Implemented 1176-Style FET Compressor (Cali76) Model

Great request. Agree, many of these compressors and their impact on tone were some of the secret sauce in legendary recordings on both guitars and on mastering.

U Audio 1176 (multiple iterations - blue stripe early, black, later) - FET style, and I think it is very fast attack compared ot others and different feedback type.

All the early Zeppelin albums, Little Feat, others used this; this is the Cali76 slide pedal referenced in OP. The "All buttons in" mode (all ratio option buttons punched in at same time) was used to add color as well (British nuke). Led Zep's Black Dog was supposedly done like this (direct into two 1176's and massive mic preamp distortion on board, no amp).

Fairchild 660/670 - tube, Vari-Gain style. All the Beatles stuff, Pink Floyd....Abbey Road.

LA-2A, LA-3A (good on bass and vocals) ...Optical, tube, RMS

dbx 160 (bass) and SSL Buss compressor (VCA style).... just to name a few main ones.

I suspect we can get very close with what we have -- but the coloration may not be in it. Maybe by adding drive blocks after we can achieve that as work around?

I started this thread on this compressor block topic a few weeks back, hoping to prompt people to use existing blocks to try and get close to the above, rather than hope Cliff will make a specific model.

No question my friends at UAudio are making a killing selling these compressor plug-ins. Be great if it were easier to pull up these in Axe-Edit III compressor block at will.
 
Last edited:
Great request. Agree, many of these compressors and their impact on tone were some of the secret sauce in legendary recordings on both guitars and on mastering.

U Audio 1176 (multiple iterations - blue stripe early, black, later) - FET style, and I think it is very fast attack compared ot others and different feedback type.

All the early Zeppelin albums, Little Feat, others used this; this is the Cali76 slide pedal referenced in OP. The "All buttons in" mode (all ratio option buttons punched in at same time) was used to add color as well (British nuke). Led Zep's Black Dog was supposedly done like this (direct into two 1176's and massive mic preamp distortion on board, no amp).

Fairchild 660/670 - tube, Vari-Gain style. All the Beatles stuff, Pink Floyd....Abbey Road.

LA-2A, LA-3A (good on bass and vocals) ...Optical, tube, RMS

dbx 160 (bass) and SSL Buss compressor (VCA style).... just to name a few main ones.

I suspect we can get very close with what we have -- but the coloration may not be in it. Maybe by adding drive blocks after we can achieve that as work around?

I started this thread on this compressor block topic a few weeks back, hoping to prompt people to use existing blocks to try and get close to the above, rather than hope Cliff will make a specific model.

No question my friends at UAudio are making a killing selling these compressor plug-ins. Be great if it were easier to pull up these in Axe-Edit III compressor block at will.

Recreations of all the above would be an absolute dream come true, add the Ross mentioned above and then I can't think of other compressors to wish for.
 
I would like to rehash this as im about to buy an axe fx 3 like today and this is one big factor for me.

Can I find out which 1176 or cali model has been modeled?

If its the cali, hopefully both the TX with the Iron Core transformer in 18v mode, and the TX-L with the Lundahl transformer also in 18V mode. (A model of both would be preferable as the former has an extremely thick attack characteristic, and the latter the same but with less color).

Otherwise a rack 1176 model would be fine.
 
Last edited:
I would like to rehash this as im about to buy an axe fx 3 like today and this is one big factor for me.

Can I find out which 1176 or cali model has been modeled?

If its the cali, hopefully both the TX with the Iron Core transformer in 18v mode, and the TX-L with the Lundahl transformer also in 18V mode. (A model of both would be preferable as the former has an extremely thick attack characteristic, and the latter the same but with less color).

Otherwise a rack 1176 model would be fine.

There isn’t an 1176 model per se. The compressors aren't models of real units like the amps are. Instead there are multiple types, for example Tube, Optical, Pedal etc. and a lot more ability to tweak than hardware units.

The JFET compressor, has a similar vibe and can be set with a very high attack like an 1176. It doesn't distort or colour the signal as much as the original unit but it does sound good and has a similar fat punchy sound.

There is also a transformer emulation in the preamp in the Cab block, which can distort so it that's your bag there is a solution.
 
So it says on this posting that the solution has been implemented and there is a mentioning on the wiki of: "JFET — Field Effect Transistor-based compression, emulating tube compressors. The most famous FET compressor is the Urei 1176".
Does this mean it is done?
Is this the model or is another coming?
 
So it says on this posting that the solution has been implemented and there is a mentioning on the wiki of: "JFET — Field Effect Transistor-based compression, emulating tube compressors. The most famous FET compressor is the Urei 1176".
Does this mean it is done?
Is this the model or is another coming?
Key phrase in the description: "emulating tube compressors" - in other words, it's pretty pretty pretty close to a tube compressor like the 1176, but likely will take a little deep tweaking to get closer if you have golden ears and can hear a discrepancy....
 
Key phrase in the description: "emulating tube compressors" - in other words, it's pretty pretty pretty close to a tube compressor like the 1176, but likely will take a little deep tweaking to get closer if you have golden ears and can hear a discrepancy....

It would be cool to have a starting point that gets you to the ballpark instead of "you can do whatever you want".
 
Key phrase in the description: "emulating tube compressors" - in other words, it's pretty pretty pretty close to a tube compressor like the 1176, but likely will take a little deep tweaking to get closer if you have golden ears and can hear a discrepancy....

Ok, hopefully then its more an emulation of the origin effects pedal which also has no tube and does the same.
But tbh, I am still prolly gonna end up grabbing that pedal for input before the afx because I need to use my gamechanger sustain after the compressor, but I need the compressor before the input noise gate of the afx 3 which ive finally ordered by the way.
 
Hopefully there is also a good emulation of the Boss CE-1 from I think the 70s. The added preamp in that thing is another great pluck-minimizer on cleans.

But just in case, there is a great company called Grobert that makes a proper analog clone of the CE-1 called "The One". Another great, pre-input 'signal conditioner'.
 
Back
Top Bottom