NEW Item Demeter Comp 1 COMPULATOR Pedal AWESOME Best!!

The sound of classic studio optical compression of the 60's and 70's at your feet! The first compressor pedal not to suck the life out of your tone.

Operation is fairly straightforward. There are two jacks on the sides of the unit: a 1/4" input jack on the right side and a 1/4" output jack on the left side, with a battery-ground switch on the input jack.

There are two controls on the unit: Compress and Volume, plus a foot switch to bypass the effect, and an LED to indicate effect operation. On the side there is a trim pot to set the overall gain of the unit.

Compress affects the amount of gain reduction (compression) of the input signal. Turning this clock wise will give you up to 30 dB of gain reduction (depending on input gain). Please note that the Compulator's maximum gain is 26 dB (see Trim Pot), so in some circumstances if your instrument is very hot you could achieve less than unity gain if you turn up the compress knob too much.

Volume increases and decreases the output volume of the Compulator. Use this for level matching between the affected and unaffected signal.

Trim Pot sets the gain of the compressor's pre-amplifier. If distortion occurs, turn this down until the signal is clean. The unit is set at the factory at 20 dB of gain which is perfect for most instruments. If you have weaker pickups or want to push the envelope turn it up to its maximum gain of 26 dB.

Power supply: 9 volts DC. Either external or internal. For internal power, use a 9 volt battery. To access, remove the four screws on the sides of the unit and pull apart. Note: battery must have at least 7 volts for unit to work! External power supply using mini-plug, tip positive, 9 volt DC regulated (100 milliamp or more).

Demeter Compulator
Like the LA-2A, the easy-to-use Demeter Compulator has two main controls: compress and volume. The Compulator can be optimized for low-output passive pickups or high-output active electronics thanks to its recessed input gain trim-pot, but you’ll need a tiny screwdriver for the job. Its 9-volt battery, solid-state circuitry, and LED opto-coupler are housed in a rugged heavy-steel box. A blue LED illuminates when the pedal is on, but I like seeing an LED that illuminates when the compressor engages. (Designer James Demeter responds: “I tried including an LED to show when the pedal is compressing, but with a 9-volt-battery power supply as opposed to an ac adapter, the additional circuitry added unacceptable noise.”)

At modest compression settings, the Compulator sounds detailed and transparent, with a fast attack and a smooth and graceful release. Cranking up the compress knob and input gain and can produce more dramatic squashes and swells—great for enhancing fretless mwah. On gigs and recordings, the Compulator always sounded sweet and well mannered. It’s nearly impossible to abuse this pedal. In fact, the Demeter can sound so well mannered that it becomes more conspicuous in its absence; you don’t realize how much it’s contributing until you turn it off. You’ll want to leave it on all the time. The Demeter Compulator’s sound is truly first class.