Wampler Pedals - Ego Compressor - Brent Mason demo

Brent Mason discusses why the Ego Compressor is his first call effect live and in the studio.

A lot of people say "I don't want to squash my tone and remove all of my playing expression", which is a fair point if you have a lower quality compressor or it's not set up properly, but a quick look at professional guitar players rigs and most of them will have compression in it, so, that would lead us to believe that compression is actually imperative to a lot of players.

So, what does it do..? Fundamentally, it adds an element of control to your playing level -- it will bring the quieter parts up and the louder parts down. A great tube amp when driven into its sweet spot will do this, a compressor can bring you that control but a great compressor will give you that feel as well. Many budget compressors give you the squash and squeeze of a driven amp, but you tend to lose all of your playing dynamics, all of your expression.

The Ego Compressor will take that element of squash and squeeze, but will allow you to be able to control the effect so that your playing can shine through. It has been said before that the mark of a great compressor is that you can forget you have it on.

When Brian designed this pedal, the word that kept coming back to him was "transparency". The way the Ego has been designed, there is no coloration of your sound. The tone and blend controls allow you to balance the effect in such a way your signal path sounds so pure when the reality is that the pedal is working extra hard to make your playing tick like clockwork.

Now, if you are not familiar witn the Ego Compressor, you will probably be thinking "What's a blend control?". The blend is a dry mix, that sweeps between a fully effected signal to zero effect across the sweep of the pot. There will be a point in that sweep that allows you all the compression you need to even out your playing, increase your sustain (if you want it) but without any detraction from you playing attack and feel. That, previously was just a dream, but now; that is a reality. When this amazingly simple yet devastatingly effective control is added with the tone control (that can add a little sparkle to the tone), when this pedal is used as "an effect" rather than as an "always on" (to control your solos or to fatten up your rhythms), a little extra bit of sparkle allows your guitar to sit in that place in the band mix that you have been trying to fit into but couldn't quite find. Just a littler higher, a little sweeter in the mix.

This is the effect that you probably didn't realize you needed, but once you have used once, cannot imagine living without.

[jensenbell]

Sold! Hearing what the Blend can do for a Comp box... it's not just for Fenders anymore. Of all the demo videos of the Ego Comp. this is the one that made it's advantages clearest.

[edudzzaj]

The Ego Compressor is wonderfully versatile and transparent.

[AnthonyStara]

The best compressor pedal I've ever tried ! This is my no 1 pedal.

[s.w.matteo]

EQ and Compressors are my favorite pedals.

[Teleman]

Mine is nailed down to my board!! Thanks Wamp for a GREAT compressor!!!

[DennisCameronMusic]

Awesome. I laughed when he said 'attack, about ten o'clock' then looked at his watch. LOL

[atticusfob]

Love your guitar! Can't wait to get the pedal. :)

[leedixon]

Brian, can we get an Ego vs a CS-3 demo?

[stevenstabile]

Sounds great!! Hopefully I'll get one soon!!

[MissMisstreater]

and where can I get an Ego comp that's almost as big as a PRS? :P

[robertj]

I have an Ego compressor and like it, but Wampler pedals like this are suited to help single coil.  For humbuckers I find the pedals create mush, that includes the dual fusion which I also have.  Using my Axis super sport in single coil mode balances the volume so Wampler is great for these.  With my Air Norton S acts more like a boost pedal and I find other pedals better

[kevingudim]

"Goood compressor", like he's talking to his dog.

[tomahawk]

Why can i not find the same ego compressor with the plugs on the side the only one i can find are on the top

[GuitarDad]

Haha love the questions he got lol. what is it? Where can I get it and so on .

[sankstone]

Ha think they made him do that at like 6:00 AM or something like that. The man wasn't there. Don't blame him. How much can you say, AND tell time ? Man

[mikehershfelt]

He seems to have trouble with analog clocks!

[hammettfcb]

90% of this video is talking, 10% is how the pedal sounds like.

[wj]

"..a unison equalizer balance"

[marvinmealer]

If I had the ability he has in just his pinky finger...

[hammill]

I just don’t know. All due respect to the Wampler of course, but I just find, to my ears, the guitar sounded much better before he kicked on the compressor. I just don’t get it I guess