This is my build report for the General Tso’s compressor, based on the Thorpy Fat General. It’s a good pedal, but as a compressor that I like on my pedalboard, it’s not as exciting as a fuzz or modulation.

Inspiration

Initially I wasn’t sure what to do with this design. I started thinking about fat birds and the quail came to mind. Fortuitously, I also remembered how much quail can stretch out or squash their necks, so it seemed a perfectly fitting bird for a “compressor.” I’m really happy with this design. The meadow turned out great and I love the Tayda cream color, which feels subtle and sophisticated (“subtle off-white color. The tasteful thickness of the tone. Oh my God. It even has a watermark.”

In this case I chose to use the California Quail, a local (but somewhat uncommon) bird in the Pacific Northwest that you can find in fields and meadows. They’re adorable and make a cute little cooing sound. California Quail have a distinctive little feather tuft that hangs over their head and wobbles when they move. They’re fun to watch, and behave a little like a tiny turkey, travelling as a family.

I also remember seeing quail ads in the back of Boys Life magazine as a Boy Scout (you’d send away and could get an incubator and some eggs - probably a poor prospect of hatching and an even worse life if they did… A recurring ad that was there for decades, but as a kid I didn’t really know what quail were.

The Build

I was nervous before this build, since I hadn’t used vactrols before. I can’t recall the exact LDR or LED I used.

The pedal has worked well, but I have had a bit of a challenge with it after the build, which is that it’s sometimes stopped working. I noticed this when switching intovolume mode on the toggle switch, which is the mode where the actual compression is 100% active (vs blend, where it’s a mix of dry and wet signals). So basically it was that the compressor part of the circuit wasn’t functioning. There was some ambiguity where sometimes I could flip the switch with the pedal off, change to volume mode, and it would still work. Eventually I tracked the problem down to the IC (an OPA2134) getting loose in the socket. While debugging, I also tried running with a RC4558 and didn’t really notice much difference between the two.

After the fix, when sitting on a table with a practice speaker and playing some heavy riffs, the IC seemed to come loose again before I reseated it. As a result I’m just kinda nervous playing with the pedal, which is unfortunate. I might try adding a dot of solder to a few legs.

The Pedal

It’s mostly been an always-on pedal. But as a compressor… I’m not always sure it’s on :). It evens things out and makes things sound better, but the effect is fairly subtle. And occasionally I’ll turn it off and wonder if it sounds better turned off. I guess I’m not a compressor guy. But you know, if a pedal mostly makes things sound 5% better, and doesn’t add noise, that’s a pretty good deal!

I’ve since built the Oceanid compressor from AionFX, and don’t like that one as much (some hiss and noise, and it’s a bit more pronounced of a compression sound - I might try adjusting it). Right now, that compressor isn’t worth using, but the quail has been good. I also had and sold a cheap Behringer compressor/limiter, which had even worse hiss.

Firsts

• First pedal with a vactrol/LDR.
• First compressor 🗜️

Build rating: 4/5 ⭐

Pedal rating: 5/5 ⭐