Strymon OB.1 reviewed on What’s That Dude Play?

“… We liken the Strymon OB.1 to a studio-friendly Swiss Army Knife… something any player could turn to in a pinch to work his/her way out of a tonal rut. While we enjoyed some Compression setting more than others, the OB.1 offers up near endless possibilities for the ‘tweakheads’ among us that love to spread out on the floor and dial in the perfect tone … “

The new Strymon OB.1 compressor is quiter, more transparent and better sounding than my old compressor pedals, which have included an old MXR Dynacomp, a Boss compressor, and a couple of BYOC (Build Your Own Clone) compressors.

Here’s the signal path: Strymon OB.1 > Korg Pitchblack tuner > Fulltone Deja-Vibe > Xotic BB preamp > Xotic AC Booster > Loop-Master > Xotic X-Blender > Fender 65 RI Twin Reverb.

The Loop-Master has a master bypass that eliminates all of the other pedals and wiring attached to it.  Loop one has an Electro-Harmonix micro POG, and loop two has a Boss CE-5 chorus.

The Xotic X-Blender has the Boss DD-20 delay in the loop.  The DD-20 is set to 100% wet, and the echos are added back in to direct signal path with the mix knob.

The whole thing runs off of a single 1-Spot power supply.  The other power supplies are for other pedals (such as a Digitech Talker or a Boss GT-6) that I sometimes add and switch with the Loop-Master.

The OB.1 gets along great with the BB preamp and the AC Booster.  There is less hiss than I had with my old compressor pedals, and the the boost is great.  I can use the flat boost for more gain, or I can use the treble boost for a Brian May kind of tone.  I’m loving this new Strymon OB.1 compressor!