bassmayhem

There are not so many amp models in the Anagram, but they are enough for me. The only two I use are the Peggy Bass (SVT) and Leo Bass (Bassman) blocks, combined with the Vintage Microtubes block, just to add a bit of hair on the toes. The Harmonic Booster is also very useful. I also (mostly) use a free IR from Olympic, their B15 cab for the DI sound. I get the tone I want to PA that way. The amp out is without IR. I use my amps mostly as stage monitoring. Coming to effects, I only use chorus, flanger, envelope, octave and a tad of reverb in different combinations. In Stomp Mode I have chorus, envelope and octave on respective foot switch. In scene mode I have the first footswitch clean, the second chorus+reverb a bit boosted for solo, the third is a"synth patch" with octave+envelope+flanger. Mostly I set the BUS compressor AFTER the octave and envelope to tame them a bit, but before the reverb. All other tone shaping comes from my hands and controls on my basses. One thing I may get is the new MXR Synth pedal and put it in the effects loop. Here is my main gig rig; small and very potent. (No! No beverage on rig during gig!)

I use four outlets from a Cioks DC7 connected in a parallel chain with their "link cables" feeding the Anagram 2A at 12V. You could do 2A at 9V too, but since the Anagram can use both, I prefer 12V. 2A is enough.

Today I got a response from them: "Hey Roger, Thank you for checking in and I hope you are well. After some testing we have verified that the Luminal block is working and there is no bug causing a malfunction. If you would like an aggressive compression with the FET compressor and especially if you are using a potentially low output bass, an additional boost with a Gain block or another one of preference might be needed before the compressor, in addition to turning up the Input control setting. Can you please verify if that is the case?" Well, I ain't that pleased with the answer. The BUS Compressor works fine in comparison, but the need of an extra gain stage, stealing place in the signal chain, just to bump up the signal so the input in the Hyper Luminal will work well feels a bit unnecessary. They could trim the input gain control on the compressor block and save some space. I got an answer. Or - we all got an answer, since it wasn't me who brought up the matter in the first place. And - I don't want an aggressive compression; I want compression. I think I'll stick to the BUS Compressor; it makes what I want it to do...

I got a reply from Darkglass concerning the bug: "Hey Roger, Thank you for contacting us and we hope you are doing well. This issue was brought to our attention and we are currently investigating the situation. As soon as we have further information on this matter, rest assured we will provide an update as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience."

No response so far concerning the bug in the Hyper Luminal Compressor block. More voices need to be heard, maybe...

I contacted Support. They use to be swift fixing bugs...

Changed it.

I gain nothing; just do Johan a favour. But I always appreciate a good luck wish. I haven't tried the basses myself; Johan lives in the south of Sweden, and we meet maybe once a year. I own three non PureArt Unicorns myself, but they are a different species. Johan has specified the PureArt after his own preferences: 30" scale and 17 mm spacing. I prefer 34" and up, and 18-19 mm spacing. So no PureArt for me.

My friend Johan Sievert has a joint venture with Unicorn Basses here in Sweden, who builds a nice model only obtainable through Johan's company Basstraders (basstradersweden.com) They release a new five string model - they had only six string basses before - and Johan asked me if I would be so kind to spread the word. "For anyone who comes through your posts I give them 10 % discount before I sell the basses on Reverb..." I won't get anything, only the buyer. Anyway, I've spread the word. If I break any rule, just delete the post, otherwise enjoy the video. Here is the link:

I tried to use the GAIN block to drive the AMP block, but it only resulted in "same but louder", not like an amp at breakup. I only use the gain stage to match my different basses output signals to the Anagram, by making three similar presets (on each bank) with unity gain, -9 dB and +9 dB for the different basses. The block HARMONIC BOOSTER is also very useful to get a nice tone. It really enhances what comes after. I start my chain: Gain - Harmonic Booster - Vintage Microtubes - Peggy Bass... all other stuff on scenes ... BUS Compressor and finishes off with an IR B15 cab from Shift Line. I also put a high pass filter at the end at ~60 Hz just to not make PA guy cry... Well, I do not really care HOW to get a tone that I want; the main thing is that I get the tone I want. Many modelers have "gain stages", but they tend to just sound harsh and kind of trashy in my ears when overdriven. The way I do it gives me the tone most similar to a tube amp - Ampeg or other - without using a tube amp. I have an Ashdown CTM-100 with a H&K Quantum 810 in the rehearsing room; it NEVER leaves the place. I get almost the same creamy-ish kind of tone out of the Anagram into my clean micro rigs and/or PA and studio monitors. I also put the BUS compressor block at the end of the signal chain so I can play with the dynamics into the tone shaping blocks at the beginning. This will surely be a long thread...

The use of an overdrive in front of the amp block is what make it break up. I don't drive that too hard, just to get some hair on the tone. It sounds very good; not at all that harsh or "crackled" than many other modelers sound when raising the gain on the amp block. It makes it for me, anyhow. I sold the Quad Cortex, I sold the Helix, I sold the HX Stomp XL. This one sounds so much better to my ears. Not at all as competent as QC, but I prefer tone and simplicity.

Well, I do not drive it extremely, just to get it creamy. I don't fancy distorted bass that much. Just a bit of attitude.