This is what worked for me. This first photo is a fairly good gauge 0-100 rather then the usual 0-160 $5 POS that is usually supplied with a gun regulator. It's also non restrictive.



This second photo is my actual regulator and it's on the air dryer outlet.



These are my dryers. The photos are 'early' in my painting and were taken before I had added the regulator.



My reasoning for these devices is that I can regulate the air to the gun before the hose, then check the PSIG at the gun. I can then remove the gauge, leaving myself at least another foot of floor clearance without that poor ball valve and gauge arrangement (figured with the hose curl and possibly a last chance filter as taking that foot) plus maintaining gun balance

Like I said, it did work just fine for me