TH350 Aguilar
Yeh, its a pearler of an amp. Thru a 4 ohm load this amp has surprisingly more power than what you’ll will ever need – unless you play serious volume. . There’s no fake bass reproduction with this thing – the TH350 bass response is gorgeous bloom in the room stuff, solid and rich. I’m a big fan of low mids with a ‘P bass – so I set the mid level knob to about 10 to 11 o’clock – this of course then allows me great flexibility with the treble setting – never getting brittle. . With the gain set very low its nice and clean and a little neutral sounding, never dull tho – but when gain knob is set starting about 11 o’clock – thats when the magic starts – it bloody comes alive – as if a set of tubes has mysteriously found its way in the enclosure. . I dont use the drive knob, but if you do – its best to have the gain set at least on 12o’clock to get the best out of this crafty little control – gives you anything from 70’s type punch to hairy grind. Cheers Nick Bomba!
The Aguilar TH series is the best modern bass amp gear and it’s made in America. I have two; a 350 and a 500 with two of Aguilars sl112 cabs. I’ve owned MarkBass (sterile) , Ampeg (heavy), and GK( great but very modern sound) .Aguilar has created an amp/cab system that’s light, powerful, and offers ease of transport for working pros with a fantastic EQ system. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and in this case it’s pure quality that should last many years if it’s properly transported with the carry bags and speaker covers.
In the right hands, this is an outstanding piece of technology. If you have the patience to deal with the almost infinite permutations and combinations of sound that this baby can produce, buy one. You won’t be disappointed. But if you’re like me, the TH 350 is way too complex. I prefer simplicity — passive P basses, just two knobs (I envy Joe Dart for getting his new signature MM down to one knob — volume), and simple amps as well. This amp features Gain and Drive controls that kind of work together, but you need to blend them properly. Then there’s Bass, Treble, and two mids — Mid-Frequency and Mid-Level, which also have to work together . And as you’re mixing all these, you also need to consider the acoustics of the room itself. On top of that, I’m a doubler, so I need to find the perfect settings for both upright and EBG. I think driving the space shuttle might be easier. It’s all too much for me, but I love the sound of the amp when I get it right. I wish they had included a 1/4″ speaker cable option rather than just a Speakon, but other than that, it’s a great amp for the patient bassist.
First off, If you ever wanted a Pearce BC1 pre-amp (I’ve owned and played through one for almost thirty years) This little bass head IS one of the pre-amp sections of the Pearce. Even the drive is similar but not as meaty as the BC1. It does not have the incredible limiter, but you can work around that with an optical 4:1 compressor. I installed the Aguilar head into the TC Electronic BG250-208 cab. It fit perfectly! I now have a rig that sounds incredible and when I play outdoors I just set it on top of my Mesa 210 powerhouse cab and play through both at 4ohms.
