Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

1176 compressor clone pedals?


SteveXFR
 Share

Recommended Posts

i've got the Hyper Luminal and i really like it (which is good, given what i paid for it!).  yes, the compressor sidechain is digital - which is handy since you can connect it to a computer with a USB cable and adjust some of the parameters, like the behaviour of the 'time' knob (which is a combined attack+release control).  you can also switch it to 'guitar' mode if you play one of those.

i haven't used the Cali 76, so i can't compare it to that, but i find all three modes have a different and interesting character.  FET sounds most transparent to my ear, so i normally use it in that mode, and sometimes switch to SYM for the nice dark tone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A huge part of an 1176 is the saturation it adds. The original big Cali had some of that, and they did a Lundahl transformer version that would have some different flavoured saturation from the original.

 

I would like to know if any of the other pedal based FET 76 'clones' actually do this too, given how rare it is to find a rack 76 clone that manages to do so.

Edited by 51m0n
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, MartinB said:

MXR M87 Bass Compressor and M76 Studio Compressor (same pedal, different paint job) are apparently both 1176-inspired

I had the M87 I couldn't get rid of it fast enough. Very transparent, attack/release controls seemed to have very little effect and by far the noisiest comp I've ever had. All purely IMO of course as the pedal has its fans. It sounded nothing like the Cali76 which adds a nice subtle sheen to your tone, (as described in ovnilab like adding a high quality preamp) its just light years ahead of the MXR  in every way. I think the MXRS control set is similar to the 1176 and that's it.

Edited by lee650
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, 51m0n said:

A huge part of an 1176 is the saturation it adds. The original big Cali had some of that, and they did a Lundahl transformer version that would have some different flavoured saturation from the original.

 

I would like to know if any of the other pedal based FET 76 'clones' actually do this too, given how rare it is to find a rack 76 clone that manages to do so.

Yeah i wish they could impart some of that in the Compact bass. One chap on here added a Hudson Broadcast to get nearer that sound,great idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

41 minutes ago, lee650 said:

I had the M87 I couldn't get rid of it fast enough. Very transparent, attack/release controls seemed to have very little effect and by far the noisiest comp I've ever had. All purely IMO of course as the pedal has its fans. It sounded nothing like the Cali76 which adds a nice subtle sheen to your tone, (as described in ovnilab like adding a high quality preamp) its just light years ahead of the MXR  in every way. I think the MXRS control set is similar to the 1176 and that's it.

Interesting!! I got rid of my FEA Opti-comp in favour of the MXR, which I found worked ten times better as a limiter and found quieter than the FEA. It's got the lowest noise floor of any pedal based comp I've tried (on battery)

You're right though, the MXR is similar to the 1176 in the set of controls only. As far as I know. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I owned both Darkglass compressors but chose to keep the Cali76cb as it adds some lovely texture the DG pedals seemed to lack. My tone gets more grippy in the mix with it without sounding obviously different.
For some extra gravy in the mix I can use the EHX Black Finger, combining it with the Cali gets me the Punch from 1176 plus the warmth from LA-2A like compression.

I seldomly require both compressors though. The Finger works especially well with Pbass like tone, the Cali with just about everything.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ped said:

Interesting!! I got rid of my FEA Opti-comp in favour of the MXR, which I found worked ten times better as a limiter and found quieter than the FEA. It's got the lowest noise floor of any pedal based comp I've tried (on battery)

You're right though, the MXR is similar to the 1176 in the set of controls only. As far as I know. 

Yeah - I did qualify it as "apparently" "inspired by", because there looks to have been a lot of assumptions about it (which are not in MXR's interest to correct!). Ovnilabs describes it like this:

"People who want minimal coloration will be pleased, but people who want "tone magic" will be disappointed. Because of the claims about the M87 being "based on" the Urei 1176, consumers may assume or wish that the M87 will give them a famous vintage tone quality. It will not. It's a great-sounding pedal, it's better than a good percentage of the other pedals out there, but it is not a magic vintage recording-studio tone box. It's just a good, clean compressor with some useful features, that happens to use a circuit and control layout similar to the basic concept of the Urei." -- http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/mxrbass.shtml

How important is "magic" to you, @SteveXFR? 🎩

DryBell Unit67 is another option btw. They describe it as an "an 1176 type of compressor" - interpret that as you will! 🙂

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, MartinB said:


How important is "magic" to you, @SteveXFR? 🎩

 

Basically I played my Stingray through an 1176 in a studio and it sounded amazing isolated and in a mix. I'd like to get as close to that as possible for under £300.

I appreciate I'll never get exactly the same sound because I don't own a vintage Ampeg SVT although I played through the SVT with and without the compressor and it was with the 1167 that it really come alive. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, MartinB said:

Yeah - I did qualify it as "apparently" "inspired by", because there looks to have been a lot of assumptions about it (which are not in MXR's interest to correct!). Ovnilabs describes it like this:

"People who want minimal coloration will be pleased, but people who want "tone magic" will be disappointed. Because of the claims about the M87 being "based on" the Urei 1176, consumers may assume or wish that the M87 will give them a famous vintage tone quality. It will not. It's a great-sounding pedal, it's better than a good percentage of the other pedals out there, but it is not a magic vintage recording-studio tone box. It's just a good, clean compressor with some useful features, that happens to use a circuit and control layout similar to the basic concept of the Urei." -- http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/mxrbass.shtml

How important is "magic" to you, @SteveXFR? 🎩

DryBell Unit67 is another option btw. They describe it as an "an 1176 type of compressor" - interpret that as you will! 🙂

Absolutely spot on!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, ped said:

Interesting!! I got rid of my FEA Opti-comp in favour of the MXR, which I found worked ten times better as a limiter and found quieter than the FEA. It's got the lowest noise floor of any pedal based comp I've tried (on battery)

You're right though, the MXR is similar to the 1176 in the set of controls only. As far as I know. 

That's funny as I've been thinking of selling my cali76 CB to buy an optifet 😂

Depends what you want from a comp, I want gentle softening of the sound,maybe level out string pops when slapping, but mostly a magical little box,that just gives the sound a little lift ( like the Diamond,3 leaf Pwnzor,cali76 etc) if you want a hard clean limiter then I'd imagine the MXR will work well for you 😁

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...