In case you forgot, the Analogman Comprossor is unarguably the most toneful and eminently useful pedal you can place on your pedal board. Here’s why…
Of all the many guitar effects we have used and reviewed, the Analogman Comprossor is one of the most essential and toneful pedals we have ever put on our pedal board. Compression tightens your sound, and with the Comprossor, it can be used as a beautiful-sounding boost to your signal. The guitar simply sounds thicker and richer with a slight to moderate boost in sustain. Unlike a distortion pedal, your tone stays clean and pristine with the Comprossor— you just get bigger notes and chords that are very wide glide and pristine in their clarity. This pedal more than most really does simply make you sound so much better and it’s another device that you will be tempted to perpetually leave on once you hear it.
Here is some supporting information direct from Mike Piera, Analogman:
Compressors have been used in recording and live broadcasts for many, many decades. They are usually used to keep the signal level even, to sit in the mix right and to be heard. But on guitar, they are more often used as an effect than for simple leveling. But it’s a volume-based effect. It does not change your tone or add distortion. On guitar, distortion is the most common effect, and one of the reasons people love distortion is that it adds sustain (the note will hold longer) and compression (less of a percussive sound, a more musical sound like a voice). Even clean, the best guitar sounds are through a loud amp that gives you natural tube compression for sustain, and a nice fat string attack. But these days, we usually can’t have our amps up loud enough to get that nice compression, so a pedal will help you out and make your amp sound and feel more like a loud amp. I often say that a compressor makes it fun to play clean. But they are also great for dirty leads, to add sustain and fatness to the sound. They also work great run into other pedals like Chorus pedals, to fill out the sound and add more sparkle.
In the year 2000, there were no Ross Clones being made. So with the help of Alfonso Hermida (Zen Drive), we reverse engineered an old Ross, and have been making our own version, the Analog Man Comprossor pedal, from scratch ever since. Our Comprossors soon became extremely popular and had a long waiting list. So others came out with clones of the Ross compressor, which is easier now, as all the info to build one can now be found online. But just building from a recipe will not give the same results as a cook who knows how and why to include or discard certain ingredients, and add the perfect seasonings. So we are staying a few steps ahead of the others, you will see the differences in quality and you can hear them even more. We came out with the ATTACK control in 2001, which one of our competitors finally added in 2005 after years of saying it was not needed. But it seems he only added half of an attack control— it only goes one way from the stock setting. Ours is able to add subtract from the stock setting, which we put in the middle of the range.
Features Include:
- Excellent output impedance for a clearer tone with no signal loss or need for a buffer
- More available output for boosting your amp
- No phase reversal
- Less compression is available
Also, in the past for use as a clean boost, there was too much compression even with the sustain pot all the way down. So we reduced the minimum compression amount, without changing the maximum amount. Now the pedal is more usable as a clean boost, and also sounds great left on all the time as a tone sweetener/buffer. It’s great stacked into dirt pedals, chorus, vibes, etc. now. With these problems fixed, there is not as much need for a mix knob. You should be able to keep your pure tone.
While we keep emphasizing the clean tone of the Comprossor, it will also tangibly enhance the sound of your guitar with overdrive and distortion effects. It’s really like pouring honey all over your tone. That’s the best way we can put it. Get one now and thanks us later. You’re welcome, and Quest forth… TQ
