Power Trip

Power Trip
I N S I D E
A G U I L A R
is one of the most
challenging instruments to amplify,” says Alex Aguilar, who cofounded New York’s Aguilar Amplification,
“ with his partner, Dave Boonshoft. “It
along
has a limited bandwidth, but it’s in a region
of the audio spectrum that’s extremely hard
to reproduce accurately, loudly, and with
enough power to satisfy the requirements of
players in all situations.” Alex and Dave have
taken on the challenge, and with great success: With under a decade in business, the
company’s high-end bass amps—as well as
preamps, power amps, speaker cabinets,
onboard bass preamps, and direct boxes—
can be found on stages and in studios throughout the music world. Aguilar’s seventh-floor
factory and office suite is located at the busy
intersection of Broadway and Houston Street
in Manhattan’s Soho district, and that’s where
I went to get an up-close view.
In the bright, airy reception area between
Aguilar and Boonshoft’s spacious offices, the
pair elaborate on their concept. “One of the
hardest things to amplify is huge transients
like slapping,” says Alex. “The trick is you need
a lot of clean power, so that’s what we strive
for. With our amplifiers, we take precise audio
measurements of power and combine that with
extremely low distortion levels. And we don’t
use the peak power measurement like some
manufacturers; we measure power using RMS
ratings.” He explains further, “On a lot of bass
amps, especially tube models, you can achieve
full power only at a specific frequency—say
400Hz—but if you go down to 80Hz the power
is significantly less.” We head down the
hallway, pausing at the packing and shipping
room before entering the factory area, and
Boonshoft continues, “Our amps are broadband, so from 20Hz—or the 33Hz of a B
“BASS
GUITAR
A M P L I F I C A T I O N
string—all the way up to the highest note, they’ll
deliver the full power rating. We’re becoming
known for how loud and true our amps are
compared to amps with similar power ratings.”
Most of the company’s ten employees
work in the manufacturing area, a meticulous
rectangular space with a long row of windows
on the north side, overlooking Houston Street
and NYU’s facilities. As we stroll through the
various assembly stations manned by technicians doing detailed handwork, and head
toward the soundroom in the rear, I ask: Is
there such a thing as the Aguilar sound? “It’s
not easy to put in a few words,” answers Boonshoft, “but generally our sound goal is to hear
the complete harmonic structure with an
unfettered transient response. The result is a
harmonically rich, dynamic sound.” Aguilar
points out, “A good example of how we
achieve that is our DB 750 tube/solid-state
hybrid bass amp—our most popular unit.
With its 0.003 percent total harmonic distortion rating, it rivals any hi-fi audio amp, and
it can be used in any recording studio as a reference amp. We want the power section to be
transparent and basically not color the tone
at all. The EQ and coloration—the ‘Aguilar
sound’—is all in the preamp section; the
power amp just delivers that to the speakers.”
The genesis of Aguilar traces back to 1987.
Alex Aguilar was working at Bell Labs when,
through a mutual friend, he met Jay Black
(then of Sadowsky Guitars), who asked him
if he was interested in designing batteryoperated preamps for basses and guitars. Alex,
who had played guitar since he was a teen,
took on the project in his spare time. As he
got feedback on his prototypes, one of the
names that kept coming up as a test bassist
was Dave Boonshoft. “Finally,” recalls Alex,
“I spoke to him directly, and that made a lot
Aguilar co-founders Dave Boonshoft and
Alex Aguilar, with company vice president
Dave Avenius (seated).
of things clearer.” The Sadowsky preamp circuit was born and, in 1991, Aguilar opened
his own guitar-amp customizing and repair
shop in the suite next door to Sadowsky.
Meanwhile, Boonshoft was doing sessions and
running a studio and vintage audio gear-rental
business. Realizing the superior bass sound
he was able to get via high-end audio equipment like old Neve and Telefunken mic preamps, he approached Alex about building a
studio-quality bass tube preamp. The success
of that unit, the DB 680—“DB” stands for
“Dave Boonshoft”—led the pair to found the
company in late 1994. By ’98, with such product successors as the DB 359 bass amp and
the OBP-1 onboard preamp in production,
Aguilar moved downtown to its present digs.
A speaker cabinet line and the DB 750 followed soon after.
This year marks the introduction of the
company’s first all solid-state bass amp, the
AG 500, and the company is also working on
a line of pickups to go with its OBP-3 onboard
preamps. Boonshoft sums up, “We try to apply
great design and great engineering in the service of musicality. We’re making electronics
that are an extension of the musical instrument and, ultimately, the musician.”
Continued
B Y
C H R I S
J I S I
Reprinted by permission from the February 2004 issue of BASS PLAYER. Copyright © 2004 United Entertainment Media.
All rights reserved. Used by permission. Subscribe to BASS PLAYER at www.bassplayer.com.
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY ALDO MAURO
Aguilar Factory Tour continued
3
1
2
1 One of the first manufacturing steps
4
is “populating” the various circuitboards. From there, the boards move on
to different sub-assembly phases, such as being mounted to chassis. Here,
Marianna Velez is preparing shielded coaxial cable on a circuit board for a
DB 900 direct box. 2 Alex Aguilar stands next to a rack of completed—or
populated—boards for a DB 750 head. He notes, “All of our units, particularly the DB 680 preamp, have extensive hand-wiring done with the help of
very skilled people. The meticulous wiring and soldering and the sharp
right angles of the wiring are not just pleasing to the eye; the units perform best noise-wise when
6
they’re routed this way. So there’s a visual and a sonic purpose.” 3 This DB 680 has its board in place; note the four
power tubes on the left and the preamp tube in the center.
“The wiring and the routing is critical, because vacuum
tubes are high-impedance circuits,” Aguilar stresses. “It’s
an art, really; you can design a great amplifier but if the
construction’s implementation is flawed, you’ll have inferior
performance.”
4 Senior Technical Production Manager Robert Crespo
points to a tin-plated copper ground conductor cable strap on
7
a DB 750 board. Mounting of the cable is critical; if it moves a few millimeters off its ground trace, it can
affect the unit’s performance and distortion rating. 5 Robert solders inside a DB 750 power amp. “Robert
was one of our first employees,” explains Boonshoft. “He previously worked for a company that built
military helicopter assemblies, which meant having to meet extremely high standards for how to twist a
wire, how to make a solder joint, and so on. As we needed more employees, Robert brought in other
workers from his former job. As a result, we have a very high level of workmanship and pride.”
6 Technician Bruce Coleman uses precision tools to install knobs on a DB 750 at his workstation. 7 Also in Coleman’s station is one of Aguilar’s vibration tables, also called
8
industrial electronic shaker tables. Bruce places units on the table, turns on the audio
diagnostic equipment (a full-spectrum audio analyzer, a distortion analyzer, and a
multi-function meter to test voltage and current), runs a 1kHz signal through the audio
analyzer, and observes the waveform. A second
vibration test takes place on another shaker table
9
with audio analyzers in the soundroom, where the
units are further shock-tested by being struck
with rubber hammers.
8 Alex Aguilar shows me a DB 728 power amp
that a customer sent in for repair after the toggle
switch was broken off. A check of the serial number reveals the unit to be one of the first 50 made in 1997, with its original tubes
still in place. “We don’t just repair the toggle switch; we put the unit through our
whole function test again. Here, we’re testing it by looking at the waveform on a
Hewlett-Packard audio analyzer that can measure distortion down to thousandths of a percent and noise down to –100dB. It goes from 20Hz to 100kHz.”
9 Alex Aguilar holds the populated chassis of a DB 924 outboard preamp,
pointing to the L-shaped heatsink he designed. 0 A cart of completed DB 924
outboard preamps. “Once they’re sealed like this they’re virtually indestructible;
you can soak them in water.” From here, the units undergo final testing for frequency response, dynamic range, and noise level, as well as a feel test for the
pots and knobs, and a cosmetic inspection. “We have a typical measurement for
each sonic test. If it doesn’t fall within those parameters, the unit is rejected and
it goes through troubleshooting.”
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Continued
0
5
Aguilar Factory Tour continued
-
- Saquan Pointer, Aguilar’s prototype technician, at his station. “When
we have a design on paper, we give it to Saquan and he builds a prototype
board and is responsible for changes along the way,” explains Boonshoft.
“The research and design stage takes the longest, and we’re often here into
the wee hours and on weekends.” Note the foam platform the DB 750 sits
on; there’s one at every station to prevent scratches on units. = This “top
secret” box contains Aguilar’s upcoming AG 500, a 500-watt, 18-pound,
two-rackspace, all-solid-state bass amplifier, expected to have a list price
of around $1,500. The unit, which was scheduled for a Winter NAMM introduction at press time, features two footswitchable channels: one clean, and
one that can go from clean to tube-like grit to extreme overdrive. With its
solid-state MOSFET configuration and switching power amp design, Aguilar is aiming to cre-
=
ate a lightweight, less expensive bass amp that meets the company’s standards for sound
and workmanship.
q Once assembly is complete and a unit goes through its power-up phase,
amplifiers and rack preamps are left on to test-run for 24 to 48 hours. This is the
“burn-in” phase. “Most tube and solid-state components have an infant
w
mortality, which means if something is going to go wrong it will happen very early
on,” explains Alex. w As a final test, all completed units and their spec sheets
are brought into the soundroom, a studio-like space that is floated on springs
(jumping up and down bears this to be true). Company Vice President Dave
q
Avenius personally tests every piece through all of its functions. In addition to a shaker table and
audio analyzers, there’s a multi-effect unit to test the effect loops, as well as several 4-, 5-, and
6-string basses and several Aguilar rigs.
e Aguilar’s speaker drivers are made by Eminence to Aguilar’s specs.
e
The company uses Luan Filipino plywood for its cabinets—“It’s lighter and
more resonant than most plywoods,” says Boonshoft—which are manufactured in an offsite proprietary wood shop. Here, some of the Aguilar
speaker cabinet line stands just outside the soundroom, including the GS
410 (the company’s first cab, introduced in early ’00), GS 210, GS 112, and
GS 412. “The GS 112,” reports Boonshoft, “was designed with New York
City bassists in mind who have to hop into a cab and then walk through
a club’s crowded bar to get to the stage.”
r In the packing and shipping room, units are given a final cosmetic inspection by Mike Magno. He will also
install the final screws, add the lit-
t
erature, and then pack and ship the
r
units to customers and stores.
t OBP-3 onboard preamps stocked
in the packing room. Aguilar sells
its onboard preamps to over 50
bass makers.
N A K E D
38
BP
B A S S
As a working bassist, Dave Boonshoft brings plenty
Maxwell to Sade, and compilations featuring homegrown
of experience to his role as the musical and conceptual
talent like Blue Six, Lisa Shaw, and Aquanote. For a sam-
half of Aguilar. The Dayton, Ohio native arrived in New
pling of Boonshoft’s boom, courtesy of his ’63 Fender
York City in 1981, in time to catch the tail end of the once-
Jazz Bass, flatwound-strung ’63 Fender Precision, and
lucrative jingle and publishing demo-session scene, and
’59 Gibson EB-2 (shown at left), through an Aguilar DB
to study with Ken Smith. In ’93, after doing just about
680 preamp, check out Blue Six’s Beautiful Tomorrow
every other Gotham gig imaginable, he met producer/
[Naked/Astralwerks] or the Naked Music compilations
keyboardist/composer Jay Denes, and the two eventually
Bare Essentials, Vol. 2 [Naked/Astralwerks] and What’s
formed the dance label Naked Music. “As R&B musicians,
On Your Mind? [Naked/OM]. Dave, who also fields calls
we got into the dance scene because it was producer-
from other dance producers, provided the bottom for
driven music and we didn’t have any artists,” Dave relates.
Ultra Naté’s 1997 No. 1 European single “Free,” and he
The label has since released highly successful house,
recently played on a remix of a track from Aretha
urban soul, and electronica remixes for everyone from
Franklin’s new Arista CD, So Damn Happy.
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