BBE Compresor Pedals

Anyone had the opportunity to try both the Opto Stomp and the Bench Press. From what I can gather the Opto Stomp is very transparent. The literature for it refers to "soft knee compression" what the heck is that?

The Bench Press is based on the Ross compressor. I do not know what the Ross compressor sounds like, why it's famous and who used them but apparently it is the holy grail of compressor pedals.

I want one for clean country hybrid picking.

Anythoughts or advice?

Thanks for you input.

The literature for it refers to "soft knee compression" what the heck is that?

Tom,

I have no experience with the BBE Opto Stomp nor bench Press using a Carl Martin myself. But Wikipedia can explain the concept of 'soft knee' very well in their article on compression. Better than I could in my own words And they show a nice graph somewhat in the middle where they show the difference between hard and soft knees. All you need to know is that soft-knee compression is more 'pleasant' because transitions are smoothed out.

Hope this helps,

- Jos

Jos:

It helps greatly. I didn't even think about trying Wikipedia.

There's a lot of good info in the article. I think the Opto Stomp might be the better of the two pedals for my needs. By the way, I still want first rights to that black-orange burst ASAT if you ever decide to sell. And I'm local too! That's a beautiful guitar.


Thank you for the help.

Tom

Just in case anyone is interested. I found this tone comparison of a riff with a Ross compressor and without a Ross compressor. Scince the Bench Press is modeled after the Ross compressor it may be useful to someone considering a purchase of a Bench Press. Scoll down the page a ways to find the tone samples.

http://phishthoughts.com/2008/12/18/the ... ompressor/

It seems to me that the compressor makes the riff sound more jazzy and mellow.

the opto comp is very good. if it were not such a behemoth, i would use it. can't justify that much space for a comp. i have the keeley.

I own both. I prefer the Bench Press more because it seems more "retro" sounding, very similar to a Boss CS-2 compressor with 3 knobs. It has a more "analog" feel and will distort slightly in a good way.

The Opto Stomp is more squeaky clean sounding, more subtle sounding. I just never warmed up to it for some reason.

My least favorite is the older 2 knob Orange Squash. No attack knob.

My 2¢.

Will

Will:

Thank you very much. This is really helpful. Purchasing equipment is always a risk so insight from a user is valuable.

I recently bought a book. I believe the title is, 25 Great Country Guitar Solos. I can't find the book because my wife cleaned the house for the holidays and I have know idea were she put it. But assuming I have the title correct, you are one of the featured guitarists. Congratulations, it's nice to see you in there with Merle Travis, Chet Atkins, Danny Gatton and other greats. You've earned it. I'm looking forward to picking through your solo (butchering your solo).

Louis:

Thank you as well. I've seen some of your playing on you tube and I'm quite impressed. I value your opinion.

Take Care Guys!

I have both a bench press and Strymons opitcal comp, I prefer the optical but for the reasons Will mentioned, the bench is nice to have around. The optical I run is practically non existent, no negative effects, doesn't squash though. For chicken picking, I definitely prefer the strymon, it retains the spank and attack on the double stops, but keeps the volume a touch more consistent (allowing you to add even more snap if you want).