Thumpinator + Cali76 ?

[CJPJ]

I've started a new approach to my pedalboard trying to abandon my impulse to buy everything all at once and throw it together and instread building up in a logical and tested way.

 

The first place I'm focussing on is a clean and focused input signal. So I've landed with the Cali76 Compact Bass compressor, having tried a few including the new Atlas. I've also just pressed the button on a micro Thumpinator v2 HPF.

 

However, it occured to my that the Cali76 has a HPF knob on the pedal and am I doubling up unnecessarity with the Thumpinator. I've read a couple of threads in the pedalboard builds that have both pedals but wanted to get any opinions as to whether I'm wasting money on the Thumpinator - although I guess I can always place it later in the chain to clean up backend lowend created through the chain.

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I'm guessing that the thumpinator will still have some work to do as the hpf on the cali only acts on the sidechain, not the signal

https://origineffects.com/2021/10/15/cali76-compact-bass-hpf-control-why-it-works/

[Osiris]

As Jean-Luc says above they're actually doing different things despite being called the same name! The Thumpinator will cut the subby lows from your signal which in turn will make your amp have to work less hard and reduce the strain on your speakers, as well as helping to tighten up your low end.

 

The HPF on the Cali is used to remove the lowest lows from the compression circuit only, not from your signal, if that makes sense? By reducing the deep lows going into the compression circuit the compression is not being triggered by the low lows which can reduce the whole signal down and can dull the high end frequencies. By removing the lows like this the compression is triggered more by the mids and highs while the lows are left alone. This might sound counter-intuitive but it actually makes the lows sound deeper and fuller. 

 

So despite the confusing naming convention they are 2 different things doing 2 different jobs so no, you're not wasting your money 😀

[CJPJ]

2 hours ago, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

I'm guessing that the thumpinator will still have some work to do as the hpf on the cali only acts on the sidechain, not the signal

https://origineffects.com/2021/10/15/cali76-compact-bass-hpf-control-why-it-works/

Thanks - should have done my research 🙂

 

 

2 hours ago, Osiris said:

The HPF on the Cali is used to remove the lowest lows from the compression circuit only, not from your signal, if that makes sense? 

Yep - makes total sense and I appreciate the difference now in this context 👍 Thanks.

[Gwilym]

I guess this is similar to the FEA Optifet side-chain EQ, where you are adjusting the frequencies that trigger the compression to customise the response of the compressor, but the frequency content of the compressed signal is unaffected?

 

[krispn]

Still a solid signal chain