Celeritas compressor

This is an optical compressor from Nucleon FX, based on the Diamond compressor. I've not built or played with a compressor before, so this was kinda cool to try out.

I've used the CoolAudio VTL5C3 vactrol in this build, and it seems to work fine with this circuit.

I also ended up putting in a small board with a voltage doubler, to make the effect run at 18 volts, to remove a bit of the distortion when the compression first kicks in.

Overall I was impressed with the sound... being able to tap the strings lightly, and still hear that, and then play something loud and not be deafened, it's a plus!

Drilling the enclosure on this one turned into an exercise in stupidity. I wasn't wearing gloves, and was holding the enclosure while drilling. The drill bit stuck, which turned the enclosure into a spinning blade of death... and took a chunk out of my finger. It also ripped a bit out of the hole it was drilling, so one of the side jacks is on an angle.

• 
•