bassmayhem

Pity it has guitar string spacing, more or less...

I got the blue limited edition version of this compressor; it was £30 cheaper than the ordinary black one. More good looking too... Opinion after a couple of days... I don't exaggerate the use of compressors; I don't see them as an effect, but something that is always on. You don't notice the Pedal76 that much until you turn it off. Also - if you push it hard into somewhat overdriven tone, it curls the hairs on your toes in a very pleasant way. Lower ratio and high input, and then drive on high... ❤ If you want more possibilities to tweak the tone: buy an Origin Effects or an Empress. If you want an always-on that is just there, this is a winner. Good price, nice design and no matter how stolen/copied it is from the original UREI, which is now very expensive. Used with the double bass also in "overdrive mode"; low ratio and high input. Sounds fantastic.

The thing that makes most six string basses feel unfamiliar and awkward is that the string spacing often differs a lot from a four or five string bass. Personally, I prefer the same string-to-string spacing regardless of number of strings. Unfortunately, that is a specification that more often than seldom is left out in the info when you google different bass brands. I prefer 19 mm, but 18 will do. My six string is 18 mm with the possibility to adjust out to around 18.5 mm. Try different basses! Also, the neck profile is of importance, as well as the balance of the instrument.

I left my six string Unicorn Artist to Christian Olsson, Unicorn himself, this summer for a total electronic makeover. I bought the bass second hand, loved it, but disliked the electronics the previous owner had demanded. New higher output split coil "reverse P" pickups as well as serial/parallel switching on each pickup. Also, a 5 way rotary switch with different capacitors. As icing on the cake, the bass also got balanced output. All passive circuit. I also brought my "Mean Green Machine" , my Purist 5, to get the same electronics and switching done. Christian is truly the Master of arts... I also commissioned a new fretless 5 string Artist; it'll be ready in February 2026. Christian with his own personal bass, yours truly with The White One... Master at work... Here is the White One after upgrade... ...and a close-up where you see the grain of the quilted maple top under the thin layer of white. Pickups are capped with ebony, and knobs are solid ebony too. The fingerboard is really brutal; heavily quilted and roasted maple... Close-up of the pickups...

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.