Aguilar DB751 vs TH500 Ultimate In-Depth Comparison and Review
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- This video is the Ultimate In-Depth Comparison and Review of the Aguilar DB751 head and Tonehammer 500 head. I run through the tones you can expect from these amps, as well as the specifications. The video gives a full tone demo and review of both of these amps in action through 2 Aguilar SL112 cabs.
The audio from the amps is recorded using a Warm Audio 47jr on front of the bottom cab, into my Steinberg UR824 audio interface, and then into a Logic Pro X.
Another vote for the 751. The rounder bottom makes it sound more soulful to my ears. The TH is really nice, but it’s not quite the same.
The 751 is an absolute beast in every aspect! 💪🏻
The 751 really does sound great but considering the price difference the TH is amazing. I imagine in the mix with a full band it might be harder to tell the difference though the additional headroom would be ace
You’re getting a lot with the TH! There’s something to be said for the unrelenting nature of the 751, but it’s probably not needed a lot of the time! T
The biggest advantage is the one most overlooked in all of these TH-cam videos. The Parallel Effects Loop. It will make mediocre effects sound amazing without losing your tone. Honestly, after you hear it, you can't go back to serial, which is what is found on 95% of all bass amps including the TH500.
I’m ashamed to say I’ve never actually used it - I will definitely give it a go! Thanks for the tip! T
The db 751 has the tone: warm & round. The tone hammer isn’t as warm in tone as the db 751, but it has the mids imo are needed to hear your instrument in a live situation.
Well done comparison again. Keep on continuing your good work!
You already said everything there is to say about these two amps yourself.
Personally I like the transparency and definition of the Tonehammer. May work quite well in a band situation. When it comes to deep frequencies less can often be more, I think, especially when you play bass in a loud rock- or metalband.
A subtle but noticeable difference is the shimmering warm high end from the preamp tubes of the DB751. I really like that.
But in my opinion the Tonehammer is actually no big sacrifice in tone. plus it gives you a little bit more tonal flexibility.
Bones thank you for the kind words and support! Totally agree with everything you’ve said there. You can’t go wrong with either to be honest! T
Great to hear your comparison. You put a lot of work in, to play the riff on both heads and record and cut that together. Also you did a good job on showing the EQ sections on both amps. I really appreciate that!! Well done! Overall your video helps a lot to get a good picture of these two amps. THX!
Thank you. I really appreciate it! Thank you for watching and I’m glad it helped!
Excellent demo. Thank you for posting. Both amazing sounding amps and cabs. The weight is a big factor for me so I went with the TH700 with the higher power and a SL212. I'm all set. Also have the AG700 as well and switch between the two heads often. They are so light I bring both to my shows and test each before showtime to see what works best at a particular venue.
Hey Daniel. Which when do you like the best ? I own the tonehammer and hesitate to pick up a AG700 !
Nate I can’t pick a favorite but when we were working steadily I used the AG more than the TH... The boost features on that head work well for me.. they’re both excellent
@@bflathead cheers ! I might try the DB 751 soon too...
Nate ..You can’t go wrong with their gear. Enjoy.
Hey Daniel! Considering this exact setup. Any concerns about overdriving the 2x12 with the 700?
I recently moved to a small class D head after running rack mount hybrid heads for over 15 years and I love the portability. I have also started using amp modeling and synth so all i really need is a lot of clean power. Looking at cabs now and really like the idea of a pair of 1x12" to replace a combination of 1x15, 2x10 and 4x10 cabs.
There are very few gigs that a 2 1x12 wouldn’t handle, which is why it’s my rig of choice. Highly modular, and plenty of output. It’s the way to go as a bassist nowadays in my view! T
Both sound good, great comparison. The db751 did sound better. The P bass also sounds great especially, what strings are on it?
Thank you! The P Bass has old D’addario Chromes 110-50 (I think!)
Both great amps. The DB sounds better, and it should, it cost 3-4 times and much and is an industry standard. So full and lush sounding.
Definitely an incredibly lush sounding amp 👌🏻
Great comparison! As far as tone is concerned, both amps are quite transparent, not doing much to color the tone on the instruments plugged into them. The DB was definitely a bit more tame, but it seems Aguilar heads(with the exception of the AG 700) aim to replicate the same tone regardless of the price or power.
However, if it was only Aguilar tone I was after, I would just go buy a Tone Hammer DI. I'm sure at lower volumes the amps don't feel all that different, but I'd be willing to wager that as they both get turned up, the TH500 starts to lose out on low end, while the DB just keeps on pushing. DB would be the one for me.
I use GK heads but have been looking in to the tonehamer vs my gkmb500
The gk head I have fits in my mono vertigo case front pocket with boss tuner and all cables I love that!
And so dose my back
Thanks man for this! The 751 has been my dream amp for a long time now. When the time came to get a new amp, I had to bite the bullet and get either a Fender Super Bassman or an Ampeg VST. Aguilar 751 was my #1 pick but I was limited to what American Musical carried at the time, credit...:( , my #2 was the Mesa Boogie Strategy 88, my #3 was Laney Nexus Tube which is hard to find nowadays, but the Super Bassman was what I got. It's nice, but I'm missing that sparkle that solid state brings. So might go back to a solid state power section with a tube pre, or maybe I just have to have all these amps in one room with my Accugroove El Whappo cab and go to town! ;) The cab though is a dream! If you ever get a chance to try an Accugroove cab....Make It Happen! You will not regret it! You'll probably hear...blahblahblah this is the best.... Well after you hear this cab, you'll never wonder if you've got the best speakers for your bass ever again! And if you do.....you ears are fucked up!
Interesting stuff indeed! I really like what I’ve heard from Fender Bassman amps in the past - and that was the amp I was tempted to go for, but the Aguilar won over in the end, mostly because I could get some high quality, lightweight cabinets that matched. If Fender had an equivalent 12 to the SL112 I probably would have gone for the Bassman. However, I’m incredibly happy with this setup and I haven’t had any wants for a different amp since. I’ll definitely checkout Accugroove when I get the chance, I’ve heard good things but they’re very rare over here! T
The fact that the TH has got a drive option, and you literally can't get any crunch from the DB751 just blows my mind. I tought that the DB has got an Ampeg kinda tube-overdrive sound. I've got no clue why does it cost like 3K... Thank you for the review mate! :)
No worries! Thank you for watching! You could get some pre-amp fur from the front end if you cracked the gain and hit it with a hot signal, but won’t be that satisfying Ampeg breakup. Definitely more on the warm & clean side of things when it comes to tone! T
it's very much context the DB 750/751 are meant for huge rooms i used to have a DB 750 when used to play out decent size stages... bringing a DB 750 to a coffee shop or home studio is kind of silly, it would be like having a horse live in apartment it needs room. the TH series definitely hits the mark for most folks. BUT if you can afford a DB 750/751 it's very much a thing to experience especially if you have a big rig that can take it's power
nice one! as an old svt guy w/ a bad back and shoulders I now use a TH500 w/ 2 sl112 cabs, so the trade off worked for me. Solid Tone, very similar, very old school, less weight. BTW I like the mid select at the "M" or 10 o'clock for an "ampeg" like tone.
Sounds great Doug! I think it’s hard to go wrong with a TH500 and 112 If you’re at all into those more vintage “orientated” sounds. Such a great modular setup to make it manageable for the body too! Will try the mids in that position if I need more of that classic Ampeg cut! T
@@TylerSpicer BTW, a tip for your viewers. When I set the tone rather pronounced on the bass tone, for blues band, the head starts to walk off the cab, so I put the extra pads that come w/ the gig aguilar bag (for th 350 vs th500) under the head to solve that problem. I almost went w/ the fender rumble 700 based on your review, nice amp, but the Agi did me in. I wish they included stuff like fender.
My favorite was the P bass with DB751. There's a subtle but important difference between the amps for me. DB751 sounded more even, not compressed but leveled for me. Somewhere in the low region, 100-200 Hz perhaps, TH500 has something that stands out, which I don't like. Might be the harmonic structure, DB751 having more even harmonics. Might be your playing. Or maybe it's nothing that a little EQing can't cure. At the end, TH500 would be my choice for regular small gigs. Thanks
Man you have a killer rig. Really like all of it. Amps, cabs and basses.
Thank you my man! I really appreciate it! They must be the right ones as I’ve still got them all!
They need to put the mid sweep on the DB751. Then it would be the perfect amp.
Good presentation! Every which way you turned the knobs sounded good. Wow!
Great video, Thank you for THIS !
Hey Tyler, Great video as always! Thanks for all of these! Question, looking at getting a TH with two SL-112's. As the 700 is only $100 more, would like to get that to have more headroom and option to run larger cabs. Do you think that's a danger to the cabs? I don't play loud, mostly R&B, worship, etc.. Thx!
Apologies for going off topic here. I really dig the custom shop P bass tone with the DB751, are you still running the stock pickups there?
No problem at all! Yes, it’s the 59/62 hybrid pickup from the custom shop which came stock with the bass. The strings are D’Addario Chromes that are 5 years old and heavy gauge. Let me know if you need to know more! T
How many slots does the DB 751 case have for example can I use to standard racks using two slots
751 especially after the 3rd demonstration. Do you know the difference between the 750 & 751? I’ve heard a 750 years ago and fell in love with it! I remember playing through a really old Glockenklang! Big head with few knobs. Huge volume knob but can’t remember the model??? Had an old Demeter 201 preamp which was nice. Old Alembic F-2B nice but not enough hot signal. Tons of old Acoustic Corporation heads! 220,320,320B and 370’s. All great sounding till this day but noisy plus big & lunky.
I already made my decision it’s the TH500 . You comparing a $850 amp to a $2500 amp . When I made my decision between these two amps price and weight were major considerations . Also when I get gear I tweak it the way I like it not the way demo man like it
I’ve gotta say… Once you turn them both up on a gig, there’s only one winner. The TH700 probably helps a little but, so much warmth and fatness in person!
Hey Tyler! Any thoughts on the cabs against your barefaced gear? Looking into new amps sometime here in the future, and the Aguilar rig is really grabbing my attention lately...
Hey Warren! I happen to really love the Aguilar sound, and I like the blend of modern top end and slightly more vintage midrange from the sl112s. The barefaced 12s are very clean at can take massive wattage, but don’t really impart their own sound, which can be both good and bad. The BF10s sound very good, but they’re pretty much Ampeg vibe speakers which isn’t always that versatile. I’m really happy with the Aguilars as it stands and do get that “that’s my sound” feeling with them. Also their availability is really important to me with travelling and touring. I played a show in NYC last week and they were there ready and waiting. I also visited the Sadowsky workshop and showroom and they also had the same rig there. It’s just nice to have “my sound” all over the world - Barefaced just aren’t big enough to distribute like that. T
I’m curious about your thoughts on Aguilar cabs. I see you have one, but wondering if you have a preference for another cab with the Tonehammer 500
Ampeg SVT for big gigs and SVT 7 Pro or PF500/800 for everything else ;) In my opinion the Ampeg V-4B RI + AV 212 cab has the best bass tone money can buy today.
V4B was one of the amps I considered! Aggie’s slightly “smoother” sound worked for me.
I tried one. GREAT tone, but I went w/ the th500. The ampeg I tried had too much buzzing BG noise.
V-4B with an SVT 212 AV cab is THE best amp I've ever heard. People think it's super-overdriven but it doesn't have to be. And it's plenty loud.
Personally, I'm all tube or nothing these days. If I did have to do a solid state, I'd go with something compact like the Tone Hammer.
Is ampeg meant to sound destorted every rig I have played live on stage sound muffled and farty . Is that the ampeg sound?
Great comparison, thank you! I do wonder why for the TH none of the A/B's with the 751 explored the effect of the drive control. That's a big part of what makes the TH interesting, and in my experience turning up the drive control somewhat can balance a bit of the looseness you get from turning up the gain. E.g. having both around 10-o-clock is an interesting mix. If you're going to show what each amp can do at it's "best" or "most interesting" settings, I think that includes some drive sometimes on the TH. Thanks again!
Thank you for the support! It’s a difficult line to tread haha. Some people want to hear as close a comparison as possible, whilst others on YT want to hear the best sounds each amp can make. I decided to keep these two as similar as possible in the comparison section just so it was a direct head-to-head, as a lot of people online want to replace their DB751 but get a similar sound, in a lighter package. This video is primarily aimed to answer that question, and see what you might sacrifice. I may review the amps independently too, in which case I would definitely use the full extent of the drive on the TH etc. Again thank you for watching and supporting the video! T
@@TylerSpicer Thank you! What would be really great sometime would be a really careful exploration of the interaction among the gain, drive, and midrange settings on the TH. As I'm sure you know, the user manual proudly announces that they all interact but then makes a point of not saying much about how. I believe it also says that the drive "surrounds" the midrange, whatever that's supposed to mean in in practice. ;-) After over a year of experimentation I've mostly figured out gain/drive, but exactly how they combine with midrange boost/cut is on my to do list. Thanks again!
That’s a great idea for a video! Thank you, I’ll add it to my list of ideas. Very much appreciated and I’ll have to dive into it and get exploring their interaction further. T
I would have held on to my tonehammer a decade ago if it wasn’t for the noisy fan. Don’t understand why they still haven’t fixed it, not even on their flagship amp. There’s a website that sells a kit to replace aguilar fans. Can’t see spending that much money and having to modify it.
It would be better to have it fixed, but I suppose they view it as unnecessary as they’re gigging tools and in a gigging context, you’re never going to hear that fan! My DB751 was nodded by the previous owner with Noctua fans, but it’s still noisy - which shocked me as I thought they were the quietest fans in the biz!
what's a DI and whats a tuner output? thx
751 has more booty. I wonder if the TH700 would be closer ?
hi Tyler, is it true that the TH500 fan is too noisy and can disturb you playing at home?
thanks
It spins up after a while, but not enough to really irritate me when playing. It does get annoying if left on when you’re not playing though, I would agree on that! T
Tyler Spicer thanks Tyler, you are always so honest 👍🏼
I’m new to amp/cab stacks (I have been using only a combo so far). What is the purpose of the XLR out on the front of the TH500?
Thanks.
That’s for sending signal to the front of house PA system. Thank you for watching! T
@@TylerSpicer thank you! I love your videos! They are my go to for gear research info. Great, unbiased and non-flashy reviews. Keep it up!
Hi Tyler. Which speakers would be best for compliment TH500 to sound its best? One or two 12s and a 15?
Edit . also SL or DB cabinets. What's the difference in sound. Which do you prefer and why? Thanks
It really depends on what you’re after sound wise. The SL112 has been around for a long time and released alongside the TH500, so that’s really the original sound envisaged for the TH range to my mind! T
Further to that, the DBS are thick sounding, a bit more old school in the midrange. They sound great, but the weight outweighs the tone for gigging, for me! The SLs are a bit more balanced and less strongly coloured than the DBs. More neutral really! T
@@TylerSpicer Thank you brother. I appreciate your reply. I will go with a SL1 12 or 2 12. I just don't want it to sound thin. I think I want the DB751 sound but have the TH500 budNo? Lol. Would adding the 15 speaker help or no?
I carry a sl 1x15 and a sl. 2x10
Do you feel like it's important to have a matching cab with the db751? I just ordered a db751 with a matching neodynium equiped Aguilar 4x10 cab. I like a solid low end. Do you feel like this amp can handle it, or will I need to add some effects? Can you recommend one?
I think you’ll be happy with it as it is - it’s a really great tone if it’s the kind of sound you want! I would recommend exploring all of its options before you do anything else, it really is a modern legend in bass amplification imo. T
@@TylerSpicer Thanks, Tyler. They said it will ship Monday...can't wait to get it. All of your post very informative and we'll thought out. Thanks for doing them!
@@limegreenthecolor no problem at all! Really happy to help! T
@@TylerSpicerMine came in today, and you're right, it's perfect right out of the box. I finally found the tone I've been looking for! I just put my bass down a few minutes ago 11PM CST US time! Thanks again!
@@limegreenthecolor Amazing! It’s really the king of modern bass amps, if you like its tone! Enjoy it! 💪🏻 T
May i ask what model bass the pick one is? Is that a pino Custon shop?
Fender Man similar but not quite. It’s a 59 NOS Custom Shop Precision. 59 oval neck profile, whereas the Pino has a 62 profile. Different pickup also! T
@@TylerSpicer I like that soft bass sound you have...not into the high percussion sounds alot of people like.Would the pino get me there? You know what your talking about so any advice would be very helpful.
Thank you for the kind words! It’s the strings that will get you there primarily, as well as how you’re striking them. Someone asked me to demo a bass for them at a store the other day and they were shocked at how bassy and warm it sounded - that’s just my hands and the way I play. However the strings are old D’addario chromes (5years+ I’ve moved them around different basses) and they really soften the percussive element to a more kick drum like thud. The Aguilar amps do play a part in that smooth sound too, the DB and TH are a little smoother in the hi-mids which is an area I’m always cutting slightly (between 750hz-1000hz) in order to reduce some of that percussiveness too. I’m always boosting a little bass too. Say 1o’clock, on the amp.
Finally when it comes to the bass (which I think is actually the least significant in this one instance, compared to strings) id say there are two elements to the smoothness. The rosewood fingerboard no doubt, it really does make a difference, and the pickup. The pickup is not a hot wound pickup, it has medium/low output and that makes a huge difference to the attack if the sound. With a hot pickup you’ll get a load of attack but not as much nuance to the overall sound. That was the defining factor in me choosing the 59 CS over just a 60s American Original.
Hope that’s helping so far - let me know if you want more info! T
@@TylerSpicer I doubt fender still make that bass now.......I am trying to figure out the closet bass that has the sound of yours.....
I’m pretty sure they will still build it, being that it’s a custom shop model. Where are you based?
Holy Shit! It’s not even close through my home stereo…. 751 hands down - no competition… if you’re serious about tone.
I’ll add that the difference was only dramatic on the P bass. If you’re a jazz bass player - not much difference.
The tone hammer sucked not sure why the sawdowsy didn’t sound better coming out of that head.
I don’t know but the TH sounds more plastic compared to the DB. The thing about these amps is its portability. If you need to record or sound amazing you use the DB, but if you are on the go, the TH fits in a backpack.
I’ll take the DB everytime I need the horsepower… But I also need to know I can park near the venue, otherwise it’s gotta be the TH! T
DB751 shit's on the TH500, NO comparison guys...
If you have the choice and it fits the size of gig... DB every time 💪🏻
I hate the sound of the overdrive. Sounds like a mistake, like a blown speaker or something. Not a sound that could support a band. It sounds like it's trying to be the lead guitar... And utterly failing at it
Everyone has their different tastes in overdrive, I totally get it! T
Hi Tyler. great video, as usual. What about the Aguilar TH350 ? is the smaller power does affect the tone quality ? Thanks a lot !
I have one, only when you are playing in a situation where you need increased volume. That being said it has a lot more headroom vs other amps in this category