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Origin Cali 76 Compact Bass


funky8884
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Hi mate, yeah i've had one for a coupe of months now and i love it i would say in a lot of ways it beats the standard big box Cali i had, although i reckon the transformer version of the big box probably is the best of the lot. But in a band mix live i doubt there will be much between the lot of them and considering the size the compact is really is a great comp.

I know the consensus on the Cali's is they are not the most transparent and although when it comes to your actual tone that is true, they add a certain magic to your sound that lots will love but if you are looking for a super clean sound you may not. However i actually find them very transparent from a feel and dynamic point of view, its hard to explain without trying one but what i think i mean is you can compress super hard and they still sound open and deep, its very cool. I've heard people describe the bottom end on the cali as a bottomless pit and i think that's a good way of explaining them and although the compact doesn't quite replicate that to the extent of the transformer version the HPF control which is just awesome helps to give that feel to the unit at a slight compromise to the overall effectiveness of the compression.

Negatives would be the jewel metering, its basically useless but there is a clear definition when your signal is below the threshold and above which is really handy for setting up the input control but then after that you need to use your ears rather than the metering as the colour change is so slight it really wont help you, no problem if you are OK using compression and the other thing that some people might not like is the switching, its not seamless but no problem if you use it always on which i assume most will.

Theres another thread probably a couple of pages back where i put basically what i said above in and i think others may have added to it and Bongo over at Talkbass/Onvilab is about to drop his review of it, so far he has said he really likes them so thats usually a good sign but his full review will no doubt be very useful.

They have been available since September but i think the wait time on a build from Origin directly is 5 weeks currently, i'm not sure when the few places in the UK that stock them will be getting more in but they have been out of stock a while last time i checked so i imagine they will be getting some in soon if they haven't already.

Edited by Bearfist
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All 3 are great Kev, you know i loved the Darkglass as you do and the full size Cali standard was something i never thought i'd part with but this little thing really is cool. Considering picking up a Transformer big box one to A/B with this to see how close it is, space isnt to much of an issue now my pedals are racked so am curious.

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Cool. I'm looking at comps at the min, though realistically It will be a couple of months before I buy one. I was looking at this one, as well as the Darkglass and was also considering the Ovni Smoothie. Obviously waiting on Bongo's review of the CB but I think the Darkglass is leading for me, I like that it attenuates the highs a bit and fattens the low end.

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I really want to try a Smoothie, i bet they sound great.

I Really liked the Darkglass i had also, like you would expect from them the blend control was one of the best i've used on a comp, probably would have kept it if i could have afforded to but had to choose between this and that, i think i've just got used to Calis' sound now. I found the attenuation on the Darkglass to be pretty subtle, but yeah the slight roll off of highs does make it fell like bottom end is fattening up, quite transparent but warm at the same time, max out the ratio however, drive the input hard and set the blend in the middle and you can get some thunderous bottom end out of that thing, it was that setting that made me put this up for sale first until i decided i couldn't be without a Cali.

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Couple of reason, the Cali plays slightly nicer with my gear, ive got a very clean sounding amp and cabs and i like the colour it adds, its got a ton of depth, warmth and complexity and i think i've just got used to that,

But i think ultimately and this is of course just my opinion, it does its job better than any other pedal comp ive tried, it really does retain the feel of your playing and the weight of your tone which in a band mix is really hard to beat.

I am developing serious gas for a transformer version since this thread started though!

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I've tried them all and Cali is an absolute keeper. i also had the larger transformer version but I honestly prefer the 76CB for live work. I found the larger version a little tougher to dial in outs side of any studio recording.

My gas for compressors is over and this is permanently on my board. Its discrete enough in size and power requirements but also hefty enough to do serious damage down the local 'Frog and Vomit' if any of the locals get rowdy.

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Same haha! Well it was going to be a CN212, someone's put a bit of doubt in my mind though.I'm a big guy - 6'2 - nad this guy on talkbass was saying he had one and it was playing into the backs of his knees so he swapped it for two CN 210's. Don't really want to be messing round with 2 cabs though.

Does the Cali do ok on 9v? Just because I'd be using a pedaltrain volto to power it and I play a stingray so quite hot.

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Im pretty short so don't really have that issue :D

But i found my Berg 2 x HD112 set up projects unbelievably well, it only comes up to the bottom of my back but never had any issue hearing it even on tight stages with loud drummers, but you cant really go wrong with Bergantino, 10's or 12's will all sound killer, i find the 12's perfect for me though.

Only ran the Cali at 9v for a minute when i first got it, noticed a very slight reduction in headroom, but there is plenty of room on the input control and i wouldnt worry to much if there is some subtle distortion going on its part of the Charm of Cali's, also as far as i know unlike the TX version all the features on the Compacts work at 9v. There was a few guys over at TalkBass who were saying the preferred it at 9v if i remember rightly?

Edited by Bearfist
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Yeah I definitely prefer 12's, I think for a minute I had doubts but I think the Bergantino is winning. That being said there's the new Genzler 212T that might be worth a look.

So you view distortion from the comp as a good thing? What does that distortion sound like? I think that's where the Darkglass edges the Cali as it sits happily at 9v.

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Yeah it can be, when i say distortion we are not talking distortion pedal, or buzzy, harsh or unpleasant, its a very subtle yet harmonically rich saturation when the gain is driven a bit, its almost like pushing a tube head a little bit, you get a slight warmth around the note its really quite nice. The transformer in the TX version is in there specifically to take that further i believe you can really drive that thing but its always very pleasing and rich.

Running in 9v from my brief time trying it just meant i hit the point it breaks up a little earlier but that can easily be dialed out anyway, its just a nice thing that Calis do and it can sound really great sitting in a mix.

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Interesting read, definitely want to A/B it against the transformer version now, differences sound bigger than I expected to hear based on comparing this to the standard big one. Also that's really made me want to try the smoothie if it really has much more bottom end, like he said this is definitely punchy but doesn't lack bottom for me with a little help from the HPF.

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My sound is already pretty bright and punchy, I wouldn't want to exaggerate that with the CB. I think that's why I like the sound of the darkglass SS - soft smooth sound, with slightly rolled off highs and bigger low end. I wasn't expecting there to be such a big difference inn sound between the compact and standard.

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  • 1 year later...

Love my cb, it's always on actually set to do a parallel comp kinda thing clean cranked and mild comp with a bit of the filter added to beef up the lows a tad.

For me I'm sure there is a difference between this and the large models but not enough to concern me as the cb sounds great.

Would like to try the dg but not got the funds ATM.

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