Origin Effects announces reissues of the Cali76-TX and Cali-76-TX-L

In celebration of building its 10,000th Cali76 Compact Deluxe, Origin Effects has announced limited reissues of the original full-sized Cali76-TX and TX-L compressor pedals.

In our review of the pedals’ smaller counterpart, we called it “an outstanding compressor that seems to work with you rather than fight you and almost every time you switch it off, it’s to the detriment of your tone.” And now this same compression technology is featured in these two reissues, with the Cali76-TX featuring a custom-wound iron core transformer designed to subtly saturate and add extra harmonic complexity at higher gain levels, while the Cali76-TX-L meanwhile features a Lundahl transformer. This offers ultra-linear performance, transparent low end and flat phase response – more suited to bass guitar, or use in the studio.

Making full use of the extra pedal real-estate, both pedals also feature a 12-stage LED gain reduction meter, a balanced line-level/DI output and a high/low gain switch in case you want to push the output transformer harder. The balanced DI output might prove vital for use in the studio, or for running an instrument straight into a front-of-house system. Further controls include Ratio, Attack and Release for fine control of the kind of compression achieved – as well as input and output gain knobs.

Origin Effects says of the original Cali76: “it was, and still is, like nothing else on the market. With its large, brushed aluminium enclosure, studio-grade circuitry and astonishingly transparent sound, the Cali76 broke the mould in every department. Though the award-winning Compact Deluxe has replaced the original large-format Cali76, packing exactly the same circuit topology and peerless performance into a smaller enclosure, the original transformer-equipped models remain highly sought-after by players, producers and collectors alike.”

The limited run of the two compressors won’t replace the manufacturers’ flagship Cali76 Compact Deluxe.

Both pedals are available now. The Cali76-TX lists for £550 / $639 / €645, while the Cali76-TX-L lists for £650 / $749 / €765. More information at orgineffects.com.