Waiting for an FEA - Which would you buy used knowing it will be sold?

Jim C

I believe in the trilogy; Fender, Stingray, + G&L
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Nov 29, 2008
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I'm on the DE-CL waiting list knowing it will be 9 months+
I have been using a BBE Opto Stomp that works great.
Of course, great isn't good enough.

Seems like I could buy a decent compressor pedal used and then resell for pretty close to what I paid. These compressors all get good reviews both here and by Bongo. Any recommendations or others to consider?

Mark Bass - used about $125, no blend, has a compression indicator light and I do like the warmth of tubes so long as it doesn't get too dark
Duncan Studio Bass - About $125 - 150 on the used market, has a blend but no threshold LED, does run a 9 Volt battery
Diamond - More like $175 used and many say it contains magic; no blend but has a threshold indicator
Empress - Not so sure one can get out clean with a $200 used pedal that sells for $250 new; it does have great metering and blend
Keeley Bassist - No blend but does have indicator; probably can't buy and resell without spending a few $$
MXR - $125ish, no blend but everything else including 9 Volt operation, I get the vibe that they are good but maybe not as good as the above

Thoughts and suggestions?
TIA
 
The Empress is a much better version of the MXR, in my experience. Both are really good for clean, transparent compression. Those are the only ones on your list that I've owned.

For "tone magic" compression the Diamond and Markbass are both really popular. The Markbass in particular is a pretty good deal that you could land for cheap, though be aware that it has somewhat onerous power requirements (I owned a SuperSynth with similar requirements).
 
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I’ve got a Markbass Compressore and a Keeley Bassist. The Keekey is a very transparent limiting type comp pedal. If you just want clean limiting and leveling it’s a good choice. The Markbass is a different animal entirely. Very musical with a little thickening and warming quality to it. Super nice - but bulky. And another excellent choice. IMO you really can’t go wrong with either.

If you’re planning on getting one only as a stopgap, either pedal will hold its resale value well. With the Markbass you might even get back a little more than you paid since you can sometimes find one in great shape going for a dirt cheap price. With the Keeley, the used price seem to be locked in around $150-$170 for mint to excellent condition. So with that you’ll probably only break even at best.
 
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I bought a used Diamond BCP-1 a few weeks ago to gather some data. I paid $170 shipped, so I will be selling it in a week or two for the same price.

I haven't put any music thru it yet, but I can say that it has a very impressive noise floor, even with the comp (gain) knob turned up.:thumbsup:

Since it has a low ratio, you really don't benefit from a dry blend control IMO.

-Frank
 
Frank,
I've seen you comment about the blend not being such a big deal, and to be honest I don't have an opinion yet.
Studio wise, I almost always place a compressor from the EQ out and return to a fader; once in a great while at the mic pre before the compressor.
There has been some conversation about using a fair amount of compression and blending with a non compressed, dynamic signal.

What I am trying to better understand is the sonic difference.
Does blending a fair amount of compression with the dry signal, really that much different than compressing at a mid ratio with no dry signal?

Of course, if you could just get your product to the market sooner...
I'm kidding as I have been in manufacturing and know just how hard it is to get things out the door while maintaining quality. And your customers demand great design and manufacturing with little to no defects.
I'm guessing that there is not a large enough market for high quality pedals to warrant borrowing a pile of money to get them built faster.
 
Frank,
I've seen you comment about the blend not being such a big deal, and to be honest I don't have an opinion yet.
Studio wise, I almost always place a compressor from the EQ out and return to a fader; once in a great while at the mic pre before the compressor.
There has been some conversation about using a fair amount of compression and blending with a non compressed, dynamic signal.

What I am trying to better understand is the sonic difference.
Does blending a fair amount of compression with the dry signal, really that much different than compressing at a mid ratio with no dry signal?

I don’t think a dry blend with a low ratio, light compression comp does much IMO. But a dry blend with high ratio, heavy compression does quite a bit and gives a different effect than just setting for a more mild compression… again IMO.

The effects of heavy compression are less dynamics with more sustain. By blending in dry with heavy compression you have some of the best of both… dynamics and sustain.

There is at least one compressor that uses a limiter type of circuit that calls their dry blend a "ratio" control. IMO the dry blend is not the same as a traditional ratio function, but I guess it could be the ‘mix ratio’ of dry and compressed, so technically it may not be misnamed.;) Compressor designers would love it if dry blending was the same function as ratio, because it is just so much easier to design a limiter with a parallel dry blend.:thumbsup:

-Frank
 
I don’t think a dry blend with a low ratio, light compression comp does much IMO. But a dry blend with high ratio, heavy compression does quite a bit and gives a different effect than just setting for a more mild compression… again IMO.

The effects of heavy compression are less dynamics with more sustain. By blending in dry with heavy compression you have some of the best of both… dynamics and sustain.

There is at least one compressor that uses a limiter type of circuit that calls their dry blend a "ratio" control. IMO the dry blend is not the same as a traditional ratio function, but I guess it could be the ‘mix ratio’ of dry and compressed, so technically it may not be misnamed.;) Compressor designers would love it if dry blending was the same function as ratio, because it is just so much easier to design a limiter with a parallel dry blend.:thumbsup:

-Frank

Spent part of the day installing & A/B'ing both the Empress and Diamond. You've pretty much described the Empress above: kick it into 10:1 and back the blend off to 50-70%...the results are impressive. Doesn't quite have the same impact in 4:1.

As a stop-gap measure, I'd go with the Diamond. Great compressor and you can buy & sell them all day for ~$170. It's also essentially a 2 knob jobby...plus an EQ tilt...so tweaks can be done on the fly much like the OptoStomp.

Riis
 
I don’t think a dry blend with a low ratio, light compression comp does much IMO.

Hi Frank. Happy Holidays! I'm sorry to quote you out of context. But I wanted to say that this is exactly how I run my Empress Compressor with bass guitar; and for me that's where its magic lives. While I'm not one to share my settings online, I will add that the clean signal is low in the mix. ;) Used like this, I happen to have nothing else that sounds as transparent as the Empress. Transparent, yet musical.

To me the magic in the Diamond Bass Comp is the combination of its flavor of low ratio compression and its tilt EQ. So sweet.

My DE-CL I run with both engines always on, very loose compressor settings, and loose limiter settings that clamp down when they should nonetheless. Sophistication in a box. It's as if the thing reads my mind. :D And the quality of the sound is like a high end channel strip; I swear it is. So fine. (Thank you, Frank!)

What I am trying to better understand is the sonic difference.

Hi Jim. Happy Holidays to you. I think you should try the Empress Compressor if you haven't yet. Your current situation is a good excuse to try one, and I promise you that it's worth it.

To my ears, of the compressor pedals I own, the Empress is the only one that, even 100% wet, simply faithfully conveys the voice of the instrument: apart from the "redistribution" of spectrum that compression must impart, the Empress does not color the instrument's voice at all. Not at all.
 
I currently own the Empress & Super Symmetry, on the waiting list for a DE-CL also.
I'll be selling the Empress shortly - I'm colourblind and that colour scheme is impossible (for me).
That said;
The Empy is a very good comp. But I think I actually prefer the SS more, even tho the controls are hard to read on that one too.