Markbass Compressore Pedal

The pedal has a metal housing and is quite large. It's not particularly heavy. It has a tube inside so that's obviously going to contribute to the size. It gets warm to the touch when it is on as vacuum tubes tend to do.

This seems to be a second iteration of the Compressore, I have seen the older model around online and it is much more chunky and ugly. Aside from the more desirable aesthetics, this model appears to make it easier to access the knobs.

The sound is excellent. It can range from subtle compression to extreme brick wall limiting. The tube will distort if you push the input gain too hot but personally I would use that as an indication to back off not as an invitation to explore the possibilities of using this as a secondary distortion pedal. It has True-bypass which is a feature I consider a must.

Turning the knobs feels a little loose to me, I prefer a little more resistance as I turn, it makes it feel like I can really dial in to a sweet-spot. If you have any Electro-Harmonix pedals you know the knob-feel I'm referring to ;)

There is a blue LED that turns on when the compressor is active that is extremely bright. So bright that it makes it impossible to see the dials when it is on, compounded by the fact that the dials and text are the coloured with the Markbass mustard yellow instead of white. This is especially problematic in a live scenario where the stage may be dark and you want to quickly change a setting between songs. A quick solution could be to put a piece of semi-transparent tape over the LED to dull the intensity. I suppose if you are handy with a soldering iron you could open it up and install a different LED but do so at your own risk since you would probably void the warranty.

The pedal requires a 12V power supply. I have a multi-output power supply unit that provides multiple 9V, 12V and 18V outputs but was unable to use it with this pedal because the current was too low (100mA). This pedal requires a minimum of 700mA. There is a power supply provided which outputs 1.5A (center is negative polarity) and has interchangeable plug options for different global regions. Something to consider if you are integrating this into a pedal board; you may need to plug this in separately to your main pedal power supply.

I think this is a very good sounding compressor that will easily integrate into any bass player's set-up. I think if I had known about the minor issues I mentioned before-hand, I still would have have bought it.