Diamond is BACK baby!!

[foal30]

Yeah the Ashdown and Trace Elliot Bass Compressor pedals were dual band.

 

[foal30]

This is good tone

 

[foal30]

6-7 months on

The SGFX Diamond BCP/EQ lives permanently on my board

Whilst it’s not quite the same as the old big BCP-1 the “upgrades” are all useful and probably good ideas

I’ve never used it a 18v and not had “headroom” problems at 9V

It’s towards the end of my board where previous the old BCP-1 was at the front. I can’t really explain why it sounds different.

Overall an excellent purchase. Certainly worth a look and a go. Superb with passive - flatwounds- Valve amp

 

[arepa_funk]

New Comp/EQ user here. Really digging it with my fours, really struggling with my G&L MFD five string. The squish is really noticeable on the B string even with minimal comp settings. Sounds fine on the five string Reverend though. Any tips from other five string users?

Agree with @foal30 re the 500 EQ tilt point. On my pbass with LaBella 760FLs, I've been going:

Level: slightly below noon
Comp: 10:30
Mids: 10:30
Tilt: 9
Fulcrum: 500

Beautiful sound and tone. Haven't tried it on the whole board, just on its own so far. That'll be the next test.

 

[Mighty Thumb]

Those MFD pickups are pretty powerful. I suspect it’s just hitting the pedal harder than your other basses.

 

[arepa_funk]

Those MFD pickups are pretty powerful. I suspect it’s just hitting the pedal harder than your other basses.

For sure, I lowered the volume and used the parallel setting and it was still squishy. Maybe this is a non-MFD compressor.

 

[StayLow]

New Comp/EQ user here. Really digging it with my fours, really struggling with my G&L MFD five string. The squish is really noticeable on the B string even with minimal comp settings. Sounds fine on the five string Reverend though. Any tips from other five string users?

Agree with @foal30 re the 500 EQ tilt point. On my pbass with LaBella 760FLs, I've been going:

Level: slightly below noon
Comp: 10:30
Mids: 10:30
Tilt: 9
Fulcrum: 500

Beautiful sound and tone. Haven't tried it on the whole board, just on its own so far. That'll be the next test.

Diamond Bass Comp compresses even with the Comp knob fully CCW. The reissue probably does too.

Sometimes for me it’s more than I’d like even fully CCW if hitting it hard. Certainly a low B can do it. If you’re using it for “tone magic” consider a clean comp before your comp.

If you use an always-on light dirt pedal that handles your dynamics well, or some other pre-comp effect, you can put that before the Diamond and feed the comp with less than unity gain for more headroom… and I can’t recall for certain but I think that comp can be run higher than 9v for more headroom.

I’ve found that with very few exceptions drives sound much better before the Diamond than after, so it may not be an ideal always-on for those using more signal coloring down the chain.

 

[arepa_funk]

Diamond Bass Comp compresses even with the Comp knob fully CCW. The reissue probably does too.

Sometimes for me it’s more than I’d like even fully CCW if hitting it hard. Certainly a low B can do it. If you’re using it for “tone magic” consider a clean comp before your comp.

If you use an always-on light dirt pedal that handles your dynamics well, or some other pre-comp effect, you can put that before the Diamond and feed the comp with less than unity gain for more headroom… and I can’t recall for certain but I think that comp can be run higher than 9v for more headroom.

I’ve found that with very few exceptions drives sound much better before the Diamond than after, so it may not be an ideal always-on for those using more signal coloring down the chain.

Thanks that makes sense. Haven't tried 18v yet, that might help with the MFD. The tonal coloring is really pleasing, though using other comps that have parallel compression have been crucial when I use five string basses.

Def want to try it on the full board to see how it plays with others.

 

[foal30]

I can’t hear the compression at CCW with either the BCP-1 or the new SGFX BCP/EQ

That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening, just that I can’t hear it

Agree with whoever said the BCP/EQ post your drive pedal (s)

I’ve probably said this before but the Diamond BCP-1 or the SGFX Diamond BCP/EQ is more tone enhancement than a specific want for “normal” compression

 

[foal30]

I can get my flatwound strung MTD Grendel V to distort out with the SGFX BCP/EQ but only at what I consider ridiculous settings or techniques

So for my functional purposes it’s nonsense to think the Diamond isn’t one of the very best Pedals available

 

[foal30]

I just wondered becuase the very old Ahsdown had crossover and compressed different frequences differently. Squashing the highs only, or the lows only. Unwieldy unit I had, and it line distorted as fast as you barely stared onto the strings on an active bass. You could set "tilt" frequencies at that one too.

The Ashdown dual compressor bass pedal is a good idea unfortunately poorly executed

Which maybe an accurate description of Ashdown bass pedals

 

[crguti]

A few years ago, TC released a version of their Polytune pedal called 'Blackout' or something like that, but it had a blue display instead of red/green like their others.

It was called ‘blacklight’.

 

[foal30]

Anyone know anything about this??

Used Diamond Pedal Boost-EQ BEQ-1 Japan Limited 2008 Super Rare CPR-1 | eBay

 

[JKos]

Anyone know anything about this??

The description doesn’t match the product.

 

[foal30]

Quite confusing to read

I’ve not heard of Diamond Pedals MIJ

(Not saying it isn’t true, just that it’s news to me)

 

[foal30]

Diamond Socks
It’s a bit nippy this morning

 

[steve_rolfeca]

Agree with whoever said the BCP/EQ post your drive pedal (s)

I’ve probably said this before but the Diamond BCP-1 or the SGFX Diamond BCP/EQ is more tone enhancement than a specific want for “normal” compression

Exactly. Back in the day, I wasn't fond of pushing tube amps into distortion- at least not on bass. Pushed tones from a Marshall stack or a V-4B always sounded congested and accidental to me, like a slightly wet fart.

But what I did love about old tube amps, was the subtle sag and thickness at lower volume. Like tape saturation, it has more to do with feel than EQ. The Barber Linden preamp hints at it sometimes, but it's too subtle.

I went through compressors like the Markbass, and low-gain drives like the original Darkglass Microtubes, but none of them hit the spot until I came across the BCP-1.

I can see that you'd need some attenuation in front of it with high-output pickups or a heavy touch. But for my relatively light right-hand attack, it's perfect. Especially when I'm going direct, or want to smooth out solid-state amps like my G-K's.

 

[butterfingers1]

Anyone try the Diamond Drive and the new Boost EQ on bass guitar?

 

[loveboatcaptain]

Can confirm the new diamond bass comp EQ is 100% the only diamond you need to be looking at or thinking about.

Owned a BCP-Jnr for years and used it live all the time. Loved it, but the new SGFX version (four knob) is better… sounds just like a diamond but even better and has the mid knob. The quality is better… I’m blown away they’ve surpassed the originals.

Don’t even bother looking for a BCP-Jnr… do get the new one.

 

[tonymcbony]

Can confirm the new diamond bass comp EQ is 100% the only diamond you need to be looking at or thinking about.

Owned a BCP-Jnr for years and used it live all the time. Loved it, but the new SGFX version (four knob) is better… sounds just like a diamond but even better and has the mid knob. The quality is better… I’m blown away they’ve surpassed the originals.

Don’t even bother looking for a BCP-Jnr… do get the new one.

I’m happy with mine. Mid eq is super cool - you can basically get a straight to desk tone from one pedal because of it.