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Aguilar Agro vs. Darkglass B3K

#82
Agreed that your clips of the Agro sound really good (surprisingly good, actually). I am of the camp that experienced too much low end loss with the pedal. In a full band setting when I would kick it on, my guts completely dropped out and there was always a present SSSSSSSizzle in some of the higher frequencies no matter my adjustments.

I wonder if they've done anything different with the production of this pedal since first release?
 
#83
p0k said:
funny, I don't find my B3K fizzy at all...in fact, it seems like it rolls off a touch of highs when the boost isn't engaged. Definitely more high mids, but I don't think of that as fizzy persay. I use if for very low gain stuff though so maybe when the drive is cranked it gets fizzy?
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I totally understand where you're coming from...especially after reading through this thread. Each of has just has a different definition of what constitutes "fizzy" tone. There was a post with clips by MMBongo of the Mercy Phuk and B3K in order to show how un-fizzy the B3K sounded. I still heard the fizz, though. For me, it's the top end "sizzle" or distortion on top of the bass' tone that I find fizzy (the quality of it). It just doesn't seem homogeneous to the bass, for me personally. Either way, the pedal's coloration wasn't my taste either... but I loved the weight and look of it, though...LOL
 
#84
Ricky Caboverde said:
I totally understand where you're coming from...especially after reading through this thread. Each of has just has a different definition of what constitutes "fizzy" tone. There was a post with clips by MMBongo of the Mercy Phuk and B3K in order to show how un-fizzy the B3K sounded. I still heard the fizz, though. For me, it's the top end "sizzle" or distortion on top of the bass' tone that I find fizzy (the quality of it). It just doesn't seem homogeneous to the bass, for me personally. Either way, the pedal's coloration wasn't my taste either... but I loved the weight and look of it, though...LOL
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100% agree. Only reason I haven't sold my B7K is that the singer in my band is obsessed with it. He uses it to write songs with when recording bass and thinks it's everything he's ever wanted. I keep trying to integrate it into what I'm doing but it just hasn't worked. I liked the VMT a lot better, but I'm still using the VT bass for now. Now, if there is a VMT with EQ controls a la the B7K in the future - I can see me picking that up.
 
#86
i've found that as the gain goes up on the B7K the fizz shows up and i need to turn the highs all the way off. however, at lower gain settings, and when blending with clean tones for some added bite, the highs aren't as fizzy. in either case, this is a B7K issue since the built in EQ will help adjust, but if the OP is looking at the B3K that is cold comfort.
 
#89
cnltb said:
So...nothing to do with how much gain it needs before it starts to break up?
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Gotcha, now I know what you're talking about. That's what the gain knob is on a pedal. Think of a tube amp, if you dig in hard enough (and thus your signal is hotter) you'll get more break up. But if it has a preamp gain knob - you can just turn that up to get that breakup. Gain staging in pedals works the same. You'll sometimes see pedals that get described as having "natural breakup" or being very "amp like" which means when you dig in, you'll get that extra hint of drive. But most pedals don't do that so well, so that gain knob is what drives the pedal.
 
#92
Just searched that thread for "VMT deluxe" and got quite a few hits.

Found this though:
Darkglass said:
We are working on some cool stuff, but I wouldn't hold my breath on it just yet - nothing will be certain until officially announced at Winter NAMM this January, even then production wouldn't happen until advanced next year ;).

We're 100% focused on the Duality's first production run and getting all the material (demos!) going at the moment.

Regards,
Doug.
Click to expand...

So we're talking end of 2014 beginning 2015 :hmm:
 
#98
johnbegone said:
Gotcha, now I know what you're talking about. That's what the gain knob is on a pedal. Think of a tube amp, if you dig in hard enough (and thus your signal is hotter) you'll get more break up. But if it has a preamp gain knob - you can just turn that up to get that breakup. Gain staging in pedals works the same. You'll sometimes see pedals that get described as having "natural breakup" or being very "amp like" which means when you dig in, you'll get that extra hint of drive. But most pedals don't do that so well, so that gain knob is what drives the pedal.
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Thanks!
I do realize that when I turn up the 'warmth' button( that#s what it is called on my od pedal), I get more breakup.So I guess it is down to how much I feed into it, how far I have to turn it up, right?
 
#100
johnk_10 said:
Well, my Agro just arrived and after just 10 seconds of playing thru it, I absolutely LOVE it. ZERO low end loss and balls to the max. IMO, Aguilar nailed it with this pedal. from slight overdrive to max overdrive, to me it sounds gorgeous. I realize that everyone's taste is different, but for me, my B3K never came close to sounding this good. I spent a lot of time with my B3K going thru every permutation of it's settings multiple times, and I never really found even one that I cared for. it's the complete opposite with the Agro. for me, it's pretty hard to get a bad sound out of it.
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That was exactly my impression. I tried it out at home when it arrived with my SWR LA-12 combo and instantly fell in love.
In rehearsal, played through my Tonehammer + GS212 rig it felt even better. I have not tried the high gain settings since there's no call for a heavily distorted bass in my band. I was good with the overdrive the tonehammer had on offer, but i needed clean sound as well, so i had to get a pedal.
I guess that the Agro's midboost evens out with the midscoop of the GS cabs in my case. I experience no loss of lowend, and the slightly boosted mids help my sound squeeze through the mix without ripping it. The Agro feels very sensitive to the input, giving me more when i dig in. I have another OD pedal in front of the agro that is set to deal out more lows (Grinding fist size stones in a huge metal mortar style) and when i stack both of them, the agro really shines.


Has anyone bought both pedals and still uses both on his board for different purposes?
 

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