NPD: Thorpy The Fat General compressor

StuartMac290

...which led to a wee shootout. The Cornish and Origin I've had for a while, The Fat General was just something I wanted to try. I knew I'd be keeping two of these three, but wanted to see if the Thorpy could match or better either.
 
https://imgur.com/a/oHebT2J ;

 

StuartMac290

Anyway, the Cornish is going nowhere for a start. I love a good compressor pedal, and have had a silly number of them over the years, but I'm fussy about them to the point of idiocy and have really disliked some that others revere.

These three are pretty much the pinnacle, though, and this wee shootout confirmed for me that the Cornish OC-1 is simply one of the best pedals I've ever played through. I absolutely love it.

The Thorpy Fat General, though, gets close - REALLY close - and then adds a vibe and an attitude that the Cornish just can't muster. Seriously, seriously impressed with this pedal, as I have been with each of the Thorpy pedals I've tried (and subsequently bought).

Which means the Origin SlideRig CD will be sold, which feels a little odd because it's a fantastic bit of kit. It's just more coloured than the others, though - I know it's intentional, and it's part of its appeal, the idea it sounds like two 1176s chained, but I work every day in a studio with a bunch of real 1176s, so that aspect isn't something I'm really looking for. It's a very flattering colouration, but ultimately I prefer the fantastic transparency of the Cornish and the lively vibe of the Fat General.

Incredibly, the Fat General is actually very slightly quieter than the Cornish too, which is already freakishly quiet. They sound amazing chained too...

mgaw

thanks for the wee write up, timely as I am about to go looking for a comp...agree about the origin having its own sound which didn't do it for me in the end, foolishly sold an OC1 which is amazing imo and been very curious about the fat general, so off to the shops we go

StuartMac290

Joe's Pedals are selling off the large enclosure Thorpys at really good prices. I'm seriously impressed with the Fat General, actually.

Slimbert

The Fat General is amazing as compressors go...I never felt the need for a compressor until that came along.

Now it's an always on pedal on my board as it makes absolutely everything sound better.

Wazmeister

Mate, the Thorpe must be good if you offer that kind of praise vs the OC1...

That Pete Cornish is one of my fave pedals ever.

Im gonna have to revisit one and this new Thorpy one too

StuartMac290

I've been using the Fat General all day, just that one pedal then straight into the Bad Cat. I've gone from seriously impressed to utterly smitten. It has a cracking vibe to it, and complements the Cornish perfectly

Jonathanthomas83

This thread made me get a Cornish OC-1 again. Thanks. I'm both ashamed of myself for buying pedals again, yet immensely happy with my tone!

StuartMac290

Jonathanthomas83 said:

This thread made me get a Cornish OC-1 again. Thanks. I'm both ashamed of myself for buying pedals again, yet immensely happy with my tone!

It's a cracking pedal!

Jonathanthomas83

It really is!

ThorpyFX

Out of Interest, the Cornish was the pedal I aimed to beat in several key areas...... mainly because it is indeed awesome. Glad to hear we appear to have achieved what we wanted to. Thanks for buying a Fat General. 

fandango

Vindicates my decision to buy a Fat General. It’s a seriously fantastic bit of kit. Best bit is that it’s transparent and doesn’t ‘colour’ the tone. I had a Keeley comp and tired of what that did. The FG has restored the place of a compressor on my pedalboard.

StuartMac290

ThorpyFX said:

Out of Interest, the Cornish was the pedal I aimed to beat in several key areas...... mainly because it is indeed awesome. Glad to hear we appear to have achieved what we wanted to. Thanks for buying a Fat General. 

It's an absolutely brilliant pedal, Adrian - that's two days in a row now I've used it exclusively on long guitar sessions. Actually yesterday I flipped it onto juicy mode for some fast country stuff with a Tele and it worked brilliantly and was great fun, and I ended up keeping it there for some clean slide - one of the reasons I'm comfortable selling the SlideRig on is I actually prefer the Fat General in that role anyway, and it's much quieter. These are things the Cornish CAN'T do.

I use compressor pedals in front of an amp very subtly most of the time, almost inaudibly until you turn it off, so a blend control is essential. I love the studio compressor model in the Fractal FX8 in front of an amp for this, and until now the Cornish was really the only pedal I could use in this way. It's SO transparent.

The Fat General has a lot more attitude if you want it to, though, whilst still sounding natural, and also still does the transparent thing beautifully. It sounds incredible into the Black Cat 30, which is an old one with a lovely natural compression of its own.

The other thing that sets the Fat General and the OC-1 apart from all the others for me is the way they handle humbuckers (which is one of the things that killed the Diamond for me, for instance). On Friday I put a 335 through it and it was glorious. 

Today's session will involve a Rickenbacker 12-string, and I've a feeling the treble control on the Fat General might tip the balance in its favour once again.

I absolutely love this thing.

StuartMac290

I'm trying - and apparently failing - to post a picture of the board before it all got patched up on Friday, having settled on an order!

https://imgur.com/a/49QBfKX

StuartMac290

Wazmeister

Here you go Stuart;

Nice board man

StuartMac290

I'm not really a pedals guy, I just put this together to cover as many bases as possible for this session.

I'm particularly not a drive pedals guy, 90% of the time I just prefer to crank the amps - there's something about these Thorpys though, they always bring a little extra to the table  

Wazmeister

You know how it is, trying pedals, some that work at home but not live... and visa versa. Searching for years and years after that sound.

But Im absolutely made up tonight. Best band sound Ive probably ever had.

@Thorpyfx - I dont know what to say mate. I fitted the new Fat General Mini V2 to my small board for rehearsal tonight- AND I LITERALLY NEVER TURNED IT OFF ALL NIGHT.

Superb pedal. 

And Im not a Comp fan, and Ive struggled like many of us.

And I can say this without fear of contradiction; for my set up,and sound now.,this is THE best pedal Ive ever purchased.

ThorpyFX

Thanks Warren, really appreciate the review and I'm over the moon you like it so much. I have had the Fat General descried as a "More Better" pedal by a pro player, he told me that when on, it feels that he has several mores years of experience under is belt. i took this as a massive compliment as his playing is incredible anyway.  As for me.... I don't like to have the pedal off, i like what the Fat General does to the feel, sound and general dynamics of my rig.... Sounds like you do too.

Wazmeister

ThorpyFX said:

Thanks Warren, really appreciate the review and I'm over the moon you like it so much. I have had the Fat General descried as a "More Better" pedal by a pro player, he told me that when on, it feels that he has several mores years of experience under is belt. i took this as a massive compliment as his playing is incredible anyway.  As for me.... I don't like to have the pedal off, i like what the Fat General does to the feel, sound and general dynamics of my rig.... Sounds like you do too.

I actually feel like starting a new thread to get this even more exposure; it’s that good.

So, my board is shown below.

Suhr Alt T Pro -> Pedalboard -> Carr Mercury V 

The amp is set clean/edge of break up. Now, the Fat General (FG) is one of the new Mini ones. Lovely size. 

What it does superbly, in my rig at least, is to take all the sharp edges and peaks off my sound (as you’d expect) yet somehow NOT tame the harmonics and bloom of the amp. Indeed, the magic is in the ‘treble’ knob which seems to add more harmonic dynamics. I dunno, but thats hows it sounds to me...

Sustain can be added, and chime without that sapping dull whump some Comps add. The sound is higher, wider, deeper... 

Remember, this isnt me looking for subtle nuances in a bedroom setting; this is a 4 piece band knocking out some noise...

The Duellist in front of it (yes FG 2nd in the chain) is a match made in heaven. I loved my Cornish OC1, but it could never do this.

Superb. 

Wazmeister