my TH500 for about 3 years, and also purchased it used. I've historically gigged with the two Mid knobs at 12:00, but have recently realized I have fallen out of love with that tone - I'm actually starting to loathe the overall tone, I feel like the low end presence is completely lacking beef and girth, and that the tone is not at all tight and functional. I see YouTube videos of people demoing the TH500, and mine really doesn't sound anything like theirs even with the EQ's identical. I also try to use roughly the same instrument as the demos if I can - I own a P w/ Flats, Jazz w/ Rounds and P w/ Rounds (and I am aware that there are numerous factors that affect tone, i.e cabs, fingers, action height, pickups, etc.)

It's possible that I am just loathing the sound of my cabs (2 Aguilar GS 210's), but wanted to see if the MF knob is working properly and is indeed supposed to be very subtle.

Something is going to get replaced, I'm just not sure if it needs to be the cabs, the head, or all of the above.

As always, thanks for your help!

 

[jcerio]

[QUOTE="quilanthegreat, post: 20435699, member: 269053"I tested this by keeping the Mid Level knob at 12:00, turned the MF knob both incrementally and drastically. I know the soldering joints are in tact because leaving the Mid Level knob off and then bringing up the MF knob introduces volume.
[/QUOTE]

The mid-level knob is both cut and boost and leaving it a the center position is essentially "zero" - moving it clockwise from "12:00" will boost mids at the frequency selected by the mid-frequency knob. Moving it counter-clockwise from "12:00" will cut mids. The reason that you see an apparent volume increase when changing the mid-frequency know clockwise is that less low-mids are being cut from your signal. Allow me to make a couple of suggestions:

1. Start off with the gain and drive knobs at noon.
2. Set bass at around 1:30. Set treble at around 3:00.
3. Set the mid-frequency knob around 1:00.
4. Set the mid-level know to around :10:30.
5. Adjust master volume to taste.

See what happens.

Then review this video:
Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 - Playthrough - 5 settings

I initially had trouble finding what I wanted in my Tone Hammer. When I saw this video it all became clear.

 

[Jeff Scott]

I am hoping other TH users can shed light on the Mid Frequency ("MF") knob. I feel like adjusting the MF knob only introduces very subtle variations in tone. Honestly, even from completely off to completely dimed, I feel like it is hard to audibly hear much of a difference. I tested this by keeping the Mid Level knob at 12:00, turned the MF knob both incrementally and drastically. I know the soldering joints are in tact because leaving the Mid Level knob off and then bringing up the MF knob introduces volume.

Good luck with that test.

 

[jthisdell]

To me the Mid controls are pretty straight forward. The Level is the boost or cut to the mids, the frequency is what tonal range you are cutting or boosting with the mid level knob. So if you keep the level at noon and change the frequency point you will not hear any change because the level control is not boosting or cutting anything. Bump the level up to 3:00 and then sweep the frequency knob slowly to observe the change, then cut the level to 9:00 and do the same thing.

The Drive control is not very intuitive but here is a good explanation of how that works.

Aguilar - Official 'Tone Hammer 500' 3.8lbs 500w Megathread!

I always adjust Drive first as it is both a HPF and a LPF (I usually keep my gain low and Drive around 11:00 but that is personal preference). The Bass is set very low, around 40hz I think (which I personally like).