Freshly squeezed from the R&D department at legendary British guitar amp brand Orange comes the King Comp, a “studio quality” VCA compressor that allows you to squash and tame unwanted transients in your electric guitar tone while retaining its feel and dynamics.
Compressor pedals are a little like compression socks; they’re not the sexiest. It’s hard to make “sounding better” compare with sounding “completely different” as a modulated delay pedal might.
But as any seasoned pro will tell you, they can be invaluable, your secret weapon, an always-on tone-sweetener that can be subtle for giving your sound a professional sheen, boosting sustain, an all-over glow-up, or more dramatic with that tight, puckered squash that country guitar players love.
Point is, your pedalboard is not complete until you have at least considered a compressor. So what can the King Comp offer?
Well, longtime Orange Amps observers might ask what the difference is between the King Comp and the Kongpressor, which similarly channelled the super-sized gorilla for Class A “studio style” compression. Their enclosures are bomb-proof – as per, say, Orange’s Fur Coat fuzz pedal, you have the kick bar to reduce the risk of accidentally stepping on your control knobs and messing up your settings.
But the King Comp does away with the active treble control of the Kongpressor, leaving us with a more straightforward four-knob design for Volume, Compression, plus Attack and Release (again, it’s just like the Fur Coat).
Having both Attack and Release knobs lets you really dial in the response of the pedal.
“The versatile attack control lets you dial in anything from subtle tightening to a pronounced pogoing bounce, while the equally adaptable release control gives long-lasting sustain for notes and chords that go on for miles,” says Orange.
In short, you’ve got options aplenty. You can set it up for a slower attack and quick release for rock rhythms, dialling up the compression to give you that tight chicken pickin’ feel, or for a super quick attack and a slow release for smoothing you your picking and letting the note bloom and sustain. Or find the sweet spot in between.
When you find said sweet spot, this might just be the one pedal that you never turn off. It has a top-tier buffered bypass – ideal for long guitar cable runs or well-stocked ‘boards, and running on 18V DC from a pedalboard power supply of your choice, the King Comp has plenty of headroom. Another cool feature is the LED light that illuminates blue when the pedal is on, and in pink when the compressor is compressing.
And it is not just for the guitar. It’ll work a treat on bass guitars too.
Priced £159 street (US price TBC), the King Comp is available now. See Orange Amps for more details.
