Empress Effects Bass Compressor Blue Spk

Have tried a lot of compressors over the years and never really been 100% happy. Purchased the Empress Effects 'Blue Sparkle' about a month ago and waited to post a review as i wanted to get familiar with the pedal, before doing so.
Empress suggest some settings in the manual to get you started, and from there its a joy to alter those setting, and hear the difference it can make to your sound. I particularly like the 'MIX' knob, allowing you to mix wet and dry signals. I've used it on both active and passive basses and now that i am familiarizing my self with the pedal is can easily dial in the sound i want.
The unit itself is of excellent build quality, and looks great on my board.
More detailed reviews are to be found on is the site i used to do my research and would I highly recommend it, prior to making a purchase.
I'm extremely happy with my purchase. Thanks to Thomann for excellent service and delivery , as usual

There's so much to this compressor!

Just the settings referenced in the booklet are amazing, and then you start fiddling with them and there's a whole new world! It's really transparent, and can be turned to aggressive. I wasn't a big fun of slap, but I've spent many hours slapping with this.


The sidechain high pass filter is lovely, and don't get me started on using the sidechain for ducking!

The quality of the hardware is the best I've seen on a pedal, the knobs are just the right amount of "hard" to turn, and the footswitch is pressed seamlessly, and it is a BEAUTY.

It's the best "sound better" pedal I've come across

This is my first Empress Effects pedal and I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be the last one.

The building quality is very good...it's sturdy and solid..not just the case, but also the knobs etc.

It has many features that are not a surprise for me... In fact, they're some of the reasons that convinced me to choose this one...the wet/dry knob is one of them, but also all the "standard" compressor controls (attack, release, etc), and the input/GR meters.

What surprised me is the "tone colour" selector. I knew it was there of course, but I didn't imagine it could change the sound so much, and I think it's a very good thing to have different options for different situations and different instruments.

Oh, and it sounds amazing btw!! :)