Marshall ED-1 Edward the Compressor

Firstly can I just say that I like the fact th The Compressor is also called 'Edward'. Edward The Compressor. Get it? As opposed to Edward The Confessor?! Never mind.

The manual is remarkably informative, especially when you consider there are many guitarists who aren't entirely sure what 'compression' actually does, and will still fail to see its value after a demo. Okay, so it doesn't create any obvious aural effect (i.e. it doesn't distort, it doesn't delay, it doesn't wah), but what it does do is make your output signal a bit more even, and the manual makes a point of explaning the advantages of this.

The Compressor pedal has four controls:
-- Emphasis; will allow you to alter the compression effect to emphasize the Hi or Lo tones of your sound
-- Volume; allows you to balance the effect level with the uneffected level of your amp
-- Attack; determines how quickly the compression is applied to your sound after a note is played
-- Compression; determines how much you cut-the-peaks and boost-the-troughs in your sound

The manual gives the user some good descriptions of these controls and also provides a few useful settings for getting started. The only item which I find potentially confusing is the Emphasis control which starts at Hi and turns clockwise round to Lo, completely opposite to most tone controls. Also, the manual is equally confusing in its description of Emphasis, and hence my slightly lower rating.

I must say that the ED-1 is the best quality compressor pedal for this money! Okay, so you'd expect a stopm-box compressor to create a bit of noise (even goldfish don't swim silently!), but I have tried the other two main competitors in the equivalent price range, i.e. the BOSS CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer and the DOD FX84 Milk Box, and the quality was dreadful. The BOSS generated a lot of hiss which cut in whenever I wasn't playing, and the compression control on the DOD was excessively hissy anywhere past the 11 o'clock mark. This pedal generates some hiss, as expected, but really not much at all for a #45 ($70) pedal. If this Marshall pedal had sounded as bad as the other two then I was considering the MXR DynaComp, but here in the UK the MXR pedal seems to be twice the price of all its competitors, i.e. anything up to #95 ($155)

Well, how many of you guitarists go to a gig with their range of stomp-box pedals PLUS a range of backup pedals? Not many! OF COURSE I would take it on a gig without a backup... but not without taking a spare battery just in case. You'll also have to remember to take a flat-head screwdriver or a small coin if you want to get into the battery compartment!
This pedal is built like an iron brick! It's made with a solid metal construction in a very pleasing vintage style, and would be really handy weapon if someone jumped you in a dark alley. It's only a small looking pedal, but when you pick it up you can feel the quality in the weight of the thing.
My only very minor reservation is that the on/off button seems a bit smaller than those normally found on these vintage pedals. I like the big switches found on DUNLOP and VOX pedals, and I wonder if this is a bit more fragile as a result?! However, it doesn't appear to have affected the performance so far, it just seems a bit odd considering its otherwise rugged construction. Overall, this is about as reliable a box as you could possibly get at this price!

I've never dealt with Marshall before (I'm still a Strat and Fender amp person, not currently having the money to afford the additional Les Paul and Marshall amp setup!), but I would expect a company of this size to have exceptional customer support services if I ever need to use them!

I play mainly in a bluesy-funky-rocky sort of fashion, using an American Standard Stratocaster, a Fender Blues DeVille 4x10" amp, and a range of other pedals including the obligatory JIM DUNLOP Cry Baby Wah Wah, a JIM DUNLOP TS-1 Tremolo, a VOX Valve-Tone, a VOX Distortion Booster, and an ARIA AFL-1 Flanger (the first pedal I ever bought, and I just can't get bring myself to get rid of it and buy anything newer... it's really a very good pedal!). I've been playing since the age of 15 (I'm now 30!).
The MARSHALL ED-1 'Edward' The Compressor suits me perfectly. I was looking for something to even-out those funky, Nile Rodgers-style chords, to provide Santana-like sustain on solos, and to generally keep everything at the same level when I'm having to switch between finger-picked arpeggios and plectrum-hard power chords in the same song! This pedal is just the job. The additional Emphasis control (despite being a little confusing at first) is an added bonus and really helps to get that Hendrix/SRV sound... booming twang on the bottom E string with that punchy 'n' funky E7#9 chord.
If it were lost (I'm going to be careful that it doesn't) or stolen (and if I were poorer I'd go and steal one myself) then I'd certainly go and buy another. I may be tempted to go to my local music shops and try the MXR DynaComp (especially as I can get it ordered and shipped from the US for less than it costs to buy it here in the UK?!), but the MXR only has controls for the volume and the compression, and the Emphasis and Attack controls on the ED-1 are useful in getting just the right tone!
All in all I'd say that here in the UK your most likely compressor choices could cost you under #30 (ARION, ROCKTEK), around #50 (BOSS, DOD), up to #100 (MXR) or up to #150 (CARL MARTIN)... but for 45 quid ($70) you can get a vintage-styled, rugged-as-lumberjack, quiet-as-a-goldfish, funky-as-Starsky-&-Hutch little chap called 'Edward' The Compressor!!!