lee650

Sorry Muzz I had the 1025x so I haven't tried 1024. I loved the neck on the 1025 as i found it gad a nice wide spacing a shallow C profile and a Very flat fongerboard radius which I love. The 424 and 2024 had similar necks which I found to be very similar to my Musicman Sterling, which is a kind of chunky jazz neck (similar to 70s jazz) slim but more of a shallow D, it's a very comfortable profile indeed, I love the neck on my 424.

Oooh I'd have a piece of that!! 😍

The 1024x also has a Maple/Nato neck, only the uber expensive 2024 series has maple/mahogany. I owned a 424 and a 1025x for a while,and they arn't thst far apart in terms of quality(I sold the 1025x and kept the 424 though) I've even recently played a 2024 and I realise now why they discontinued all three of those series and there wasn't much between all of them. You can feel that there is a big difference in the build quality, but soundwise they are very close. I'm not keen on the current 434 etc lineup, they have made big differences between the models. I also don't like the look, they have gone more Fender than the classic Yamaha look, thst was used in the 414/424/1024 series. As Andy stated though, I am moving on a few things as I've got the bug for a vintage P bass 🙄

I've had most of the compressors on your list,and my compression requirements are the same as yours. The Diamond is a lovely compressor, although it has a very low 3:1 ratio,That's fine for general smoothing and tone enhancement. While usibg it I thought it was too subtle and sold it,however when i didnt have it, I really noticed the difference. The tone is lovely and as previously described, it adds a little fairy dust to the tone. Very simple controls too. Similar comps I've had to this are the 3 leaf Pwnzor,which has a lot more control,but harder to "get right". I'm currently using the fairly unknown Nemphasis VT which has little to no information online,so is generally unknown outside of Italy. It is a high end comp and does have that tone improving quality of the Diamond (slightly cheaper option too) and has very easy controls as it only has comp (threshold I'd say) and attack (which seems to work like the cali in that it affects the attack/release at the same time) it us very subtle so id say it has a set low ratio. Optical comps tend to sound warmer and more organic. The Cali 76 is a fantastic comp, it does change the tone, in that it adds a much brighter sheen to the sound,so would work well with the Aguilar. It has a lot more controls but it is so intuitive (with the combined attack/release) it's easy to get a great sound. The blend and HPF really help open up the tone,and gove a lor of variety.It can be coloured or very transparent. The all things to all men comp. I haven't tried the Aguilar,but it is highly regarded and a transparent comp,that doesn't change the tone. I haven't tried the Dark glass,which is supposed to be very dark,however the Hyper Luminal is supposed to be very different,and has three different modes incl a super symmetry mode and a cali mode! Very worth a try! I briefly had the MXR (awful) clinical toneless and noisy!! Moving on 😂 From what I've read the Empress is supposed to be amazing,but very transparent, so may not work as a tone enhancer. I've used the EBS multi comp so many times and although it doesn't have the level of control of modern comps, it has a fantastic tone, and can do warm with the Tube mode,or very articulate. I always found, it could clamp down too much with certain basses,however the threshold can be adjusted via a trimpot. These can be found fairly cheaply and may just work for you. On my list are the FEA comps which While expensive, are the creme de la creme!! If youve the cash and can find one.

Very true! It was the lightest bass I've ever owned!!

My latest incarnation! Nemphasis VT bass comp- set for subtle smooth fattening 3 leaf Wonderlove envelope filter- for reverse sweep funkyness. The wonderlove has a loop, so effects are placed after the input detector and before the envelope,to preserve dynamics (Yes I know I've a comp running into it😁)- in the loop I have Cog T70 octave 3 octavers in one,two seperate octaves and a sub switch for OC2 emulation. This also has a loop,so the octave can be run in parallel, so the octave runs cleanly underneath whatever effect is in its loop. In the T70 loop I have EHX bass big muff fuzz- no introduction Mooer Lofi machine - for Glitchy robot sounds/percussive clavinet like tones. Future Impact - covering synths/octaves/filters/phasers/ all allsorts. I'm able to use synth lead sounds and add the octave below it, effectively giving me at the same time 1 - octave Down ( with Filter giving synthy or smooth octave tones) 2- clean bass 3- octave up 4- synth lead sound (or whatever effect in the loop) Then in series with cog Source Audio Gemini - programmed with chorus/flange/Phaser/Resonator/env phaser

I will be watching this with great interest!! 😁