Electro-Harmonix Soul Preacher Compressor

The Soul Preacher has the usual two knobs plus a switch to set the attack speed. What could possibly go wrong?

I play a Fender Strat into a Marshall combo. Amp for overdrive, modulation and delay in the effects loop, wah and compressor between the guitar and the amp (and an optional micro-synthesizer, when called for.

If you use compression as a kind of clean volume boost, then I wouldn't advise you to pick the soul preacher. It sounds best when the volume level matches the bypass signal - otherwise it gets a bit noisy and you'd probably want to throw a noise gate into the equation too.

I tend to use the attack set to slow.

This pedal sounds great when I play rhythm, it really helps squash out the unwanted bits and pieces when strumming and it really helps certain types of arpeggio picking.

The slow amd medium settings are my favourite, you can get great compression from this pedal. As with most E-H pedals it takes the settings up to the point where they become seemingly unuseable.

The bypass mode is excellent and the slight coloration it gives your sound is warm and pleasing in an analog way.

Generally speaking you should use it immediately after your guitar, or after any filter effects (wah wah, etc) that occur before distortion/overdrive.

Haven't gigged it yet. It looks and feels as though it's made of stone, although I suspect it's actually metal of some kind. Really nice clunky switch as with all EH pedals.

Not dealt with them

I play various styles of music in a couple of bands. This pedal is great for when I have to get nice tight rhythm sounds out of my strat, be that strumming or picking. It works particularly well when I use the bridge and neck (yeah, that's a mod) pickups together for a kind of Tele like sound.

Been playing 8 years, own a variety of effects pedals, Marshall amp and a Line 6 POD XT Live.

Compared to other compressors I've tried, it's not as good as the very best but it's certainly a lot cheaper and it's certainly a classy little pedal... It also has to be a candidate for the best named pedal in history (along with the big muff Pi and the Z-Vex super hard on)

I think there is confusion here with the old soul preachers and the new soul preacher nano. So i will clarify my review as this is the Soul Preacher Nano.
I really wanted to try this one out. Curious to see what our friends at EH built as a compressor and I was glad to finally figure this baby out. It is simple to use- vol. sustain and attacks.

I have tried this on my acoustic rig and it didn't really sell it for me honestly. I thought it may help to remove the ice picks but alas no just killed the sound that I wanted. It creates a wonderful feedback response from my acoustic amp and you have to be careful not to use too much compression. Honestly I don't use it for that anymore. I love using EH pedals on my acoustic but sadly this did not deliver.

Slow attack is probably what I use the most however when I get all tele action fast attack with a lot of sustain means creamy sounds.
I am only using this for electric guitar actually telecaster only. I am yet to try it out on our bass.

It looks tough and it is so little. You could quite easily put 6 soul preachers on top one big muff. Its tiny. It looks well made and have had no problems with it to date. Touch wood

NA

I play alternative, blues, rock and jazz. Hmm replacing it hey... Not sure. I wouldn't rush out the door to do it but there would be times i miss the sound mixed with my tele. I have tested this little baby out and it doesn't do everything I want it to do. It is colourless which I love. It can be noisy if the vol. is set to high. It can create beautiuful sounds. I have had some dodgy compressors and this one is definitely better but I have such a mixture of thoughts in regards to this one. Hmmmmm I think I would try the BBE out before I would replace this one actually.

Easy to dial in volume, attack and sustan (threshold) - two knobs and a three way toggle switch. The three attack settings are useful and makes it convenient to dial in to your tatse. I like the small enclosure, smooth pots and nice graphics - it's a handsome pedal. You pedal geeks know what I mean. Manual is useful and informative.

I bought it for two reasons - I wanted to replace a Line 6 Tone Core compressor. Analog sounds more organic to me. I read a favorable review in Guitar World magazine, and was intrigued by the fact that the circuit design is reminiscent of older compressors and the price point. I wnet to GC to buy strings and saw the Soul Preacher in the glass case as I looked down so the impulse hit me and off I went. $98 seems like a fair price. I have not experienced the noise that other reviewers have mentioned. I set the volume at unity with my amp and isn't noisy. I like this pedal. It doesn't color my sound. It fact in the slow attack setting my tone is preserved quite nicely. A compressor WILL color your tone to a degree. I especially notice it on my clean tone. If you really listen closely and compare your clean tone by switching the compressor on and off, you'll definitely hear a difference. It's sort of like a blanket. But having said that, you can have fund with a compressor. To my ears the Soul Preacher is pretty transparent for a compressor. It does the job nicely for me. I can't put my finger on it at this point (only owned it 2 weeks), but it has a more pleasant sound than the line 6 Tone Core. I really like the slow setting. It lets the entire signal pass before the comprssion kick in. Thereby preserving the attack you are used to hearing without a compressor. There really are a lot of variations to dial in. I am very pleased with pedal.

Seem rugged but two early to tell

never had an experience with EH

I play variety of rock - sting, santana, beatles, trower, deep purple. Playing 40 years. I would buy it again if stolen. Very reasonaable price point - good value based on sound, size, vibe. If you apprecaite analog you'll like this pedal. I also own a Boss compressor. Again, mine is not noisy. Maybe others are crankin' the volume. I set it at unity or just a hair above unity. I hghly recommend this if you're looking for an affordable analog compressor.

Simple to operate, 2 knobs and a toggle switch to set the attack.
If you're looking at compressors the chances are you know what they do already.

I don't seem to be having the same problem with noise levels as other reviewers. I play a Les Paul ('57 Classic Humbuckers) and a Strat with '69 single coils through a Marshall DSL and find the noise levels generated by this pedal to be more than acceptable. I have owned Boss CS1s, CS2s, CS3s and an MXR dynacomp and the hiss was bad on the Boss pedals which I expected with the old cs1 and cs2 but I had the same problem with the cs3 which was brand new. I don't remember having any probs with the dynacomp either noise wise.
I am yet to try a compressor that doesn't make any hiss yet but this one is above average. Whether this has anything to do with the fact it is one of the "nano" range I'm not sure.
The sounds are all what you'd expect but again the pedal compares favourably in the smoothness department. The toggle switch to set the attack is useful and covers everything from fast, percussive attack sounds to slower, more mellow sounds. The sustain is also very effective and is great for solos.

I've been very lucky with fx pedals so far and I look after my stuff so I would expect this to be dependable but I haven't owned the pedal long enough to say for sure.

Never contacted them.

Great compressed sounds in a tidy looking package.
Very happy.

easypeasy to use - usual suspects, knob-wise

more hiss than a whole boxful of snakes through the single coils on my Fender Am Strat, humbuckers on my Gibson Explorer and the EMGs on my Steinberg. Maybe the Fender amps I use (Deluxe Reverb/Vibrochamp)exacerbate the problem...I use a whole bunch of effects but nothing ever produced this much noise...really, you have to abandon foolish dreams of compression and use the Soul Preacher as a boost pedal. And unfortunately there are other boost pedals which do the job far better

well, it's still going after much abuse before I got it (I pamper my gear)

n/a

I have a weakness for EH pedals - the look, the sound, the individuality of them...however, the Soul Preacher is sadly not up to the job it's supposed to do. Looks cool, though.

Well, pretty average compressor. Two controls for volume and threshold, one treble boost switch. Pretty easy to dial in a fine tone.

First of all, this thing produces a nearly unbearable hiss if it is used. Especially when playing it through a very clean and silent amp like my fenders. Even if the volume knob is turned all the way up this won't overdrive your old amp without a mastervolume. I tried it with my Princeton Reverb and it still was clean - though hissy and compressed.
The compression itself is pretty decent - only on the highest settings it produces breathing and pumping noises.
The Treble-Boost produces a soft treble boost - introducing even more hiss into the signal. You won't get a treble-booster-like sound. It doesn't distort by itself like the Dallas Rangemaster or its clones.
It is pretty muddy sounding - there are some high frequencies missing when it is engaged. You won't notice it if it is bypassed. It seems to have some sort of true bypass.

Well - it still works after all these years. That's reliable!

The old company that produced these doesn't excist anymore. New EH won't support it, I think.

It's a very basic compressor. It colors your sound with hiss and missing high frequencies. I think there are a load of better compressor out today.

No problem with using it. Has two controls - volume and threshold and one treble boost switch. It is not true bypass pedal.

I use it within the board of effects, each of them is minimum 20 years old: Big Muff Pi -> Soul preacher -> Ibanez Phase Tone -> MXR 10 band graphic equalizer -> Vox wah-wah -> Line 6 POD Pro - 60 watt solid state combo of German provenience. My guitar is Fender Stratocaster '73 and Fender Lead II '79 with Seymour Duncan's humbuckers. In fact POD Pro is very versatile by itself so maybe this setup is not so necessary. But I am used to it and I love this sound. The compression rate surely can be very high (not printed by design) stated subjectively. At that time I tried to get Black Finger which was the compressor of my dream, but in Eastern Europe it was not so easy to get these things. But I am quite happy with the Soul Preacher as well. The combination with cleaner patches on POD (as Fender Twin) gives me thick, full bluesy tone, very creamy and lasting. No noise can be heard even without noise gate. Little problem is that this chain of pedals (maybe due to its age, but rather that any of the effects is true bypassed) partialy removes some harmonic frequencies when in switched-off state. I am working with my friend on more proper switching.

Yes, I use it more than 20 years with no problem. No backup is needed.

I have never dealt with the company. I have thought they do not exist now, but I have seen their web site some time ago. I was little dissapointed that many of their famous pedals aren't reissued (Black Finger, Electric Mistress, Cry baby and many others).

I am playing more than 30 years. I used to play in coverbands with own material too, now I am playing live only seldom. But at home I record a lot, exclusively my instrumentals. The style is more of blues and jazz than in younger years, when it was mainly rock. I like all EH electronics, though many people expected them home made due to their look. But now it is classical, vintage design. The sound of the Soul Preacher is a part of my "signature" sound. It must not be stolen, because there is no chance to get another one again.

This compressor has two knobs and a hi-boost. Pretty easy to use. Good sounds with a minimum amount of tweaking!

I use this for my live setup which is very simple. Strat->Soul Preacher->Small Stone (original)-> Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401 with a Deluxe Memory Man in the FX-loop. The pedal is super noisy which is very much expected. It has a massive amount of boost and you can definatly be heard when switching this little monster on. It is really good as clean boost for clean solos with lots of sustain, brilliant for slide too. Doesn't affect the volume as much when boosting the overdrive channel on the amp but gives a nice solo sound with tons of sustain.

I've only owned it for a couple of months but it has packed up on me already once but miraculously, without any reason started working again. I have used this on a gig without a backup. I still don't depend on it too much as it is over 20 years old.

I play retro type pop music and this quite a good pedal for the type of music our band plays. I would have rather used a fuzz for leads and solos but it get's a bit complicated if I have to turn the OD to clean on the amp, turn on the fuzz and sing at some point too. A compressor is easy to slap on in front of a driven amp. And this pedal looks super cool too. Real 70's style. I also own the Small Stone and Deluxe Memory Man that I mentioned earlier and a Vintage Rat, E-H Polychorus, U.S. Big Muff, Lovetone Meatball, ZVEX Fuzz Factory, Dean Markley Overlord, Boss Super Overdrive, Boss GE-7, Boss CH-2, Jim Dunlop Crybaby, Ibanez Phase/Tone and a Russian Big Muff. If the Soul Preacher were stolen I probably wouldn't look too hard for another one. I would try to get hold of a vintage MXR Dynacomp or something. I just liek all the E-H stuff and everytime I find something I get it if I can afford it.

Two knobs: Volume and Threshold, plus a switch for treble response. No need for a manual, just spend a bit of time with the unit and you'll grasp the concept pretty quickly. Also has a 9V power jack.

Well, it is noisy, but that is somewhat expected for a compressor Switching off the treble boost will help, but then the sound is a bit muddied. I had never owned a compressr and didn't know what to expect (I probably still don't) so I was a bit unimpressed with the effect. Of course, compression isn't really an "in-your-face" effect. I wanted a bit more sustain, so I bought the Soul Preacher thinking it would be a wonderful solution. Instead, I heard my sound get squashed and was never pleased with it.

Until one fateful day... I was (once again) trying to get a sound that I liked out of it and an incredibly nauseous fuzz began dripping from the amp. I quickly surmised that the dying battery was the cause and kept playing until the battery was killed. It sounded like an Atari with emphysema towards the end, but for a few minutes I got a great, unique sound that my other fuzzboxes couldn't come close to.

I then used one of those multi-voltage adapters from Rat Shack and pinpointed the voltage at which the fuzz is born. 4.5 volts. Once in half-dead emulation mode, the Threshold knob functions more like the Distortion knob on a fuzzbox. There is still some sustain added too. Volume is pretty much the same as regular.
For sound quality as a compressor: 6. As a belching box of sonic velcro: 10. So I guess the average is 8?

Never a problem. Bought it used nearly a year ago. Volume pot date code says 1979.

One of the many Electro-Harmonix effects that has not been reissued.

I thought that I had simply bought a dust-collecting semi-rare effect until I discovered the Charlie Manson lurking within the Soul Preacher. Now I always am surprised to hear the fuzz that this thing barfs. It is a lot of fun! Therefore, my overall rating reflects the unintended use of the Soul Preacher.

Has volume and threshhold knobs plus treble boost switch. Simple enough.

Pretty much an average 70s compressor . Adds sustain when amp is clean or adds gain if amp is distoted.

Never broken down in nearly 20 years, dependable enough.

I'd buy it again . Has pretty good compression abilities and AC adaptor jack. Use it with a Big Muff and you have a Deluxe Big Muff.