Osiris

I get that, there's always that feeling that there's something out there that's better even if what you already have sounds great and does everything you need it to. I've been using the Boss LMB-3 for 20 years or so on and off and keep trying more expensive units on the assumption that they'll be somehow better. But despite having tried some cracking units that are great in their own way, there's something about the way the Boss adds an addictive aggressive punch to the mids that I've not been able to get from any other unit. The DG Hyper Luminal was close and the Basswitch dual band even closer, but the cheap old Boss does everything I need. Agreed, it's an excellent unit in its own right and lives up to the hype it gets but I found it didn't play too well with my EBS preamp, and as most of my gigs are on IEM's these days, having the right preamp is more important for me. And yet I'm still curious to try the updated model. 🤷‍♂️

I wouldn't have thought that a Cali76, or any other 1176 based unit, would be the most appropriate choice for fretless as the 1176 and its offspring are FET based designs which are very fast and impart colour on the signal which I'd guess is not overly desirable for clean fretless playing. However, I'm not a fretless player but optical units, like your Ampeg Opto comp, are slower and generally warmer sounding. But as with anything, it's down to personal preference and whatever works for you. I'm half tempted by the new Cali76 as I like FET based comps as they work well with my heavy handed technique - a legacy from when I started playing 40 odd years ago as an angry young teenager, but like @peteb commented above, I struggle to justify dropping £300 on a single pedal, no matter how good it is. But that's not to say I won't at some point...

Treat yourself to an Orange Squeezer if you can find one, I think they haven't been made since the 70's. No controls at all other than an on/off switch 😁

Apologies, I misunderstood your original post. It takes time to get your ear in although it's really more of a feel thing, the way the bass is more consistent and present in the mix, if that makes sense? I don't have anything particularly helpful to add in answer to this other than keep experimenting to see what works best in he different contexts.

From what you've said here, I think your thoughts about the hardware you're using are irrelevant. By your own admission you don't understand compression so in that case it doesn't really matter what model of compressor you're using if you don't know how to get the best out of it. My stock response to questions like this - and they crop up frequently - is to spend some time doing your homework. Read up on what each parameter does and how they interact then start to apply that knowledge to setting the compressor up to do what you want it to. You're get more helpful information from sound engineering sites than places like here and Reddit 😉 And the best way to do this is at volume with the band, assuming you play in one, as you'll then start to better hear and feel the consistency that the compressor is giving to your sound. It will take time and a lot of experimentation, but once you get it right, you'll never want to switch it off. And don't think of compression as an effect, think of it in the same way as EQ and HPF. I think a lot of people have problems with compressors as they assume they're going to be an obvious effect like a drive or synth, they're not, they are more subtle than that but infinitely more useful, IMO. This is not meant to sound condescending in any way, it's just a lot of the anti-compression arguments come from a lack of understanding of the principles of compression and how to apply it.

Are you looking for something narrow front to back or width ways? If you're for something narrow front to back try searching online for 'shallow rack'. I think Thomann sell some half width rack cases if that's what you're after.

Joyo Pipebomb? The Joyo Iron man series of pedals are ridiculously tiny.

That's actually quite common for some compressors, it's the same thing that the strangely alluring @Frank Blank describes in his post preceding yours. They add a certain something to your tone that isn't compression as such but still enhances your tone. But not all of them do it, the 1176 rack unit and the Origin Cali76 are probably the most famous examples of ones that add something, as is the Diamond. And on the other side you have things like the Aguilar TLC which are ultra-transparent and neither add nor take away from your tone. Personally, I prefer something that adds its own character, and as you have observed, it's something you can't really recrate any other way.

My guess would be that the Ampeg, or any other optical compressor, would be what a better choice for fretless, see the comment from the somewhat lovely @Frank Blank above for his approval of an optical circuit and he's a fretless player too. The Cali76 is an excellent unit but is a FET based design which have a faster, more modern and slightly aggressive mode of action so possibly not the first choice for fretless. But these are generalisations and you may find the Cali works well for your needs, although it'll feel very different to the Ampeg.

I find optical compressors are often too slow and can be a bit grabby (if that makes sense?) for what I want from a comp. Do you find the PDR to be have that very slow attack characteristic?

That review has peaked my interest in the Doc Lloyd Photon Death Ray although from what the internet tells me, they're not available in the UK and - I think - only available directly from the guy who makes them in the states? I'm not sure I'd want to buy one new as I usually don't care for optical compressors that much. But the description of the pedals inherent characteristics have me itching to try one...

If a compressor is sucking the life out of your sound you're over doing it 😉 Take a read of this - https://www.ovnilab.com/articles/killedmytone.shtml

That's great, I appreciate it 👍

Thanks for the update. Do you think it feels sturdy enough to survive regular gigging on a pedal board? Not that I stamp hard on my pedals but things occasionally get knocked over and just wondered if it's likely to be tough enough to survive such an encounter? I'd guess it would be considering the other features, switches, screen huge make up a lot of the top face of the unit.

A question for those that own, or have owned, one of these... What is the case made from? From what I can gather online it suggests the new + series pedals have metal cases but the recently dropped bass the world video for the pedal says it's a plastic case. So which is it?

Just received a pedal from John, great price, good comms and quick delivery too.

Coincidentally, this is also the title of my forthcoming autobiography which will be hitting the shops shortly.

No, you don't need another preamp when switching techniques. - or at least I don't. And I don't feel my tone suffers with either fingers or a plectrum either. But if you're looking for an excuse to buy a new toy...

The final line of text in my post above should be a link but obviously isn't 🙄 but if you Google it you'll soon find one, they're usually no more than £15.

I had a similar issue a while ago with a daisy chained drive pedal which would pop really loudly when switched on and off. It's on a small board that I mess around with at home so not really looking to spend a big chunk of money on a decent isolated power supply. Anyway, I managed two solve the problem with a Joyo Zgpw power filter thingy. I plugged it inline before the problem pedal and it worked without the annoying pop. I can't see why it wouldn't also solve your issue too. JOYO Zgpw Usb Powered Guitar Effect Pedal Power Supply And Isolated Noise Filter

Me again. I just bought something else from Marc and wanted to say thanks again for going the extra mile to accommodate me, he'd listed a rack case as collection only and not only agreed to post it but also delayed posting it for a week as I was on holiday. How's that for top class service. Thanks Marc, it was most appreciated!

I assume so as once I'm happy with whatever the AI has generated I save it as a jpeg or gif file and go from there. So assuming you can load standard file formats into Photoshop (I've not used it for years so can't remember) you'll be good to go.

@Happy Jack as young Francis says, I've been dabbling with AI for band posters for a while now. The main thing I'd highly recommend is spending some doing a bit of homework first. Identify which AI system you want to use and then sink some time in learning what's called prompt engineering, which is essentially telling the AI what you want and to get it to create what you have in mind. Different AI bots react differently to different prompts so it might be worth selecting one AI system and then spending some trying to figure out what prompts work best for your needs with that variant. For example, my current preference is for Microsoft Copilot which, for me at least, consistently generates better results than something like Adobe Firefly even though the former is a general AI bot and the latter is a dedicated image generator. But a couple of pointers, IME, are to; Sink some time into learning how to use it as the more refined the prompt the more impressive the result will be. Can't stress this enough. But it's not that difficult if you're even a little bit tech savvy. In the case of Copilot at least, treat it like you're talking to a toddler, use clear and concise language. Often, specifying what you don't want is as important as specifying what you do want. Generating photo quality images is tricky but can be done once you know how what prompts the bot needs to work with. But getting images that look like you or the other band members, for example, is much trickier and beyond my current level of understanding, so if you want people and faces, odds are you'll end up with a generic AI generated face rather than a mirror image of whoever. Getting it to generate band logos is a bit more tricky and most of my efforts have resulted in typos despite telling it what text I want. Here's a couple of examples of images I've created, The above image was generated in Copilot and the logo and text overlaid in PowerPoint. The photo below was created in honour of @Raymondo who frequents an ale house called The Burnt Pig. It took me a while to get the prompt right for this but it shows you can get something close to photo quality with a bit of trial and error.

Just received a power supply from Marc and everything went smoothly as expected. The unit itself was extremely well packaged too.

Just received a bass bridge from Steve and the man is a legend, Basschat royalty no less!