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Diamond is BACK baby!!
- Thread starter mmbongo
- Start date
Mine arrived today. Had a little bit of time this evening to try it out. Super easy to find useable settings for a couple of different basses. Only ran at 9v tonight. Will run at 18v as soon as I can find the right cable for my power supply. Liking it so far!
I‘d call it tasteful, yet effective. You will definitely hear it, but you won’t scoop your tone to shreds or push it into telephone-like territory. It’s a nice addition.
The whole pedal is dead quiet, by the way. Really impressive, both for a comp and an EQ.
I would agree with this assessment. If I have time this weekend I’d like to run it into my DAW and get some screen shots of the EQ at different settings.
So, I‘ve been playing with the Diamond for many hours over the course of several days. I’m still undecided whether to keep it or send it back, but I feel like I have a good grasp on the pedal by now. There’s a lot to like here as well as a few quirks that make this pedal… well, not exactly the be-all and end-all in pedal comps, imho. I‘ll do my best to paint a picture with all the colors, so let’s dive in.
I‘ve been testing the Diamond both with my JMJ Mustang (both with the stock Fender Flats & GHS Boomers) and my Dingwall Custom D-Roc 4 (Dingwall nickel-plated steel). Mustang in regular EADG, D-Roc in BEAD.
I‘ve used the pedal in several contexts - all of them with the Diamond as the first pedal in the chain, except when using it in my Helix’s effects loop to blend the compressed signal (more on that later). Most of my tests were done using the Comp/EQ on its own, though, listening with a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 headphones.
While playing through the pedal, I found myself wondering time and time again who is this for?
In the market of 2023, saturated with not only a few good but a handful of pretty exceptional compressor pedals which are readily available even new, why would someone choose the Diamond? From my - european - perspective, the Diamond costs around the same as an Empress Mk. II or a Darkglass HL, so at this price point, there’s a lot of competition.
To me, there was a definite lure of optical compression - which I think can actually be translated into a curiousity for its sound as well as a category of buyers who don’t want to mess around with attack, release, sidechains or even knee. (I personally have my Hyper Luminal for the latter, which I use mostly after my drives in a much more complicated setup than the minimal board I intend to use - and mostly used in my testing - the Diamond for.)
So, selling point 1: This is a very nice bass comp, straightforward with relatively few knobs and "no frills", i.e. no USB capabilities, more than two jacks, or internal trim pots.
Selling point 2: You get a lot of EQ with it. I wrote about the "Mids" control before:
I stand by this. I‘ve found occasions where I turned the mids dial completely counterclockwise, scooping all the way without losing definition. I‘ve also boosted mids several times. To me, the dial has the most usable range between 9 and 2 o‘clock, but I can see use cases even for the extremes of the knob.
Same with the tilt EQ. There’s a lot to be found in this simple control, from mild sweetening / fattening to transforming the bottom and top end of your instrument without ever getting boomy or shrill. A little anemic, maybe, fully clockwise.
Let’s get to the heart of this pedal, though: The compressor part of this Comp/EQ. Let me begin by coming right out and offering my harshest critique of the Diamond: I was seriously dumbfounded when I saw the new version released with an additional knob that’s not a blend. I still am after my tests, because man - is it nice to add a little bit of an uncompressed signal alongside the Diamond. I don’t know if the team in SolidGold was looking to differentiate their pedal from the Lusithand Alma or if they are indeed, as it seems, unaware to what parallel compression can achieve, but - to me - this is a major instance of dropping the ball on their part. What’s nice, however, is that the Diamond doesn’t flip the phase - which makes it easy to remedy this with an additional pedal like e.g. a used Boss LS-2, which can be had relatively cheap.
I was surprised to find my JMJ Mustang to have more output than my D-Roc (both in the latter‘s "MM"- and its "all pickups"-setting). I was almost exclusively powering the Diamond with 18 V DC, because otherwise the signal of the JMJ would distort (unpleasantly, that is).
Powering the Comp/EQ with 18 volts wasn’t without a hitch, though, either - I was puzzled by three observations:
1. On the pedal itself, there is no indication that it can actually be powered by more than 9 volts. Come on, SolidGold - you’re screenprinting yourself, you could have put "9-18 V" on the back (especially considering you put this info into the little leaflet which comes with the pedal).
2. Holy heck, are the first few notes you play through 18 volts unproportionally loud and distorted. This was very unpleasant using headphones, not reassuring at all and happened every single time, no matter if I plugged in and started playing straightaway or if I gave the Diamond a couple of minutes to "warm up".
I highly recommend placing your tuner post comp if you use this pedal and play those first few notes into the muted signal.
3. I was still able to find distortion at a later point in time, in an unexpected place of the circuit: If you turn down "Level" lower than 9.00 o'clock and then amplify that signal later in the chain through means outside of the Comp/EQ, there will be distorted artifacts. This probably won’t happen in real world scenarios but it’s another aspect of this pedal which doesn’t exactly make me go "oh yeah nice, that’s quality, for sure".
Another area where I had this impression was the threshold indicator function of the LED. For a diode this small, the red "on" LED is surprisingly bright. The yellow "threshold" LED, however, is not. What’s more: Instead of both LEDs alternating - i.e. pedal is active = LED is red, Signal crosses threshold = LED turns yellow -, the threshold LED becomes active additionally to the red bypass status. Dialing in the compression by eye therefore quickly became as much fun for me as staring into the sun. Again, I’m dumbfounded - even picking more contrasting colors instead of red/yellow would have done wonders in usability. I simply don’t get decisions like this.
But let’s not dwell on such minutiae. How does it sound? Well, optical compression as implemented by Diamond certainly adds polish to a signal. The bass sounds fat, homogenous, and clear, which is a rather intriguing combination. The attack is very audible - to me, the compression sounds like a more pronounced mid presence gets added to the attack of the note, while its peak and decay get more bass and warmth. Mind you, that’s probably not what’s happening, but that’s what it sounds like to me. A little as if you would play the attack of your notes palm-muted and with a pick, while the subsequent sound is that of fingerstyle playing. To some, the emphasis on attack might seem a little too much.
The decay is also very pleasant with a strong sustain, but will get unnatural with "Comp" above 2-3.00 o'clock, depending on the instrument. Settings with "Comp" above this point, however, feel excellent when blended with the uncompressed signal. Furthermore, and this in my eyes is SolidGold‘s first saving grace: It’s extremely nice to have the option of dialing in the compressed signal with the two eq knobs. Seriously, when trying this out, I couldn’t stop grinning. It mitigates the comp’s attack-heaviness and balances the nuances into a fat, punchy, articulate tone. Absolutely killer. Sadly, not available inside the box. Also, I‘d like to reiterate what I wrote before:
I really am impressed with this as I don’t find it to be taken for granted to have the full range of a knob available without running into hiss or hum or crackle. None of that is to be found anywhere along the tilt or mid EQs.
What’s the second saving grace then, you ask? Well, it’s the Comp/EQ‘s tone in the mix. Seriously, all of the above becomes pretty moot when you play a bass that you know well in a familiar musical context, and there’s simply more of that tone you love. More punch in punchy basses, more growl from growly basses, more warmth from … well, you get it.
The Diamond Bass Comp/EQ might not be the the best compressor pedal out there, but it certainly is a great sounding compressor. It really is.
I‘ve been testing the Diamond both with my JMJ Mustang (both with the stock Fender Flats & GHS Boomers) and my Dingwall Custom D-Roc 4 (Dingwall nickel-plated steel). Mustang in regular EADG, D-Roc in BEAD.
I‘ve used the pedal in several contexts - all of them with the Diamond as the first pedal in the chain, except when using it in my Helix’s effects loop to blend the compressed signal (more on that later). Most of my tests were done using the Comp/EQ on its own, though, listening with a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770 headphones.
While playing through the pedal, I found myself wondering time and time again who is this for?
In the market of 2023, saturated with not only a few good but a handful of pretty exceptional compressor pedals which are readily available even new, why would someone choose the Diamond? From my - european - perspective, the Diamond costs around the same as an Empress Mk. II or a Darkglass HL, so at this price point, there’s a lot of competition.
To me, there was a definite lure of optical compression - which I think can actually be translated into a curiousity for its sound as well as a category of buyers who don’t want to mess around with attack, release, sidechains or even knee. (I personally have my Hyper Luminal for the latter, which I use mostly after my drives in a much more complicated setup than the minimal board I intend to use - and mostly used in my testing - the Diamond for.)
So, selling point 1: This is a very nice bass comp, straightforward with relatively few knobs and "no frills", i.e. no USB capabilities, more than two jacks, or internal trim pots.
Selling point 2: You get a lot of EQ with it. I wrote about the "Mids" control before:
I stand by this. I‘ve found occasions where I turned the mids dial completely counterclockwise, scooping all the way without losing definition. I‘ve also boosted mids several times. To me, the dial has the most usable range between 9 and 2 o‘clock, but I can see use cases even for the extremes of the knob.
Same with the tilt EQ. There’s a lot to be found in this simple control, from mild sweetening / fattening to transforming the bottom and top end of your instrument without ever getting boomy or shrill. A little anemic, maybe, fully clockwise.
Let’s get to the heart of this pedal, though: The compressor part of this Comp/EQ. Let me begin by coming right out and offering my harshest critique of the Diamond: I was seriously dumbfounded when I saw the new version released with an additional knob that’s not a blend. I still am after my tests, because man - is it nice to add a little bit of an uncompressed signal alongside the Diamond. I don’t know if the team in SolidGold was looking to differentiate their pedal from the Lusithand Alma or if they are indeed, as it seems, unaware to what parallel compression can achieve, but - to me - this is a major instance of dropping the ball on their part. What’s nice, however, is that the Diamond doesn’t flip the phase - which makes it easy to remedy this with an additional pedal like e.g. a used Boss LS-2, which can be had relatively cheap.
I was surprised to find my JMJ Mustang to have more output than my D-Roc (both in the latter‘s "MM"- and its "all pickups"-setting). I was almost exclusively powering the Diamond with 18 V DC, because otherwise the signal of the JMJ would distort (unpleasantly, that is).
Powering the Comp/EQ with 18 volts wasn’t without a hitch, though, either - I was puzzled by three observations:
1. On the pedal itself, there is no indication that it can actually be powered by more than 9 volts. Come on, SolidGold - you’re screenprinting yourself, you could have put "9-18 V" on the back (especially considering you put this info into the little leaflet which comes with the pedal).
2. Holy heck, are the first few notes you play through 18 volts unproportionally loud and distorted. This was very unpleasant using headphones, not reassuring at all and happened every single time, no matter if I plugged in and started playing straightaway or if I gave the Diamond a couple of minutes to "warm up".
I highly recommend placing your tuner post comp if you use this pedal and play those first few notes into the muted signal.
3. I was still able to find distortion at a later point in time, in an unexpected place of the circuit: If you turn down "Level" lower than 9.00 o'clock and then amplify that signal later in the chain through means outside of the Comp/EQ, there will be distorted artifacts. This probably won’t happen in real world scenarios but it’s another aspect of this pedal which doesn’t exactly make me go "oh yeah nice, that’s quality, for sure".
Another area where I had this impression was the threshold indicator function of the LED. For a diode this small, the red "on" LED is surprisingly bright. The yellow "threshold" LED, however, is not. What’s more: Instead of both LEDs alternating - i.e. pedal is active = LED is red, Signal crosses threshold = LED turns yellow -, the threshold LED becomes active additionally to the red bypass status. Dialing in the compression by eye therefore quickly became as much fun for me as staring into the sun. Again, I’m dumbfounded - even picking more contrasting colors instead of red/yellow would have done wonders in usability. I simply don’t get decisions like this.
But let’s not dwell on such minutiae. How does it sound? Well, optical compression as implemented by Diamond certainly adds polish to a signal. The bass sounds fat, homogenous, and clear, which is a rather intriguing combination. The attack is very audible - to me, the compression sounds like a more pronounced mid presence gets added to the attack of the note, while its peak and decay get more bass and warmth. Mind you, that’s probably not what’s happening, but that’s what it sounds like to me. A little as if you would play the attack of your notes palm-muted and with a pick, while the subsequent sound is that of fingerstyle playing. To some, the emphasis on attack might seem a little too much.
The decay is also very pleasant with a strong sustain, but will get unnatural with "Comp" above 2-3.00 o'clock, depending on the instrument. Settings with "Comp" above this point, however, feel excellent when blended with the uncompressed signal. Furthermore, and this in my eyes is SolidGold‘s first saving grace: It’s extremely nice to have the option of dialing in the compressed signal with the two eq knobs. Seriously, when trying this out, I couldn’t stop grinning. It mitigates the comp’s attack-heaviness and balances the nuances into a fat, punchy, articulate tone. Absolutely killer. Sadly, not available inside the box. Also, I‘d like to reiterate what I wrote before:
I really am impressed with this as I don’t find it to be taken for granted to have the full range of a knob available without running into hiss or hum or crackle. None of that is to be found anywhere along the tilt or mid EQs.
What’s the second saving grace then, you ask? Well, it’s the Comp/EQ‘s tone in the mix. Seriously, all of the above becomes pretty moot when you play a bass that you know well in a familiar musical context, and there’s simply more of that tone you love. More punch in punchy basses, more growl from growly basses, more warmth from … well, you get it.
The Diamond Bass Comp/EQ might not be the the best compressor pedal out there, but it certainly is a great sounding compressor. It really is.
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@wavemaker
You used a Boss LS-2 to blend in an uncompressed signal?
Cheers for the review...I’ve always considered my BCP-1 a serious A Grade Tone Enhancer Pedal more than a Compressor Pedal if that makes any sense....
You used a Boss LS-2 to blend in an uncompressed signal?
Cheers for the review...I’ve always considered my BCP-1 a serious A Grade Tone Enhancer Pedal more than a Compressor Pedal if that makes any sense....
No, I personally used my Helix, but a simple LS-2 would suffice as well.
With all the anticipation and excitement of the return of the Diamond bass comp, there seem to be a fair bit discussion about “additional features” that it doesn’t have.
The Diamond comps have always been known to add that certain je ne sais quoi, which is what has made them so sought after. Achieving “that sound”… the sweet spot when it counts… in the mix with the band. So then…if this is what it is achieving and easy to dial in…does it really need any other knobs? …a side chain, clean blend, full range parametric eq, usb for digital modelling with app that has even more tweakable features… yada yada yada. Most of these additional features usually only have one user-specific/preferred set-and-forget setting that works anyway…then the comp stays as an “always on” type pedal. They’re tweaked and tweaked in an effort to achieve “that sound”. There’s lots of technology available in 2023 and lots options that some people like and some don’t. From the few reviews I’d read (including above) the new version of the Diamond bass comp, once again shines and has it exactly where it counts! I think focusing on what a new product intrinsically HAS is more important than what it doesn’t (particularly since anyone can add any features they want in this day and age). It would be like bashing p bass for not having 3 pickup, active eq, fanned frets etc. I’m looking forward to more reviews and trying one myself!
The Diamond comps have always been known to add that certain je ne sais quoi, which is what has made them so sought after. Achieving “that sound”… the sweet spot when it counts… in the mix with the band. So then…if this is what it is achieving and easy to dial in…does it really need any other knobs? …a side chain, clean blend, full range parametric eq, usb for digital modelling with app that has even more tweakable features… yada yada yada. Most of these additional features usually only have one user-specific/preferred set-and-forget setting that works anyway…then the comp stays as an “always on” type pedal. They’re tweaked and tweaked in an effort to achieve “that sound”. There’s lots of technology available in 2023 and lots options that some people like and some don’t. From the few reviews I’d read (including above) the new version of the Diamond bass comp, once again shines and has it exactly where it counts! I think focusing on what a new product intrinsically HAS is more important than what it doesn’t (particularly since anyone can add any features they want in this day and age). It would be like bashing p bass for not having 3 pickup, active eq, fanned frets etc. I’m looking forward to more reviews and trying one myself!
Nice writeup!
I just have one question...is this your first experience with a Diamond or did you have one before? From your description it sounds like it keeps that tonal magic of the originals and that's a good thing. I also have the other comps you mentioned and they just don't do that Diamond tonal magic thing, and on the other hand the Diamond doesn't have all the fancy features as you mentioned. But it's sounding like they kept all the goodness and was just wondering if you had an older one to compare it to?
The new Diamond was my first foray into optical compression. From what I've read and seen in demos of the older Diamonds, it seems - to me as well - just like you say: They kept all the goodness and added the "Mids" dial (and a third option for the tilt eq).
I‘m surprised to read you have the Alma (?) but it doesn’t do the tone magic thing? I‘d be surprised by that, judging from what I‘ve read about it.
No I don't have an Alma, you must be thinking of someone else
BUT I have considered the Alma, but the side jacks and lack of metering keep me from being able to use it.
On my live board I have a Broughton Optocomp and Empress Bass Comp in kind of a dual compression setup. Empress actually going into the Broughton. On my recording/direct board is where my Diamond Bass Comp Jr. lives.
I guess I'll add this though...if the Alma could do what the Broughton and Empress are doing together, the side jacks would not matter then. Problem with that is...I know me and if that did happen I would never sell the Broughton or Empress and I'd have even more pedals I'm not using that I just can't bring myself to sell
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No I don't have an Alma, you must be thinking of someone else
I must have misunderstood your post
I have both old and new Diamonds. They are not the same. This is going to cause a heck of a lot of confusion unless we figure out a way to depict which comp we're talking about.
In a nutshell:
Moderator edit (May 25, 2023)
@bdplaid revised comments in post #119 here: Diamond is BACK baby!!
In a nutshell:
- There is some tone magic in the new BCEQ, but not the same as the old BC or BCJR.
- The attack of the new Diamond BCEQ seems drastically faster than the old. And it's not controllable. And I don't like it.
- I found the compression level hard to dial in because it either sounds squishy and compressor-y or not at all.
- The EQ is this pedal's saving grace. Both controls are useful.
- The LED as a level indicator is useless. It has a high threshold before it changes colors, and it only blinks on when it does so.
- The original Diamond BC and BCJR were better at compression, because they have a very soft and easy sound. The BCEQ hits the threshold hard, and you can definitely hear it work.
- I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it. It's very useful as an EQ, but the comp requires, for me at least, a lot of twiddling.
Moderator edit (May 25, 2023)
@bdplaid revised comments in post #119 here: Diamond is BACK baby!!
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks for the comparison, very interesting to say the least!
I very much agree to your fifth point.
Regarding 6: I‘d say the compression of the BCEQ begins to become apparent at around 12 o'clock on the comp dial, very much so from 2.00 and further clockwise. Would you agree with this? Could you tell us which kind of bass you used?
That may be so. The difference is HOW the comp becomes apparent. The old Diamond BC was much smoother in its attack. The new BCEQ slams the signal down.
A standard passive Jazz bass, Squier CV 60s, unmodified, with Ernie Ball 40-100 nickel strings.
And, I welcome comments on my review. If others differ, I think that's a great way to be fair to the comp and SGFX.
That's why I originally bought my BCP-1.
I was looking for that sort of "always on" fattening, and wasn't finding it with more transparent options like the MXR, or even tube comps like the Markbass.
Fortunately, although I play with a lot of dynamics, I have a relatively gentle attack and mostly play passive basses, so I never ran into headroom issues at 18V.
I can always get parallel compression and mid EQ by pairing the Diamond with my HX Stomp, so I'm not in a rush to upgrade.
Still, the new one would be great for grab-and-go gigs. Clip-on tuner, the new Diamond, and done!
That‘d be an apt description for me, too
I tend to play very close to the bridge most of the time, as well, which makes for a lower amplitude of my strings in general. At 18V, I also didn’t experience headroom issues - aside from startup and settings of the level dial far too low to be useful for a typical application.
Very helpful info there!
Looks like I’ll be keeping my PSGBCJR (Pre Solid Gold Bass Comp Jr).
