While on a run of compressors, I thought this one looked interesting. ThorpyFX Fat General is an optical compressor with a treble control and a blend function.
Schematic can be found on PedalPcb here.
It’s said to be a progression of the Dan Coggins designed Lovetone OCT-201 – based on the trace at Aion FX,
THORPY FX FAT GENERAL – VERO LAYOUT
The layout works – I have tested it using standard true bypass, but please read the comments below. Seems to be some switching issues.
I used some proper vactrols that I forgot that I had in a draw and subbed a couple of resistor values as I was short a few.
Sounds fine, although after playing with a few compressor/limiters recently, I think I prefer diode compressors. The tone control is subtle and only obvious on certain pickup/compressor settings. Still quite useful. The blend is a cool feature, but not one that I tend to use on guitar.