Marshall ED-1 Edward the Compressor

Easy to use controls, though hard to see the settings on the knobs because they're very shiny. They are 1;Emphasis, to bias a certain part of your frequency range to be compressed, 2; Volume, you know, 3; Attack, attack speed, 4;Compression. The manual is pretty clear on what they're supposed to do. No setting has a bad sound, but in some the transparency of this thing makes it hard to hear if it's on. Not all settings are useful though. The manual can be downloaded from their site. It's a good bypass, too. No noticeable change in sound when it's off. On maxed compression there is some grit in the sound. I use the ED-1 to tame my angry fasel-crybaby and to define the sound of my guitars a little more.

I use an Epiphone Dot with a GFS Mean 90 in the bridge and a StewMac Golden Age in the neck position, mainly. Amps; a Session Rockette 30 or a Boogie clone studio preamp and a tube power amp through a Kitty Hawk cab with a decent Celestion speaker. Effects are a fasel crybaby, ED-1, TubeWorks Real Tube o.d., Maestro Stage Phaser, EHX pulsar trem, Akai headrush looper. The Ed-1 starts getting a bit noisy after compression settings of 2 o'clock, which is later (better) than the Boss CS-3. Quiet otherwise. It does very well in the chain I just described. I recommend it in front of an aggressive wah, and in this chain it can still make my o.d. "talk" like I want it.

Seems very well built. Would gig without, but that goes for all of my effects. I am likely to get another one for my practice space. It's pretty small too, good for pedal boards.

no idea

It's great for funky stuff cleans and to stand out more in a noisy environment, which are the 2 things I got it for. A bonus is that I could get rid of one wah that I kept because it wouldn't overdrive my amps, like the fasel one, even though the fasel sounds better. With the ED, the fasel-crybaby sounds great without overdiving my amps.
Been playing over 10 years. Have a few other upgraded weird guitars, and more effects which I use less, or that are cheaper alternatives to the ones already mentioned. Love the ED-1's small size, well-builtness and quietness. Nothing to hate, really. Compared to a Boss CS 3 I'd go for the ED-1 any day. It definitely helps me make music.
One downside to compressors it that I get used to the sound quickly, so once in a while I switch it off to hear what it does.. but then it's very obvious.

Well there are 4 knobs(volume, attack,emphasis and compression) so It will take a bit longer than just plugging in the Marshall ED-1 Edward the Compressor and playing as I'm guilty of.
There is a helpful manual to assist you to get the basics though

I'm using a 1982 Les Paul custom with Burst bucker puck ups, custom Strat,Gibson Explorer,a 1983 Gibson Invader (among others)thru a Planet waves tuner FoxxRoxx Octron,Fulltone Clyde Deluxe,Marshall ED-1 Edward the Compressor, Fulltone Full drive II,(these are in a chain direct to the amp)
Fulltone Choral Flange(n the flange setting)Fulltone Deja Vibe,MXR Phase 100,Pearl Chorus and a Pearl Delay,Pearl noise Suppressor (old school!) a MXR Kerry King 10 band EQ ,BBE Stinger in my effects loop, into a Marshall blues breaker.
I did have one of those generic "Ross Compressor clone "kits which I wrote a review about already,which got removed and now the Marshall ED-1 Edward the Compressor has taken its place.
A noticeable improvement with way more variations as well.
Setting the volume level at about 11 o'clock seems to get about the same volume setting you already have,the compression at about 3o'clock ensures an ideal sustain.
Theres also little to any noise from this pedal,Of course I leaned a while back NEVER to max out any effect unit too since that typcally cause the excess noise issures

Its built out of metal .can't imagine it breaking easily

Bought it used so ,N/A

I've been playing for 30 years .Playing rock,blues and metal.
I'm a gear junkie of the typical sort.20 odd guitar 4 different amps,you know the deal.
I've used a Marshall amp,but with all the pedals I have gone through never had any Marshall effects,I saw this on ebay cheaper than the handmade noisy piece of garbage clone I had and snapped it up, Since those are the only 2 Compressors I have used ,I'm happy with this one so I would more than likely replace it should something happen.Its not some handmade,upscale organic boutique pedal but its gets the job done and that what matters. Theres enough options for any player with this .I needed a slight sustain, with little to no noise and it more than performs its requirements.

It's a compressor, they're hard to understand, but once you know what's happening with what you'll get it.

It does it's job. It's a simple pedal - my only issue is that it was a bit buzzy at times, but that's what you get.

I thought I could depend on it, but then the piece of shit decided to die on me - the switch broke completely, and fell into the cavity of the box. All minutes before a gig. Bastard. And then had to get it re boxed by my local electronics guy, because the new switch wouldn't fit into the old box because it was too big. He fixed it up okay, but now I have to use a battery. And there's no easy battery access a-la Boss pedals.. dammit. Kent.

Couldn't bother talking to them about warranty or anything. Fuck it, dealing with that stuff is too much trouble. I don't know what Marshall are like so.. No Opinion.

I had faith in this pedal in it's use as a small booster pedal for "just a little more dirty" bits in songs. But then it fucked up on me. Hopefully it will survive now in it's new shell...

After reading the "suggested settings" in the document and playing around I got a good understanding of what each of the controls does and how they interact with my amp (and other effects). Like most good pedals it takes a little time to understand how to get the best out of it.

You can get a good variety of compressed and boosted sounds from this pedal. Its interaction with my amp (Cornford Harlequin) and other pedals is generally very good. FYI one exception is my Crybaby Wah which does like it for some reason - no problem just noticed it when I left it on. I can get a good range of sounds, straight forward boost, gentle swells, and on the edge of feedback.

No problems

No used

For the price this is a great unit. I had a Dod compressor pedal before and the Marshall offers far more tonal and functional possibilities. You can use this is several ways (which makes it tempting to put an additional one in my setup to add a switchable option). Would I replace it if I lost it - yes.

not easy to find your sound. after alot of fiddling around with it, eventually it will suit your needs (nicely too)

i use it for soloing. for my solos, i like the volume to be raised slightly and my distortion to turn more clear and predominant and it does just that.

one little comment. i have emphasis set to max hi so the high sounds are nice, but the lo end is a little groggy. i dont mind this but i bet some people might.

great. one 2 things to mention

1. i put in it a grocery bag to get a surprise band practice and i scratched the marker off my emphasis. you'd think the maker or some of the worlds leading amps could produce a pedal that the marker on the knobs doesnt scratch off...just be relativly gentle ( i dem mine back on with a permanent marker and havent hand a problem since.)

2. after it came out of the bag, i noticed the compression knob was bent ever so slightly.

these 2 were out of my own stupidity. this has inspired me to build my own pedal board so this will never happen again.

ive honestly loved this pedal since i got it for my birthday. i didnt know what it did then but i still loved it. i think everyone could benefit from having a compressor and id recommend this one for the price.

This is a touchy comp. It takes a fair amount of toying around to find the tones and sustain you are looking for. However, once you get it, you get it. Then this thing is gold.

I play a custom Borys guitar through a Crybaby, TS-9, ED-1, DD-3 and an Ernie Ball volume into a Fender Deluxe Reverb or Champ Amp. Like I said, touchy. There are some really great sounds that come from this pedal once you get it dialed in. I really like this pedal for the clean sound. The tubescreamer just sounds so good on its own so there is no need to add the compressor. If you like to mess around and try all kinds of different settings, this is a good pedal. The only sound issue I have is that there is a small "pop" when you turn it on or off...

So far so good. No complications.

This pedal has grown on me. It took a while to figure it out, but now I really like it. It is a compressor so there is bound to be a little noise but it's nothing worse than any other comp I've played. This thing can produce a lot of different sounds and has some very subtle adjustments (which is great). Overall, good comp.

This is a damn easy pedal to use, the manual is handy if you dont know the kinds of sounds a compressor produces because, as with most Marshall products, it comes with recommended settings.

Lets face it, this really is the top of the price range as far as compressors go, you dont need to go higher than this, it does everything you want and it sound great,exactly what you'd want.

i have gigged it many a time without problem. very reliable.

I ve had absolutely no trouble with the unit what so ever and from working in a music shop, i feel i can big up marshall service, they are very good too deal with

Fantastic. Whatever you want in a compressor, its perfect for it and for the vein buyers out there its good lookin too.

Well whats more to undertstand? four simple knobs and a switch.

It's hard to explain. I bought the pedal a few days ago, I have a standard fender strat and play through a marshall mg100. I am in a band where I play both rythm and lead - mainly progressive rock and a bit of indie. I really hoped for the pedal to add sustain (it does) and increase the volume when i switched it on for lead solo's - using the volume control on the pedal... the volume actually works for clean channel on the amp... but seems to only increase gain on the distortion channel, not volume. I figure this is because of

Well I wouldn't trust the wriring in anything marshall... most of it is constructed in the same way haribo might be, especially leads. However apart from one footswitch cable marshall have never let me down.

Never dealt with them, re-soldered a lead myself, always the best way.

Good for the money, I just figured that if i put it through fx out and in i might get the sound I want (possible that the volume WILL actually alter the volume on the distortion channel when used in this way) In a way I need it, but I can;t seem to get what I want from it... I know marshall intended for the distortion channel to increase volume when less signal or decrease volume when more signal is fed but it gets in the way when using external equipment, so if you want to use this then use an external distortion pedal or an amps distortion that doesnt change the signal in any way apart from distort it etc.

This is not the easiest pedal to use. See other reviews below to confirm this. I think some people are misusing, or maybe not understanding the main features on this pedal.

Manual is okay, but they have a counter-intuitive setup on the "hi-lo" knob. I think this is screwing up some people. Some even claimed they can't hear a difference. See if this helps...

The way you test a feature on a pedal is to first EXAGGERATE IT!
The way to find out what the "hi-lo" or "attack" is doing, first set hi-lo, attack to mid 12:00. Then set the compression full on. Set it to "10". Now play a trill or let someone else play the same riff over and over...now tweak the hi-lo slowly throuh it's whole range. Then just max and min..fast. The thing is you have to both play high notes AND then do it with low notes. Then you will see what it does.

The "Attack" is very hard to understand. I did the same with compression at 10, and even then it is weird...you have to try it yourself, but remember to 1) wait between different settings to be sure the compressor turned off again...wait til the signal dies down. and 2) try different attacks...hard pick attack, or soft strum.

unfortunately, Marshall chose to not stick to typical compressor settings/names for controls. The hi-lo works to compress that section more...I would expect it to be "I set it to high, I want more highs".


I agree to, bonehead "hey. let's make it really retro, y'know like a '55 rambler, let's chrome the hell out of the knobs!!" oughta have been fired from Marshall..or consigned to a hell where he had to tweak knobs in semi-dark stages, and be right on the money.

You cannot SEE the settings if you aren't outside on a sunny day, with a magnifying glass. Stupid. Also they are long, which concerns me as far as accidentally changing settings.

I use this with a Carvin MTS3212, es335, strat (main guitar), and tele. Used it most with the strat. I play blues, and this little pedal really can add sparkle. I was getting the "too clicky" but turning down compression (I only want the sparkle..) under 10:00 o'clock, and trying various attacks works for me. I tend to have the hi-lo just at about 11:00.

This pedal is tricky. Sometimes I have dialed in just sublime, perfect tones, other times I have gotten it where it deadens my dynamics on my leads. It is not easy to use (see above) and takes someone with a "love to experiment" mentality to get the best use out of it. I have done home recording for years and was very familiar with compressors, but this is a tricky unit. STILL, I love it (and sometimes hate it) and I know that it is ME that has to learn it better. When it is used in conjunction with other pedals, you need to adjust it.

One thing too...I think somewhere in here someone didn't know if this really was "true bypass"...it is. The way to tell, ALWAYS, is this, you take out the battery, you do NOT plug in power, and then you patch the guitar into the effect and out to the amp. If you have sound through the unit (obviously ONLY when the unit itself is in the off position) into the amp and out, it is true bypass. If not it is not and is buffering.

Seems solid enough. I trust it, though I, like others, wish like hell they had used black knobs with white pointers, or SOMETHING so you can see where you have it set. In a semi-dark env there is just no way to see where things are set!

I think it looks a little more rugged than it is. But other than with time, I think this category USUALLY is a little strange...folks think because something is built in a "brick shithouse" housing it must be rugged. Electronically maybe it is flaky...you just can't tell by heft or look. Time will tell. When someone sets in a rating for this category it ought to be justified by either logic (i.e. something just obviously wrong in the design where you can tell what it is. Example. the Digitech RP-7 has a power cord (like a MIDI plug) that just hangs out there. I've had it for years no problem, but the design is stupid....it is too easy to knock it out by accident, and possibly short!) OR because the person has had it a long time before reviewing.

All others ought to have "No opinion" on this one I think.

No idea.

Blues. This thing REALLY can sparkle up some music.
I would buy it again (maybe not my first priority, and it would depend on if it died a "natural" death, from use, or prematurely died because of design flaws) I believe. For the PRICE this thing is great! For me the key is using it so subtly that you can't really tell it is being used...

In fact, I have had times where I was playing away thinking "man, nice tone I'm getting now) and forgotten I had it on. I look down (again, even the ON LED is obscured by the knobs. Marshall! You guy ought to be designing for functionality ALSO, as well as preserving that "Marshall-quasi Harley Davidson" look!) lean over, and see I have it on...so I think "it can't be doing much" and turn it off and just so slightly have gotten back to a duller sound without it.

This thing shines with a tube amp. Can really change the dynamics as input for OD pedals, etc.

I am thinking about getting two, one set for nice tight rythm guitar playing, the other for solos...

I do like this pedal! But it is tricky!

Easy to setup but you need to tweek it to your liking to be able to really enjoy this pedal. Not to difficult to edit.

I really only use this on solo's mainly. It does sustain very well and also gives the sound that country/southern rock "pop". I run this through my Marshall JCM2000 DSL401 and it loves this thing. I can get that 70ish 80ish sound from Dire Straits to the hair bands. like I say though, I dont notice it to much with the OD on but clean takes it to another place for sure.

Havent had any probs with it. I step on it and it works. I dont notice it eating batteries as I use a Boss PSM-5 power supply and its in the chain with my other Marshall pedals.

Havent had to use them so far, which is a good thing from what I hear about Marshalls Support team.

I play Rock/Country/Southern Rock/Blues and this pedal will get you there. I have been playing now for 25 years and have a full Marshall pedal board. I like the way these are made. Solid as a rock even down to the knobs. Great Sustain. Beats the Boss I used to run.