ReverbFuzzbox

Whenever one of my guitarist friends came round to my house, they’d take a look at my very first pedal – an orange lump of metal, the DOD FX80-F.

They’d say “oooh, a compressor” and I’d say “I’m not sure what it does” and they’d say “oh, they’re great” and give me a look that said “I’ve forgotten more chords than you’ll ever know, like Am dim7 and F#add9” and they would fiddle with it and with the wry nod of a proper muso, a nod which clearly demonstrated that they couldn’t tell for certain if it actually did anything, make a “hmmmm” noise.

What is the point of compression pedals? Readers, I have been playing guitar for over 30 years and I think I have finally worked it out. But that’s not this story. That’s for another day. This is about my first compressor – my first stompbox – the DOD Compressor / Sustainer FX80-B.

What a super exciting choice, right? Well I was not a good guitarist. Unfortunately I was also in a band and I wanted to be as good a guitar player as James Dean Bradfield. I tried everything but after a full three months of practice I had real trouble: I couldn’t hold the strings against the fretboard well enough; I have a distinctly violent and inconsistent strumming action, wielding a plectrum like hammer; finally, I was terrible at barre chords.

Essentially, I couldn’t sustain notes well, and I couldn’t keep a consistent volume. This DOD Compressor / Sustainer FX80-B was the answer. That’s what the pages of Total Guitar magazine seemed to be telling me, anyway. It would sustain my noises, and make anything I played the same volume. This was long before YouTube tutorials and online shopping, so I went with the “research” from Guitar Player magazine. I had no option but to blindly trust magazines, as I did with every decision of my life.

I went to a shop in Denmark Street, London, just round the corner from the Astoria where I’d seen my guitar heroes Manic Street Preachers a few months before. Handed over £35 and here it was, my saviour, my first pedal and the one thing I needed to make me a better guitar player.

Popped in a battery (tested on my tongue, obviously). Hooked it up in between my Encore Strat copy (black) and my Tanglewood 10w amp – volume around 3 or 4, Mids at 2, and Bass, Treble and Gain all at 8 because that’s what I thought sounded best.

Put my foot down. A red light came on. And nothing changed.

There were three knobs on the pedal: Level, Release, and Compression. Nothing made the slightest difference. Or did it? Possibly a little? It was far too hard to tell. I practised one of our handful of (appalling) teenage rock songs. Arpeggios of Em to C, and then Am to F. Quiet verse, loud chorus. I think we were trying to write Violet or Doll Parts. And maybe, just maybe, the notes were sticking longer and the sound was more consistent?

You know, it sort of worked. In rehearsal once I played into this old white Marshall bass amp that had been left in the room. I sounded amazing after I turned the compressor on, like I was playing a stringed instrument as opposed to a plank of wood. And that was it, that was proof, maybe, that it worked. Nothing to do with the amp I’m sure. I used that pedal for every gig we played, and after that band broke up I bought a Zoom 505 and kept the compressor at home with my spare cables and broken tuners.

I finally took it to one of the second-hand shops in Swansea. Can’t remember which one, there were so many. Great for bargains, great for getting money to pay your rent or buy records or beer. I sold so many records and all my pedals at various times. Do I regret the DOD250 Overdrive… that’s another story. Do I regret the first run double LP of (What’s The Story?) Morning Glory by Oasis that I sold to More Music for £1? For the music, no. For financial reasons, hell yes.

Anyway, the guy who worked there said “oooh, a compressor” and I said “I’m not sure what it does” and he said “oh, they’re great” and then he gave me a look that said “the major pentatonic scale is just so quotidian, I prefer to play free jazz and Dominican blues” and he fiddled with it and then with the wry nod of a proper muso, a nod that clearly demonstrated that he couldn’t tell for certain if it did anything, made a “hmmmm” noise. He then offered me £25 which I immediately accepted with shock and then spent on rent or records or beer, while he presumably went on to sell it at a profit to some daft young guitarist who didn’t know what they were buying.

So what do compressors do? I have a TC Electronics Forcefield and a Danelectro Surf’n’Turf and I think I’ve finally worked it out but again, that’s another story for another day.

DOD don’t seem to make them anymore. There’s the DOD 280 – an orange two-button compressor. The Boss CS-3 Compression / Sustainer is probably what it was originally based on. The closest I’ve found is the Behringer CL9 – and by closest I mean it has three knobs and is orange. Makes the exact same difference to your sound if you leave it switched off.