Cali 76 SE

[somanytoys]

After a long time of looking, I bought one of these and it arrived today. I am impress.

I’ve had a Keeley 4 knob comp since he first came out with the 4 knobs version, ~15 years. My lack of understanding and learning how to use one properly has kept it mostly unused. I’m also realizing that the lack of a mix knob on that one hasn’t helped that very much.

I also bought a VFE White Horse, and I like it, but I’m only now starting to understand how to use these properly, mostly thanks to the 76 SE with 2 compressors.

But I do have a question - would most people run this first, or between dist & effects? I’m thinking not last.

Any advice?

[chrisrnps]

Depends on what you’re going for. Conventional wisdom (and my inclination) would be to put it first or near-first, before any gain or fuzz stages, assuming you’re going for smoothness / consistency/ sustain / lower noise floor.

I’ve been on a Gilmour-geeking kick lately, and comp pedals tend to be first in that sort of setup. And the SE seems like the best of both worlds between the Cali76 Compact and SlideRig Compact he vacillated between on the last documented tour rigs. Turn down the 1->2 knob all the way and it’s one, turn it up so both stages are hitting and set the attack / release controls the same, and it’s a SlideRig, set the attack / release knobs different and it does things neither can do.

However, if you’re simulating a “studio” compressor (and the Cali76 products are designed to simulate an 1176 classic studio unit) or fast attack / slow release to approximate amp “sag,” it might be interesting to try it as the last thing in the loop - although this can be risky as far as noise floor performance goes.

I just sold a Keeley Compressor Plus (which does have the blend knob you missed), have a TC Nova Dynamics listed, and just returned a Cali76SE to CME because I couldn’t deal with the noise floor on any - at least with any “fun” amount of compression dialed in.

Pete Cornish OC-1 just showed up in the mail today, which is supposedly very low on the “obvious sounding compression as an audible squish effect” scale but amongst the lower noise options available (and painfully expensive to boot) but haven’t tested it out yet. This weekend...

[sookwinder]

I always use my Cali76 first in the chain.
It easily tames anything that then causes issues later

[somanytoys]

Very cool, thanks guys.

I was thinking about it going first, but was curious if there was another way (always is...). I’m just curious about it going before my range lord, since germanium is so finicky. I’ll check it out and place them appropriately, with my Shape eq afterwards.

They have the 3 sample settings, which they’re all cool with the pedal all alone, but I tend to like the “always on” setting because it’s the least “intrusive”, doing what I want in a subtle way, with some dry signal fed in to offset it.

I had read often that since od/distortion pedals compress, that it ends up being too much. I’m thinking with the dry blend, that may not be such a big deal.

I appreciate the info, hopefully this will help me use the compressors more effectively. I think I’ll use the Keeley for bass, if I can find a setting I like, or use a parallel pedal to blend in some dry signal.

[chrisrnps]

Germanium pedals (and some wah pedals, which would tend to be first-first anyway) can sometimes be finicky about not being first - you might be forced that way if the output impedance or other factors of any pedal before a germanium pedal causes issues or changes the tone in an undesirable way. Newer pedals may be designed to not have this issue, but “vintage” germanium designs (I think?) expect to see the output impedance of a guitar, not that of the output of a preceding pedal.

Even with gain after the compression, you’d mainly be adding sustain, evening out the response, and adding a little bit of “clean boost” (the dry blend doesn’t tend to add noise, but the compressed plus makeup gain can), which can then allow you to turn the gain down slightly on the gain pedals downstream to compensate if the comp is “always on.”

The Cali is a “buffer always on,” so putting it early or first can be good for pushing the signal through downstream true bypass pedals and cabling.

[somanytoys]

Yeah, there wasn’t anything about the output impedance of the Cali in the manual (input only), but almost all of my fuzz and treble booster pedals are old-style germanium circuits. So I’m thinking the prima donna germanium that I’m using at the time will still go first. Not a big deal. Fuzz squished by reverb going first can be interesting, tho.

Thanks for the tip on the distortion in pedals later on, that will bypass some frustration with a new pedal in the mix, especially early on.

Hopefully it won’t be too bad, the board it’s going on has mostly low gain - a Barber GC in LTD mode on one chain and a Zenkudo in Dumble mode on the other. The Range Lord is what really grinds, and I’ll have that, then the Cali and a Shape EQ before the signal splits, so I’m hoping that will it be pretty uniform into each path. They go into decently well driven deluxe and ac amps, so I don’t go too crazy with the drives.

So far I’ve been playing with just the Cali, a VFE Monarch (mostly a blues king) and a Mercury 7 that I just got, too, into a Bugera T5 and some EarCandy cabs. It’s been a lot of fun. Should be interesting when I move it onto the big board.

[somanytoys]

I moved it to the big board, it’s 2nd, right after the Range Lord, with the Shape eq after, then the split.

I see about the noise floor now, through bigger amps at higher volumes. At least on the “always on” setting, if you push the IN knob too much, it gets noisy. And not that high, really, maybe around 10:00 or so. I just compensate by turning up the out & dry knobs a bit. It still sounds better when it’s on, so I’m happy with it.

I think it helped me to understand how to dial in the others better. I’m using them with different pedal chains and they make them sound better. I think that a dry blend is important on a comp (in all my wisdom...), but the Keeley is working out pretty well now in the chain it’s in. So it’s good overall.

Another thought is that I could use it with the recording interface as outboard equipment, a plug in or whatever you call that.

[Meriphew]

I bought one a couple of weeks ago to replace an Xotic SP Compressor. I was hoping to like it better. I was pleasantly surprised to be blown away with how much better it works for me.

[somanytoys]

I was, too.

It’s pretty versatile, and much easier to dial in a good sound than the other 2 I have, although the VFE White Horse is a close second, now that I have a better feel for it.

I haven’t played with the controls very much. I liked the other 2 sample settings, but I really like the subtlety of the “on all the time” setting, with minor tweaks to the top 3 knobs for my setup.

I haven’t tried an Xotic SP compressor, but I have read good things about it. I have an EP booster and its very cool on the other side of the chain (last). I use it on the old school (factory) settings.

Congratulations, I think this is definitely going to be a keeper pedal for both of us.