I wanted to get serious mileage underfoot with this one before reviewing it. This is a single knob compressor with the bonus of a single throw toggle switch that defeats the compression and turns the pedal into a straight up clean boost. A nice extra touch that adds a useful function to a simple design.
The McSqueeze is based on the old orange squeezer designs and although I've not played one of the exact original plugin style units, I have played other clones that used the same circuit. For this style of compressor (single sustain control - as opposed to Ross or DynaComp styles that have sustain and level controls) the McSqueeze is a fantastic sounding compressor.
The bias control is an internal trim pot - I spent a lot of time with it in different settings and found it best for me to be returned to the original marking set by PedalWorx though its a simple turn of the screw to go back for more experimentation. Increasing the bias trim pot brings on some mild distortion that didn't appeal to me - pulling it back to the original factory setting sounded best and kept the signal clean even with the sustain control cranked high. For me, the sweet spots are between 10:00 and 1:00.
This compressor sounds best with my Telecaster and the MM90s in my MusicMan SuperSport Axis. There is some added high end that accompanies the compression through the full sweep of the control. Here's where I think the pedal really encourages you to interact with the tone on the guitar-the volume on the guitar and the pedal itself. Keeping everything on 10 isn't a good way (for me) to start finding the tones in this pedal. I pulled down the volume to about 2/3 and let the pedal contribute the added output that it wants to along with the compression of the signal. I find I can hear the action of the compression better when I'm pulling back the reins on the pickups - especially higher output ones like the MM90s. With the McSqueeze set around 11:00 and using the bridge pickup of my Tele, I can get a huge range of useful sounds.
Compression is always hard to describe - this one falls somewhere inbetween the drastic choking of the reissue DynaComp (which sometimes I really like for lofi sounds) and the more subtle shine that the Homebrew CPR delivers (based on Ross sounds). The McSqueeze can give some of the snap and cluck that I like to hear in all compressors, along with good steady sustain. There's also an emphasis on midrange that I'm hearing that brings in some added girth and warms up the tone. There is some noise as in all compressors since it's bringing up the floor of the signal - but it's acceptable and better than others I've got.
Happily, PedalWorx kept this unit in the small size box - and the graphics are cool. Within the single knob, orange squeezer clone camp, and taking into consideration the bonus of the toggle swith for cleanboosting, this is a real winner in a small simple sleek package.
