Osiris

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!

Not a PJ set but I've put a GZR P in my Sandberg shorty and it sounds great, not quite the classic precision sound as the pickup position is 15-20mm closer to the bridge relative to my Mustang (which nails the classic P tone) but it sounds great, definitely no booming in the lows. It's a punchy low end, bags of mid range detail and enough highs to add clarity without getting abrasive. Dunno if it matters but I always string my shorties with rounds whereas a lot of guys use flats but I find flats are too dull and lifeless, which some may interpret as boominess 🤷

With my JMJ I find that I need to very slightly adjust my right arm position if I'm anchoring my thumb on top of the pickup, but it's only a small shift and was very easy to adapt to and isn't an uncomfortable position - for me anyway! I flare the right elbow out a fraction so the forearm has clearance from the body edge and all is good, that's with the bass on a strap so it's more or less in the same position it would be when seated. But I tend to play with the thumb pushed up against the edge of the scratch plate much of the time and find that that's the most comfortable position for me and doesn't require any adjustment of the arm or hand position.

Another D’Addario rounds user here on my Mustang, although I am still using up my store of 34" scale strings I bought years ago when they were half price somewhere or other! My preference is for Nickel EXL160 50-105's which IMO have more than enough clarity and presence without being too thin, bright or muddy - my tonal preference is for a fairly flat response with deep but controlled lows, plenty of mids and a defined but not shrill high end. Tension is perfect for me too. More presence and definition than with flats but without being too bright or brittle sounding, but still the low end punch. They're usually good for anything up to 2 years of regular gigging before they get too dull for my tastes.

Just received a cheap and cheerful noise blocker from Andy, all good, deal with confidence!

I'd been running my tuner after my compressor for a couple of years without any issues. My reason being the assumption that the compressed signal would give the tuner a more consistent signal to work with - despite almost certainly not hitting the threshold on the compressor as my tuner responds better with gentle sting plucks than the strength I usually play at. But a recent shuffle of my board meant that the tuner went first, before the compressor. It seems to respond ever so slightly quicker this way, but we're talking fractions of a second, maybe half a second max per string. My comp is bufferered, whether that matters or not 🤷 So IME, both combinations work, with my gear anyway (Pitch black custom into LMB-3) with tuner into comp possibly a tiny weeny bit quicker to respond. I'd say just go with whatever works for you.