Ampeg Opto Compressor

[BassAdder60]

Had one of these and liked it back then but decided to not use any pedals for a while. 
 

Well I’ve now got one picked up locally and I think for the low cost they are very nice and do the job as more of a limiter 

Warm tone ( vintage ) and slight roll off of the highs but that’s not an issue for me 

[Osiris]

I'm intrigued by your comment about this working more like a limiter, how quick is it at catching initial transients on staccato notes? I've never really got on with optical compressors because the attack times are usually too slow for my tastes, and being quite an aggressive player at times I find that they often let through a lot of spikes especially on shorter notes or the opening note of a phrase. Is that the case with the Ampeg?

 

This particular pedal sounds great, IMO, in the demos I've heard online so I'd like to try one out at some point, but I'm kind of expecting to have that typical slower attack that you get from optical comps which doesn't work for me. Does the release control feel like it's also controlling the attack times too? I'm interested on your thoughts especially if you're using it more like a limiter. 

[BassAdder60]

2 hours ago, Osiris said:

I'm intrigued by your comment about this working more like a limiter, how quick is it at catching initial transients on staccato notes? I've never really got on with optical compressors because the attack times are usually too slow for my tastes, and being quite an aggressive player at times I find that they often let through a lot of spikes especially on shorter notes or the opening note of a phrase. Is that the case with the Ampeg?

 

This particular pedal sounds great, IMO, in the demos I've heard online so I'd like to try one out at some point, but I'm kind of expecting to have that typical slower attack that you get from optical comps which doesn't work for me. Does the release control feel like it's also controlling the attack times too? I'm interested on your thoughts especially if you're using it more like a limiter. 

I think Opto Comps by design have a slower response time but for my needs it works fine, perhaps my description of using it as a limiter was misleading. 
 

I found even running a mild compression setting tamed the large boomy notes that to me was compressing enough to protect my amp input and speakers 

 

The better limiter is the Keeley but for me I couldn’t justify £200 where the £90 Ampeg works well and adds a vintage vibe to it. 
 

The Ampeg does colour your tone very slightly but it works for me with the Ashdown amps 

Edited March 15, 2023 by BassAdder60

[Osiris]

Yes, optical comps are inherently slower than something like a FET based design which is my preference when it comes to compressors. And the way you describe it catching the boom part of the notes requires a slower attack as it's that part of the note than blooms - and can sometimes boom - after the initial transient spike, and it's these spikes that I like to control. 

 

Having been all around the houses with compressors (multi-band, clean blends, analogue, digital, racks, pedals etc) I'm back with the humble Boss LMB-3 Limiter, it just works for what I want. It's a simple design without a lot of control but it just does what I want it to do and it adds a real punch to the sound too!