His name was Matt Sasser… he was a tall drink of water, if he was even 5’10”. He was also a college athlete who loved his family and he played guitar like a bad ass. I met him while working at another shop in 2010 and at that time he was the “white-boy” guitar player in a Alt-Tejano band. Needless to say, he was the kind of person we all strive to be and he took his guitar tone seriously. There was one week when Matt spent hours trying to find a compressor that was transparent, clean and still rich enough to use his electric, bass and even acoustic with. I walked into work one day and there he was with a mid-sized, yellow box in his hand and he said, “This pedal crushes all other comps and will destroy the soul of anyone who thinks different”. Ok, ok. So maybe he didn’t say that, it was probably more like, “duuude, this is it” but I secretly know the first quote is what he truly meant.
I can’t say I disagree. The pedal Matt was holding was the Diamond Compressor. I wasn’t huge into compression at the time as I wanted to “have control over of my own dynamics”. However, I didn’t realize what Matt did; if you have a good enough compressor, it will hide in the mix and still give you the sonic clarity and definition needed to maintain a distinct guitar tone that doesn’t get muddied or lost in the mix. Since Matt was using his comp in an electric situation as well as an acoustic one, he needed every last drop of transparency and organic presence the pedal could provide. Another thing about Matt was that he was a family man who couldn’t break the bank to get whatever his heart desired. The Diamond comp was perfect for him although for me it was to big. I didn’t want to sacrifice the space on my board. But, thanks to Diamond, I now have no more worries.
That’s right!!! Diamond has blown our minds again. All the wonderful compression we have come to know and love from Diamond’s optical compression circuit is now available in a bite sized, smaller version! The “vectorial opto-isolator variable resistance path” used by Diamond in their Compressor is the same technology you will find hiding inside lots of high-end, studio quality mixers and compressors. Another great feature of the Diamond Comp series is the “tilt-EQ” section. A lot of tone knobs out there simply brighten or darken the treble frequencies of your tone when dialed up or down but the Diamond’s EQ works equally in both directions. Think of it this way, with the tone knob at “noon” the EQ is completely flat. Turning the knob to the right results in a crisper, more cutting sound or to the left for a fatter, fuller low end. No more muffled guitar tone, excellent!
There is one question I get a lot here and that is, “where does this go in my chain?”. Well, I don’t think there are any rules for music as long as you are making it but Diamond created its compressor to be at the start of your signal chain. A compressor that can present your instrument’s tone and character without getting in the way or bringing your noise floor up. Put this baby in front of your drives to hear more harmonics than you ever before, make that delay spanky and rhythmic or even jazz the front end of your amp up. Anyway you like it, the Diamond Comp and now the Diamond Comp Jr’s will always have a place on a boards. Not to mention the limited Black and White Comp Jr Editions only available here at Rogueguitarshop.com
Looking for some magic sauce to juice up your sound? Want to make sure you aren’t getting lost in the mix and yet not sticking out like a soar thumb at the same time? i suggest getting your hands on one of these fabulous little tone-keepers today :) Have any compressor, boost or EQ questions? feel free to leave a comment or simply write me - nate@rogueguitarshop.com - I love to talk about gear
Keep it tight friends,
nate