Wampler Ego Compressor Guitar Effects Pedal

I'm a compressor pedal always on type of guy. I'll come out and say it - IMO a properly used good compressor is the most valuable pedal you can have. It's more the pedal you need - rather than just want. With it you can meaningfully adjust the attack and decay of a note like no other pedal type. Often good for a clean boost too. I've tried the MXR (Ross type I believe) and the Mooer yellow (Opti type). The MXR colors the sound to much and is not adjustable enough for me. The Mooer just not aggressive enough. Another compressor I have and really like is the Xotic SP. The common denominator that makes the SP and the EGO so good is the BLEND! I found it incredibly useful. I tend to set my compressors pretty aggressive - both on the attack onset along with setting it up to help the sustain. You then use the blend to adjust to taste. Keeps it very simple yet effective. If you want more room on your pedal board and are satisfied with just having it set up in one way - then use the blend mostly, the volume less - then the SP might be better for you and save the $$$. Otherwise the EGO is simply more adjustable, and again IMO - worth every extra penny for the tone chasing hound...

Over the past 40+ years I have amassed a bunch of pedals and guitars. However only 8 make the pedal board at a time. Like many guitarists, I’m constantly tinkering and moving pedals on and off ;) I don’t like too much distortion feeding the amps as I’m going into two 100 watt Marshall heads / stacks in stereo mode. These days I don’t play loud anymore, so getting sustain without gain comes down to a compressor. This replaced a Boss compressor I have had for a long time as it’s more versatile. The way I have it set-up , since I want crunch but not fuzz, is the Ego into a Silver Archer into a Tumnus deluxe. Gives me a really amazing harmonic range with gain set around noon on both distortion pedals. The Tumnus has an “active” bass eq which means I can get Lo-end without Volume. (wife friendly) I run that into a noise gate. Yes I have an EQ, but I like the sound of the active Tumnus bass boost. When your pushing 8 speakers in a stack, the only way to sound reasonable at low volume is feed it an active bass boost. I think you’ll really like this pedal.

Been playing rock and hard rock guitar for years. Have a pro rig, including a Friedman Smalbox amp/4X12 cab and an assortment of pedals. However I have never used a compression pedal in my life. Ive always just used my fingers and/or rolling the volume down on the dirty channel of my amp.After getting this pedal and placing it second (behind wah) in front my of amp, the clean tone came alive. Adds sustain without changing the tone of the amp. Why fight it? It makes it easier to play and fuller in sound. When using with my Tube Screamer, it really gets you to the SRV tone (more so than with just the TS alone).All in all, GREAT pedal!

I use this as a compressor and a modest volume boost into my tumnus. If you haven't had a compressor before, it isn't necessarily something that I can hear (when set correctly) , it is something you feel as you play. If you have used compressors, this one is much better than others I have used mostly due to the customizability. If you dont have the money get a cheaper compressor, because they are great in general. But if you do have the money, get this one because it's awesome.

I paired this mini ego compressor with a mini Tumnus so I expected good results. First off the tone switch on the Ego made no difference in either position. The blend control worked great, sustain control functioned as it should as well as the attack and level controls. Using this ego compressor in clean mode sounds pretty typical and provides a decent amount of squish and pop for chicken picking. When I added the Tumnus to the mix the Ego got a bit noisy. I wanted to thicken up my tone because the as great as the Tumnus is, it can be brittle and thin. I play jazz and blues so I need Noise free tones. This combination did not deliver. It’s not a bad compressor I just expected better signal to noise ratio when using the same manufacturer. This is not a review of the Tumnus but the Tumnus is noise free when dimed, so why couldn’t wampler make a simple compressor that doesn’t get noisy with its own pedals?

I don't care for pedals but I could see how the Equator could result in many players tossing out their overdrive and distortion pedals. The creative possibilities are sky high. I was able to take a rather dull and heavy bass tone in my guitar and shape it into many different varieties - sounded like I was playing from a collection of guitars. It has a little hiss which I why I returned it as I primarily am a low volume home player. This would be invaluable if I was in a band. I was floored by how powerful this pedal is and how profound it is to shape the EQ before it hits the preamp tube(s) and is not the same as knobs on the amp.

I've had a love/hate relationship with Compressors. Every one of them I have used in the past has either been too subtle or too noisy and altered my sound too much. But, I kept going back, because, you need a compressor to nail certain sounds. For me the ultimate test for a compressor is playing the opening solo to Shine On You Crazy Diamonds by Pink Floyd on a Strat thru the compressor and straight to my Amp. So I have tried them all ... Keeley, Diamond, Empress, MXR Dynacomp variety, etc. etc. I have to say, This Compressor Nails It. It's quiet (as quiet as a compressor gets). It does not color your sound. The blend control, as others have said, let's you control any minimal amount of coloration, effect, noise to your satisfaction. For me the compressor is NOT an always on pedal. It may not be an effect per se like a phaser or reverb or delay but it makes your sound different than the straight into amp signal. So I treat it as such and I rate it as such. I highly recommend this pedal for those who want the comp effect without sacrificing your sound. Having said all of this the effectiveness of any pedal relies highly on your rig set up, amp, and guitar. However, if you are on the market for a great comp pedal for guitar give this a run. I will be surprised if you don't like it.