01—JHS Pedals
Pulp 'N' Peel V4
Being the country/Americana session compressor — present on a lot of Nashville records.
The Swiss Army knife of compressor pedals. The DI alone justifies the price if you ever record direct.
02—On the bench
A studio-voiced compressor with a built-in clean DI output, blend knob, and bass/treble EQ. The Pulp 'N' Peel sits somewhere between a Keeley Compressor Plus and a rack-style optical compressor — it's smoother and more transparent than a Dyna Comp, but it has more shaping options than a typical pedalboard squisher. The V4 added the DI out, which makes it useful for acoustic players and for sending a clean signal to FOH while the amp signal is processed. The compression itself is musical rather than aggressive — works equally well as a sustain-on-everything always-on or as a sharp country-style snap.
- 01transparent compression — no pumping
- 02DI output is genuinely studio-grade
- 03blend knob preserves picking dynamics
- 04EQ makes it useful as a tone-shaper too
- 05stacks invisibly after a drive
03—In the room
Where else this pedal lives.
- Andy Wood
- Daniel Donato
- Mark Lettieri
Keeley Compressor Plus if you don't need the DI — slightly cheaper, slightly punchier.