thisisswanbon

Great pedals these - much preferred this to the aftershock that followed.  GLWTS

Rattler sold 🙂

19 minutes ago, Paddy777 said:

 

This is what I’m down to now and couldn’t be happier with it, Starlifter is immense and the Anagram does everything I could ask for really, only took me a net loss of about £2k buying selling pedals to arrive here 😁 

What are you using the anagram for, Paddy?  I feel like I've gone from loving the amp sims to battling with them!

Four pedals up for grabs after the purchase of a Darkglass Anagram.  Will take individual images later and edit to suit.  Will be sad to see them all go but enjoying and unable to return my Anagram and determined to make it work...

All pedals conveniently pre-velcro'd 😉

All prices plus £5 shipping or happy to drop off locally

Tonehammer DI Mk1 - £160

Fantastic preamp/DI that can do tubey amp sim style stuff or clean and uncoloured.

Good Condition - no box or PSU and screw for battery compartment missing but neatly taped up.

Line6 HX ONE - £160

Excellent swiss army knife pedal with sounds taken directly from the Helix (has a fantastic noble model). Incredibly well thought out control set with really handy flux FS.

Like new condition with box and PSU etc

Jam Bass Rattler MK2 - SOLD

Rat clone for bass with excellent clean blend and second gain boost F/S. My favourite analogue drive pedal, covers everything from low gain dirt and saturation to fuzzy madness

Like new condition with box and box candy

Source Audio Ultrawave Bass - £130

Fantastic digital utility and sdistortion swiss army knife - billed by SA as a mad distortion machine but it's so much more!  Fantastic studio level compressor, Graphic and parametric EQ, dual channels, every flavour of drive/distortion available as well as radge tremelo stuff which I never used.  My favourite digital standalone pedal, I used it for a lovely tube drive aswell as a radge gated fuzz and slight low mid boost all on seperate presets accessible via toggle switch or opens up massively with a £30 M-Vave chocolate+ controller.

Like new condition with box and PSU etc

Pedaltrain Nano Max - £50

Single row pedaltrain which can handle 7-8 pedals. Lightweight and excellent quality.

Excellent condition with high quality gig bag and strategically placed cable tie holders underneith.

Thats @MrDinsdale and @Paddy777! Thats really really informative, helpful and very much appreciated! 

The NAM stuff on there goes over my head a bit and I’ve stuck to the DG blocks - what’s the NAM stuff all about?

3 minutes ago, Acebassmusic said:

 

 

I looked at the DG pedal but at £200 I wasn't sure I wanted to go there for my needs so I got a MVave Chocolate Plus. It's got 4 buttons which have 2 actions (long and short press) so you have in effect 8 different operations. You can also set it up so that by pressing A&B or C&D together can change to a new bank of MIDI functions (max 8 banks). If I could only remember what I programmed and where I stored it, it would give me approx. 64 diferent commands! 

 

I have mine setup so that the MVave can quickly switch between presets & banks and my Anagram takes care of the scenes / stomp operations. The instructions for setting it up are not very clear at all so I had to do some internet digging to find out. Mine is powered / connected via the USB post so I dont have to worry about remembering to recharge it. Since setting it up its been rock solid with no glitches. Until such times as MIDI gets more fully integrated I dont think I'll get any extra value from the DG pedal for what I do.

I use the chocolate plus for my Source Audio C4 and it's an absolute gamechanger (especially when SA insist on midi adapters etc)... They're unbelievable value at £30, the battery lasts ages too!

10 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

The VBO is very good but I eventually got an MIJ OC-2 and the latter is noticeably nicer (both in terms of sound and feel) and tracks almost as well. Easy choice for me.

 

I’ve not had the OC-5 and OC-2 at the same time, but did have the OC-5 and VBO together and preferred the feel of the VBO. There was definitely a bit of a disconnect in feel for me and I sold it on quickly.

Thanks for the insight @Quatschmacher... Sounds like the VBO may not be what I'm after then - I'll stick with my Octabvre in that case I think..

You have no idea how pleased I am someone else has had the same experience with the OC-5 as me!  The cavalry has arrived! 😄

16 hours ago, Greg Edwards69 said:

Personally, I think there are a few parameter-based things rather than modelling, that make the Anagram sound arguably "better" than my Helix LT.

1. The default settings on the Anagram usually sound great. As has been mentioned before in this thread, many of the Helix block defaults are at "what were they thinking?" settings.
2. Almost every effect block in the Anagram has a clean blend. The Helix often requires you to insert effects on a parallel path just to make them usable for bass.
3. The anagram's parameters are pretty self explanatory for each block. The Helix replicates real world devices, including sometimes misleading parameters, or strange behaviour, and they take a while to get your head around.
4. The cab blocks are usable without much tweaking. It took me years (literally years) to get a usable tone out of a cab block in the Helix. I do wish the Angram cab blocks had hpf/lpf in them, though.

 

PS. Now that DG has demonstrated they can build amp blocks that do drive when pushed, I wonder if they'll revisit the Peggy block or make a new one.

All excellent points! The EBS and Orange blocks both do the breakup with completely different character so it'd be great if they re-visited Peggy!  Struggle to work out why they made the new Mesa blocks seperate clean and drive blocks instead of 1 block like the original amp.

I spent a good while with mine last night and started to get my "I'm seeing digital so I'm hearing digital" head on - So I pulled out the old board with a Tonehammer Pre on it for comparison, thinking I'd hear/feel something different and it'd be the death of the Anagram... didn't quite work out that way.  There was little to no difference in response between the Anagram and Tonehammer (this was using the Super Cali amp block without cab block), I think the Anagram may be the closest to analogue feeling I've come across for base clean tones!  What a belter of a unit this is!

4 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Excellent outcome and you're welcome, haha!

 

I know exactly what you mean about the sound quality in the way you've described it. I've experienced the exact same thing at the other (budget) end when upgrading from my cheap-as-chips Zoom B1-4 to the more mid-range Boss GT1000 Core / GX10 (and fwiw I do prefer both of those multifx's to my own experience of Helix Stomp and HX Effects).

 

I suspect that this sound quality you mention is very much related to the processing power of the chipset in the unit (the Stomp has a relatively ancient 2015 PSU still in it, the Ampero and Boss units will be more up to date) combined with the quality of the software patches which, to their credit, Line6 have been excellent at updating.  It would be interesting to find out what the DSP capabilities are in some of the leading multis - perhaps an analogous yardstick to SPL in amps & cabs?

I hope one day I can return the favour and start you off convincing yourself to keep gear you're unsure of! haha

I'm glad you understood as I expected to be banished from basschat for such a poor description! It was the ToneX stuff that made me realise that it's possible to have a bit of life in the digital realm, this just feels like a step up in execution. As you say, the line 6 stuff is heavily dated and I think bass always seems an afterthought for them... no doubt the new stadium is mind blowing!  I've noticed every iteration of line6 gear models the exact same source though so it'll reach a point where they can't go any further surely.  The boss stuff always intrigued me, but my guitarist has the GT1 multi and I hate everything about it!  Their work flow is what has always put me off them in the end...

Having a benchmark for comparison would be fantastic - there must be someone on here with the time, skill, knowledge and good will to do such a thing! 🤔.. I only tick one of those boxes, and it's the least important of the four I'm afraid!

1 hour ago, Kev said:

I am intrigued also, but not cross-country level of intrigued

 

It's just this does make me wonder as its not really a subjective thing.  Latency is latency, and I think I remember reading a very geeky post on TB or perhaps on reddit about someone actually measured what it was at a specific fret on a specific string from the waveform and it came out at something silly like 2ms, which of course isn't perceptible! I think my Shure wireless is double that, and again that's just not something you're ever going to notice.  Given that it is digital though, I feel like it must vary somewhat depending on the input signal, as opposed to the analog OC-2 type circuits that just flip whatever comes in back at you .  So its an interesting one, though perhaps one for the Dull Mens Club on Facebook 😅 

I remember seeing that post about how long it takes to process the signal... I've got no idea what the cause is but it's definitely something I feel and it can't be a fault with it being two pedals multiple years apart. I'm just waiting for someone to come and tell me at a gig how relieved they are that I'm back on my 3Leaf and I'll know this was all worthwhile...

As much as we don't agree on the great octave debacle - I'm also partial to a bit of dull men's club and consider it to be my greatest online find of 2025! 👏

1 hour ago, pantherairsoft said:

I'm not eager to prove anyone wrong, but I am interested in how people perceive things so differently, especially when we're all a bunch of pedal nerds, with many many years (and countless pedals) of experience between us - my brain is always comparing and looking for this kind of thing, and there are many peoples I moved on due to latency. 'Something' is at play, and I'm interested. If I'm sat there playing an OC5 and saying there is no latency, then hand you the same bass and you say 'dude, there is noticeable latency' then the issue is 'us' - the human experience of sound and feel. And that's super interesting to me.

 

I've too done the blind on/off test between the same two pedals as well, and can't feel anything remotely like 'latency' (but I can tell a slight tonal difference between the OC2/5 and the 3leaf, but it's super minor), so having that experience is genuinely interesting to me.

South Shields is a bit of a trek (I'm in Derby), but after my next work trip, if the stars align, I'd love to take a drive. Worst case - a couple of hours trying out each other's pedalboards!

Sounds like a plan to me! Always up for a bit of pedal nerding! 

I must stress though when I say latency - I'm not talking playing through a bluetooth speaker across the room latency - it's just an every so slight lack of immediacy - All of the analogue octavers I've had have stuck to my note as if it's what's naturally coming out of the bass... with the OC5 it's like I can feel the every so slight delay in processing.  If I get a second tonight I'll try and record an audio sample although it'll likely mean nothing without being the one playing as it's definitely a feel thing rather than an audible delay.

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Sorry to hear about the drunk punter incident. I guess no chance a good clean is going to eliminate the stain without leaving a "cleaned patch" on it?

 

"Sound wise it's a big step up from the Stomp and Ampero II" is a key comment though - that's obviously a big reason why folk might be prepared to fork out a hefty premium. Can you elaborate on the sound difference you're hearing between the Anagram and the other two and on what particular fx it's most noticeable on, for us please?

 

Pretty much yeah - It's that awkward shade of grey that shows up any and all blemishes like you've drawn a circle around it!  It's my own fault, I should've know better... 

I'd say it's the amp models and cabs, Al... as seems to be the story of my morning it's a feel thing, they just seem to have more life to them without needing parameters like "sag" and "hum" to dial them in.  They're closer to captures than models though in that the SVT won't drive when you whack the gain up; but sticking a vintage microtubes and compressor in front of it does a cracking approximation. 

• The cab sims feel more musical and less dramatic once the amp blocks are EQ'd to suit. The can go into the typical more dramatic IR thing if wanted though
• The fuzzes are also brilliant, I find fuzz to be a really difficult thing for digital modellers to get right but the 3 fuzzes available are great.
• The noble block adds something more than low end, some of the newer models like he Orange and EBS blocks will give tube like saturation at low drive settings
• The pitch shifting is decent - using the pitch shift to do an octave up is nice and clear and sharp, the oc2 approximation is decent as far as digital goes

Even little things like the tuner seem well thought out - Long press to access, a footswitch for mute on/off and tap tempo at hand on third footswitch.  There were a load of updates before xmas too, Darkglass do seem really invested in this so it feels like an investment in the sense that you know most things will be incrementally improved over time.

Everything just feels more premium.  The best way I can explain is that to me, the HX stuff always felt flat and 2D.. like a really good drawing of what it as supposed to be, where as the the Ampero felt more like a less accurate sculpture of what it was approximating.  The Anagram feels like the best of both.

I'll be honest in that most of my concerns come from a) the price tag, b) previous experiences with digital and c) Only hearing it in anger through headphones so being unsure how it sounds in an FOH mix or through my amp.  I think I've just talked myself into being happy about keeping it though.. thanks Al! 😄

2 minutes ago, pantherairsoft said:

I use the solo’d -1 Octave of the OC5 in vintage mode as my ‘clean tone’. It’s always on, 100% of the time. I can’t detect any latency at all and certainly no difference to my OC2. If there is latency, it’s the same as the OC2 and I no longer feel it having played with that pedal always on for years. I actually borrowed a 3Leaf recently from a friend (we did a swap over as he wanted to try my OC2), I couldn’t hear much, if anything, in it tone wise through my set up. There was certainly no difference in ‘feel’ for me either.

 

This is of course, within the context of my set up. Maybe the pedal is more sensitive to other bass inputs, power supplies, effects chains etc? 
 

I’d love to do a side by side in person with someone who does feel like the latency is there! It would be great to see if I can feel it using their set up and if they can acknowledge it’s not there using mine etc.

 

In the interest of science, where are you located @thisisswanbon?

Always happy and willing to be proved wrong... First time round I went so far as putting them on my board side by side and had my eldest switch them on and off at random and I could definitely feel the difference.

I'm in South Shields - a small kick in the backside off Newcastle...

4 minutes ago, Kev said:

 

It does though, which is why I'm confused about how yours is behaving in your setup?  I've owned a lot of OC-2 and OC-2 types (including the 3leaf clone), and although it was a few years ago now, the OC-5 didn't fall short at all for me.  Sure, it wasn't QUITE as rubbery in tone as the OC-2 when directly compared solo'd, but it was extremely close and I'd never tell them apart blind, and there was no latency.  Didn't like the other mode at all, but vintage was spot on.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree, Kev. I don't believe it to be my bass or signal chain as it's always first in the chain and this is with Passive P's and Active Rays.  Playing is subjective of course, but I use both pick and finger style and half of our set has been solo octave work for nearly 10 years now so I'm confident in my technique when it comes to this stuff.

Like I say - I'm glad it works for you and many others and I really wanted it to work for me.  I've bought two off the back of glowing reviews (although there were a few others both on here and across the pond who've reported similar experiences).  After purchasing an Anagram I was really excited to move my 3Leaf on.  May try the MXR VBO next...

25 minutes ago, Kev said:

 

In vintage mode, the OC-5 responded almost identically to the OC-2.  If you're actively noticing a difference in latency, that's very odd.  The other mode is an entirely different matter, but on the one I had, the vintage mode did not suffer any latency.

There's the caveat though - almost.  

I've been running it in vintage mode and there is absolutely a difference - it's minimal admittedly but it definitely effects the attack and feel of the note.  Punters don't notice it, and the band don't notice it but the fact I feel it and hear it is enough to detach me from what I'm playing.  It was especially noticeable to me on sharp staccato riffs and fast upbeat octave playing (as is in the majority of the EDM stuff we do).  I've had the same results on two new pedal, two years apart and I really went into this second one with an open mind based on all the positive experiences people have had - it's absolutely a thing.

19 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

The OC-5 is nearly 6 years old now. Digital stuff moves forward rapidly even just in updates of firmware.

The Octaves in Helix / Neural etc are far more responsive now, but very DSP intensive.

 

Hopefully we'll get an OC-6 soon.

 

I still love my OC-5. I use it on bass with -1 of course, but on guitar I love the "only affect the lowest note of the chord" thing. That's ace for single guitar band stuff. Just sounds a little thicker when playing chords, and then more like a straight octave for single notes. 

Oh absolutely - It's not a bad pedal by any means and certainly does a good job of what it's intending to do.  The only thing I can thing digitally that comes close is the SA C4, but I doubt you'll find anything better than the OC-5 for the guitar stuff you mentioned.  It just doesn't do the soloed OC-2 thing as well analogue, which in reality is likely a small percentage of it's intended target audience.

Apologies in advance for the lengthy post but these are the sort of posts I appreciate when I'm trying to gain insight on buying new gear and hopefully it helps someone out...

Just another two penneth from me on the OC-5, as I'd hoped to dethrone my 3Leaf and cash in on the unobtainium.  I purchased a second OC-5 from Amazon thinking I'd missed a trick the first time round based on the glowing feedback it gets here from so many more learned folks than me..

Stuck it on my board, gigged it three times - and unfortunately I'm still finding the same shortcomings I found with the first one I had.

First the positives:

• The tonality and character of the OC-2 is there in spades, the octave and clean signals blend together really well (I actually enjoyed this more than my 3Leaf in this setting)
• Octave up sounds natural
• Tracks brilliantly
• Built like a tank and looks as cool as it gets on a board

There's only really one negative and it's the same as I found last time; latency.

The attack of the note just isn't immediate compared to my 3Leaf, as well as the Cog T16 (v2 and V3), and OC-2s I've used in the past - it's a deal breaker for me.  As someone who plays half of their set -1 oct soloed that immediate feeling and hit of the note when playing is everything.

For balance, it's only really noticeable when -1 Oct is soloed, and not once did anyone come up and say "mind that soloed octave didn't quite hit the same, did it?"; I'd actually argue it sat in the mix very similarly to the analogue counterparts.  It sounds like Boss have tried to negate this as you can almost feel a heavily filtered dry note for a split second before the processed note kicks in (best I can explain it).  I'd definitely say this is the best digital octaver I've come accross (blows the sub n up's etc out of the water) and I'm really disappointed this didn't meet my subjective requirements; I felt more comfortable having this on my board than the 3Leaf.  Glad this works for many, but I'm still firmly planted in the analogue world of octavers for now.

13 hours ago, Al Krow said:

 

Thanks for sharing that. I've recently got a mint used Boss GX10, which I'm really loving in terms of its capability and form factor. Being a multifx fanboi, I've been following this thread with interest and wondering whether the step up in cost (a new GX10 is just a third the price of the Anagram) was going to deliver something "extra".

 

But I think with the number of experienced folk on this thread who have given this a decent shot and are deciding to return it, I'll head back down to the Boss multifx thread and stay buried down there a while longer.

As it happens I realised last night a p!$$ed punter at our NYD show slammed a drink down on a nearby table and it's stained the case - so I won't be returning mine regardless now 🤦‍♂️.

I'll add that workflow wise it takes the flexibility of the HX stomp routing and the intuitive UI of the Ampero Stomp II (my only modern multi fx experience) and improves again.  Sound wise I'd also say it's a big step up from the Stomp and Ampero (as it should be for the money). I'd say if you've got genuine interest in the unit and you're more open minded to digital than I am I think it's worth a look but I'd buy from somewhere with a good returns policy just in case

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

 

Interested in what your main concern(s) are with it for gigging?

For me it’s the same problem I have with every modeller in that while I love the work flow (particularly with the anagram, it’s so well thought out it blows my mind) I still hear digital; every time I kick a drive in, there’s a feel thing I just can’t put my finger on. 
 

my band plays through a line array Pa, and I use an amp for a bit of bass support but still wear IEMs, so I’m not sure what it sounds like at volume, but at sound check the drive just didn’t seem to pop to me without losing body and weight… even though my previous signal chain went through an HX One, I spend half the gig through a digital C4 AND it all goes into a digital desk anyways.

I’m sure I’m listening with my eyes but it’s just something I struggle to shake - sorry for the wordy overshare, Al! 

2 hours ago, markbunney said:

I have just sent mine back

 

It was an amazing bit of kit, but after spending a bit of time with it I came to the conclusion that it was just overkill for my needs.

Was there anything you didn't like about it, Mark?  I love mine for home use but not totally convinced for gigging so also debating return...

4 minutes ago, tayste_2000 said:

I use mine with a GigRig I picked up second hand for cheap. Gives me IEC and plenty of ma.

Outside of that I generally power it via usb c with whatever I’m using for my iPad and have nearby. Any battery that will do PD (Power Delivery) will power it, just need to specifically look for that PD output.

 

I’ve just ordered the Darkglass Midi switch after some friends gifted me a Thomann Voucher for Christmas so excited to incorporate that. Mostly so it can sit on my desk so I can fiddle with it but then still turn stuff on and off when playing or even be as bold as to use the looper.

 

The Mood fuzz is great, very quick and easy to dial in an hitting a tone I’ve been using a Subdecay Noise Theory nam for.

 

I wish I had something more intelligent or articulate to offer but the Anagram is just doing everything I need, I’ve gigged it twice, run it as an iem mixer and all my fx, since I got my Punchline nam into it, it’s been perfect.

 

Might even be listing the last of my pedals for sale soon.

Thanks for the input! 

I've had to keep hold of my C4 and OC-5 as I don't think it quite covers what they do yet - so I'm currently running those with a powerpack and using the Anagrams stock PSU. I just haven't got faith in it but nervous about going all battery for something so high powered when playing 2 hours+. 

How did you find the NAM?  I'm tempted to do this with my Tone Hammer but seems a bit above my technical abilities...

Long time lurker - first time poster after buying a shiny new Anagram earlier this week!

Loving it so far, but the drives sounded a bit "dull" through my amp, fine through IEMS (I use backline and FOH) - any pointers for this?

Also, the PSU seems a bit flimsy, especially for the cost... anyone had any joy powering with a power bank?  There's some stuff on talkbass but nothing I can see that mentions real world use...

I'm painfully stuck between one of these (or the other Bassrigs but seem to be leaning towards the fifteen with all the comments of how well it sits in the mix) and an Anagram - I know they're two totally different bits of kit, but I like shiny new stuff!

I was sold on the Anagram but everyone seems to mention the "feel" element of the Origin Effects stuff and that's huge to me, I can't imagine anything digital replicating that.

My two concerns though - firstly, I spend half of my set using either a solo'd octave or C4 with some gnarly synth patches and I'm concerned the cab sim will cause issues with these, but I'd be reluctant to turn it off if it adds to the feel element..

Second, Headphone practice and C4 patch creation are a big thing for me and I'd need FOH sound available for headphone use when making C4 patches - anyone doing anything similar?  I know this box is ticked off easily with the Anagram..

Sorry for the lengthy post, especially on an appreciation thread!  Any input would be massively helpful though as hoping to order next week...

A

2 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Top left is my IEM transmitter.

 

The DiCosimo and Broughton are always on effects.  I could use the Stomp HP/LPF (and have done in the past) but the Broughton resonant bump is easier to achieve with the pedal.  The DiCosimo is an easy EQ/boost solution to save going into the Stomp.  

Angled headphone adapter is an excellent idea!