get a quad vca (the one you have in the rack already seems ok, personally I'd go with veils)
-- JimHowell1970

Veils is big for a quad, I could get a Hexagram and have 6 VCAs for 2hp less. I was looking at the Malekko one which is 8hp, if I needed to squeeze something else in.

don't you want envelope and pitch following and gate extraction?!?

No, otherwise I'd get an Ears or something like that. I'm not looking to use the bass as something to control the system. I know you can set it up so you can do some really cool things, but for the type of stuff I do it's not relevant. Thank you for suggesting that though.

The intrfx has 3 channels, and I only have 4 pedals (2 of which are used together or not at all) so one will do me fine. It can do some fun feedback stuff as well. I'll only be using the bass at home, so permanently using up space for something that I can run outboard didnt seem like the way to go for me.

I'd want to go slowly and learn each module pretty well and how it interacts with other modules first
-- JimHowell1970

That's the plan, planning out a full system makes it easier for me to visualise and aim for something so I don't end up with random components.

I'll look into the Mantis for sure, I chose the mods because of the lower intial cost (about half the price of a Mantis) and because they'd be easier to carry around.
Thanks!