Even Signal and Clean Sustain: Inside the Fender Bends Compressor Pedal

Compression is a key effect that many guitarists may overlook.

That's because if used correctly, compression isn't truly audible, at least in the way something like reverb or overdrive impacts your guitar signal.

Compression is more of a volume control, a crucial governor to keep your dynamics level and ensure a steady performance.

Fender addressed just that in the form of the Bends Compressor, a fresh take on compression that will tame wild volume spikes without altering your tone.

"It watches how loud your signal is and when you get too loud, it will turn you down automatically," said Fender Vice President of Product Innovation Stany Cotey. "It does it very transparently and very quickly. It does what you want it to do and isn't erratic. It's well-behaved.

"Whether you're a singer and it levels out a rhythm guitar performance, or you're a soloist and it gives you more sustain, it doesn't surprise you with any errant noises."

Cotey designed the Fender's entire new line of pedals in Southern California, and the Bends Compressor is joined by other stompboxes like the Marine Level Reverb and Pugilist Distortion.

The Bends Compressor utilizes a pair of operational transconductance amplifiers, which varies the volume of a guitar's signal from a control signal.

"Compressors sometimes can be noisey, so this has two operational transconductive amps working at the same time," said Cotey. "By mixing them together, you can kind of tuck the noise down a bit."

Drive and Recovery controls let you dial in the perfect amount of compression to complement your playing style and extend sustain, while the Blend control lets you mix in the dry signal to maintain your natural pick attack.

Maintaining clean sustain and even dynamics is well-suited for genres of music that rely on clean tones, like country, funk and jazz.

"Compression, for me, it takes a clean sound and gives it some of the same characteristics of playing with some overdrive," Cotey said. "It's clean, but it gives you extra sustain of note. It lets you hang in space. It gives you a range of expression, so you can hear more of what you're doing with your pick."

Like all Fender pedals, several player-centric features were also included, such as a sleek anodized aluminium casing, a magnetic battery door that allows for quick battery changes, offset input and output jacks to space pedals closer together, and LED backlit knobs.

While a compressor might not be the first pedal you'd think of adding to your signal chain, there is no doubt that it can be a great friend. The Bends Compressor will ensure you are always putting out your best performance.

Shop all of Fender's pedals.