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New Aguilar Compressor pedal: "TLC Compressor"

#161
Wondering how the headroom is on the TLC.
I have an EBS but the output on my Roscoe's are a bit to much for it. Tried working the trim pots inside and the threshold (active/passive) switch, seems like rolling back my volume on the bass is the only effective way to tame it, and then I feel I am not getting the pop I want from it.

BM
 
#167
According to my usage of the TLC, it smooths out my signal quite well. That said, I play fingerstyle on a passive P with flats, through a Groove Regulator...not exactly a spiky setup. Accordingly, my settings on the TLC are rather moderate, aimed more at my tone than at taming spikes. Someone who plays hard slap on a high-powered active bass through an old Q-Tron with all the knobs on 11 obviously will need to crank the TLC up more than I do, but I think the TLC has plenty of squash to handle it.
 
#168
NortyFiner said:
According to my usage of the TLC, it smooths out my signal quite well. That said, I play fingerstyle on a passive P with flats, through a Groove Regulator...not exactly a spiky setup. Accordingly, my settings on the TLC are rather moderate, aimed more at my tone than at taming spikes. Someone who plays hard slap on a high-powered active bass through an old Q-Tron with all the knobs on 11 obviously will need to crank the TLC up more than I do, but I think the TLC has plenty of squash to handle it.
Click to expand...



Cool. Thanks. I got one on the way and that is what I intend to use it for is why I ask.
 
#172
I have a TLC for a few months now and it lives as the last pedal on my 12-effect board. I have it set up like this:
gain 3 o'clock
threshold minimum
attack minimum
ratio between 2 o'clock and maximum.

Only used for the occasional slapping, to even out longer notes (neck pickup playing up on the neck -> sansamp pBDDI on a mild setting -> 'darkening' eq -> tlc makes for a nice organ bass pedal -esque sound) or to tame my Enigma's spiking.

I'm a quite heavy right-hand hitter playing active basses so I expected a very high threshold to hear the effect working, but even with the threshold at its highest I sometimes feel it's still compressing a little too much. Hence the search for the right ratio - I'd like to set it up as a pure limiter (ratio dimed) but then it's compressing too much.

TBH I have all my pedals (assortment of standard, boutique, old, new, digital, analog - 12 in all) in series without any loops, tb switchers, ... I have a loopmaster 12-switcher underway which might change my view on some effects (and will restore my bypassed sound back to normal), could that be it?



Other than that I love the TLC (at least over all the other compression I've had without having to drag my studio comps to the gig).




Herwig
 
#173
The threshold won't have anything to do with your other effects when they're bypassed, unless one of them has a big boost when bypassed, like the Moog pedals. The threshold is only meaningful relative to your signal levels--so anything that boosts your levels, effectively lowers the threshold.

You can raise the threshold of the Aguilar by lowering the overall signal level you feed it.
 
#174
Hi all, I just received my TLC and first impressions are on par with all I have read elsewhere regarding its quality. However, I am fairly impatient when semi complex gear (or a lot or reading is involved) and am hoping that someone with one of these can give me some quick baseline settings for using this primarily as a limiter. The site has a few compressor leaning samples but nothing aimed at simple limiting. Since most compressor settings revolve around some variation of mid-line setting I am not sure which way to go knob turning to get where I want to be so a starting point would be very helpful.
 
#177
Eddy Flycatcher said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but from my experience with the Aguilar it wasn't really a limiter type device, more (like EBS MultiComp) a sort of soft compression pedal.
Click to expand...
Well, while not primarily a limiter because if the range of adjustability it can certainly function as one as noted in Bongo's top picks section:

"Limiters: the Rane DC24, Valley People Dynamite, Aphex 661/651, Maxon CP9 Pro+, Pigtronix Philosopher, Alesis MicroLimiter, Guyatone BL2, Boss LMB-3, various Joemeek models, Markbass, Demeter Compulator, FEA Comp-Limiter, Menatone J.A.C, Ashly DPX/CLX/CL series, Aguilar TLC, and Symetrix 501 all do a pretty good job of cleanly limiting big signal peaks, although the only ones I'd call "really great" at limiting are the Aguilar, Aphex 651/661, and Ashly DPX/CLX."

That combined with this recommendation:

"The top tier pedals that I'd recommend to most people combine ease of use with great tone and low noise: the Diamond BCP-1, EBS MultiComp, Demeter Compulator, FEA SMX, Maxon CP9Pro+, Rothwell Love Squeeze, Effectrode PC-2A, Mad Prof Forest Green, and Aguilar TLC.

And this would indicate that it's certainly MUCH more than a simple 'soft compression' pedal:

"The slope (ratio) control ranges from 2:1 to infinity:1, making it equally useful for light smoothing, heavier squeezing, and peak limiting. It actually does quite a good job reining in big signal peaks."

Aguilar TLC

And, while I appreciate what a little compression can do I was really after a unit that could offer some decent peak limiting as well as needed so based on that info I thought this was my best choice for now. And a big thanks to Bongo for all the hard work in making all this info available to us all!
 
#179
Eddy Flycatcher said:
I bought the Aguilar after reading Bongo's reviews, and sold the Aguilar after thoroughly using it, than bought the Maxon Pro and sold that one too after thoroughly using it, though I appreciate Bongo's reviews I didn't agree with some of his findings.
Click to expand...
What were you looking for in a compressor/limiter, didn't like in these and finally end up with? In the past I had been using an Alesis Nano Compressor that I though worked great. But I thought I'd try a couple other things as a comparison especially in a smaller, more durable pedal style.
 

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