GEAR ROUND UP
Aguilar New Products D’ Addario Latest Accessories
Aguilar has two new products we are covering. First up the Aguilar amPlug 3 Tone Hammer. This cool little device is powered by two AAA batteries and provides silent practice with any style bass or guitar, plus the ¼” input rotates to fit different models of instruments. The amPlug 3 has Gain, Volume and Tone controls on top along with the FX / Rhythm controller. Amp settings are clean or distorted but the built-in drum machine is fun to practice with. The Aguilar amPlug 3 has a headphone output and an auxiliary input so you can plug your smartphone in and jam to songs from other devices. It also includes a protective carrying bag and the Aguilar amPlug 3 Tone Hammer only costs $ 59.99.
Next up is the Aguilar Tone Hammer Preamp Direct Box Pedal V2 for bass guitar. What the company did was distill their Tone Hammer amplifiers down into a pedal sized format in a multi-output direct box. The Tone Hammer V2 can be utilized as a DI box, distortion pedal or a Preamp. The AGS circuit is at the heart of the Tone Hammer but the expanded three-band EQ with sweepable mid frequency really define this unit. Aguilar has done an excellent job delivering tube-like sounds with this device, but you can also achieve heavier metal tones also with the drive control at top. To give the Tone Hammer Preamp more headroom the company went with an 18-volt power supply. Some of my favorite features of this pedal are the XLR output, headphone output, auxiliary input, pre / post selector and a built-in ground lift. For bass players the Tone Hammer Preamp V2 delivers studio quality sounds that are workable for live, recording, or studio usage. With the expanded mid frequency adjustments your bass tone won’ t get muddy or muffled either. The Aguilar Tone Hammer Preamp V2 provides a lot of versatility and is priced at $ 299.99 www. aguilaramp. com
Continuing to expand their accessory offerings, one of the coolest new releases is the XPND Expanding Pedalboard. It is available in the single row XPND 1 as tested($ 109.99) or the double row XPND 2($ 199.99). D’ Addario has included everything to assemble the XPND pedalboard with side attachment screws, rubber feet and an Allen wrench to make it happen. Once assembled, takes about 20 minutes, the pedalboard can go from 14” to 24”. The XPND 1 is sturdy, portable and priced right. To go cordless with the Praise team D’ Addario has the new XPND Pedal Power Battery Kit($ 169.99).
The kit includes a rechargeable 10,000mAh portable power cell( the size of a smart phone) capable of powering an average pedalboard for up to 10 hours and is charged via USB-C. Also included is a Gateway hub that combines the USB power delivery protocol for clean noise free and consistent 9v power to your pedals. The kit also has an adjustable daisy chain plug in kit to power the effects and hook fasteners to mount the power cell and Gateway hub. If you’ re playing multiple services or youth events back-to-back a Backup Power Cell($ 39.99) is also available. On both the main power cell and the backup D’ Addario has a placed a battery meter at the top to reflect what percentage of
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