Wampler Pedals Ego Squasher Compressor

I am very please with this purchase, it is also my second Wampler Pedal and have found it so easy to use and I get some amazing tones. There are no manuals but there again I can not imagine needing one.

I have Gibson Studio w/57 classic plus in both bridge and neck and MIM Strat w/ Torres Rock wound p/u's. Peavey V-King with JJ's and Eminence Patriot series speaker plus a Fender Acoustisonic with Boss AC3. I replaced a Danelectro compressor, and I while I had thought it had not changed the tone, I was simply amazed at the when I plugged in the Ego...

While fairly new, it is solid, clean, simple, can not imagine needing anything else on the board.

While have not needed any follow up service, ever experience with Wampler's Pedals have been outstanding.

Mainly play older Rock, some country and what ever hits my ear. While I have played for over 35 years, I have recently returned to the electric side. This is truly my first trip down pedal-board lane and this would be one of the first pedals I would replace if it got stolen. It does exactly what I need, I am getting sounds than I never have before and when I decide to upgrade in the future I will first look to Wampler first.

This pedal is very easy to use if you are used to compressors. Otherwise, it could take some experimentation. There is no "bad" sound here, unless you don't like compressors! Take the time to mess with the attack and sustain settings with the blend knob set to only the compressed signal and then move back from there to find the sound you like. Don't forget to use the bright switch too! Now if you want more pick dynamics, blend it back in. Easy! Brian doesn't send manuals with the pedals. His videos online make up for that.

My setup is either my custom Nedd M1 Classic (similar to a Les Paul or PRS with split-able humbuckers - Duncan JB in bridge and Jazz in neck position) or a stock American Strat into the Wampler Ego Compressor, Boss Stage Tuner, Keeley True-Bypass switch, Dunlop Cry Baby 535Q wah, Visual Sound Angry Fuzz (Octavia-type effect), Wampler Ecstasy Overdrive, Wampler Super Plextortion, Behringer GE700 e.q. pedal (used for clean boost), Boss TR-2 Temolo and Eventide Time Factor into either a '73 Fender Champ, Mesa Nomad 45 or Bose Tower system.
This pedal is very quiet and transparent. It is also true-bypass. If you crank it all the way up you can get some hiss. It sounds like an old Dyna-comp but with that bright switch and the blend knob it becomes more of a Barber Tone-Press or Keeley type pedal. Nice squash if you want it, lots of warmth and sustain when coupled with an overdrive. Blend back in some un-compressed signal and get all the pick dynamics you want with all the sustain you can stand.

Heavy duty aluminum case, great knobs and switches. Looks sturdy to me. I always use it without a backup. Something else will go out first on my pedalboard!

Never had to deal with them other than ordering pedals. Heard good things, but no experience personally.

I play rock, country, blues, and funk. I have been playing guitar for almost 29 years. In addition to the gear listed above, I have other pedals that have "fallen to the side" from my pedalboard including Visual Sound Route 66, H2O and Jekyll and Hyde, Boss/Roland PW10 Virtual Wah (I could hear the digitalness of the sweep. Eewww.), Line 6 Modulation Modeler (volume drop and weak tone) and a Boss DD5 among others.
I would buy another one immediately were it lost or stolen. I like the Barber Tone-Press a lot as well as the Keeley four-knob compressor, but they are not better to me. Quality-to- dollar is in favor of Wampler.

You have to understand the instructions to get this to work right, but once it does, this is a great compressor. There was no manual and I couldn't get it to sound right, They e-mailed me a manual in about a day.

I'm using this compressor with an Alvarez acoustic guitar with a Fishman NeoD soundhole pickup and a Kustom KGA10FX amp. I am a country player and like some compression on my plugged in sound, this compressor provides good compression and the unit is very quiet. The compressor has two circuits that are designed to be blended together ,sort of like the Barber Tone Press. There seems to be actually 2 ics, one for each circuit, a ca3080 by Harris and another one on the clean circuit. The real trick to get it to work right is to have the Blend knob fully turned clockwise which engages the attack knob and makes it sound like a hi quality Ross Clone. I do not use it in the parallel mode with both circuits blending, it doesn't comnpress enough like that. The sound of the compressor is very hi fi.

This pedal looks built very well. I do not expect to have any problems with it. I would use the pedal without backup, maybe keep an xtra battery, uses a pretty good amount of power.

Customer support is there, not the best, It's not like Keeley or Analogman, you get loads of automatic e-mails. I tried to buy it thru his own facility, but the wait was too long for me, you do get a nice discount if you can be patient. I signed up twice and gave up twice, finally bought it at Bananas pedal store and was glad I did, it is a great pedal.

I am a country guitarist, this pedal can enhance my country sound very well. I have been playing guitar for over 30 years. I have a Kustom Amp and A Hartman compressor plus Voo Doo Labs Sparkle Drive.
I play an Alvarez dreadnought with a soundhole pickup. If this pedal was stolen, I would get another one if it continues to work well. This pedal is very quiet especially for a compressor. The tone is great also. It is a very musical effect.

It's easy to dial up a good sound with this comp as it has so much flexiblity (between using the blend pot and the external attack switch.) The blend control, which was pioneered by the Barber Tone Press, blends your original guitar signal back with the compressed signal, allowing you to preserve some of your pick attack if you wish. The external attack switch has slow/medium/fast options that also effect how much initial attack passes through before the comp begins to work. Having an external switch is a big advantage over the internal trim pots that other makers typically use.

I would have given this pedal a higher ranking in this catagory if it came with better documentation... there was a small piece of paper that described the controls with very little detail. Fortunately the pedal is pretty intuitive to use if you've used compressors before.

This comp has a great range of sounds - from very subtle to full-on squash. The blend and attack controls give you a great variety of control. The unit is extremely quiet when engaged, even with high squish settings. The overall tonality is pretty typical of a Ross compressor - a little bit dark - and also quite a bit cleaner than a comp of the Orange squeezer variety.

I would characterize the sound of this comp as warmer than the Keeley comp and not as hi-fi sounding as the Barber Tone Press. It is a very natural sound that lets the character of your guitar come through. One slight issue: I would have given this pedal a 10 if there was a greater range on the volume control. When you use just a slight amount of compression there isn't enough volume left on the dial to use this pedal for lead boosts, IMO. However, when you have medium to heavy compression this is not an issue.

The only other improvement I could imagine would be some kind of tone control to let you brighten it up if you wished (like the Diamond comp does).

I gig without a backup all the time... who needs to carry extra stuff to bars?

It's made with the highest quality parts and Brian Wampler has a great reputation as a builder. About the only potential problem I could see is the decal that labels the controls could come off with heavy use. It would be better to have the labeling painted/powdercoated on.

Brian Wampler is known to be extremely responsive to his customers.

I own, or have played, a lot of comps and this one is the best of the bunch (Homebrew CPR takes 2nd place). The Ego Squasher is very natural sounding, has great flexibility of control, and does a full range of compression: from subtle to squash. The only conceivable improvements would be some EQ control and a little more volume boost capability.

I play guitar in a country band: Tele-tuner-comp-OD-boost-delay-amp (SFDR). I gig regularly and have been playing guitar for 35+ years. If it were lost or stolen I would get another, it's a good value. If you want to buy one make sure you sign up for his newsletter to get a nice discount off your purchase!