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BBE Opto-Stomp: a few questions

#21
I really dig my optostomp. Pretty subtle which is what I wanted. What I notice is it really brings out the higher strings surprisingly - really evened out my strings across the board. I did have mine modded slightly (just had some minor bass mods done by GME).

Regarding a volume drop, I get a volume drop when I crank up the compression, but I'm pretty sure that's an intended side-effect of comps (and why there is a volume pot). Seems like the vol knob is enough to compensate for any amount of compression.
 
#22
Alright I bit the bullet and got my opto stomp ups today M123 had a deal for 15% off.
I plugged it in a definatley true bypass. Unity gain does seem to be around 2 oclock on a passive bass. At first I thought well this was a waste of money. I just could not tell any difference until the comp was turned to 10 then it was so compressed it was useless for all but some fun effect. Yet to huge a volume drop at that point. I tried the compressor in my Roland Cube 100 and I could tell no difference there either. So I got curious and plugged my Strat into it and into a Peavey Classic 20. With it off playing clean the strings were normal sounding. Turned it on and everything sounded much cleaner. Back off and now the strings sound harsh. So I tried each level 1 2 3 etc and you can hear a very slight difference at each step up to 9 and then it drops way off. This is definately a very subtle compressor. I'm not sure what its going to gain me on bass but will use it at the gig tomorrow night and find out. With the Strat I almost don't want to turn it off and play without it. As far as the way I explained the compression at each level is this pretty normal for this unit or should I hear a huge difference between settings? This will probably be one of those things I keep in the gig bag and turn it on and leave it on and won't ever know the difference unless I didn't have it, I am thinking.
 
#23
Anthbass said:
Something of a thread hijack, but I recently acquired an Opto Stomp and while I appreciate its conservative compression, I do notice a substantial volume drop with this pedal, even when it isn't engaged. When it is engaged, I end up running the volume dimed, and I'm no volume junkie. Anyone else had a similar experience with this compressor?
Click to expand...

Sorry for my resurrecting an old thread, but having just bought a new Opto Stomp I too seem to be experiencing the volume drop described above.

I play a G&L Tribute L-2500, which has pretty hot pickups, running into an Ampeg SVTCL preamp to poweramp to SVT-410HLF and am only able to match the bypassed signal with the volume dimed, pad off. It's as if the volume pot is cut only, which doesn't really make sense to me. I had my guitarist try the pedal with his rig with identical results.

I'll ask the store - who also are the Finnish BBE distributor - what they think. Hope it's a bug, not a feature.
 
#25
Dang. I took the Opto Stomp back to the shop and as they didn't have any in stock to replace mine they sent it to their repair guys. Today a dude called and told me he a-b'd my pedal with another unit and they function identically. Oh, well.

I'm just wondering what's the purpose of the volume knob let alone the -15dB pad if you can't use either, even with a hot bass?
 
#26
Sorry to resurrect an old thread again, but I just got one of these the other day after winning one on eBay. I haven't had the chance to use it on my main rig yet (just my practice amp which I hardly noticed anything with), but about where should I be setting the threshold as a base level to work from? Also, I can't for the life of me see a -15db switch? It mentions it in the manual but I can't find it on the unit.. did they remove it on newer models?
 
#27
I used to have an Opto-Stomp, and the only reason I got rid of it was that I wanted something with stronger compression to tame my filter pedal. For light "natural" compression, it's damn near perfect. I don't recall it having any sound artifacts except maybe a slight sound when I turned it on and off, which wasn't very often since I usually left it on all the time. Great pedal for the price, IMHO.

That said, I had one of the older Opto-Stomps. I understand that the design has changed since I got rid of mine. Why the heck they changed what was working well, I really don't know.
 
#30
I'm a huge fan of the "older" BBE Opto-Stomp - no issues whatsoever and one of my "always on" pedals along with my Way Huge Pork Loin.

Just got the newer one with the horrible graphics. Has to go back ... even on the lowest output settings and threshold at zero, there is a static noise at the beginning of every note. Not a distortion sound that remains the length of the note, an annoying kind of cheap transistor or dirty volume pot kind of sound as each note is struck.

Major disappointment - especially since I was willing to overlook the stupid new graphics (as for the removal of the -15db switch, while odd, was not a factor for me personally but makes me question their thinking overall).

Whatever BBE's motivation was to change the pedal, they're in danger of losing one of the Opto Stomp's biggest fans. Hopefully they address the situation when I contact them ...
 
#31
Resurrecting….

I just got an old one with the Pad switch (which I don’t need).
Mine sounds GREAT.

Passive P bass Flats. The highest I can run the Comp at unity level is around 7.
Jazz Passive Flats I can go to 8 and get great squish without losing tone.
Super quiet and I’m not hearing any attack glitch.

Im running it into a UA Solo 610 and into an 1176 Clone
 

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