Aguilar Tone Hammer

It doesn't take long to find a good sound with this little thing...dial it in! I leave the master at 12 o' clock so it doesn't screw with any other volumes (like a soundguy's or my GK amp).

The manual is to the point and descriptive-everything is explained.

I've got a pretty simple setup, but IN-YOUR-FACE sound. Primarily, I've got a Peavey GV (graphite neck) 5-string bass and then a custom Ibanez fretless SR506 6-string bass into a GK 1001 RB-II head. All I have in my effects loop, going from first to last in the chain, are the Tone Hammer, an EBS Unichorus, and a Morley Steve Vai Little Alligator volume pedal. My cabinet is just a Markbass 102P Traveler 2x10 cab that sits on an Auralex Gramma board...very portable setup and very powerful.

I haven't found this pedal to be noisy at all, but just when the oeverdrive kicks in (normal). Speaking of overdrive, it's the BEST non-tube type that I've heard yet. You can get a crushing Tool or R.A.G.E. grind, or a true vintage, almost Nathan Watts-like growl (finally). The eq, why I bought this, is very clear and effective. It's so on-the-mark that I only used the pedal at a gig with my in-ears once, and it sounded GREAT. That's right, NO AMP OR CAB! This is also because the DI is transparent, like my GK's, and the soundguy loved it. I think one of the other great things about the eq, as opposed to the eq on my bass, is that the Aguilar's doesn't sound all distorted through my in-ears. Both the pedal and the Peavey's are 18-volt, but something about the pedal is more filtered...maybe the mid frequency option does it. What's more, is that there's also a ground lift switch and I think a phantom power option. LOTS of bang for the buck.

My Tone Hammer is S-O-L-I-D, so no need for a backup. It's an all-steel box. Need I say more? The ultimate test will be to see if it's still badass years from now.

I haven't had to contact Aguilar yet.

I play in two cover bands, ranging from 70's funk to hard rock and metal (80's, 90's, today), and have been playing since '95. I also own a Sennheiser in-ear monitor system with M-Audio IE-40 earphones.

I'd definitely buy another Tone Hammer if it were stolen (*wince* at the thought). I bought this, not having played with it previously, because of such good things that have been said about it. I just wish the ENGAGE and AGS switches were further away from the eq knobs, so I don't accidentally bump the settings with my feet.

All in all, a very slammin' pedal...highly recommended for stage or studio.

The Aguilar Tone Hammer is a stomp box with EQ, Distortion, and is also a direct box. It's construction is very solid, all metal, and is surprisingly heavy for a stomp box. On the face of the unit there are six knobs: GAIN, Master, BASS, TREBLE, MID level, MID frequency. There are two foot switches: EQ on/off, and AGS on/off. The AGS switch turns on or off the distortion which is controlled by how much you increase the Gain level. Overall volume is controlled by the MASTER. There are standard 1/4" jacks for input from your bass, and output to your amp. There is a jack for a mic cable, so you can connect a line out to either a recording console, or PA system. There are switches for ground lift, and also pre/post EQ for the DI. The only thing I wish it had is a headphone jack.

WOW! This thing really works well. The sound is WARM. I don't really miss having a tube. Either with or without the distortion the sound is pretty warm. You would have to try hard to make it sound bad. I think it is very easy to use; very intuitive.
I use this to beef up some passive basses that I don't want to modify, by changing any electronics. You can EQ this thing so many ways. You might find it hard to decide which sound you like best. For live gigs I would dial in a great tone with my amp and then set up the Tone Hammer for an alternate sound; ie slap, or maybe a solo tone. I have never used distortion before, but I've been experimenting with this unit, and I'm liking it a lot. I find that a little distortion goes a long way. It's quiet. I don't hear any noise unless you boost the treble way up.

I haven't had the Tone Hammer for very long. It is built like a tank. Nothing flimsy about it. I don't anticipate any trouble, but I'll refrain from rating it in this category, to be fair.

Again, no experience here either - no rating.

Playing bass is both my hobby and my full time work. I have tried out and owned lots of basses, amps, etc. I have other equipment that can duplicate what the Tone Hammer does, but I've got to say that this is an extremely capable and handy device. For it's size, function, cost, quality, versatility,and simplicity, it's hard to beat. Got a classic old P bass? Wish it was more than a one trick pony? (Yeah, I know..."But what a trick!") Try dialing in a nice fat slap tone and you'll be hooked. Dial in some distortion for some of the old Hendrix tunes - holy ----! It's hard to imagine NOT liking the Tone Hammer. I would replace it if it were lost. I could even imagine having two of these set up for even more pre selected sounds. Perhaps that will be a future version of the Tone Hammer!

1/4'' input and output, XLR output for direct, gain, master volume, bass, treble, mid w/sweepable shift, pre/post switch. Runs on 18 volts, I use a Dunlop ECB-04 18 volt adapter. 2 channels. Engage and AGS (overdrive) footswitches. I use it primarily for direct recording, which it does very, very well.

Clean, warm and wonderful. Puts out plenty of DB. You could run a power amp with this. EQ is functional and not overbearing. Engaging the AGS adds overdrive on top of the EQ settings. Depending on hot hot the input signal is you can get varying degrees of grit (subtle to unuseable grind). With an active Warwick Thumb bass, any AGS setting above 9 o'clock becomes quite noticeable. No extra noise. Plenty of headroom. I have never needed to have the master volume above 12 o'clock. No unwanted distortion. I can't imagine a better stomp box style preamp/DI. The Tech 21 VT is very good and i will use it to get more old school thickness, but the Tone Hammer this is the best of its kind that I've tried.

Built like a tank. Solid state. I've only had it a few months, so I can't comment on long term reliability. It's an Aguilar, so you can draw your own conclusions. They have never let me down.

Emails are answered in a day of two. Clear and thorough reponses.

Been playing 20 years. Have owned countless pieces of all types of bass equipment. However, the stompbox preamp/DI is one of my favorites and most useful. I've tried all the ones you've heard of (Radial Tonebone, Tech 21 - SansAmp Bass DI/SansAmp Para Driver DI/VT bass/SansAmp 3-Channel Programmable Bass Driver DI, EBS Microbass II) and the Tone Hammer is the best. Best clean tone, by far. At $200 bucks, you could have most of the above units, but the Aguilar is better than any of them.

Since I started playing bass guitar (not long ago) I always liked the idea of having a preamp with DI capabilities, so I can use it both for recording and to make a bad amp sound better (or just sound closer to what I want it to sound).

The Tone Hammer is a preamp, is a DI box and also have a saturation circuit (AGS) that adds grit to your sound. So, for such a small and inexpensive gear, the Tone Hammer delivers a lot of functionality and do it very well.

I have a custom made Zaganin bass (Zaganin is a great custom shop in Brazil) that has a distinctive sound and the more I play on it the more I enjoy its sound. So, I wasn't happy anymore with my Sansamp RPM. It is great to make bad amps sound better, it had a parametric mid but its distortion circuit was not letting my bass' true sound go through, so I wanted a cleaner sounding preamp/DI.

Then I tried the Tone Hammer. Through this preamp my bass sounds
really beautiful. It is hard to explain because the tone is basically the same, but somewhat fatter, richer without being muddy. The eq is outstanding, the selected frequencies for the bass and high knobs are really perfect - I cannot get the same clean, crisp sound from my Sansamp, even with the blend knob on zero (which lets the tone of my bass to go through unaltered). Hard to explain, but that's undeniable. The tone I get from it is really beautiful.

The Tone Hammer also offers a very interesting saturation circuit. The first time I turned it on it produced an ugly, clipped sound. But by playing with the EQ I found out that the saturation circuit interacts with the mid knob so it is possible to dial many different tones out of it, from just a lightly, very usable distorted tone to a fully saturated, synth like sound. I'm very happy I can dial a beautifully growling sound (think Tim Commerford) that suits perfectly the kind of sound I play. I've already tried many distortion/saturation circuits such as Boss Bass Overdrive, MXR M80, Fulltone, Sansamp but none gets closer to this one. The AGS circuit allows you to get a lot of very usable tones. The other effects and preamps I tried/had are by no means as versatile as this one.

Of course it is not perfect, it will not replace a USD 1500 amp head but for less than USD 200 this is a real bargain!

I only have this one for a less than a month so I really don't know how dependable this one is. But one thing is sure: this is REALLY built like a tank! You'll be surprised to know how have this unit is.

I had problems in the delivery of the Tone Hammer. The online store I ordered it from did not answer my e-mails so I wrote Aguilar to know if Tone Hammer orders were being delayed or it was just a problem with the online store. To my surprise they not only answered my message less than 2 hours after I sent it but also called the online store to know what was going wrong and had the store calling me to tell me the status of the order!!!

They didn't have to take any action on that, but they did. So I'm really impressed, specially because we are not talking about a USD 5000 amp but of a USD 200 preamp!

It is still soon to give it a final evaluation but I'm impressed. Beautiful sound, very versatile, well built, Aguilar seems to take care of its customers... what else can I ask for?

Other reviewers do a good job at the features part and the Aguilar website has all of the specs.

Warning!!! I am a huge Aguilar fan I own a DB359, DB680, DB728 and have an OBP-3 in one of my basses.

OK why did I buy this? Even though I have great Aguilar rigs, I do a lot of Jam sessions and let's face it, Aguilar amps are heavy and I don't like to drag around my DB680 preamp everywhere, because they are discontinued. I own a ton of basses but when it gets down to it I'll go to one of my vintage P-basses every time, which is where the problem lies. If I end up plugging in to a dumpy amp I can't get the mids or low end I want. Because it s a passive instrument...and I am not going to rip apart a vintage instrument to put in a modern EQ. I also like a dirty sound, not a massively overdriven death metal kind, but a nice preamp-grit where the gain knob is turned up just enough to give you the ability to overdrive the sound when needed by using string pressure.

Well, what can I say, this little box really does it for me. It can add in a whole lot of low end without getting mushy and the sweepable midrange is what you need...why would you want a fixed midrange??? I never understood the logic. No single midrange frequency works best for all basses.

As for the drive section, I wasn't expecting much and I was wrong. For a solid state drive you can get some nice touch sensitivity and it can get very close to the touch sensitivity I was talking about earlier. When you turn it up and it "starts" to break up it can be made to sound close to the drive of a vintage blackface Bassman or a 70s SVT and that IS my sweet spot. I am not saying that it sounds like a fully cranked SVT or blackface. It sounds like them when you are in the early stages of breaking up, not full blown drive.

So after going after my sweetspot I cranked up the drive and got out my 5 string Sadowsky and to my surprise got some nice brutal Tim Commrrford (Audioslave) tones. This will not make you sound just like Tim, there is much more to his tone than just an overdrive pedal. But after experimenting with several basses I got a lot of nice overdrive tones, more than just about any pedal out there. The tone/gain controls are very very very interactive. so it takes somepatience, but its worth it for the versatility.

So to sum it up this is a fantastic pedal that does what I need.
Why a 9 instead of a 10. Well thee main reason I got this was when I was plugging into amplifiers that weere not my own. In this situation a tube would be nice to ad more warmth. This has a warm tone, but a tube would make it warmer IMO. I hven't played anything I like better.

I own a lot of Aguilar stuff and it has been very ruggeg...and like every other Aguilar thing I own it is built like a tank and weigs a ton :)

I have dealt with aguilar on the phone and via email over the last few years and they are extremely responsive.

I have been playing bass for over 25 years and If this was lost I would buy another one. I have played other DI/EQs and this really does what I need it too. For me a sweepable midrange is a must and many others don't have it. I am a tube nut all of my ampps are all tupe pre and power amp so I do wish that this had a tube in it. With that being said, I have about a million tubes in my signal chain so I probably don't need any more. Furthermore, it gets great tone, so maybe I don't need a tube in it...and if it did have a tube in itr then I couldn't operate it with batteries which is nice. I hate giving out 10 but I have to because top to bottom this produce does a great job. Another great aguilar product!!!

This is a brand new item, I had a little trouble finding it without paying a premium price. This unit has alot of features. First, it can be used as a preamp, a DI or a distortion stomp box. Or an excellent combination of all three, which is what use it for.

It has 1/4" in and out, ground lift, DI XLR out, pre/post EQ push switch (for the DI application) and an input for an optional AC adapter. On the face it has pre gain, master volume, bass, treble, sweepable mid frequency and mid level. Along with stomp buttons for "Engage" which activates the Aguilar tone(or by-pass if not pushed), and an "AGS" button which is the overdrive part of this pedal. On the underside of the unit it has a set screw which slides the bottom plate out for easier replacement of the two 9 volt batteries than the older DB 924 preamp (which I also have).

The only thing I would change is the two batteries should sit in a little rack like the DB924 rather than just sitting loose in the compartment like they do. But the batteries are much easier to get to than the DB924, which was a major design improvement.

In all, the controls are well laid out and the box/switches are all heavy gauge steel and seems to be well built. This preamp is very versatile and will do all three things Aguilar claims very well.

I mainly use house P.A.'s and use this as a preamp/DI, in this application it works great. Of course, each house system places different requirements on a combination DI/Preamp. The Tone Hammer has done an excellent job on the "lesser" systems I have to work with. The PA's with great subs are cake. Versatile Aguilar tone with lots of headroom! Very strong as a DI and virtually silent unless irresponsibly pegged! To me it sounds alot like a Db 924 but tighter and with a sweepable mid, which that unit badly needed IMO.

I don't really use/like much distortion on bass. I prefer to get "tube warmth" or the term I use is I like my bass to sound "grumpy". However, turning up the gain with the "Engage" button on doesn't seem to add much "grump", but the tone is warm and organic. To get any edge you need to hit the AGS button. Then the overdrive is controlled by the gain knob. From virtually none to all the distortion you could ever need. I have found that I have to boost the Bass knob a little when I use the AGS feature. But I like huge bottom and mids.

Personally, I like the both the Engaged and the AGS tones. With the AGS I keep the gain @ about 9:00. Other preamps I own are Sansamp RPM, Line 6 Bass Pod XT Floor, and the DB 924, and an Ampeg SVP-Pro that I use in my amp rig only. I like the Tone Hammer better that the first three by a good bit. All I use the Line 6 for now is floor tuner, dual compression and effects as the Tone Hammer's sound is much richer and warmer.

The Tone Hammer can do Motown, Clssic Rock, Gospel, Christian Contemporary. I'm also sure it could do Indie and Metal(although I can't say firsthand).

If you're looking for a Bass distortion stomp box/ or a Bass preamp/ or a Bass DI or want all three and want to spend under $200. I highly recommend this!

I've only had it a couple weeks, but have used it almost daily and giged with it. Sadly, I e-mailed Aguilar with questions before I bought and got no response. But it's an Aguilar, so I'm not worried about it's dependability.

Three year warranty to original owner. Great reputation. Heavy duty weight.

I bought it from Bass Club Chicago- Awesome Service!

I'm in my early 50's and started playing when Jimi Hendrix was alive.
I currently use a Lakland 55-02, Darryl Jones 5 and a Hollowbody, along with a Fender Jazz and a PJ with EMG's.

If lost or stolen I'd buy another right away. I like it's versatility and awesome tone(s)! Better preamp that the ones I mentioned above PLUS a DI. Did I mention that it can run on phantom power and save on batteries? What I didn't like is the manual is tiny and doesn't get very specific.