Bearfist

I got mine in a trade on here so i didnt have to wait thankfully. However when i was looking at a new one the Origin website suggested a 5 or 6 week wait time on the TX, i didnt email to check or anything as i know Red Dog Music had some in stock last time i looked so was going to order there to avoid the wait time.

Just got one, had the standard for some time then the compact bass, both awesome but the TX really is rather special, enjoy!

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.

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.

Im pretty short so don't really have that issue 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?

Ha! yeah im checking Ovnilab a little to often at the moment, curious to know his thoughts. Nice rig, thats gonna sound killer!

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!

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.

I couldn't say for sure as I've not used the Diamond but the description of what the diamond does to your tone (fat lows and sweet smooth highs) sounds pretty similar to what i get from the Cali's, perhaps someone on here has used both and could say for sure if they are similar?

No problem, i just noticed Red Dog Music have 4th of Jan as an estimate on their site.

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.

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.

Enjoy mate!

I popped up to see Mike earlier today, had a good look at this, very nice! And that body is one of the lightest pieces of wood i've ever held!

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1449509170' post='2924194'] Aha, the one to replace the ABI and NG2 is revealed! Stunner [/quote] Thanks bud, yeah lovely thing! This is more a replacement for the NG2 but with the new AB1 i've got coming in a few months i thought probably a good time to put that up for sale too, really should have waited to sell at least one but couldn't risk loosing this. You new bass has given me serious single cut gas to by the way, that really is very special indeed.

The new arrival, Dingwall Z2. Cheers to Victor and the guys at Bass Gear for sorting this incredible bass out for me today. [attachment=206812:FullSizeRender1.jpg] [attachment=206811:FullSizeRender.jpg] [attachment=206805:FullSizeRender.jpg] [attachment=206810:IMG_2334.JPG] [attachment=206808:IMG_2331.JPG] [attachment=206809:IMG_2332.JPG]