Tech 21 Bass Compactor

How much easier could it be? 4 knobs, come on people. The manual that comes with it is great. Even has a couple sample settings (Ex. Peak Limiter, Tone Booster, DI recording, Mid Booster, and Bass Solo). Like any pedal, the battery compartment is simple to get to.

My setup at the moment is an Ibanez EDA900 through an Acoustic 600 watt head (not sure what model), through an Acoustic 2x15. (Acoustic is the name of the brand. It doesnt mean I play acoustic bass.) This piece of equipment is great! I haven't had any settings where it sounds noisy, distorted, etc... The only effect I've had trouble with is distortion. My amp started sounding like my active electronics in my bass had a low battery, but I checked it and it was still good. Overall, sound quality is great!!!

Heck ya. Gigged a few times with it. Hasnt failed me. The only thing you need is an extra battery. No backup needed.

Emailed them on, and got a reply the next day. Great service.

I play rock, classic rock, slap, blues, heavy metal. This pedal is great for anything though. I've been playing for 2 years. I have an Ibanez EDA900, a Squire P-Bass, an SWR Workingman's 160, a Squire BP-15, and an Acoustic 600 watt head with a 2x15 I'm borowing from one of my band's guitarists. I love how simple this is and how easy it took to figure out. I didnt compare it to anything before I got it, but now that I have it and I've tried others, I prefer this one. Get one, they're great!

Only an idiot won't know how to use it. 4 knobs. 1 level, 1 high, 1 low, 1 compression. Very basic. The manual is fine

I am used this with a MiM Jazz Bass, Warwick Streamer, and Takamine G-Series acoustic through A BXR 16, SWR Basic Black, and a fairly nice carvin rig. I first noticed a large hiss and hum. When one pushes up the level above 12 oclock or the high above 10, there is a noticeable hum. Otherwise, the sound is pretty good.

Dunno...

Didn't deal with them

I play jazz and rock and have been playing for 2 years. If it were stolen, I'd get something else. I like its ease of use and its actual compressor knob. Everything else really sucks. Its noise reduction is bs. It gets in the way of my music. I have no clue how anyone can record with this POS...its way too noisy...

Real easy to use. Has a cut boost type knob, real simple to get a good sound. I keep the bass and highs flat, adjust the compression to where i want it, and then raise the level until it's loud enough.

Sounds great. I bought this pedal, because I did not like the built in compressor on my amp. So I bypass the compression on my Eden Metro, and use this for the compression. And it sounds great, I dial in just the right amount of compression, and it's a preamp for your bass as well. Dead quiet to boot.

Dependable. Built really well. Even the ac adapter cable is built tougher than normal ac adapters. I would definatly gig without a backup.

Never needed to call them.

I play all kinds of music, and in different situations I like different amounts of compression, my amp only lets you dial in compression by raising or lowering the gain. This pedal lets me dial in both independently. And for only 100 bucks why would you not get this pedal if you need a compressor?

It comes with 4 knobs and all you have to do is use your ears to figure out what sound you want

When I plug in directly into a sound system and turn the compression knob up over halfway you get this noisy fuzz thing for a second when you touch the strings. I haven't had to turn the compression up that high anyway so it isn't a big problem.Whoever started the rumor about the Rikenbacker 4003 is not a slap bass hasn't plugged in this pedal with it. It eliminates that annoying pop and gives it that funky 70's sound. This pedal saved my life

You can always count on this pedal because I have accidently dropped and spilled almost everything on this little gadget. It is made very tough by a company that builds reliable products

Never had any problems

Overall this pedal has helped me compress and not squash the sound of my basses. It works alot better on basses that aren't active. If you want an affordable compression pedal that is reliable and won't kill your tone or if you just want a boost of highs, mids, and lows this pedal is for you.?

This is a very simple pedal. I comes with a manual that even the average brain dead drunk ass cousin of the guitarist could figure out. Not that they would want a good sound, but hey, maybe it was a gift? Anyway, it is easy to use.

I am using this with a Conklin GT7, a Fender elite P2, an A/E with a decent preamp of unknown origin, and even my trusty old Yamaha BB300. I put it in line before a Trace elliot head GP7 series, and an SWR 4x10. This this sounds great, gives you all the compression you need with active low and high boost to create whatever sound curve you feel like.

I have had this unit for about 6 months, seems rock solid.

I called them with an unrelated question once and they answered me very quickly. They even sent me a spare black plastic nut(holds the jacks to the casing).

This is a great unit for players who slap, pop, hammer, tap and all that. I've been playing for a long time, and this thing makes it into the equipment pile that comes with me everywhere, no contest. It is much better than all the limiters/enhancers out there.

Very simple to dial in a great sound, just use your ears. I was amazed ... this device works as advertized... imagine that....

This unit sounds very good as well. I have not dialed in any extreme settings as I like a nice warm sound with a little added definition in the mids and a bit of top thrown in for clarity. I found the unit to be very quiet and have so far used it in a studio setting where it sounds great through cans or monitors. I expect it will sound great through an amp in a live setting.

I'd gig with it. It appears to be very well designed with a sturdy housing, I'd just toss an extra 9v battery or two in my gig bag.

I've never dealt with the company and hope I never have to for service.

Overall I'd say it's a very simple, great sounding and functional unit. It is just what I was looking for (I hate technology overkill). All the controls have a purpose and a very usefull. I have been a bassplayer for 30 plus years (R&R, blues, prog. rock) and place a very high value on compactness, road worthiness, and sound. This unit makes the grade in these areas and all for about a hundred bucks.

Very simple four button setup. Very Easy to use. Active Tone Controls: High, Low. Compressor control. Level. Does what it is supposed to do.

This box does exactly what it is supposed to do. It provides a very clean "Active" preamp for non-active basses, eliminating the need for adding emg's or bartolini's. This is especially important if you like your vintage Fender and dont want to change out the pickups. On an active bass, the active tone controls are less effective, but you wouldn't really need them there. However, the compressor section is the best I have tried. It is clean and warm. Unusual for a cheap stop box unit. The compression range goes from minimal, to crisp, to radical with the sweep of the knob. I use it with an Ibanez Active 5 String, A Fender P-Bass Special, and a Rickenbacker 4001. I run it in to an SWR head, with a Hartke 4x10 cab. Does the trick for me. But Keep in mind, as one other reviewer of this box stated, you cant use this box to make up for poorly sounding equipment. My stuff sounds great, and I am using this box to tweak my sound.

This box is built like a tank. Heavy construction, quality switch and pots. Even though I have only had it for a short time, I would consider it reliable enough to gig without a backup (other than a spare battery).

I have had no need to contact the manufacturer, and I hope I never do. There web site is good.

I play hard rock and metal. This box does the trick for me. I have an SWR head that sounds awesome, but the built in compressor did not have enough flexability for the sound I wanted. I turn off the built in compressor and use the Bass Compactor to get a more tweaked compressed sound. It also kicks some serious butt with non-active basses that could use a little more power from the pickups. That is what I bought it for, and it does its job really well. And it did not cost me a fortune either... Highly recommend this box...

Very easy to get a good sound out of it. Simple controls. Can't take you more than 15 seconds to get this working for you.

Active Treble and Bass, Level, and Compression knobs. Very useful especially for beginners or people using low-end gear. This is very quiet for a compression box.

It can really boost your signal once set at 12 o'clock compression. Anything beyond that is very radical. I prefer around 9-10 o'clock on the compression knob. A little higher if you're playing very hard and need to squelch the popping of the strings hitting the neck and pickups (what I bought it for).

I'm using it with a variety of setups at different spots, including very high-end and very low-end gear. As I said above, this is particularly useful to help bad gear sound better. Running it before the Tech21 SansAmp DI, I can get some fabulous John Entwhistle rumble and growl, while more varied styles can be accomodated as well.

Very reliable, very solidly built. I'd be surprised if it broke and it would take some effort to damage it I think. Battery lasts a good long while, but you can use an adaptor too. I haven't had it long enough to give it a 10, but like I said, its solid.

Tech21's support is great. They respond to emails, and genuinely seem to care about their products, customers, and getting feedback.

I play jazz/rock and heavy rock, and I need this thing to cover for the extraneous noise my very hard playing produces. By doing that, it leaves me free to play and perform, without limiting myself in order to prevent unwanted pops, etc. It also adds a nice buzz and sustain as well.

I already dumped the Boss Limiter/Enhancer (not bad, but not as good as this) and the Boss Compressor (useless to me, too noisy, ruins tone, causes feedback - not sure how a couple of pros I know get by with it, but the Boss didn't work for me).

What can you say? It's just a compression box, but a damn good and reasonably quiet one, which is more than impressive enough!

A rugged "stomp box" compressor with active treble and bass controls.
Four simple knobs: Level, High, Low and Compression, but don't expect
instant success. The manual suggests starting with all knobs "at twelve o'clock", but I'd reccommend that you start with the compression at seven o'clock (minimum) and turn it up gradually instead.
Depending on your instrument and amp, it should take about an hour of experimenting to get close to the sound you're after. After that,the controls can be tweaked to suit the room.

I'm using a Fender Jazz bass (vintage reissue) and a 10-string Chapman Stick. The Jazz has stock passive pickups and (usually) fairly old strings. The Stick also has a passive pickup. These are both running into a Trace Elliot solid state head with 12-band graphic eq and 4x10 speaker cab. The amp has no compression. I bought the Bass Compactor to add brightness and "punch" to the Jazz, and to smooth out my Stick sound a bit (note: the bass side of the Stick sounds fantastic without any signal processing). The Compactor is simple, but the knobs are very effective. The compression starts sounding silly at about 11 o'clock, and I prefer a more "transparent" setting at around 9-10 o'clock. It does the required job of evening out the loud "pops" of a slapped bass, as well as getting rid of some of the muddiness. It will also enhance any hiss/noise coming from your instrument. This is normal, and I wouldn't blame it on the Compactor. It is very quiet through the effects loop (Post-Eq). The tone controls also work best in moderation. The manufacturer states that they can "turn a passive bass active", and I won't argue with that. The treble is my least favourite, so I tend to use the unit to boost/cut bass and leave the treble alone. Midrange has no control, but is affected by the high/low controls. This is could be a bit odd to some people, but I like the simplicity of it. Like I said before, no miracles here. If you're sound is tubby and terrible, I doubt that the Compactor is for you.
I'd buy some new strings and an amp with good EQ features first. However, if you use it to fine tune your existing setup, it does the job without much fuss. It does have a nice "warmth" about it too, unlike many compressors on multi-effects units.

Very basic and rugged. I gig with it with a backup battery.

Tech 21 have a good reputation, and they did reply to my email...after about a week and a half. By that time, I had already located their distibutor in Australia, who emailed me twice, sent me a retail outlet listing, called the nearest shop who ordered it from interstate, drove to the shop, picked up the unit and took it home and used it for a day. Well, at least they did reply, unlike some other companies.

I like it. It's simple, and it does what I thought it would do. I'd buy it again unless I bought an amp with a good compressor built in.