Ok, perhaps someone can help me sort this out. I posted on 2 threads on TB what others who own the Aguilar AG700 and the Mesa Boogie D800 or D800+ what there experiences have been. Interestingly, on the MB thread hands down all people say the MB 800+ blows the AG700 out of the water AND Aguilar's customer service (since they changed hands) is sub-par to MB's. I live in a rural area and have only been able to try the AG700 and I thought it was the best sounding bass amp I ever heard. However, no one around has a MB 800+ so I am left to resort to others opinions and YouTube videos. Which as you know is nothing like physically trying it out. outside of hearing them both side by side, the only "downfall" with the Aguilar AG700 is that there is no headphone jack, it doesn't come with a gig bag, and the warranty is a couple years less than the MB's which is also transferable. Any thoughts moving forward before I make a purchase I might regret one way or the other??
Any Aguilar bass head owners on here ever have any trouble with Aguilar's customer service since they were bought out?
I mean you’re looking at two premium amps that are based on the ICE power and have very different pre amp sounds. I currently own the TH500/700 Subway D800+ and TT800 and formerly the AG700, in my opinion so great amps. I gig with my D800+ mostly and then use the TH500 or 700 for different scenarios. My TT800 stays in my studio, just like my AG used to. I have not had warranty or repair issues with any of these heads.
When I initially bought my AG700 I did a side-by-side comparison at
Sweetwater GearFest back in 2019 and was able to easily get the tone I desired from the Aguilar, but wasn’t as successful with the D800+ or others at that time. But now, after understanding how the preamp controls actually work on both of these amps, I’m able to get the tones that I’m looking for by adjusting the frequencies that I want to hear, so with either it’s important to spend time with the manual understanding the controls.
I think you’ll find reliability is really good with all of these, and it really comes down to the tone that you’re trying to get and what you’re playing situation is. I use my D800+ for my rock cover brand (80s-2000s) and play finger, slap and pick depending on what the tune calls for.
Since I gig in a lot of different venues (just about every weekend indoor and outdoor) the HPF on the front on the D800+ has been a
convenient way to tweak tone for the room or space. With my Aguilars I use a Broughton HPF pedal, but don’t keep that on my board, so the D800+ was just more convenient for me since it’s rack mounted and simple for gigging. I’ve been able to dial in the tone I want to hear on both of these Mfgs, but you’ll want to read and understand the manuals for both, as I said the preamps are very different between the two.
I will say I’ve learned a ton from having the lead designer of the Mesa bass amps here on Talk Bass and that’s one of the reasons I bought my first one.
love the gray!
