With just a volume, compression and blend control there is not much to the Pulp’n Peel, but there is magic in this little orange box. Once I turned it off things sounded flat, a little dull. Weird, as I never considered my rig lifeless or dull. There was a sparkle and shimmer; a clarity that the "Pulp" added that just opened things up. The tone seemed purified but it was MY tone, not one crushed by compression. What the Pulp’n Peel compressor didn't add was any massive squish of the attack followed by that swell and bloom that sounds so fake and un-natural. You get a clean natural sounding attack followed by a clean clear sustaining tone just a hair brighter than your uncompressed tone. And if you want, turn the "Blend" knob and dial in your natural uncompressed tone. Sweet.
The Pulp’n Peel is a very transparent compressor, and you could literally just turn it on and never turn it off. Everything I played through it sounded great. More definition, clarity, and of course sustain. Played clean or with overdrive the tone stays natural but with the pluses the "Pulp" adds. I kept the compression knob near full up most of the time. There wasn't a reason not to, and it’s plenty easy to vary the compression effect just by using the Blend control. With the Blend knob full CCW the Volume knob does nothing as you only have the straight signal. As you dial the Blend CW you add compressed signal and the volume knob becomes active. The little extra brightness or sparkle that full compression adds is special, and you can't add what this pedal does with a tone knob. It's subtle, it doesn't jump out at you, but you know it when it's gone.
The “Pulp” is also one quiet compressor. Playing a single coil guitar in a room with fluorescent lighting is normally a recipe for noise. The JHS compressor added nothing to the noise level, and even with compression full up there is no more noise from the lights and pickup than without the compressor. So you can also use this compressor as a clean boost to hit the amp harder too right? Lastly this new Version 3 Pulp’n Peel has a switchable (inside) JHS "Little Black Buffer" built it. It’s another way the Pulp'n Peel keeps your signal strong and clean. You only gain with the JHS Pulp'n Peel. Really, just turn it on and leave it on.
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