The first question we all have about any stompbox is (or should be), “Will it undermine my low end?” The answer here is, “No.” I could discern no difference in the intensity of the fundamental when I kicked the pedal on and off. And while we’re here, I appreciate the fat, bright active indicator LED. So far so good. The pedal’s self-noise is fathoms below that of the original article, but by its very nature—loudening quiet sounds and quieting louder ones—any compressor has the potential to exacerbate your instrument’s noise. For example, my J-Retro preamp-equipped Fernandes J-Bass copy was noisier than usual in both active and passive modes when I applied even moderate compression. The Preacher’s just bringing into the light-tuh what had been in the dark-kuh! Somebody say Amen! A more expensive and much vaunted Robert Keeley compressor stompbox raised my bass’s noise floor a little less.
For fingerstyle playing, I found that setting attack to medium and lowering sustain yielded minimal pumping with enhanced sustain and fatness, thanks to the subtle and pleasing distortion the pedal imparted. For thumpin’ and pluckin’, fast attack did the trick, with sustain at 7:30 or 8 o’clock. Pickstyle playing sounded best with a fast attack and sustain returned to the counterclockwise limit. For what could be called “usual compression,” the Soul Preacher is pretty good, but for a measly $100 you can’t expect it to provide the kind of transparency offered by studio-oriented compressors. That said, it performs better than a few of the $200 rackmount units I’ve tested in the past.
Now, if you’re after special effects, the Soul Preacher particularly excels there. Pseudo-backward effects à la the bass break in Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al” can be conjured with higher sustain settings and slow attack, and if you can put up with the “enhanced” instrument hiss, your notes can have eternal life. (Maybe not quite eternal.) Sucking sounds—and by that I don’t mean sound that sucks—are fun to play with, as you get a weird new rhythmic element to riffs and lines as the compressor clamps down after each note’s initial attack and then raises the level during the sustain portion. It actually led me to some new ideas.
As with many television preachers, you’ll want to make sure you really know who you’re listening to before giving your money. The Soul Preacher will be too good at extreme effects and not strong enough in bread-and-butter compression for some players—but others will hang on each word the Preacher says, loving every minute of it.
SPECS
Power: One 9-volt battery or ac adapter, center negative (Boss and Ibanez adapters will work)
Made in: USA
Warranty: One year
List: $130
Street: $98
Pros: Very cool effect-y compression; inexpensive; desirable distortion
Cons: “Normal” compression a little weak
Bottom Line: A quick, cheap route to decent standard compression, and wacky over-the-top squashiness.
Contact: www.ehx.com