BBE Orange Squash Compressor

Two knobs, the manual says exactly what they do. No surprises here, just great compression and a simple layout.

Sounds great with distortion, great clean, pretty much great all around. I was looking for a compressor for my pedal board and I got one of these based on the great (if few and far between) reviews. It's a copy of Dan Armstrong's orange squeezer, one of the most famous and sought after compressors on the market. Except this one has high-end components to help with transparency. You can't get a lot of squash with this pedal, despite its name, but the attack remains natural and at its upper settings it can push an amp a bit as well. Sounds equally great with my strat and les paul, although it could be better clean. Don't get me wrong, it's great, I just wish it sustained a bit more through my amp without having to dime the compression/output. 9 because nothing's perfect, but this is damn close. I am so glad I didn't go with the MXR instead.

True bypass, easy access battery box (not that'll I use it, it's just nice that its there), well built and all that. Nice and heavy, solid enclosure and recessed knobs, I'm sure this one will last a long time. Very solid. I'm not gonna put a rating for this category because I've only had it for about a week and you never know.

Pedal has been discontinued from what I can tell, can't find it on any of the guitar retailers other than ebay. It's a shame because it's a great compressor and a great take on the orange squeezer to boot. I've never dealt with BBE so i'm leaving this category blank, hopefully I won't have to find out how good their customer support is.

Great pedal, I play mainly blues and rock and I'm doing my best to learn country and work on my shred chops via a john petrucci dvd so hopefully this will work for country and shred too, but I don't see why it wouldn't. If it were stolen or lost, I'd probably try and pick up another one, if not I'd go for a keeley/analogman compressor because those are the best money can buy. Not that they're better, just different - ross clones vs. what this is - orange squeezer clone/improvement.

Very easy!
Only compression and volume knobs.
What they do is pretty self-explainatory and if u know what a compressor is, u should reach a setting that works for u within 5 minutes of playing with the thing.
I personally like effects to be as simple as possible where it's possible and the "Orange Squash" is great in that sense. By "where possible" I mean that some kinds of effects require having more options in order to achieve a good sound or a variety of sounds and some just don't and shouldn't be needlessly complicated. For example, I also own the Eventide "TimeFactor" delay (also very recommended!!!!) which is basicly rocket science to learn at first (has 11 knobs!!!) but is SOOOO worth the while in the end because it produces endless kinds of wicked delays that you can save in 20 preset banks.
But other than this one I've made it a rule to only get simple-to-operate, user friendly effects, and all my effects are, without compromising my versatility of sounds.

I have to admit that I don't feel any change in my sustain, which disapoints me a little.
Other than that the pedal is great.
It provides a totally "transparent" compression that doesn't change or interfere with your sound in any way.
Only does its job - to compress. Brilliant!
It also reduced to almost nothing some pretty loud noise I had from other pedals on my board, which was a lovely bonus.
It's also a true bypass.

Haven't given me any problems yet and it looks like it's a well built unit. And besides, what can possibly happen to a guitar effect if you don't seriously abuse it, ha?
Comes with a 5 year warranty.

Haven't needed them.

Overall I'm very satisfied.
I'm sure there are better compressors out there but they'll probably costs around 4 times what this one costs and the difference won't be vast sound-wise. It's not that I was looking to buy cheap. On the contrary - all my effects are VERY expensive ones (eventide, keeley, xotic effects etc.) but I also feel that all these boutique brands have a lot of nerve pricing their products like they do when they're not always that much better than others, if they're better at all.
Don't let the price fool u. This is definitly a good effect though I must admit I'm no expert on compressors and haven't owned any before this one to compare it with.
I bought it because it had great reviews both here and also under the name "BBE Main Squeeze" (read those as well) which is basicly the same product.
I don't mind it not having an attack knob like some units because the pedal's compression is pretty subtle as it is and if anything, it's exactly the attacks that should be compressed. According to my taste, anyway...
I'm a music student and have been playing for 13 years now.
I play all styles of music.

This thing is a piece of cake. Two knobs - one volume and one for compression. This is the best compressor I've heard. It has true bypass and does not color your sound at all. It even comes with an AC Adapter.

Fantastic. True bypass so when it's off. The sound is exactly what you want in a compressor. Just compression - no coloring of your tone. Every guitar rig needs a compressor - yet most of them in the stomp box variety are lousy. This is the exception. Since one knob does all the compression, it's very easy to dial exactly how much you want.

It's a stomp box. So far so good.

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Overall - I was blown away. How does a compressor blow you away? Well cheap compressors can ruin tone. This one does EXACTLY what it should - and it does it better than any compressor I've heard. I've owned a bunch. Compression is the most misunderstood of all effects. The Orange Squash has it all, simplicity, tone, true bypass... It sounds as good as boutique pedals. It truly must be heard to be appreciated.