Treat Yourself to Something Reeeaaal Nice

 Next on our list of killer pedals is a little number from the talented and amazing people of Aguilar Amplification. Last year I had a chance to try out a bunch of these pedals on bass guitar and was blown away by the quality in tone and wide range of sounds I was able to get. It didn't end on bass guitar either... no sir. I in fact also plugged some of these pedals into a bunch of my guitars and guitar amps and the outcome was nothing short of amazing. I also had a chance to meet the good folks from Aguilar at NAMM last year which really tuned me into what they're doing and the direction they are headed in. Let me just say this: Go out and try these pedals - you will not be sorry and very glad you did.

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TLC Compressor

Specs:

• Threshold Control: variable from -30 to -10dBu
• Slope Control: variable from 2:1 to infinity
• Attack Control: variable from 10ms to 100ms
• Level Control: -infinity to -3dBu
• Low Distortion: (<0.2%)
• Gig-saver Bypass: signal passes even if your battery dies
• Power: 9 volt battery or optional universal power supply
• Enclosure: heavy-duty steel construction
• Battery Life: 100 hours
• Inputs: one 1/4 jack
• Outputs: one 1/4 jack

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How about that for a gem of a compression pedal? Here is an area where us musicians cannot afford to skimp out on. Compression when used the wrong way can be the killer of all tones. So where does one go when in need of some proper quality compression? Well, the TLC Compressor is a beautiful place to start, and a beautiful place to end. This powerhouse of a pedal is capable of giving your bass tones (and guitar) all the spank, thump, boom, bang, and bottom you will ever need. The control layout on this pedal is genius! And each one of it's controls capable of so so much. With the guitar it works equally as good. This is a pedal that does not discriminate and loves to play well with others (pedals). The TLC Compressor (just like our last Aguilar review) kick much ass. The one word that comes to mind is quality - quality - quality. Make sure to run back in our archive for more Aguilar reviews. 

Round #1 (Bass Guitar)

My first experiment with the Aguilar TLC consisted of a P Bass and a Ampeg SVT. I dialed in a simple signature snappy P Bass tone, with lots of rounded corners and plenty of punch. I began with some subtle settings, tightening up the overall sound and getting more definition. The TLC quickly dished out more clarity making things sound sweeter and richer. I started first with a medium low level and ended up cranking the amp just about full blast. At low to medium settings the pedal accented all of the bass guitar's and amp's magic and mojo. Then once cranked things really became noticeable. My experience with most compression pedals has been they don't hang in there when in comes down to gigging or recording. Either they become too noisy or they just can't cut it. This is why studio compressors are so praised and so useful. The TLC was more than able to hold it's own. One very nice thing about this puppy, something I really dug, was it's low noise output. This is probably the one thing that turns me off to most comp pedals. With this pedal I was able to blast my bass amp and thump away at my bass guitar's strings like a madman. In the end the pedal stayed chill and quiet. I got no unwanted hissing or white noise. But more importantly was how quiet the pedal was when I wasn't playing. Here is where this pedal comes in handy for those of you looking for a proper gigging compressor. I also plugged the TLC into a higher output bass which worked equally as good. What I liked about playing this pedal through the higher output bass pickups was how well it helped roll off the high end sounds and jagged corners. This brought a lighter fluffier attack to my overall tone which made things sit much nicer when jamming with other instruments. I did also gig with this pedal, and on stage the pedal did more than it's job, falling beautifully into the mix and standing out just enough to accompany the guitar, bass drum, and vocals. Setting the compression to the club's room was cake! On the other side of the spectrum, in more extreme settings, the TLC also did a great job. The pedal's threshold takes care of a huge range of sounds and tones which helps you achieve just any sound or musical style you're going for.

Round # 2 (Electric Guitar)
For me finding a good compression pedal to team up with my guitars seems to something I've always had lots of trouble with. Really there has only been a handful of comp pedals that I've enjoyed. The TLC quickly became one of the few. I broke out my trusty bucker equipped Tele and my buddy's Princeton Reverb. The goal was to dial in a solid plunky country tone with plenty of meat and potatoes. I help back on the amp's reverb and rolled the eq straight up the middle. With a little meddling of the TLC's controls I was able to quickly get the sound I wanted. The guitar sang out lots of spanky goodness making each string sound like it's own thing. I was able to hear every little nuance and accent I played. My chords sounded off with lush clear projection, which made everything sound absolutely beautiful! Smoothness was the name of the game when playing through this pedal. The Tele jangled and chimed through the amp's big'n'bright tone. I was able to get plenty of sustain from my playing without any of the unwanted extreme sappy sounds. The TLC maintained my pick attack and left my guitar's natural character intact. While playing around the guitar I began fooling around with other pedals, such as overdrivers and distortion pedals. With overdrivers the pedal added a chunky ring to the overall sound that made things sound bigger and badder. I noticed my lows became rounder and warmer, with the highs becoming clearer and easier on the ear. I also got beautiful string balance that cut right through like a razor. In minimum compression settings the pedal gave the guitar's sound that hint of juice that helps bring one's tone to life. By adding in some of the pedal's level control I was able to naturally bring the amp's tubs into some pretty sweet gritty overdrive. This sound worked nicely for craning down on some classic country rock chord play. Blues and funk also sounded quite nice. I ran through some sweet licks and rifs and was able to hear every note with absolute authority. There is no doubt on my mind this pedal can hang with al types of music styles. Anyone hunting for a killer all around comp box would do themselves proper by grabbing one of these.

Some compressors squash your tone much too much, or just bloom and rise in the wrong ways. Something we're all too familiar with. The TLC's control layout made things very easy and user friendly. It took a bit of playing with the TLC's controls but once I began trusting my ears everything fell into place. This is what I tell my readers when the write in asking how to use compression, just trust those ears. Another great use I got out of this pedal was recording with it. I was able to get these very balanced, steady, and defined bass and guitar tones which were very easy to work with when mixing. The TLC is also very transparent, and instead of adding color to your tone - it brings what is already there to life.The magic in this pedal all comes from it's control layout and the quality of it's sound. This is what makes this little baby stand out from many others. Aguilar Amplification really did some number when designing this pedal and it shows right off the bat once you plug in and play.

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For more info on Aguilar Amplification go to www.aguilaramp.com Make sure to also check out Aguilar's awesome amps, pickups, preamps, and cabs. We will be featuring more and more of Aguilar's gear in the near future so make sure to keep them eyes peeled. Hit up our Youtube search engine to hunt down some cool Aguilar pedal vids!

Let it Rumble

For those of your who aren't aware I do also play bass, and also do keep tabs on what's going on with today's bass gear. One company that has always stood out to impress me is Aguilar Amplification. I was first introduced to Aguilar Amplification through an ex-bass player of mine, and since then I have been hooked. I will never forget the vintage warmth and modern bite that his rig was capable of producing. After this I started noticing Aguilar gear in almost every studio, stage, and session I set foot in. Aguilar amps and cabs are true high class stallions, built with high quality components and parts, and able to knock out grade A sound. So when I discovered that they also had their own line of effects pedals, well you know I just had to jump on that. In the short time I have become familiar with Aguilar's pedal's I have come to love them. These are pedals that sound great through just about anything you stack them up with, play them through, and play them with. We're gonna be spending some time looking into these pedals and sharing with you guys all the mojo that lies within. Prepare to dig into some Aguilar Amplification.

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Aguilar Amplification

AGRO

Bass Overdrive

Controls

• Contour: Broad spectrum mid scoop centered around 900Hz
• Presence: +6dB/-20dB >4kHz
• Level: Controls overall output volume
• Saturation: Sets grit/overdrive amount
• Engage: On/Off switch

Features

• LED: Indicates effect is on
• Enclosure: Heavy duty steel construction
• DC In: Standard 2.1 DC Jack (-)
• 9V Battery: 120 Hr life/easy to access thumbscrew compartment
• Enclosure: Heavy duty steel construction
• Components: High quality/Top notch

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Not once in demoing the Agro did I come across an ugly/unusable tone. This goes for all the other instruments besides bass that I ran it through as well. The first thing that caught my eye though was the pedal's construction. Aguilar really went far and beyond to deliver a quality product here, two thumbs up. The Agro sports a tuff-as-nails steel enclosure that is more than ready for hours of gigging and abuse. The Agro's design is based around the same saturation channel that can be found in the Aguilar AG 500 bass head. This means the Agro sports top notch components, giving it lots of range and tons of mojo. Each knob is feels strong, the footswitch feels fantastic, and it's battery compartment can be easily accessed for quick battery swapping. Other instruments besides the bass that I ran the Agro through included guitars, lap steels, and keyboards. With each of these instruments I was able to get positive results, and some very memorable tones. One of the reason's for this pedal's wide range of use and ear friendly tones are it's contour and presence controls. It is these controls that give this pedal the ability to knock out everything from vintage grit to modern crunch, separates this pedal from many others I have tried.

Bass Guitars

For those of you bass playing cats out there I know how tuff it is to get a good dirty signal from your bass guitar. Especially those of you who are guitar player's first that have tried to channel your guitar dirt tones into bass rigs. Well this here little box is one of the first bass overdrivers that has ever let me get the same type of tone and feel that I have gotten from my guitars. A Jazz Bass, a Stingray, and an old Danelectro bass are what I used for demoing this pedal. For amp's I went with a Ampeg SVT, and a new Fender 350w Bassman TV (which I thank my good buddy Chris for). The first bass and amp combo was the Jazz Bass and Ampeg. I dialed in a warm, spot-on classic rock vintage tone, and ran up and down the fretboard listening and feeling for the differences in each note's projection. The single Jazz bass's pickup produced a focused, round, and thumpy tone that just filled the air with good vibes. Next I engaged the Agro, starting with it's level at unity, saturation at about 15%, and presence and contour at noon. I got a nice mellow grit, and still had my root tone. With the contour and presence knobs I was able to perfectly shape and match the overdriven tone to my root signal. Everything from the character of my root tone, to the size and feel, was still present once engaging the Agro. Only now behind me was a wall of warm gritty crunch. This sound worked beautifully for stacking up with dirty guitar tones, beefing up chorus sections, and for adding killer sounding accents to any lick of riff. Next I took the Jazz Bass into a medium overdrive and heard things get even better. The more saturation I pushed from the Agro, the more of everything I got from my tone. With the saturation at about 50% I was still able to hear and feel my amp's tone. Instead of pedal's distortion taking away from my natural sound, it handed it more of what made it special. Even with the saturation at full blast I was able to hear and feel my amp's tone beautifully. I dug into my fretboard and felt everything become bigger, badder, and beefier. Having the contour and presence controls on board made it a cinch for dialing in my own signature tones. The Stingray bass I pretty much ran the same type of setup, only in the end it was able to hand me much more aggressive sounds. Having the choice of switching into two different pickups also helped with taking the Agro much further. To my surprise though my favorite had to be stacking the Agro up with the vintage Danelectro DC bass. Through both the SVT and Fender Bassman TV the Dano screamed and howled like a champ. You guys don't know how hard a time I've had trying to get usable overdriven tones from this bass. Again it was the Agro's presence and contour controls that came to the rescue. I was able to adapt the pedal perfectly to the Dano's signature sound, and add in spot-on crunchy, dirty, and gritty signals with no problem. Something about the lipstick pickups really blended insanely well with the versatility of this pedal. Setting up the pedal just right also dished out a healthy collection of distortion/fuzz tones. All in all this pedal did beautifully. It adapted to each bass in it's own special way, gave my amp's a larger range of tones, and let me perfectly fine tune the exact amount of grit needed.

Guitars'n'More

Here is where this pedal was able to absolutely capable of blowing me away. Just for kicks I always like to plug any bass pedals I have into guitars and other stuff. Most of the time I find they just don't blend well with anything but basses though. This was not the case here. I had just finished running the Agro full blast saturation through one of my basses when I plugged into my Les Paul. All I have to say is Adam Jones from the band Tool. I don't know what about the pedal reminded me about his tone but it did to a T. This is what got me into some major experimenting with this pedal. Soon I came to find that the Agro wasn't pregidous against anything you ran it through. Through guitars, humbuckers and P90's were my absolute favorite, it did well with other pickups but these were the two that really stood out. With my Les Paul and semi-hollow body I was able to get vintage hard rock tones, modern rock tones, blues tones, slightly gritty rhythm tones, and screaming lead tones. With a little bit of analog delay thrown into the mix I was able to dial in some f the most epic lead tones I've ever heard. Once again it was the presence and contour controls that made it possible to dial in tons of different dirt tones. I also came to find just how wide a range the saturation control had by playing it through my guitars. One cool trick I was able to pull by setting the Agro's controls just right was a spot on Clapton "woman tone". I was able to do this without touching my guitar's tone knobs which gave me the exact woman tone feel, only with more definition. Something else that worked quite well with this pedal and a guitar was stacking it up with another dirt pedal or booster. Both in front of or behind another pedal I got killer results. My favorite though was definitely using the Agro to push an already slightly overdriven tube amp. By manipulating the pedal's controls I was able to get a extended amount of control over my overall tone, just beautiful. Then there was my single P90 sporting Junior copy, ohhhh momma! For those of ya'll who dig a knarly, nasty, honking good dirt tone you will absolutely love this. Now, I have dialed in some midrange powerful dirt tones in my time but never anything like this. The P90 pickup in my guitar just sounded like it was ready to fly out of the pickup ring. My speakers shook and growled with sweet aggression, while my hands controlled just how much was to be delivered. This is something I have always dug about P90 pickups, they can easily be controlled with just a flick or shake of your hand, and through the right amp can do wonders. Having the Agro in line made all of this that much better. My guitar's grit stung and bit the air like a banshee on the run. A little bit of tone knob or volume knob shaping and I had just about any sound I wanted. From here I took the Agro to some slide, then to some lap steel. The delivery in the sound that the presence and contour controls give you are perfect for molding the baddest sounding syrupy, thick'n'rich lap steel dirt tone. This was true through both clean and dirty amp tones. The lap steel or playing any type of slide is something that always needs it's own special approach, whether it be the tone or touch. Having the right tools not only makes things easier, it also presents motivation and drive like no other. This is true for all instruments of course. I guess what I'm getting at is this pedal really helped me to pull those special tone from my mind and gave me the sounds to get the job done, PERIOD! I highly implore you cats t try this pedal, whether it be for your bass or guitar. You'll find an amount of control that will have you thinking "Why aren't all other pedals like this?" The Agro is definitely it's own special thing and for that I give Aguilar Amplification all the props in the world. Keep'em coming guys!

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For more info Aguilar Amplification's products go to www.aguilaramp.com You will find an array of awesome products on the Aguilar website, videos, and sound clips. Stay tuned for more from Aguilar here on AWC. Rock on!!!

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