10 Aguilar Pedals to Elevate Your Bass Tone in 2025
Aguilar, a renowned name in the bass guitar community, offers an extensive lineup of pedals that cater to various needs, from thick overdrives to creative modulations and precise compressors. The company’s pedals are designed to give you tone versatility while maintaining your low-end solid and transparent.
In this guide, we’ll dive into the top 10 Aguilar bass pedals for 2025, showcasing their best features and how they can improve your tone. Whether you’re after vintage vibes or modern versatility, there’s something here for every bassist. Let’s get started!
In a hurry? Check out our quick guide with all of the featured pedals at the end of the article.
About Aguilar Amplification
Aguilar Amplification was founded in 1995 in New York City, with the goal of providing top-of-the-line equipment to bass players. The company became a household name in the bass community throughout the years and is a long-time favorite among many musicians.
While Aguilar was founded as an amplifier manufacturer, nowadays the company offers a full line of bass pedals specially designed for the instrument, featuring high-quality units and effects such as distortion, fuzz, preamps, and modulations.
10 Best Aguilar Bass Pedals in 2025
Aguilar AG Preamp
Main Features
- Clean bass preamp with 4-band EQ
- Foot switchable “Deep” and “Bright” broadband boosts
- Balanced DI with pre/post and ground lift controls
- Headphone/aux out
Adding a preamp to your pedalboard can make a world of difference to your bass tone. The Aguilar AG Preamp is a solid, studio-quality choice that can be used both when playing live and when recording.
With a clean 4-band EQ and two broadband boost modes (deep and bright), the AG preamp is excellent if you want to give your signal a slight push without altering the tone, thanks to its wide gain sensitivity. It is also a great choice if you’re looking for a compact unit to practice with, as it features a headphone/aux out.
Aguilar Agro V2
Main Features
- Tube overdrive designed for bass
- Built-in Presence and Contour EQ controls
- Designed to preserve low-end clarity
Bassists looking for an overdrive pedal often come across the age-old fact that most pedals don’t preserve low-end clarity as they should. The Agro V2 overdrive solves that problem by giving your tone some growl and grind while maintaining a solid foundation.
As the Saturation knob is quite responsive and flexible, you can easily make the Agro V2 go from slight saturation to full-blown distortion. However, one of the most interesting features of this pedal is the EQ controls: with the Presence and Contour knobs, you can adjust the brightness and the mid-range of your tone, respectively.
Aguilar Fuzzistor
Main Features
- Analog silicon fuzz designed for bass
- Blend control for clean tone mixing
- Solid and transparent low-end response
- Built-in tilt EQ
If you’re looking for a bass fuzz that can preserve your tone clarity, the Fuzzistor is your best bet. This silicon-based pedal excels in retaining low-end punch and top-end transparency, making it ideal for thick, ground-shaking riffs.
One of the main standouts of this pedal is the Blend knob, an essential feature that allows you to mix your clean and fuzz tones as you wish so you can get the most out of your bass. When paired with a compressor, the Fuzzistor really shines.
Aguilar Tone Hammer
Main Features
- Colorful, analog bass preamp with built-in overdrive
- Three-band EQ with sweepable mid-range
- Overdrive circuit with dedicated footswitch
- Headphone/aux out
The Tone Hammer is a superb analog, vintage-sounding preamp with a built-in overdrive. Compared to the previously mentioned AG, which focuses on a clean tone, this unit excels in coloring your tone while keeping your low-end sounding solid.
The overdrive circuit is very responsive, pairing well with the three-band EQ sweepable mid-range and the Engage function. One of the standout facts about the Tone Hammer is that the preamp section really pushes the saturation forward, eliminating the need for any other pedal.
Aguilar TLC Compressor V2
Main Features
- Studio-quality bass compressor pedal
- Clean-sounding, distortion-free compression
- Trans Linear Control (TLC) circuit
- Level, Threshold, Attack, and Slope controls
Every bass player knows that a good compressor pedal is an essential addition to any pedalboard, and the TLC Compressor is an excellent choice. This clean-sounding, distortion-free unit can even out your signal and deliver a solid, thumping tone.
Unlike most compact compressor pedals, the TLC offers several parameters to control its compression: Threshold, to determine when it starts acting, Attack, for controlling your transients, and Slope, a wide-range knob that lets you set the effect ratio from 2:1 to infinity.
The TLC uses Aguilar’s proprietary Trans Linear Control circuit, which minimizes distortion, so the pedal might not be the best choice for those looking to add some color/saturation to their tones. However, it is still one of the most versatile bass compressors in the market.
Aguilar Storm King
Main Features
- Warm, tube-like bass distortion/fuzz
- Inspired by the drive circuit of the Aguilar Tone Hammer Preamp
- SHAPE knob to customize distortion character
- KICK function for added punch and presence
The Aguilar Storm King is a compact bass distortion/fuzz pedal inspired by the drive circuit of the Tone Hammer Preamp. While the unit is very compact and minimalistic, it can deliver anything from warm, tube-like saturation to ripped-speaker fuzz tones.
One of the most interesting features of the Storm King is the KICK function, which adds more punch and presence to your tone at the push of a button. This function is very similar to the Engage mode found in the Tone Hammer preamp.
Another nice addition to this little pedal is the SHAPE knob, which is quite responsive and versatile, making the distortion character progressively wilder and fuzzier as you push it further.
Aguilar Octamizer V2
Main Features
- All-analog bass octave pedal
- Dedicated octave/clean controls
- Clean tone tilt EQ/filter
- Octave tone multi-pole low pass filter
Adding an octave pedal to your bass setup can greatly expand your tone possibilities, and the Aguilar Octamizer is a clean-sounding octave unit designed to work flawlessly with the instrument.
Featuring dedicated controls for each circuit, the Octamizer is extremely versatile: you can either blend your clean tone with the effect or use the lower octave by itself. Paired with a fuzz, it can sound wild.
Another very handy feature in the Octamizer is the built-in low pass filter for the octave-down effect, which can greatly enhance your tone clarity and prevent the effect from messing with your clean signal when you blend the two.
Aguilar Filter Twin V2
Main Features
- Analog bass envelope filter
- Dual-filter design (up/down)
- Blend control for filter mixing
- Independent velocity control for each filter
The Filter Twin V2 bass envelope filter is a solid choice for spicing up your funky riffs. With a dual design featuring up and down filtering and a clean-sounding blend knob for maximum tone control, it is one of the most versatile units for this specific effect.
This pedal packs in some very interesting features, such as the independent velocity control for each filter: you can fine-tune the speed of each section separately, allowing for some very experimental tones.
If you’re instead looking for a more classic, 1970s Bootsy Collins-esque funk tone, the Filter Twin can do that as well, as you can isolate the up and down filtering effects using the Blend knob.
Aguilar Chorusaurus V2
Main Features
- All-analog bass chorus pedal
- BBD (Bucket Brigade Design) technology
- Blend control
- Mono and stereo output (with Y cable)
Using a chorus to widen your tone is a classic technique used by many legendary bass players, but maintaining tone transparency while doing so can be a challenge. The Chorusaurus is designed to deliver that effect while preserving your low-end content.
This pedal has several parameters that let you tailor the chorus effect, but one of the most interesting of them is the Width knob, offering highly-responsive control over how wide or mono-centric you want your tone to be.
Another very handy function of the Chorusaurus is its ability to send out a stereo signal using a Y cable, an addition that can open up a world of possibilities.
Aguilar Grape Phaser V2
Main Features
- Compact analog bass phaser
- Rate and Color knobs
- Four-stage analog phase-shifting technology
Often used by funk musicians to spice up their basslines, a phaser is always a great addition to your setup. The Grape Phaser is specially made for bass, with a minimalistic design and a four-stage phase-shifting effect that can deliver fat, colorful tones.
While the Color knob allows you to deeply fine-tune the effect’s character, it is designed to maintain your low-end sounding as transparent and as thick as possible no matter where you set it. The Rate parameter functions similarly, delivering anything from subtle modulation to full-blown experimental tones.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Aguilar Pedals Only Designed for Bass Players?
Yes, Aguilar pedals are specifically engineered for bass guitars, ensuring low-end clarity and a transparent tone, as well as providing special features tailored to bassists. However, some units can also work well with the electric guitar.
What Are the Best Aguilar Pedals for Funk Bass Players?
The Filter Twin V2 and the Grape Phaser V2 are excellent choices for playing funk basslines, as they’re both very dynamic and expressive effects.
What’s the Difference Between the Fuzzistor and Storm King Pedals?
While the Fuzzistor focuses on vintage fuzz tones, the Storm King combines fuzz and distortion with added tonal flexibility.
What’s the Difference Between the AG Preamp and the Tone Hammer Preamp?
The AG is a clean-sounding preamp that’s designed to maintain your bass tone transparency, while the Tone Hammer has an analog character to it and can color your sound. The latter also features a built-in overdrive.
Conclusion
As you can see, Aguilar pedals are currently the best choice for bassists looking for effects units that can preserve a solid low-end tone while offering extended tonal choices and creative possibilities.
Thank you for reading our article! Here is a recap of all the pedals mentioned in this blog post:
|
Effect |
Pedal |
Price |
|
Preamp |
$299.99 |
|
|
Overdrive |
$249.99 |
|
|
Fuzz |
$199.99 |
|
|
Preamp |
$299.99 |
|
|
Compressor |
$249.99 |
|
|
Distortion/Fuzz |
$179.99 |
|
|
Octave |
$199.99 |
|
|
Envelope Filter |
$249.99 |
|
|
Chorus |
$249.99 |
|
|
Phaser |
$199.99 |
You can check these and many other pedals in our store!
More Interesting Reads:
10 Best Fuzz and Distortion Pedals for Bass in 2025
Ultimate Guide to Compressor Pedals | Best Compressor Pedals in 2025
How to Set Up Your Pedalboard | Guitar Pedal Order Explained
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