Agro vs BDDI vs Muffn

[Magman]

Hi -

I'm very curious about the Aguilar Agro - especially that it cleans up the highs so theres no issues with tweeter cabs or DI to PA's.

Can it potentially replace a BDDI?

My BDDI has served me very well, I find the coloration a little too strong at higher blend levels, yet DI's to PA/recording are too brittle otherwise. Also, I find its headroom is not enough to handle the EMG's in my spector and it does suck out some of the tone of the bass (with high blend settings)

Current signal chain is

Spector> Muffn (drive 50%) > sansamp (drive 20%/blend60%) > Carvin B1500 (drive 50%)

The BDDI is really just a speaker sim at the moment to clean up the highs.

I like the muffn a lot though it does have a tendency to 'mush' a little bit....rather than grunt, at it does very slighty back off the mids (I confirmed this on a spectrometer with pink noise...though there was no low end rolloff).
Nonetheless its the best pedal overdrive I've ever used. Different tubes maybe worth exploring.

I do like quite a bit of organic dirt (I'd say medium gain - like lemmy or the guy from OM, but more low end and 'active' pickup sound).

Any thoughts appreciated on the Agro, and comparison with the pedals mentioned. Overdrive tastes do vary a lot so any comments from other 'muffn men' (or women) particularly useful.

I heard some clips posted on this forum and it did sound good (the agro that is).

[Mark Olson]

Isn't "like Lemmy" and "active pickup + carvin head" kind of oxymoronic?

[bongomania]

By "cleans up the highs" do you mean "rolls off the highs"?

[Magman]

weeeeeell probably

Just a reference point for the level of drive though.

Originally Posted by Mark Olson

Isn't "like Lemmy" and "active pickup + carvin head" kind of oxymoronic?

[Magman]

Yes.

Originally Posted by bongomania

By "cleans up the highs" do you mean "rolls off the highs"?

[pickles]

Originally Posted by bongomania

By "cleans up the highs" do you mean "rolls off the highs"?

What I look for in this kind of unit is a low pass filter that mimics a 10" speaker. Plenty of response up to 2k, and virtually nothing past 5. That is nothing like what a "high" EQ knob does, so its an important distinction.

Like this:

The AGRO and BDDI both do this. The AGRO is MUCH more neutral sounding, and has zero tone suck when bypassed. The BDDI is a tone sucker. The AGRO is much more of a overdrive/distortion unit than it is a speaker simulator, and most of the time thats a good thing. It sounds great through an amp, great through headphones, so I have to assume it'll sound great through a PA.

I like the BDDI too for certain things, but it does sound like you could do a 2 for 1 swap and just use the AGRO, and likely get a sound you'd be very happy with.

As far as distortion character -- its just really hard to tell until you dig in.

The SansAmp GT2 is another pedal that can get some huge bass overdrive sounds, and is kickin' without an amp. It gets a lot dirtier than the BDDI, and is also a little bit more neutral.

[pickles]

Sound clips for ya:

Fun with Dirt