Designed and manufactured in the United States, the Compadre utilises a Class A JFET input circuit and a VCA-based compressor, which can be used either independently from each other or in unison. It also makes use of a fully analogue signal path, while digital controllers allow for storing patch data and switching presets via MIDI or other switching devices.
With two boost modes on offer – a clean and diode-soft clipping dirty mode – the Compadre seems like the perfect pedal to squeeze your signal for some extra tone sauce. There’s also a three-band EQ section to let you choose between flat, mid or treble notches
The VCA side of the Compadre also lets you flick between Studio and Squeeze modes, letting you toggle between transparent, rack-style compression with the former or all out heavy compression with tonnes of sustain for the latter. If you’re clever enough, you’re also able to utilise your dry signal effectively to get some mean parallel compression tones, and you can even plug in an expression pedal to use it as a VCA-style volume pedal.
Given that Strymon recently discontinued the OB.1 Compressor, there’s undoubtedly going to be a lot of people interested in this particular stompbox. From the demos that Strymon have shared, it sounds incredible, and it’s jam-packed with a bunch of features to make it a sure-fire addition to any pedalboard.
For more information, visit Strymon’s Compadre product page. Strymon are distributed nationwide via Noisetoy Imports.
