Empress Effects Bass Compressor Effects Pedal, Blue CPBB

The Empress Bass Compressor is an outstanding product. I've been playing bass for over 40 years and have used a number of compressors over the years, both in the studio and on my gigging pedalboard. Let me start by saying that this pedal is dead quiet !! No hiss or any other extraneous noise. It functions like a studio compressor in that the input control determines the amount of compression. There is no threshold control. What sold me is the fact that parallel compression is a primary feature of this unit that many others don't have. For those of you that are unsure of how that works, its like this..... Parallel compression is a mix of the compressor output and the original uncompressed signal. It is a way of getting sustain and density while maintaining finger and slap dynamics. In terms of quality, this unit is well built, the controls and level LEDs are logically laid out, and the sound quality rivals the studio grade compressors that I've used. The price point may seem steep at first, but it is well worth the cost when you consider the quality and versatility in a stomp box package.

The features and quality are outstanding, it's very versatile and transparent. This has become my favorite compressor I've had on a pedalboard.

After a ton of research looking for a professional level bass compressor I chose this one because of the demos and reviews, as well as the price to quality ratio. And wow does it live up to the hype. It’s so versatile and sounds amazing. The build quality is awesome and it looks cool. I’m very happy with my decision.

Wow! This thing is amazing! It does exactly what it's supposed to do - clean, transparent, musical compression with LOTS of control over parameters. It has an incredibly wide variety of possibilities. You can't get a bad sound out of it - everything is tasteful & musical. You can go subtle or over the top, all usable & infintely tweakable.Although it's incredibly transparent, it does have a 3-way tone+colour switch (flat, mid cut, mid boost) that also adds a slight harmonic overdrive in 2 of the settings. A 4th tonal option (harmonic overdrive without the mid contour) is also available via internal dip-switches. All 4 options are very tasty choices, and I don't feel the need for another tone knob.Incredible led monitoring, seperate attack & release knobs, parallel compression, transparency OR colour, were all my main reasons to get this versus the other options.You won't be sorry.

The Empress Bass Compressor is a wonderful thing. I play a Jazz bass that I converted to a PJ and really needed a compressor pedal with a good deal of adjustability and granular management as I play all styles of music from punk with heavy pick attack to jazz with finger plucking.My first impression of the pedal is that it was well built and compact, simply replacing the ancient MXR compressor I had on my board before. Playing through it I was instantly reminded of some of my favorite plug in emulations of the URI 1176: gently smoothing the attack while noiselessly bringing sustain to my playing.My favorite features include the ability to blend in your uncompressed signal to get a great parallel sound, the tone circuit which lets you either bypass or take advantage of the natural coloring in the circuit, and the ability to program the pedal to turn on engaged (which I’m doing since I kind of always want it on)I could go on forever, but at the price point, there is no better compressor for bass on the market that I’m aware of that brings the clarity and control that this pedal does. Great job Empress!

Great pedal, with a lot of posibilities. Until you test it in person, you'll fill the diference.

No noise compressor. I started with one of the suggested settings and made one or two tweeks and havent touch any of the settings since. The sound is amazing: solid, clear yet lots of punch while retaining my dynamics. This pedal will never leave my bass pedalboard.

It is not the cheapest pedal out there but it is not the most expensive either. Well worth the money. Perfect transparent uncolored tone. Takes a minute to find the perfect spot but once you do it wonderful. If I were more irresponsible with money I would buy another one for just slap tones. The best compression is one you don’t hear but one you feel. This does that.