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New Aguilar Compressor pedal: "TLC Compressor"

#143
I was reading Bongos review. I might have missed it but the only thing I noticed about hiss or buzz in the review was "The Aguilar has lower noise" then the other two that was brought up. Can Bongo or anyone else that's tried this tell me how quiet this is. Maybe compared to the markbass?
 
#144
It's very quiet. Earlier in my compressor-reviewing life I would have been tempted to call it "completely noiseless" just because any noise heard is just a mild/moderate amplification of existing line noise, with no added noise from the pedal and no exaggeration of the line noise the way the Keeley/Barber types do. However there are a couple of other pedals that don't even amplify the line noise audibly, making them "dead silent"--so for accuracy I had to say the TLC was "low noise" and "quieter than most".

The Markbass is quieter than the TLC, and the Diamond is dead silent. The old Carl Martin is also dead silent at some moderate settings. But it would be "criminal" of me to say the TLC has noise that anyone would think to complain about under normal circumstances.
 
#149
I think, from how he wrote it, that he's already looked at my top picks list but now can't decide between them. Unfortunately, that's where I draw the line. Once you get to a certain level of quality, then it comes down to personal choices like the physical format, the number and type of controls, the particular tone and action, etc.
 
#150
The only downside to the Markbass imho is size and the non-standard power requirement. Beyond that, I found it to be brilliant - it makes a great bass sound fantastic. In the end I decided to finally go to a small pedal board and didn't want to give up that much real estate as I don't really use comp that much (pretty much only with envelope filters at this point). I went with the TLC because it seemed to be a good compromise in size (it is a little long but otherwise fits) and I wasn't needing that much tone improvement - just something very clean to deal with envelope spikes (the Maxon AF-9 is pretty hot) and when I get lazy slapping.

That said I have to say I'm eyeing the Menatone JAC to swap for the TLC. The TLC is a little bit of a PITA to mount to a board (velcro is a kludge) and I *love* my Mail Bomb so I'm itching to try more Menatone stuff.
 
#152
I'm not chasing an LA2A. I just want something transparent to tame envelope filter spikes and maybe add a little sizzle or punch...though the Sadowsky PJ punches pretty good on its own. If I want something more fat/vintage, I'll run into my Summit TLA-50 (which I know you weren't crazy about, but I love that thing in the studio).
 
#153
I do care about the colors used in the design of a pedal. Have seen how certain stage light gels affect certain colors? Sometimes they're unreadable. You need to have a good amount of contrast between the base color and the color of the text in order for it to be readable from 6 feet away (distance from my nearsighted eyes to my feet). This is coming from a obsessive graphic designer. By the way, I love Aguilar's logo.
 
#155
The light is just on/off with the switch.
I just got mine today and havent had alot of time to play with but so far I really like how well it works,my go to bass is a cheaper Ibanez with a OBP-3 and it has a few inconsistant places on the neck and the first thing that I noticed about the TLC is that it seems to have a very consistant output so it makes the bass sound very articulate and even across the neck now and the only color that I notice is just a little on the higher notes but just enough to fill them out a little.
I will say that it is a Pain in the a$$ to mount how I have my board layed out and the jacks are set in a little so some of my new 90 degree cables wont go in all of the way.
Pedal board.jpg
 
#159
For the record, some RA plugs stick "out" more than others. I have a variety, and some of them were compatible with the Aggie, while others were not. So I'd like to put an end to this back-and-forth about whether RA plugs can be used with the TLC. The truth is: some RA's can work, but some can't.
 
#160
I guess I should have clarified my statement that my new RA jacks wouldnt work but I had another manufacture that works fine.
bongomania said:
For the record, some RA plugs stick "out" more than others. I have a variety, and some of them were compatible with the Aggie, while others were not. So I'd like to put an end to this back-and-forth about whether RA plugs can be used with the TLC. The truth is: some RA's can work, but some can't.
Click to expand...
 

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