Inspired by Jordan Ziff's minimalist approach to guitar tone by using the overdrive to push his 1959 Plexi amp, we mixed the vintage Tubescreamer essentials with careful sophistication to give rise to a versatile and powerful tone shaping tool.
The Ziffer Overdrive was developed for Jordan Ziff - lead guitarist of Hot Crazy, RATT, and guitarist in Marty Friedman's band -, and is mainly derived from our TS8-MS Overdrive / MIDI Switcher pedal which he embraced as its Tubescreamer choice a couple of years ago. This time we removed the MIDI switching capabilities and added several controls which contribute to subtle tone-crafting and expanded versatility.
BECOS Ziffer Overdrive – Jordan Ziff Signature MINI Overdrive Pedal
We envision this minion for usage with guitar and bass, or other instruments as well. For this reason, we added parallel clean processing complemented by a tilting equalizer - which is a simplified but performant preamp. The Dry line can be mixed with the overdriven Wet line for finely tuning the frequency spectrum of the overdriven sound. Aside from its 3-clipping options, we also added a Deep mode very appropriate to beefing up single-coil pickups in guitars or leave the bottom end in place when used with a bass.
The Ziffer Overdrive is a sturdy minion, road-ready, and eager to perform in any instance, on stage or in the studio.Features
- True analog bypass
- Gain, Tone, Level controls
- Classic/Asymmetric/LEDs clipping options
- Classic/Deep frequency response selection
- Dry/Wet Mix
- Dry EQ frequency trimming
- Dry boost/cut variability
- Hi-quality audio ICs, low tolerance parts, Panasonic Polyester capacitors
- Black powder-coated MINI-size genuine Hammond aluminum enclosure
- 9-18 VDC external power supply (not included), center negative, 12mm long barrel plug
- 3-year warranty
The Jordan Ziff Signature Overdrive has a street price of $169.00 / €149.00. Pre-orders may be placed directly on BECOSFX online store at becosfx.com (or from select retailers) starting August 2021.
A dual-band/stacked floor unit with 15 knobs and five toggles that will make compression control freaks giddy. The PG Becos CompIQ TWAIN review.
Recorded direct using an Mbox and running Logic X.
Clip 1: Fender Ultra Jazz 4 (60/40 favoring neck pickup) Band 1: Threshold 10 o’clock, ratio 11 o’clock, gain 11 o’clock, x-over 11 o’clock/Band 2: Threshold 2 o’clock, ratio noon, mix 11 o’clock, gain 11 o’clock.
Clip 2: 1985 Yamaha BB3000S, with tone at 50 percent and neck pickup onlyFender Ultra Jazz 4 (60/40 favoring neck pickup) Band 1: Threshold 10 o’clock, ratio 1 o’clock, gain 10 o’clock, x-over 8 o’clock/Band 2: Threshold 5 o’clock, ratio 11 noon, mix 8 o’clock, gain 10 o’clock.
Clip 3: 1985 Yamaha BB3000S, with both pickups dimed. Band 1: Threshold 10 o’clock, ratio 10 o’clock, gain 10 o’clock, x-over 2 o’clock/Band 2: Threshold 11 o’clock, ratio 11, mix 11 o’clock, gain 10 o’clock.
RatingsPros:Incredibly versatile. Classic compression sounds. Dual-band or stacked capability. Cons: Crowded control surface. Plastic controls too close to the footswitch. Street: $342 Becos CompIQ Twain becosfx.com | Tones:  Ease of Use:  Build/Design: Value:  |
The folks at Romania-based Becos are no strangers to building solid compressors, and have a string of well-received, small-footprint units. These units are mostly aimed at users who desire set-it-and-forget-it, studio-quality analog compression. The larger-footprint CompIQ TWAIN model, however, is obviously built for players who have more of an “I want to control every aspect of compression” mentality. And the TWAIN has a sea of compression options available.
Two-for-One
The TWAIN is dual-band, with separate sides for lows and highs. The controls, for the most part, mirror each other. This layout helps in navigating the very feature-heavy panel. The most important switch on the CompIQ TWAIN, however, is located on the side near the input jack. It’s the switch that converts the unit to a stacked compressor. This feature will stack both compression engines in series to achieve a slower, warmer, optical-compression feel. Other important features on top of the pedal include the crossover frequency selector between the two bands, a wet/dry control, and a 3-way side-chain-filter switch. The switches between fast/slow timing and hard/soft knee are also available on both sides of the pedal.
I started out by plugging in a Fender Ultra Jazz 4-string because I wanted to see if I could get a modern, active Jazz bass to sound a little less modern and controlled, both in the highs of the pops and the violent low-end attacks of an aggressively slapped 4th string. And I began using the CompIQ TWAIN in dual-band mode with a 3:1 compression ratio. I switched things up with fast timing on the low side and slow timing for the highs. I was instantly struck by how musical my intentionally heavy squash on the low register sounded. The popped notes lost just a little bit of their inherent harshness and fit better into the line I was playing, a bit like slapping through a tube preamp.
To me, the true test of a great compressor is to determine how it can “glue” a track together with a bass line that features long note values. I grabbed an early ’80s Yamaha BB3000S, engaged the stacked mode, set a soft knee, and utilized the wet side of the signal heavily. I was rewarded with a truly old-school fat—but not muddy—tone, where my low notes were warm, and my high notes gained a tremendous amount of body and authority.
Steak with a Side of Saturation
Since the stacked mode put such a smile on my face, I kept it engaged while rolling all controls on my Yamaha to their wide-open positions and playing meat-and-potatoes rock with a pick, and boosting the saturation controls on the TWAIN up to 3 o’clock. The pedal added a pleasant mid-scoop while providing an audible saturation with the bass soloed, but a saturation subtle enough to where it will just add presence to the bass in a track without having a forward, audible break-up like a fuzz—a very usable feature indeed.
The Verdict
In spite of the larger footprint (4.72" x 4.13"), the CompIQ TWAIN is still a relatively small pedal considering it has the controls of two compressors in one unit. The engineering feat is admirable, but a few of the switches are a little hard to reach if you have “bass player fingers.” The number of features available make this Becos compressor hard to beat for users who demand a wide variety of compression options for different styles and multiple basses. Many compression pedals lose their allure when you can actually hear the compression working. The Becos shines in the heavier settings—compressing like some of the legendary rack units.
An analog compressor with a ton of studio-level control.
Constanta, Romania, European Union (February 13, 2020) -- After almost two years in development, we are now very pleased to announce a new addition to the CompIQ series of VCA compressors – the CompIQ TWAIN Dual-Band/Stacked Pro Compressor/Limiter pedal.
CompIQ TWAIN is a precision tool for dynamic audio processing of bass and guitar signals (and other sources), which forges a new path in the world of compressors. It features adaptive auto attack & release timing presets and independent compression controls for knee, threshold, ratio, and make-up gain – on each band. It can work as a dual-band compressor/limiter with variable crossover point or as a stacked compressor with separate controls for each analog engine – at the flick of a switch. In either mode, harmonic saturation can be injected separately on each of the dry line bands, and then mixed to taste with the wet compressed line for perfect tonal balance. Separate gain reduction displays make the compression effect visible, so you can always know how hard or soft the lows and highs are processed. That may complement any tonal re-quest.
Designed around the highest performance Analog Engines from THAT Corp., the CompIQ TWAIN provides controls only only found in studio rack gear while ensuring the musical response and transparency of analog circuitry. Beside dual-band processing, the two independent analog engines can be fully stacked (in series), achieving the compression warmth particular to slower optical compressors – a feature rarely seen in a pedal, and never before available with this level of tweaking. The pedal offers the following features:
- Dual-Band or Stacked compressor
- Input Preamp with trimming for -9dB of attenuation and up to +6dB of gain
- PEAK level indicator for signals above +6dBu
- Two independent 4320 THAT Analog Engines with RMS-level sensors coupled with high-performance Blackmer VCA’s
- Variable 70Hz to 1KHz Linkwitz–Riley Crossover
- Independent Ratio, Threshold, and Make-up Gain
- Independent Compression Knee (Soft/Hard)
- Side Chain Frequency Compensation for balancing the triggering potential of Lows & Highs – equivalent to frequency-based progressive threshold
- Side Chain Filter (Normal / Low / Deep) on Lows engine
- Independent Dynamic Auto Timing presets (Auto Fast / Auto Slower)
- Dry / Wet Mix knob for parallel compression in either of the working modes
- Tape-Saturation analog circuitry with independent Saturation, Cut Filter and Level controls on each of the processing engine, to add harmonic distortions to the Dry Line, which then can be mixed with the compressed Wet Line
- 5-LED accurate gain reduction display on each processing engine
- True Bypass on/off footswitch
- 9-12V DC external power operation
- Road-ready, durable, black-powdered aluminum enclosure
The CompIQ TWAIN Pro Compressor has a street price of $329.00 USD / €299.00 EUR. Pre-orders may be placed directly on BECOSFX online store at becosfx.com (at or from select retailers) starting later February 2020, with first deliveries in later April, 2020.
For more information:
BECOSFX