Analog Man Compressor pedals and mods
Analog Man Guitar Effects Pedals
The Ultimate Classic Compressor
Quick links : Comprossor - Juicer - Mini Bicomp - Bicomprossor - DynaRoss - Players and reviews - history - Bass players - Sound Samples - Purchasing
We make the Comprossor, Juicer, and Bicomprossor guitar effect pedal compressors. All of these best-selling pedals are hand-made in the USA on USA-made circuit boards. I have four pedals that I will talk about below:
Ross, Dynacomp, and Dan Armstrong (RIP) are registered trademarks with no affiliation with analog man, used here only for comparative purposes.
All pedals are now available with no waiting list! We finally finished off the BICOMP
waiting list in May of 2012, as we have perfected the construction of this complicated pedal
and I am very proud with how they are coming out now.
PURCHASING : To purchase, please use our shopping cart website
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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 amp tube 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 rhythm or 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.
There are a few compressor pedals that became very popular and still stand the test of time. The first was probably the MXR Dynacomp, which came out in about 1974. It was based on a CA3080 Operational Transconductance Amplifier IC chip. This is basically a fast electronically controlled amplifier which could be used to change the volume of a signal based on certain parameters. A compressor is basically an automated volume control with specific attack and release characteristics, so this chip has found wide use in audio circuits for compression. The Dynacomp was used by many rock and country artists, and many are still using their old script logo Dynas. Dunlop reproduced this pedal exactly in 2009 as the Handwired Custom Shop Dynacomp, and they are quite excellent. Ross tended to copy MXR with some improvements, and that is exactly what the gray Ross compressor is. The Ross is a little more steady and warmer than the Dynacomp, but most of the characteristics are the same, as the basic circuit is intact, with added stabilization.
Back in the late '90s, Phish was very popular and people were looking for the old Ross compressors that Trey Anastasio used. But the 30+ year-old original Ross Compressors are tough to find and VERY expensive. We found the schematic and compared it to the Dynacomp, and I saw that it would not be hard to modify the Dynacomp to the old Ross specs. So I started modifying new Dunlop Dynacomps to Ross specs in 1999 and there was quite an improvement, largely due to the matched and selected transistors we used. Ross did, in fact, use selected low-noise transistors in two parts of the circuit, as seen on the schematic and the pedals (X on the tops of the select transistors). The pedal in the picture on the left is the Dyna/Ross- a modified reissue dynacomp. It is painted with grey hammerite paint and has the aNaLoG.MaN smiling sun stamped on in red. The bottom plates are not painted as they have huge rubber pads on them, the original red is still around the border. We don't mod these any more, as they are not true bypass and the jacks tend to jam and are not easily replaced, it's not a hand-wired pedal like ours.
In the year 2000, there were no Ross Clones being made. The Dyna Ross sounded great but the factory-made Dynacomp jacks, switch, and pots were attached to the board (not hand-wired) and not of very high quality, making repairs difficult. So with the DYNA ROSS info, and help of Alfonso Hermida (Zen Drive), we started making our own handmade version, the Analog Man compROSSor pedal, from scratch. Our comprossors soon became extremely popular and had a long waiting list. So others came out with Klones 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 features below and 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 seems he only added half of an attack control- it only goes one way from the stock setting. Ours is able to ADD or SUBTRACT from the stock setting, which we put in the middle of the range. We also added the MIX control in 2016 to allow clean blend (parallel compression).
Way Huge had made the Saffron Squeeze pedal in the mid 1990s, which is a hot-rodded Ross compressor. These are very popular and tend to sell for even more than an original Ross compressor. Different transistors and a few different capacitors were used, and some capacitors are added. We offered our comprossor with these specs by special request. But the newfangled transistors used in the Saffron Squeeze are not as steady and smooth (the gain is much higher), so we prefer not doing 100% SS specs.
We have slowly been improving our Comprossor every year, and incorporated some of the Saffron Squeeze improvements in all of our comprossors. This makes them a little more open and less squashed than the other comps on the market. We have also tuned the low and high end of the pedal, so as to keep your signal from being changed. With the MIX knob all the way down, you cannot tell if the pedal is ON of OFF, the sound is not changed at all.
In April, 2013 we really improved the COMPROSSOR circuit. Mike had been playing in a band
for a few years, and noticed that SOME pedals on his board would not drive a load
well, they would get dark and dull, due to a bad (high) output impedance.
This is easily tested by running the questionable pedal into something like
a low impedance volume pedal, with a switchable buffer between them. The ARDX20 with the
delay level down is excellent for testing - when ON it's a great buffer, when OFF it's true bypassed.
To test a pedal, simply turn the buffer on and off and listen for a change in tone.
With most pedals, like our Chorus, Juicer, etc, there is no difference - they can drive
the signal to your amp through long cables or volume pedals no problem. But the Comprossor
sounded dull when the buffer pedal was turned off. The original Ross, Dynacomp, and all the other
Ross clones do the same exact thing- they really need a buffer after them to sound good.
Also these pedals don't have a very loud output, especially when you hit them hard, for example with humbuckers or a boosted signal. One other problem all these pedals have is phase reversal - they flip the phase of your signal when you turn them ON. This may not be a problem for most people, but if you split your signal and combine it, or run into two amps, the out of phase signals will cancel and you will get a VERY thin sound. Also, 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. One other thing we improved was the LED circuitry. Now, if one side of the bicomp/mini bicomp is ON, and you turn the other side ON, the first LED does not get dimmer. A small change but something that bothered us.
The REV4 boards are usually blue as seen in this picture of the BICOMP.
All of these problems are fixed in the REV4 and rev5 circuits -
If you compare the REV4 (or REV5 with MIX set for full compression) with a Ross or an earlier CompROSSor, with a Strat, with two short patch cords, into one amplifier, you will not hear a difference. We still use the Ross circuit, we just improved the output section to fix these problems.
In 2016 we finally broke down and added a MIX option to our COMPROSSOR pedal. Jim Weider had been bugging me for years to add a MIX control to his compROSSor. He loved the tone but wanted to use it for a clean boost for playing The Band songs clean leads, and it was compressing a bit much for him. We tried the available comps with mix and liked how the dry sound blended in, allowing the natural feel of the guitar to come through more, but still giving the sweet sustain that the comps provide. But the models we tested changed the tone too much, thinning out the tone, adding some brittle highs, while also losing lows. So I made up some prototypes and Jim has been using his now for a few years. Then I made one for Sonny Landreth, the best slide player I have every heard, and he's been using it since 2013.
In 2015 I met Jason Isbell on tour and he was not happy with the comps he was using, so I made him a small
comp with MIX and he put it right on his board, as seen in his rig rundown.
Jason says "It's a really really good sounding compressor, it's my favorite... can get really subtle, you can do dynamic
things, and has less string noise. It just sounds natural, like an old school guitar tone".
This was more than enough testing, so we finally released the production model in February, 2016.
Here is our REV5 board (see the "REV 5.1" on the bottom left). The bottom section is unpopulated, we
put the JUICER parts in if it's a Bicomp. You can see the MIX logo on the top, towards the right,
where the MIX trimpot or wires to the optional MIX pot go. We used to use these boards for juicers,
but now we have smaller Juicer-only boards for those.
The MIX control on the REV5 blends in the normal compressed sound (wet) with your unprocessed (dry) guitar sound. Compression is a LEVEL effect, which tends to squash the attack of your notes, then raise the volume quickly, and add sustaining volume at the end of the notes. Mixing in some dry signal gives you the more natural attack of the notes when the comp reduces gain on hard picks, etc. Mixing in dry is also great on bass guitar. Turning the MIX control up full will be the same as REV4, with no dry sound blended in. Turning the MIX down all the way removes any compression, so the SUSTAIN and ATTACK knobs will not do anything. The pedal is basically a CLEAN BOOST when the mix is turned down all the way. It has a great buffering and tone that makes everything after it sound fantastic. The VOLUME knob is after the MIX control and it can get a good amount of volume boost, with unity gain a bit below 12:00.
Here's a cool article about parallel compression, which is what the mix knob does, it mixes two signals in parallel, the dry and the compressed - wikipedia article
Here is a blog from Mark Marshall about Rickenbacker 12 strings and our comprossor. There is a later blog which has much more info and many samples at Anatomy of tone .
Since 2000 we are building totally handmade compROSSors from scratch, with true bypass and LED. They are priced starting less than the modified Dynacomp with true bypass used to be, as it is much easier to build these by hand with true bypass than modify a new dynacomp for true bypass. We decided to make the COMPROSSOR, for a higher quality, more easily serviced pedal, and with all the best possible components. All our handmade pedals are more easily repaired than factory mass-produced pedals in case an amp falls on it. All the parts we use are readily available (pots, jacks, switches, power jacks, electronic parts, etc), unlike the proprietary parts in most factory built pedals which can take a month or two to order from the manufacturer, if they are even available. Forget trying to get parts for cheap Chinese pedals like Danelectro, etc, they are disposable if something breaks.
In 2004, the compressor chips used in the Dynacomp and Ross clones (CA3080E) became unavailable- they are no longer made. But we bought thousands of these chips just in time, so we will be able to sell these compressors for at least a few more years. These chips were first labelled as RCA, then Harris when the company changed their name, finally Intersil when they changed yet again. I used to do field service work at RCA/Harris in Mountaintop, PA when I was working on their semiconductor test systems in the '80s and '90s.
Will these compressors add noise?
Any pedal that increases gain will increase the existing noise of your equipment, but our compressors themselves do not add significant noise. The Juicer is a little noisier than the comprossor though, there is a bit of white noise if you stop playing. But we reduced the Juicer's noise quite a bit on rev4 and later versions.
However, a compressor is the opposite of a noise gate - when you stop playing or play quietly, a noise gate kills the sound (and the normal noise). A compressor goes to full gain when you stop playing or play quietly, amplifying the normal noise a lot. So you may get more noise if you use a compressor, especially if you turn the SUSTAIN or volume up high and stop playing.
The pre-2014 JUICER was susceptible to HUM from cheap adaptors,
So I recommend using a high quality power supply or battery
for those. The new juicer runs VERY quiet.
*** CAUTION : using a daisy chained (shared) power supply on the juicer
can be noisy. Best to use it's own supply or use
an ISOLATED power supply (Voodoo Lab, T Rex, etc) into the comp for less noise.
Are these compressors like studio compressors?
No, anyone who says a Ross, Dynacomp, or Orange Squeezer type compressor, works or sounds like a studio compressor (whether it has a blue LED or not) is trying to pull one over on you. These compressor pedals are EFFECTS and are best used for strong compression as an effect, though they are still good for subtle use, like a clean boost, by turning the SUSTAIN knob down or blending in dry with the MIX knob. The Juicer is pretty subtle, does not squash too much. Our REV5 can be VERY subtle when the MIX knob is set low, more like the studio compressors. They do sound cool on voice and other instruments.
BI-COMPROSSOR AUG-01
On the left is the
protoype Analog Man Bi-comprossor.
The knob on the rightmost is the Juicer volume, the middle is the compRossor volume, and the left is the compROSSor sustain. There is an LED for each side, and a switch. The two effects are independant - either or both can be used. The Juicer is first in the signal chain if you turn them both on at the same time. Click here for an artistic picture of one of our early hand-painted, hand stamped bicompROSSors, taken by a customer who is an excellent photographer.
In the June 2002 issue of TONEQUEST MAGAZINE, the BICOMPROSSOR was chosen as part of the ultimate pedalboard.
In Aug-2001, I redesigned my COMPROSSOR circuit board and added a
100% original Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer onto the same board,
creating the BI-COMPROSSOR! The factory schematic and other schematics
on the internet are NOT the same as our Juicer and the original Dan
Armstrong builds, not sure why the factory messed up the schematic.
But the pedal seems to work OK with the error though we still build
them the same way the originals were built. You can see the new
board on the left, assembled in BI-COMPROSSOR configuration.
Due to many customer requests, I also added an ATTACK TIME control
on the Ross, which the original Ross compressor did not have.
There is more information on this feature below. This is a REV3 BOARD
We test all transistors we use for noise, in a prototype pedal with a transistor socket. We sort the transistors into two groups, as Ross did on theirs, and use the SELECT transistors in the select locations. Then we use a matched pair in another part of the circuit where that will benefit.
You can see the new ROSS ATTACK trim pot on the
right. Note all the light green on the board- this is the GROUND
PLANE on the circuit board, expanded to fill all unused areas.
This acts as shielding to minimize noise, like shielded cables.
Both sides of our double-sided, plated through hole board (as
used by the military for durability) have this shielding on them.
Check out the competition's circuit boards and you will not
find this shielding, which is why ours has less noise.
After Analogmike designed the circuit, the board was laid out by the
designer who did the complicated layout for the Voyetra Turtle Beach
motherboard. The circuit board design software costs a fortune and takes
months to learn to use, so we were glad to have help with it.
ATTACK control:
Most simply put, these types of compressors squash your notes by reducing gain
when the signal is loudest. When you are not playing, or playing softly (note sustaining)
then the comp stops squashing and increases the gain again. This is also sort of a LEVELING effect.
The ATTACK control on our pedal and similar ones, adjusts the RELEASE time of when
the compressor stops compressing and goes back to full gain. It sounds
like adjusting the ATTACK of the note, as you will hear more of the initial attack when
you turn it up. That is because turning the ATTACK knob up reduces the RELEASE time,
making the comp go back to full gain and stop squashing when you hit the next note.
With ATTACK at it's lowest, it takes a few seconds (long release time) for the gain to come back, any notes
you play before that will be squashed. With ATTACK at it's highest (short release time),
the gain should come up very fast and the next note you play may not be squashed.
You can hear this by running a noisy pedal (fuzz, Beano Boost, etc) into the comp
with SUSTAIN up all the way. Hit the strings, muted, to trigger the comp. The noise will go way
down when the comp kicks in, then the noise will fade back in either slowly or quickly
depending on your ATTACK setting.
All the comprossor pedals we made until REV3 have been 100% Ross spec. Several people who purchased my DYNA ROSS and COMPROSSORS had asked for our compressor to compress more quickly, without as much ATTACK on the note, for a smoother, more legato sound. And some people prefer a louder, more percussive attack (just the opposite). The standard fixed Ross attack time setting is just a setting chosen by the MXR engineer in the 1970s who designed the original Dynacomp, which the Ross people then used as the basis for the ROSS compressor. It is not necessarily the best setting for everyone.
To improve this pedal, in 2001 we added the ATTACK control on the ROSS board, or a knob so you can choose this setting yourself.
Our ATTACK time knob or trim pot comes factory set at the half way point (as seen above, pointing LEFT) for the exact stock Ross/Dynacomp setting. By turning it one way (down or ccw), you can squash the attack more so there is not as much peak sound at the beginning of the notes you are playing. Or, by turning it the OTHER way (up or cw), you will get more attack than the stock ROSS pedal, for a nice strong percussive sound, without losing the sustain when you hold a note. This attack control came out even better than I hoped- it really makes a difference, especially at higher SUSTAIN settings. It is easiest to have someone else adjust it to your taste while you are playing, then you can hear the differences easily. The ATTACK pot REALLY helps with guitars with high output, like a Les Paul or other guitar with humbuckers. You will notice with a Dynacomp, Ross compressor, or other Ross clone, that you can't get much volume with your Les Paul. Even with the comp's VOLUME knob turned up all the way, you can't get the pedal to be louder when it is ON than when it was OFF. That is because the humbucker's output is so powerful that the compressor squashes it down, not only the initial attack but even longer. By turning up the ATTACK pot, you can get more volume and a strong sound especially with hotter pickups. Our REV4 version of the COMPROSSOR fixed the volume problem, so you can set the ATTACK knob anywhere you want it and have plenty of output.
These pedals work great on bass, but people have been slow to pick up on this. The Comprossor adds a ton of sustain and a cool tone, while the Juicer has a jazzy legato tone, like the fretless bass heard on Paul Simon's Graceland. It can help simulate a fretless sound. Both of these have good low end so you won't sound thin. The REV5 was tuned so both DRY and WET (compressed sound) lose no low end on bass. Tony Levin, my favorite bass player (Peter Gabriel, King Crimson, Jim Weider band...) got a Bicomp in early 2004 and is having fun using it with his bass, Stick and Funk Fingers. He used it on some tracks on Jim Weider's 2004 CD and told me he has ever since used it on the Peter Gabriel tour and with King Crimson with his Stick. He also used it in 2004 with the California Guitar Trio, as his only effect and now brings it to all of his many recordings and gigs. Here is a shot of Tony in 1980 with Peter Gabriel, showing his old Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer stuck in his bass! No wonder he likes his Bicomp, and seems to use the Juicer side more. Tony uses the Juicer on Sledgehammer, Secret World, Digging in the Dirt, Here's That Voice Again (on the Stick), and Tower.
Tom Griesgraber , one of the most accomplished STICK players, wrote me:
Well, I've had the Bicomp you sent here for a few months now, and I'm happy to report it's become a regular part of my live rig for the Stick. I've been using it on the bass side of the instrument (before any preamps, rack fxs, etc) and have found it to be a really cool thing to kick in for certain types of Stick bass parts. The bass side of the Stick is such a weird beast.. sometimes I use it more for chords (even in a high guitar range), or sometimes just for bass lines, or sometimes a mix of the two. I'm finding though that anytime a part is more bass oriented I'm always enjoying having the Ross side on. And when I don't want it.. the bypass mode seems totally transparent. I've never noticed that the pedal is even there when bypassed! You'll be happy to know it was visible at the Sennheiser and Stick booths every day of NAMM, and has since been on tours of the west coast and Italy/France with Jerry Marotta and I.
Trey Gunn got a Mini Bicomp in 2012 for playing with The Security Project, playing early Peter Gabriel music with members of Peter's band. I saw their first gig at BB King's in NYC and Trey was amazing!!!
Will Lee from the David Letterman band and The Fab Faux (ultimate Beatles band) had his BICOMP on stage along with his TS9DX when I saw the Fabs here in Danbury in early 2006. If you like the later Beatles music you HAVE to see these guys. With Jimmy Vivino and one or two more excellent guitarists like Jack Petruzzelli (depending on the song, they all play multiple instruments), with all five on vocals, they are a MUST SEE.
Joshua Gravelin from Austin, currently
playing bass in Ian Moore's band and in Cotton Mather, tried a
Bicomp in a music store in Austin and grabbed it!! He said he's getting a lot
of use out of that pedal.
Lee Pomeroy got a BICOMP for his Steve Hackett Genesis Revisited tour in 2013 on the advice of Tony Levin. He uses it on several old Genesis songs and it can be heard on the DVD of their performance at the Royal Albert Hall.
These pedals are designed to work fine on 9V DC so they can use a battery. But if you are running a VERY strong signal into the compressor, like active pickups, you may want to use higher voltage for more headroom, to avoid the compressor distorting. We sell an optional 12V adaptor, or you can use the 12V option on the Voodoo Labs pedalpower2 for that. Up to 15V or so is safe. This helps a lot with basses like a G&L or a guitar with EMG pickups.
Here are some specs from the original Ross. Ours should be the same except when setting the ATTACK control you will change some (attack time, release time, etc).
Input Impedance 500K OhmsWe are now offering 3 basic versions of our handmade compressors:
1) Standard COMPROSSOR
For easy ordering, check out our new website buyanalogman.com . The new website uses a shopping cart for everything so it's very easy to buy multiple items or add in options. It allows using paypal in addition to several other payment methods including credit cards.
1B) Small COMPROSSOR
Same as the large comprossor, in a smaller box with hand stamped graphics. Attack and MIX knobs are optional, otherwise they are trimpots and can be set on the circuit board inside the pedal. This pedal is great for people with a lot of pedals, where real estate is valuable! If you use batteries, the large Comprossor is probably better as the small comp wires can get stressed if you open the pedal a lot. All Compressors come with a power jack standard. RYCK toggle is optional.
For easy ordering, check out our new website buyanalogman.com . The new website uses a shopping cart for everything so it's very easy to buy multiple items or add in options. It allows using paypal in addition to several other payment methods including credit cards.
2) JUICER
What is a Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer? Click here for MORE INFO.
Here is an awesome Juicer review which appeared in the European Guitar Buyer magazine, on TheGigRig.com - ARTICLE
Here is a great article from ToneQuest magazine, starting on Page 12, that I wrote about compressor history and has great info on some compressor players. Also see the bottom of this page for some customer reviews of the Juicer.
For easy ordering, check out our new website buyanalogman.com . The new website uses a shopping cart for everything so it's very easy to buy multiple items or add in options. It allows using paypal in addition to several other payment methods including credit cards.
For easy ordering, check out our new website buyanalogman.com . The new website uses a shopping cart for everything so it's very easy to buy multiple items or add in options. It allows using paypal in addition to several other payment methods including USA credit cards.
New in 2003 MINI BICOMP. Available now.
Mini Bicomp is exactly the same features and sounds as our BICOMP - it just uses less real estate on your pedalboard. Same size as small comp (2.5" x 4.75" x 1.5" not including jacks, switch, etc). This pedal works on battery or DC adaptor. If you are going to use batteries, we recommend the large BICOMP, as the mini bicomp wires can get stressed if you open and close the pedal often. We make these cases in-house for a cost savings. They are not all perfectly machine-drilled and silk screen labeled like the BICOMP, but have a hand-made appearance. The switches are a little closer together, makes it easy to switch from one compressor to the other by pressing both switches at the same time. Use the side of your foot to easily switch just one side. Same options as large BICOMP. Price is $285 plus options.
For easy ordering, check out our new website buyanalogman.com . The new website uses a shopping cart for everything so it's very easy to buy multiple items or add in options. It allows using paypal in addition to several other payment methods including credit cards.
there are some great samples at the end of the blog Anatomy of tone by Mark Marshall.
Some samples by Roger Filgate here in CT, from Wishbone Ash.
nowhere.mp3 Beatle's Nowhere Man on a strat (Roger Filgate).
nowhere.mp3 Beatle's Nowhere Man on a Rickenbacker 360 12 string guitar (Analog Tom).
byrdtyrds.mp3 The Byrds Mr. Tambourine man also on the Rickenbacker 360/12 (Tom)
floyd.mp3 Some Floyd with my Clone Chorus, on a Tele (Tom). The 1st phrase is with the comprossor off, then the comprossor is turned on and you can hear how it fills out the sound, warming it up and making it fuller, more of a professional recording sound (all studios use compression). Note the strong, noise free sustain at the end.
chikn.mp3 Some Chicken Pickin' on a strat (Roger Filgate).
atk1.mp3 Attack Setting Example. 1st phrase is with the attack set up all the way, 2nd time down all the way. Our standard setting (same as stock Ross) is halfway between these. This is with a Les Paul Standard, showing how turning up the ATTACK knob helps with humbuckers, if you are looking for a stronger sound. This also shows how turning the ATTACK down gives a smoother, more legato sound. (Roger Filgate).
comprhodes.mp3 Our Fender Rhodes through the comprossor (Scott Daly - Arms and Legs)
Here are some clips from Doug Doppler
which will be on his GET KILLER TONE dvd series. First is an Ibanez S470 into our COMPROSSOR with attack 3:00,
sustain 5:00, with a Fuchs Reverbrator for a little reverb, into a Cornford MK-II amp set clean into a Marshall cabinet.
CornFedBlues
Here is another one, same setup, with the Comprossor and our Chorus pedal used only on the rhythm channel,
CornFusious
Here is another from Doug of the COMPROSSOR, with the sustain down a bit to about 2:00,
this time with a Tele (bridge pickup) into a '59 Bassman reissue.
TelePhonic.
Now a Strat into the Bassman, with BOTH sides of the BICOMP on (Juicer into Comprossor).
AnalogMan Bi-Comprossor 80s Intro.mp3 The reverse sound at the end is not using the bicomp, just a cool edit.
Here is a comparison of a Skynyrd lick on the Strat
by Roger Filgate:
Juicer vs
Comprossor.
Here are two more comparison clips of the Juicer and Comprossor. Bill Hullett, one of the
great Tele players in Nashville, recorded this through a tweed deluxe.
Juicer vs
Comprossor. Thanks, Bill!!!
billyjuice.mp3 Here are Some funky JUICER sounds on a strat (Roger Filgate).
Here are some samples from Guestroom Project .
This one is
Time Part 1 a clean guitar with juicer. There are
more samples of songs with our Juicer and TS9/808 mods
on their website, like Traffic (uses our brown mods
and juicer on twin leads), Fix uses these also,
and Time Part II at about 3:50 has a good lead sound
with these 2 pedals.
Here is a clip by Rogers Stevens of Blind Melon
from their 2007 album. He is playing his Nash Strat with Rio
Grande pickups through our Mini Bicomp into a Blockhead amp.
He did one take with each side of the pedal for
a cool sound of both of our comps together!
He said it was convenient and took only about five minutes!
Bicomp Double Solo
Thanks Rogers!
Here is a youtube video of Brad Rice from Keith Urban's band playing with Tift Merritt live from Austin, TX. He's playing our JUICER pedal for some tasty slide work and a nice solo towards the end, if you are not too distracted by Tift to notice.
Here is another clip from Doug Doppler
which will be on his GET KILLER TONE dvd series.
The Tele and '59 Bassman reissue with the JUICER :
70's. Doug says, Again, we're on the bridge position of the tele, but the amp and the compressor
make this a really useful sound in the studio. Think John Lennon and Mott the Hoople.
Here is an excellent video about getting the Sultans of Swing tone and he shows both sides of the mini bicomp with some excellent playing and explanation.
Sultans of Swing - In Search of the "Holy Grail" of old Strat tone Part 2
There are also samples below of the DYNAROSS before and after the mod.
Trey Anastasio from Phish got a pair
of Bicomps before his solo tour and the recording of their album
in late 2002. He has been using two of our Silver mod TS9/808
pedals in his live rigs with all the bands and combinations he plays for decades. We also
did some Way Huge SUPA PUSS mods for him in 2015, as the BLEND on them comes up too fast, he
just wanted a little delay so we found a way of making it easier to dial in. Trey didn't
use the BICOMPS with Phish, but in mid 2016 his old ROSS comp was finally on it's last legs
so he tried our new REV5 small compROSSor with MIX and ATTACK knobs, seen on the right.
He liked it more than the Ross, and got two more for backups. He since went back to the old
Ross, as it was given to him by his fans and he's such a sweet guy he wants to keep using their gift.
Bill Hullett
Nashville guitar ace, got a mini bicomp in 2007. He wrote me :
I got your mini bicomp pedal late last week and had a days
worth of sessions last Friday and a live gig on Saturday so I was
really anxious to
give it a try....I can honestly say that about 3 minutes worth of playing
it made me forget my old compressor pedal. Your compressor "feels"
like I'm playing with my coveted Tube Tech compressor in
my studio....Its is so smooth feeling its almost stupid!!!!
In 2015 I met Jason Isbell to fix his Sun Lion that Marc Ford gave him (#3 - the third one we built!). He had a big expensive compressor in his rack but wanted something that didn't change his tone as much, with less SQUASH. I sent him a prototype REV5 small CompROSSor when I returned the fuzz, and he popped it into his rack. You can hear him talking about it on his Premier Guitar Magazine rig rundown.
Doyle Bramhall II was using our BICOMPROSSOR on tour with Eric
Clapton in 2004. He also had our Sunface NKT with sundial on his pedalboard.
Here is a shot of his
HUGE PEDALBOARD with the Sunface in the middle
and Bicomp a few pedals to it's left.
Jerry McPherson, one of the top studio guitarists in the country, got a Bicomp in the summer of 2003, unfortunately just after he was featured in Recording Magazine's "What's in your Guitar Rack?" article.
Jerry wrote me this note :
On first listening it is impressive! I'm not sure how you got it so close to the original Orange Squeezer, but it nails my Squeezers!
In addition to playing guitar thru it I've run some white noise thru a Reamp box (for correct impedance and level matching) and routed it to the Bi-Compressor and compared the results to a late 70's DynaComp, a Keeley, and an old Orange Squeezer. Here's what I've found so far:
The Ross side of the Bi-Compressor (thankfully) has a slightly more of an "open" top end than the DynaComp or Keeley. The main reason I've been searching for alternatives to my old block logo and script logo DynaComps was to find a compressor that wasn't quite as dark and clamped down in the high end. This takes care of that. The attack knob does just what you say it does. How great to have that on a pedal compressor- usually you'll only find "attack" control on rack limiters and compressors!
The OS side of the Bi-Comp sounds just like the Orange Squeezer- Lots of nice, open high end! I can't believe that I can get two distinct compressor circuits in the same box! Man, is this ever going to save real estate on my pedalboard! And have you ever tried to mount an original Orange Squeezer on a pedalboard?!?!! And get power to it without drilling it?!!?
Great pedal- now my favorite compressor!
In 2012 I heard back from Jerry :
Wanted you to know that my Bi-Comprossor still goes with me to every session and I just bought a ARDX20 delay and Amazeo from Rock Block guitars here in Nashville. I love it!Sonny Landreth www.sonnylandreth.com often used one of our modified DynaRoss pedals. He got one of our BICOMPS for his main pedalboard and a seperate COMPROSSOR for his small board for small gigs around the turn of the century. He liked the JUICER on the bicomp so much that he also bought a seperate JUICER pedal for his other board. I finally met Sonny on tour in early 2005 and he was awesome! In 2013 when the REV4 came out, I saw him again when he played in New York. Sonny got a new small CompROSSor at that time after using another brand for a while and said he loves it. In 2014 he got a prototype REV5 with MIX control and has been using it for years.
Lance Keltner from Austin, TX got a bicomp to try along with his SUN FACE. He wrote me, I tried the bicomprossor pedal and liked it so much that I was laughing. You have nailed the orange squeezer, and the Ross is much nicer than a DynaComp.
The late Stephen Bruton got a BICOMP while on tour along with Little Feat in the summer of 2002, and he dug it for a long time. His playing and music are really missed.
If you are a PHISH fan, be sure to catch PHIX on their Nationwide tours. You'll hear our BICOMPROSSOR in action on Paul Murin's pedalboard! Also Rikers Mailbox, another Phish cover band, is using two of our comprossors and modified Tube Screamers.
Jon Guttwillig from The Disco Biscuits also got a BICOMP recently, after hearing about them from his friend Al Schnier of moe. they have an awesome live show! Al and Trey played together at the Jammies in October 2002, both with BICOMPS and our TS9/808 pedals! Chuck from moe. (an awesome player!) also uses a BICOMP and our TS9/808.
Scott Coney, guitarist for country legend George Jones, is using our bicomp, clone chorus, and King Of Tone. Just ordered spare Bicomp and KoT pedals!
Jeff
Pevar (CPR, Jazz Is Dead, Phil Lesh and friends,
Graham Nash, etc etc) who lived here in CT, got a BICOMP in
late 2002, and is bringing it around the world on tour now.
Buddy Miller (Buddy and Julie, Plant and Krauss, Emmylou Harris, etc) got one in early 2003
and I updated it in 2009 for him. Brad Whitford took his on the road with
Aerosmith starting in 2003. Charlie Sexton is enjoying
one of our Juicer pedals.
In 2003, Jeff Stinco of Simple Plan got our Bicomprossor (and DMM mod and BiChorus) and in 2010 he was still using the Bicomp in the studio.
Chris Justice used it all over the
Fox Sports The Best Damn Sports Show Period theme song,
(heard starting 3/15/04) and says "It's the Best Damn Pedal I've Ever Owned".
Shayne Hill, lead guitarist from
Saywer Brown loves his Mini Bicomp and modified TS9,
BD2, and SD1. Steve
Kimock got a Bicomp in late 2004 and is having fun with it,
running both sides at the same time for some
serious C O M P R E S S I O N! He is one of my favorite players,
and it's worth it to see him play just to hear his awesome drummer,
Rodney Holmes! Gabriel Moses (awesome player, with Macy Gray)
is enjoying his mini bicomp, thanks for referring your friends to us too!
Dave Malone of the Radiators got a bicomp in 2005 and
emailed me on Monday after his 1st gig with it:
A note I played Fri nite is still ringin!!
Michael Thompson is enjoying the JUICER side of his mini bicomp. Michael says he likes it best for when you want an EFFECTED compressor sound, and he tried other Orange Squeezer clones before this one but they just did not work out. Michael also hipped Ricky Zahariades to the mini bicomp and Ricky is using it in Steve Lukather's band with his Sunface and Bichorus.
Rontrose Heathman from the Supersuckers got a small 2 knob comprossor in early 2007 to replace his first one that got stolen while he was on tour.
Jon Carin, who plays with Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, The Who etc,
got a Bicomp for his Keyboards, Guitars, and all sorts of things
he makes music with. He wrote me
Thank you AnalogMike. I have never been so properly squeezed.
In early 2016 Jon was touring with David Gilmour and got our new REV5
comprossor and used it on stage at Madison Square Garden along with his King of Tone
pedal (it was a great show!!!!!).
Mark Goldenberg, who plays lead guitar for Jackson Browne, got a Comprossor in 2009 and popped it right in his live rig. He has had our SunFace for quite a long time and our modified TS9 until Jackson snatched it.
Richard Fortus from Guns N' Roses is using a BICOMPROSSOR in his rack after using it a lot to record their album.
Another great Nashville guitarist,
Chris Leuzinger, got our Comprossor in 2010 and wrote:
I absolutely love my Analogman Comprossor! It has just the right amount of grab and is really easy to control
with the attack knob. Great for switching between single and double coil pickups. And while most compressors
make you lose low end when you turn em on, this on does not alter your tone, which is great!
There is an excellent video of Keith Urban's gear on guitar.com. Guitar tech Chris Miller really knows how to set up a touring rig and explains Keith's awesome setup really well. Our Juicer is in the rig along with a few other compressors, you can't have too many comps!
John Mayer's touring rig was featured in a Premier Guitar Magazine video in Sept 2010, and it showed his Analog Man Small 3-knob Comprossor. I think he picked it up at Truetone music in Santa Barbara, CA. It was still on his new Bradshaw rig in 2017.
John Petrucci of Dream Theater got some Juicer pedals in 2013. He was interviewed by Premier
Guitar magazine in their November issue and said:
I don�t really need an overdrive anymore because of the JP13�s boost. We�ve experimented
with Mesa/Boogie�s new line of pedals, which are really cool for that, and we�ve used the Analog
Man King of Tone. I also really like the sound of compression pedals, and the Carl Martin
Compressor/Limiter is great, but the one that I really fell in love with on this album was the
Analog Man Juicer.
Here is a good 2013 article on the REV4 comp from Tone Quest Report Magazine.
Click Here for some customer reviews, the first is from a professional player in Las Vegas, with more info on the history of compressors and how they are used. near the end is some great general information on how compressors work and what they can do for you, check it out if you are wondering if a compressor can help you.
Here is a picture of our testing of the
pedals and mods. I used a pedal switching board so I
could switch back and forth between all the various compressors I
was testing. Leftmost is a modified reissue dyna/ross,
next is one of our 1st batch
compROSSors, in the smaller MXR distortion+ sized box, then an
original 70s Ross Compressor, and another Dyna/ross with
different components. I also used a TS9 in the loop to recreate
the sounds that many people are are trying to get. I tested with
a strat and my '58 Les Paul Junior, into a blackface deluxe
reverb and my 1969 100 Watt Marshall. They all sounded great!
SPECIAL VERSIONS:
Here
is the inside of a special BicompROSSor I made for
Al Schnier of
the band moe. -
they are a great band from the Northeast and love to jam! Al's
bicomp has 4 jacks - an input and output for each effect, so the
JUICER and COMPROSSOR can be run through an effects switcher
seperately, or with other effects in between them. It can still
be used with only 2 jacks, like the Captain Coconut (thanks
Kevin griffin from U-Melt,
who also owns one, for the idea!) with automatic patching
through both effects. We have now made quite a few of these
so we can now offer them for a $75 additional charge. It does not really
have room for a battery but one could be used in an emergency (wire hanging out the side)
Al wrote me :
The Bicomp rules. I have the JUICER right after my wah & use that for some clean & OD compression. The ROSS is after my overdrives & distortions & is great for added sustain. Very satisfied. The Ross blows away my Dynacomp. Thank you very much. Our publicist & other guitarist may also be in touch w/ you soon to order their's. (Chuck has his own Bicomp now!)
On the left is a special bicomprossor I made for a famous guitarist who was "raised by chickens". You should hear this pedal ALL OVER the finally-released Guns and Roses album- Paul Tobias and Robin Finck (G N'R and Nine Inch Nails) have been using it almost every day since they got it, and now Robin has bought one for himself.
On the right is
one of the 15 rare DOUBLE SCREENED bicomps. I wanted to do them
in dark red, but the red was not very clear so we did them over
in black, slightly offset for a cool shadowing effect! These have gone
for over $300 on ebay.
Regards, mike ~^v^~ aNaLoG.MaN ~^v^~
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