WHY WOULD I BUY THE BEST WHEN MANY CHEAPER ACTUALLY SOUND STUNNING?
Well... as readers know I have a massive pedal board ...51 PEDALS ??? I have A 'BIG' problem. ...Pun intend. LOL
Like all players I want the best.
The best in any category is often about 3 or 4 pedals. They are not always expensive. If you like for example a Vintage Fuzz. Then you may wish to either find a used one or if you can not you may get a clone. To my mind a good clone is just that ...made from NEW OLD STOCK which in plain English is simple parts that are decades old that are sitting collecting dust in the back corner shelf of some distributor or maker. For example I got a Sovtek Big Muff part for part clone for $85.00 USD.
I digress.
My board is much too big to get bigger. If I want MORE I must eliminate something on the board.
Not easy. LOL What if I got rid of all 4 of my compressors? WOW lots of room left on my board!!!
So on my Boss loop switcher I have saved one loop for that very important ...solution to a BIG problem ...the problem I had yet to find out what it would be. LOL
Well if I use one compressor for the whole board it would be best to have it in it's own loop I will have to have it always on. BUT!!! This would not be a problem if I did not love my 12 string FX to use 2 compressors. One in front ...and one after. I find that works best with an optic comp I have 2 to choose from. The Pigtronics is the best ...both are mini which is ideal.
So with a great compressor ideally I want a studio quality compressor in a pedal.
First they are not going to be cheap.
Secondly they are in 2 category's.
Some are designed to try and hide they are even on. Transparent.
Some are designed to deliberately add some 'SQUISH' and are not afraid to ADD A NOTICEABLE TONE to your sound
EMPRESS COMPRESSOR
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$250.00 USD |
Unique to it as a stomp box is visual LED metering of both your input and output
It has a side chain ...also unusual for a pedal. The most significant and useful thing is a choice of compression ratio's ...you get a 2.1 which is light and a 4.1 which is typical ...but it has a 10.1 that is quite a heavy compression. Metal bass players love it.
In fact regardless of ratio this is a bass players 'go to' compressor
A fair number of any players who love high gain OD's or a Fuzz or two have either got one or have it on their short list.
It is very quiet, clean and transparent but it does have a sound.
I know of a few players myself that love it. Oddly they are bass
players ...but as I said in a review of it ...this a major fav with bass players.
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$275.00 USD |
CARL MARTIN COMPRESSOR LIMITER
This is the type that is a classic MXR style comp.
Noticeably squishy although not so extreme that you
can not back some of it off. Although always a subjective thing ...it has it's own sound but a good one. All high end comps will have a few knobs but this has 4 so it is the simplest to deal with.
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$300.00 USD |
KEELEY COMPRESSOR PRO
This is a serious studio compressor it is very transparent
it is as close as you get to great compression without
the sound of the pedal or the compression being obvious.
ORIGIN EFFECTS
CALI 76 COMPACT DELUXE
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$380.00 USD |
This comp has a pedigree it is a clone of the original
UREI/UNIVERSAL AUDIO 1176 FET compressor.
Introduced in 1966 ...many feel it to be the very best
'sounding' compressor ever made.
Simon Keats founded ORIGIN EFFECTS. He is both a guitarist and an engineer that has worked on repairing and restoring the originals.
He knows his stuff!!!
The beauty of this comp is it still sounds fairly transparent
but you can force it into a nice bit of squish.
I will not bother arguing with popular opinion
It does have 'A SOUND' but that sound is to me
dead on!!!
EFFECTRODE PC-2A COMPRESSOR
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$340.00 USD |
Based on the Teletronix LA-2A limiting amplifier it is a Photo-Optical compressor that uses uses sub miniature tubes, All the hardware is audiophile grade even the circuit board is silver plated. The operation is simple with just Peak Reduction and Gain. Several more detailed functions can be made internally.
It most definitely has a sound of it's own but like
the 'Cali' it simple sounds great!
It is currently David Gilmour's choice.
THORPY THE FAT GENERAL
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| $280.00 USD |
It was one of those mysterious pedals that came and went ...as did the company. They now fetch silly prices if you can find one. well good ol' Dan teamed up with the Thorpy team for it's successor.
Everything Thorpy does is over 'built' to have the best off....
But what about the comp?
Well it sounds generally near transparent. the transient response is unreal. The attack is crisp as a clean sound and there is not a trace of pumping. Add to that it makes your clean sound seem 3 dimensional. No kidding. Put a brand name top of the line guitar thru a Gourmet high end tube amp. Then turn this on for a minute. Then turn it off. My god with it off you feel like you
listening to an entry level guitar and amp.
No sh@t. This is one impressive piece of gear.
RUNNER UP
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| $100.00 USD |
CKK GEARS COMPRESSOR
So up pops this little ambitious company from China
with a compressor that rivals all 6. Does it?
Well I for one if I needed a compressor and did have a
budget would jump on it. It is that good.
If the above 6 compressors were 7 this would be on it!!!
.THE VERDICT
Well first they are all a tie for sounding absolutely
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| DECISIONS DECISIONS ??? MAYBE I SHOULD GET THIS COMPRESSOR ??? |
No kidding a dead on tie!!!
All 5 are used by some of the best players ever to be born!!
So for me I like some squish ...but too much really ruins the attack of your note.
Like most players ...hi tech be damned if a pedal sounds great. It is!
You have noted that my FUZZ pedals even have a bit of slop here and there. One was $80 one was $85. LOL BUT they sound great.
I would like a small footprint but a comp is too important not take a big pedal just because it is big!
I love the extra sustain of the Empress.
The Effectrode is sweet but a bit big
and I expect the tubes would fatigue in time.
The Cali 76 is the super hot one.
BUT ...I must confess the The Fat General
blew me away with it's vivid sound.
but ...???
VERDICT
I can not imagine anyone being disappointed by any of these 6.
All are quiet some may colour your sound a bit but none of them will mess it up.
Nice....no losers. I find that refreshing!!
Of course we all kind of hate that. It is much easier when there is a clear best!!!
Paul what about the Empress I think it easily hangs with these 3
ReplyDeleteA reasonable complaint but I felt it fell just short. I can walk across the room I am writing this and borrow my Bass players...and I have several times. I would rate it just teeny bit shy of the Cali 76 bass. So it certainly is a great pedal. It is bargain too for what you get. But you are right up on your pedals Robin to observe this.
ReplyDeleteAnyone else think so too. If so join the conversation.
On second thought... Robin is right!
ReplyDeleteI even borrowed one from my bass player.
And No folks I really do not know of a 5th comp in this league. There are a few really adequate compressors
5 I own. These are compressors that are all about the personality of their sound. But a comp is first a tool and it has to do the job with a minimum of faults.
Paul