Cali76 Compact Deluxe Compressor Pedal Review

First Compressor

I've played guitar since the 70s and never wanted a compressor, but band wanted to play Pink Floyd and David Gilmour uses one. Johnny Hiland's demo of this pedal was great. Bass player's Keeley compressor died in practice so I spent extra $ on this one. Didn't really want a buffered pedal but its fine. From the first example that came with the instructions, I immediately noticed… read more the effect working. It can really shape your guitar signal in useful and interesting ways. Like Johnny said, I could switch between single coil and humbuckers with same settings and had success. Found great settings for Another Brick in the Wall. Helped make Brad Paisley type stuff easier. Didn't expect how well it worked for finger tapping and legato, without needing distortion! I did hear weird stuff of the compressor trying to do its job while just sustaining a chord, but for any single notes or jazz chord/melody it is amazing. Blown away really. It will raise the noise as it gains up the signal so I guess like Johnny now I need a Decimator because this pedal will be on a lot!

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A game changer among game changers.. Just... Wow.

You can look at my current setup in my picture. I've got lots of great gear. That being said, the Cali76 Compact Deluxe has by far - by far - provided me with the most drastic improvement in my overall sound. Instead of me rambling on like I often do in my reviews I'm just going to suggest you go over to YouTube and search for "Pete Thorn's Cali76 Demo." Okay, so that drastic… read more improvement in tone, punch, and articulation you hear? Yeah, that's legit. That happened to me in my living room and I was completely blown away. By the way, the pedal can operate in 9v but I can't recommend running it at anything besides 18v. The improved headroom is glorious. You can buy an 18v adapter but what I use is the Strymon Zuma which has a couple of outlets with selectable voltages (9/12/18). Don't be like me and underapprecaite what a good compressor can do for your sound. The Cali76 is the most recent pedal I've bought and it should have been one of my first. And since it directly improves the signal coming out of my guitar, it indirectly makes all of my other pedals sound that much better. I just can't say enough good things about this one. Just go watch some demo videos. The hype is real.

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Finally....!

I gave a good review of the EQD Warden a few weeks back... it is a very good compressor. The only negative is that it is somewhat dark and the attack/release control are subtle. The Cali is the compressor I've been searching for. It allows you to nail the attack & release and with the ratio knob, the interaction of the three controls let's you find the perfect setting. This compressor… read more makes my Strats sound alive and immediate! It also adds sparkle that is very addictive. As long as you do not dime the input control it as quiet as a church mouse. My compressor sojourn has ended with the Cali 76.... absolutely a terrific compressor.

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Finally! A true studio-grade compressor in a pedal form!

I have owned a few different compressor pedals over the years (Diamond, Boss, etc.). They were all similar - and just OK. They gave me more sustain, but to get that sustain, they totally changed the sound of the attack on the note. Once in a while that sounded cool, but mostly it sounded bad to me. It didn't sound at all like what I heard on some of my favorite recordings. … read more When I started recording myself and using the compressor plug-ins in Logic Pro, I discovered things like the wet/dry mix, threshold, input gain, etc. all made a huge difference. I could get a clean, natural attack and with tremendous amounts of sustain, as well as more even dynamics to smooth out the difference between my loudest and quietest parts. That is precisely the kind of control that exists in this pedal, and it's a night and day difference to all those other compressor pedals that I owned. This thing is built like an absolute tank as well - solid, high-quality feel, and very heavy. Despite all of its capability, it takes up no more space on a pedal board than most other pedals. It is easily one of the best buys, despite the fact that it is far from cheap. Worth every penny. Bravo!

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Full of surprises

Very clean, brings out the dynamics and then some, sounds especially good with single coils, but I'm sure it marries well with other p/u styles as well. Can't wait to see how this thing sounds with other instruments. Impressive, despite the steep price tag

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