Jackson Audio has unveiled the Hour Glass, a tricked-out compressor pedal that was inspired by classic OTA analogue units from Ross, but doubles up on the circuits for added flexibility – and, quite possibly, all the compression you could require.
The Hour Glass Dual Studio Compressor is described by Jackson Audio as “your ticket to extended sustain and unparalleled tonal control”, a bold claim backed up by the pedal’s design.
The biggest talking point here is the circuit. Make that circuits, plural, because there are two of ‘em here, both identical, each offering parallel compression, complete with a Blend control for adjusting to taste, and each with their own set of controls and footswitches, allowing you to set one up for, say, your single-coil pickups, another for humbuckers, or perhaps one setting for clean rhythms and another for leads.
Each compression circuit has its own three-way attack settings, allowing players to choose from fast (100ms), medium (400ms) and slow (1600ms) attack times.
There is also a Treble switch to help you shape your electric guitar’s high frequencies with Flat, Medium, or High boost modes, and once more each compression circuit has its own switch. You will find Compression, Blend and Volume controls for each channel of the pedal.
The jacks are conveniently mounted on the top of the pedal. The enclosure is reassuringly compact, making the most of its pedalboard footprint with the controls and features on offer.
The Hour Glass takes 9-18V DC from a pedalboard power supply and will draw about 60mA, and also promises to tread lightly on your core tone, offering transparent compression that is described as “warm” and “natural”, capable of boosting sustain for epic leads, and of doing all the sorts of tone-gussying things things that you want from a compressor. You can, of course, use both compressor circuits simultaneously.
For more details, head over to Jackson Audio. The Hour Glass Dual Studio Compressor is out now and it will set you back £325/$299. That might not be cheap but then this is a twofer with a lot of compression in a small package.
