Closest Pedal to Aguilar's AGRO or AG500 Overdrive Channel???

jokerjkny · #1 02-09-2008, 02:18 AM

frankly,

it bugs the hell outta me that the AGRO doesnt come in a stompbox. seriously, what the hell is Dave & Co. thinking? sure, it has a footswitch, but why not just put all that good stuff into a floor sized unit? instead of pushing a lame design out the door, i would have been more than happy to wait another few months for them to figure it out.

anyways, sorry for the rant, but i have tried my fair share of pedals: i had a PE Depth Charge, and while awesomely buzzy, the low end just disappeared. had the fulltone bassdrive, and frankly, it just doesnt get dirty enough. have currently the woolly mammoth, which i LOVE on my passive basses, but my sadowsky preamp's obliterate whatever goodness. and while the upcoming two channel sample i heard that aguilar was pushing at NAMM sounds cool, i also heard it doesnt do nearly the gnarly overdrive the AGRO does.

so, denizens of TB, what havent i tried that comes close?

McHack · #2 02-09-2008, 06:14 AM

Didn't you see the Tone Hammer, in the NAMM pics?

pickles · #3 02-09-2008, 09:08 AM

Dudeman, its no worries. Just mount it with velcro and your tuner can sit on top.

It is the best overdrive for bass, so quit torturing yourself and get one. It does everything you want and does not require a blend to sound great.

This setup kicks ass, fire away with any questions.

jokerjkny · #4 02-09-2008, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McHack

Didn't you see the Tone Hammer, in the NAMM pics?

like i said in my original post, i did.

but again, like i said above, think tombowlus mentioned it doesnt do the full on saturation like the AGRO.

jokerjkny · #5 02-09-2008, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pickles

Dudeman, its no worries. Just mount it with velcro and your tuner can sit on top.

It is the best overdrive for bass, so quit torturing yourself and get one. It does everything you want and does not require a blend to sound great.

This setup kicks ass, fire away with any questions.

very cool board!

but i'm using the jr., and i've got enough to carry onto the M23 crosstown. oi...

thejohnkim · #6 02-09-2008, 01:15 PM

do you usually take the AGRO into full on distortion territory? if so, do you also want to nice lower gain sounds too? (not sure if you are since you said the bassdrive didn't get dirty enough) if you want all of that, then join the search....i haven't found the answer either, and so i am now using 3 different drive pedals. and i feel your pain since my pedal board is about teh same size as a PT jr (skb ps-15)

if you just want a nice low-endy high gain distorted crunch with all those nice harmonics up top, there are a bunch of options, the Tech 21 comptortion fills that role for me for live use (might not be quiet enough for studio) and i have my sansamp PBDDI filling in for the lighter-but-complex overdrives, and a mxr blowtorch on call for my tightly controlled harmonics-less fuzz that has a nice array of controls i find quite useful.

but i have to admit i miss the fulltone bassdrive's comp-cut boost setting with the boost knob turned up. just couldn't justify the size and cost for that one sound.

EDIT:

found a crappy youtube clip with the comptortion that might be helpful from a fellow TBer spanky:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-VC3-TG6JM

so you can get a gist of what it sounds like

McHack · #7 02-09-2008, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jokerjkny

like i said in my original post, i did.

but again, like i said above, think tombowlus mentioned it doesnt do the full on saturation like the AGRO.

OH! I must've missed that...

eddiebo · #8 02-09-2008, 02:50 PM

I have tried a few that I think will do it: vodka mods ratsputin rat mod - tell them u want a ProCo Rat2 modded for bass, they put a different cap in - raging distortion - even more than the AG head, and a lot of control over it, lots of options with that mod. The humphrey badder bass monkey mod also is good - do an eBay search for both this and the vodka mods rat & they will turn up. Analogman also mods an Ibanez turbo tube screamer - get the silver mod with no mode mods - I have been using this for years on bass, my producer buddy used mine so much on recordings he bought one just to have for bands that come in. I may be able to dig up an MP3 that has a sample - will post if I do. Any one of these will give you what u want. I also have the Depth Charge - Try running a compressor after it. I run an EBS MultiComp after it which gives it a very solid, even boost and it has a switching option for an active or passive bass -
check em out & good luck!

pickles · #9 02-09-2008, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jokerjkny

very cool board!

but i'm using the jr., and i've got enough to carry onto the M23 crosstown. oi...

If you had to you could mount 3 other pedals on top of the AGRO and the case will still close.

My blender is as big as the AGRO is ... the box is so shallow that it really doesn't take all that much room.

There is nothing else out there that touches it IMO.

pickles · #10 02-09-2008, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thejohnkim

do you usually take the AGRO into full on distortion territory? if so, do you also want to nice lower gain sounds too? (not sure if you are since you said the bassdrive didn't get dirty enough) if you want all of that, then join the search....i haven't found the answer either, and so i am now using 3 different drive pedals.

You guys really need to come over and try the AGRO with the DS-1 as a ninja boost (set for an almost-clean boost with just a bit of that asymmetrical hair on it)

The key is having the AGRO at the end of the chain, since it cleans up the top end so much.

TS-9 as a boost is cool too, but I love the nasty grind I get out of the DS-1.

jokerjkny · #11 02-09-2008, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pickles

If you had to you could mount 3 other pedals on top of the AGRO and the case will still close.

My blender is as big as the AGRO is ... the box is so shallow that it really doesn't take all that much room.

There is nothing else out there that touches it IMO.

OR

they could just make it into something the size of the tone hammer... done!

eyvindwa · #12 02-10-2008, 03:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pickles

If you had to you could mount 3 other pedals on top of the AGRO and the case will still close.

Now, there's an idea! Makes me want the Agro even more (when I can't really afford it)

Toasted · #13 02-10-2008, 03:29 AM

Does anyone have a gutshot of the aggro?

pickles · #14 02-10-2008, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jokerjkny

OR

they could just make it into something the size of the tone hammer... done!

Don't get me wrong, I'd be all for it. I'm assuming they pulled the board out of an AG500 and found a box it would mount in.

An AGPO would be a superior product, and it should also have two buttons for two different gain settings (same EQ is fine).

But they don't make that ... yet.

bongomania · #15 02-10-2008, 09:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pickles

I'm assuming they pulled the board out of an AG500 and found a box it would mount in.

They explicitly said that is exactly what they did, in a thread here on TB last year. The reason given was that they didn't want to spend the money on having a new circuitboard designed and printed.

Toasted · #16 02-10-2008, 03:30 PM

It doesn't really cost alot or take alot of time... something I'm finding out