Harley Benton Dynamic Compressor

Of all of the Harley Benton Pedals that I've had time to play, this is probably the most impressive. This is a very impressive compressor. It handled the vintage pickups in my American Tele and the super high output hot-rails in my strat very well.

The sound is the classic sustainer type compression, the variable attack time being very useful to help shape picking dynamics. It's not the cleanest compression I've heard, but any colouration I could hear seemed warm and very complimentary to my single coil guitars. I've yet to try this pedal with my bass rig.

Build quality is very impressive, and not just for the price point. The enclosure is high quality die-cast aluminium and is well finished (though the graphics are a little cheesy). Having had a snoop inside I was pleased to find a quality 3PDT footswitch in a true bypass configuration. The pots are pretty decent too, as is the quality of the off board wiring. The construction quality of this pedal is easily the match of some boutique manufacturers.

Build - The metal housing of the product seems pretty solid. The knobs are chunky and bright, leaving nothing to the imagination. The only slight issue is the plastic bottom, which is unevenly seated to one side (I have removed the rubberised bottom to accommodate attachment to a pedal board) - no particularly a deal breaker though.

Use - I've only used this at home so far through a Peavey Bass combo, using several different basses (5 string & fretless). I foresee that it will be used continually in my new wave/glam/pop band.

Sound - I have spent a while finding the sweet spot and the results are very good. The bass is given a definite overall lift, the sound is tight and punchy, the slap sound produced is sound funky. When turning the unit off I realise quite how much it affects the sound and how much life it breaths in to my bass sound.

For around £25 I doubt that this can be beat in terms of sound and build.

For its price this little stomp is unmatched.
Its hard to really put into words what a comp-pedal does for your soundpicture, but all i can say is that this adds "more" of what makes your sound sweet.

Pedals in general usually adds both more good/bad at an even ratio, but since this little stompbox has (first) true bypass and (second) a very good effectbalance makes it in my ear feel like it adds what its supposed to do without amplifying unnecesary noise and ambient trash.
Simply put: its a bettermaker =)

The pricetag itself is an invitation to try it out and now with some extended workout i cannot do anything but recommend this sturdy little green pedal!

Get one!

Well it took me a long long time to figure out how to use these effect and it's very subtle but if you have noticed that a lot of guitarists say that this is the pedal that is always switched on, on their pedal board you will realise why after a short time of experimenting. To get this right I would say you need to experiment with a clean signal, set the level so that the volume doesn't change between effect on and off. Then set the attack and Sustain next, starting with the dials around 10 o clock. Works best on a clean signal but it can be used with overdrive too. It's subtle but now I have the pedal on almost all the time. An excellent introduction to compression sustainer pedals without spending way over 100 euros. Highly recommended.

This pedal is extremely subtle to the point of not being sure if it even adds anything to the sound. Maybe my sound gets slightly more Hi-fi with it but it sure does not change the guitar sound. This is not a compressor pedal. Its not even a sustain pedal. Even the attack is so subtle Im not sure what to call it. Maybe can be used as a clean boost pedal because one can crank the Level on this thing.

EDIT 2019; since then I have got myself a Ross style Compressor pedal and this HB Dyna Comp went out of the window!!! The Ross style comp is an actual comp pedal and you CAN HEAR all you do with the knobs, especially the Mix knob where I can blend in dry signal as much as I want to (or not at all). This Harley Benton Dyna Comp is a waste of money as you cant hear any difference no matter what you do with the knobs (except the Level knob). Save that cash and get an actual compressor that works.

I'm using this between my Mexi Strat and my Vox Lil' Night Train amp. It's a very "bright" combination, and this compressor helps attenuate this a bit. The effect is very subtle, you'll have to play around with the controls a bit and see how it affects the sound to get an idea of what it really does. Also works great as a boost for when you need that extra oomph.

+ Sturdy build
+ True bypass
+ Versatile (can be used as a boost)

+/- Subtle, transparent compression (Some might favour this, others might want compression that is a bit more "coloured", depends on the individual preferences)

Minor cons:
- Mediocre switch (for comparison, my TC Electronic Ditto looper has much smoother action and very quiet "click" when stepping on it)
- I've seen prettier pedals :)

Does a great job for the price, though maybe not the best introduction to the realm of compression for beginners. Overall, a good product for a bedroom player as myself.

This is the second time I am buying this product - the first time was a year ago and the pedal was great! Very soft compression, really almost close to transparent with a nice high-end roll off that fattens that tone and makes it rounder.

Since the first pedal was a keeper, I bought this pedal a second time for my studio, but my oh my the power supply socket is problematic -it seems that it is too far inside and so the cable does not come into place properly, rendering the use of the pedal with a power supply next to impossible.I had a similar problem with another Harley benton pedal but back then I took the time to open it and correct the problem by myself by pushing the power slot further to the outside and the situation improved. I will not spend more time to do the same here though, I will just use it occasionally with a battery.

In a nutshell, this is a very nice pedal if you don't get a faulty unit or if you intend to use it with batteries. TO be fair, I have two more Harley Benton pedals (tremolo, brirtish) and the power is working OK. I wish they improved the quality on these pedals so that people don t have to go through a hit / miss & return procedure.