SOUNDROOM
BASS PLAYER |MARCH 2005
didn’t help me heft it into my hatchback or grunt upstairs
to a second-floor practice room. For my next practice
I carried the AG 500 head by it’s side-handle in one
hand and a separate GS 112 in the other—a breeze by
comparison.
SOUND & APPLICATION
With the EQ set flat, the AG 500’s clean channel sounds
strong, with a full, warm bottom and crisp, articulate
top end. Turning up GAIN reveals a logarithmic slope
that gets real loud real quick once the knob passes noon.
Backed up by the power amp’s quick, immediate feel,
the clean channel has a huge dynamic response with a
punchy, percussive attack and dryish texture that’s great
for aggressive playing styles. CHANNEL 1 also has a nat-
urally strong, deep bottom, but its powerful BASS EQ has
enough boost to tackle any reasonable situation. Adding
in the DEEP switch’s musical boom helps extend cover-
age to unreasonable situations. The TREBLE control adds
a nice top-end sweetness that never gets harsh even
when fully cranked. Nearly all the knobs were like this—
even at their extremes, there were useable tones; you
simply couldn’t mess yourself up too much. That said,
the HIGH MID and LOW MID knobs aren’t voiced as well
as the others; their comparatively narrow bandwidth
tended to add honk or notch the tone, rather than offer
a more universally useable application. Overall, I found
the AG 500’s clean channel to be very musical, both in
the head and combo contexts. With a band, I cut through
clearly with a round fundamental that didn’t get lost,
even with ludicrously loud bands practicing in adjacent
rooms.
CHANNEL 2 is the dual-channel AG 500’s overdrive
circuit. A SATURATION knob sits where CHANNEL 1’s GAIN
knob resides, but internally its followed by a compen-
sating gain stage, which ensures the output volume
remains constant and the channel free of overload regard-
less of how much saturation is dialed in. From a gritty
snarl at the SATURATION knob’s lowest reaches, to a pow-
erful growl with the knob at noon, CHANNEL 2 is like the
ugly-and-loving-it Mr. Hyde to CHANNEL 1’s clean-liv-
ing Dr. Jekyll. CONTOUR and PRESENCE have the most
direct effect on the overdrive quality, with the former
adding a broad-range scoop in the upper mids and the
latter enhancing top-end fuzz. Through bigger rigs it’s
clear that the AG 500’s overdrive is not like a traditional
overdriven tube fuzz, but a thick sound all it’s own.
Some may prefer a favorite fuzz pedal or find no need
for distortion at all, but I loved having both sounds of
the AG 500’s two channels at my toe tips, especially
when it came time to play big unison riffs. With CHAN-
NEL 2 engaged, CONTOUR around 10 o’clock, and PRES-
ENCE at 2 P.M., the AG ripped my bandmates’ heads off
most pleasantly.
The real fun of the AG 500, though, is in its killer
dynamic sensitivity. Clean or dirty, it always feels like
you’ve got more power available. It’s notable that the
AG 500’s underlying technology makes the playing expe-
rience completely different than that of the company’s
flagship high-powered head, the DB 750. Rather than
plushy and finger sensitive, the AG 500 has a quick,
more immediately responsive feel. And it’s loud. Through
big cabs, small cabs, or in the combo, the AG is indeed
a full-figured head. No doubt, this puppy barks big. But
you can use that power responsibly, digging into that
extra headroom to make accented notes and fills really
mean something.
The AG 500SC-112C combo exhibits all of the qual-
ities of the standalone head’s clean channel in a warm-
sounding one-piece combo with plenty of bottom. Using
an additional GS 112 as an extension cab, and turning
off one of the tweeters made for a compact but potent
4Ωrig.
Playing through the Aguilar’s AG 500 is like work-
ing with a specially crafted tool, with lots of options,
thoughtful conveniences, and a good, solid sounds.
Backed up by its big power section, the AG feels like a
muscle car, with ample reserve to deliver more when
necessary. Aguilar has produced a great product for bass
players, and that’s why the AG 500 head deserves a BASS
PLAYER Editor’s Award. BP
66
www.bassplayer.com
Aguilar continued
Options Rack ears are
included with all stand-
alone heads; a two-
button channel-select
and mute/operate
footswitch are included
with the dual-channel
AG 500, whether stand-
alone or in a combo. A
footswitch for the AG
500SC is also available
(price unavailable at
press time).
AG 500SC-112C
SPEAKER CABINET
Speakers Custom cast-
frame Eminence speaker
with 56 oz. Magnet,
P.Audio compression
driver tweeter
Impedance 8Ω
Frequency response
42Hz–16kHz
Power handling 300
watts RMS
Sensitivity 102dB spl
Dimensions AG 500:
17e" x 10w" x 3k";
AG 500SC-112C: 20" x
18w" x 20w"
Weight AG 500: 17 lbs;
AG 500SC-112C: 69 lbs
Made in U.S.A.
Warranty Three years
limited
Note the two preamp boards, large power supply capacitors,
and the Tripath output module. The small passive heatsink is
due to the AG 500’s efficient switching power amp.
SECOND OPINION
Using the AG 500 with a separate Aguilar GS 112: Nice warm sound on the gig with a strong fundamental that didn’t dominate.
Plenty of headroom. EQ knobs seemed reversed. Channel 1’s HIGH and LOW MID EQs a bit peaky; couldn’t get the Jaco sound using MID
knobs. Appreciate mute both on footswitch and push-button. Lights seem mighty bright. —JONATHAN HERRERA
TECH SPECS cont.
