Diamond BCP1 Bass Comp

Pedal Type:

Compressor

Batteries:

N/A

Price:

$249.95

Features:

Expensive, at least by my standards, but I regard it as a lifetime purchase. Built like a tank, and has a unique tonal character.

This is definitely a "colour compressor". Extremely clean and detailed, but always adds a certain girth to the notes. I was searching for a clean, warm effect without overdrive or loss of treble for ages, finally found it here.

I would normally reject this pedal because of the fixed attack/release, tried a bunch of others before I gave this one a try. Glad that I finally did. To my surprise, it works very well for fingerstyle, pick or slap on 4-string and 5-string basses.

Lots of gain, can be used as a clean boost with the compression knob all the way off. Thanks to high-spec components, there negligible hiss even with the gain dimed. 18V supply provides lots of headroom. Been using it for a few years, never heard a pop from the true-bypass foot switch.

The tilt EQ is interesting, sloping off the highs at the same time that it boosts the lows around the corner frequency (or vice-versa). More subtle than typical 1-knob tone controls. The 250Hz settings sounds old-school, 900Hz preserves more of the upper mids.