Orange Squeezer?

[Grambo]

I keep reading references to Orange Squeezer "clones" on the forum. I guess that the original units must have been considered good for someone to emulate them.
I used one years ago (and probably still have it somewhere) but didn't think it was that special. Were there different models available, and what made them so good - or was it just that they were the only units around at the time?

There's probably someone who can give me the whole history, chapter and verse.....

[bobbass4k]

This always kinda confused me too actually, as I recall they were built by a dude/company called dan armstrong, he did a whole range of effects as boxes that jacked straight in to the guitar output and had a normal out, seems to be the most commonly cloned compressor

[Protium]

The Toadworks Mr Squishy is based on it and IMO is a very good compressor.

[Silent Fly]

Often, the basic structure of the circuit of a pedal is used to create another pedal that works better or slightly differently from the original. I call this pedals "inspired by" or "based on". I use the word "clone" only when it is an [i]exact[/i] copy.

The Ibanez Tube Screamer is a good example. A good number of pedals are based on the TS basic ideas but almost all of them have some difference that makes them unique.

The Orange Squeezer is probably a starting point that has been used for the design of other compressors. I suspect that a lot of "Orange Squeezer based" compressors on the market today sound quite different from the original Orange Squeezer.

[tayste_2000]

Firstly it is not the most cloned compressor, that title belongs to the Ross which is pretty much every comp available in pedal form, then comes the orange squeezer. They were built by Dan Armstrong and they plugged straight into your guitar and has a switch to turn it on and off.

Many guitarists used them as boosts and sustainers, you can hear it all over the Doobie Brothers tracks.

On bass the original is pretty useless, but with a few small cap changes extending the range it's great, add a nice vintage warmth and at extreme settings a percussive effect, Tony Levin is a big user of this compressor, but more as an effect with all the other comps he's running.

There are still lots available today and its recently been picked up by more mass manufactures such as BBE.

My favourite was the Tone Factor Pulp Mill which I had modded and that was my main compressor for 2-3 years which is a long long time for me to hold on to a pedal

[Grambo]

There ya go then!
I[i] knew [/i]someone would know. Particularly interesting about the frequency thing, that may explain why it wasn't so effective with my string bass...
If I ever find it I might have a look at adjusting it.

Cheers chaps!

[pete.young]

[quote name='tayste_2000' post='576254' date='Aug 21 2009, 12:10 AM']Many guitarists used them as boosts and sustainers, you can hear it all over the Doobie Brothers tracks.[/quote]

Thats interesting. That Pedalworx McSqueeze I got from you ended up on a guitarist's pedal board, and he often does just that with it - having a switch to turn the compressor off makes that much easier.