Who uses a compressor pedal?

[hbucker]

I'm currently looking at a Boss CS-3 and an MXR Dynacomp. I'm leaning towards the MXR.

Any thoughts on these? Others?

I'll put it in front of my Blues Driver to get more sustain with a slight break up overdrive.

 

[blackspy]

I've gone through the bunch of them over the last year.

The CS-3, I found to be noisy and seemed to leech treble from signal.
The MXR, I actually quite liked (Supercomp). I think the only difference is the attack control. Though it was very limited.

I ended up buying a Keeley based on word of mouth reviews and my like of the MXR. I found it to be a little to squishy sounding, more of blues/country sounds within it. Dead quiet though.

I'm finally settled with the Carl Martin. I love it. It's the best one I've tried. I'm using it as more of a limiter I guess... but it has everything I could want in compressor, and it's totally transparent and quiet.

I suspect the MXR would do nicely for what you're going for. The Keeley would be even better.

 

[ripley]

with as much money as I've pumped into keeley effects over the last 2 years, I hate to say that when I use a compressor, I really like the Aphex optical compressor.

you can comfortably make it very "squishy" or quite crisp.

 

[fsmith]

I've been a fan of the Barber Tone Press. There are two parallel signal paths, dry and wet combined at the output. I like the fact that you can control how much of your wet compressed signal gets added to the dry signal and vice versa. That gives you a lot of flexibility in creating the type of output you're looking for.

fred

 

[CudBucket]

I have a Marshall ED-1 but I'd be lying to you if I told you I know how to use it.

Dave

 

[strummer]

Hi
I just wanted to say I use my EBS bass compressor for geetar too, and it works wonders

 

[Chris K]

I have a MXR super comp, it gives nice sustain without killing the dynamic sound too much. It's easy to use/adjust, but if I turn the action level too high it distorts the sound. If you want overcompressed shredding sound (to compensate for being sloppy ), this is not the pedal you want. I tried a Marshall ED-1 once, but I didn't like it, it had this annoying clicking sound everytime I picked a string. Maybe it was just this one pedal, but the difference in quality to the MXR was obvious.

 

[LDM]

I'll put my two cents in as well for the mighty Barber Tone Press.
In my set up, it's always on.

 

[Golem]

Have a few. The only one that really stands out is the Tech21 NYC "Bass Compactor". Sometimes I use a tube head [Bassman etc] with a converter [Gibson Power Stealth] on the speaker output that turns speaker current into a line out, which then feeds into a clean solid state amp to actually drive the cab. Now *that* is my ideal compressor, except for bulk, weight, and clutter. The Tech21 Bass Compactor comes extremely close to that effect.

BTW, if you have a primarily piezo ax, a good compressor will take it to nirvana.

 

[beej]

I've got the Analogman Mini Bi-comp. Very handy, nice 'n small.

 

[SteveB]

I've got a Boss CS-3 and I hate it so much that I've removed it from the signal path completely.

Pick any other compressor.

 

[Thirdpole]

I'll put my two cents in as well for the mighty Barber Tone Press.
In my set up, it's always on.

+1 for the Barber ! I use it on cleans with single coil guitars ! Can be transparent or apparent however you set it !


I hear the DOD milkbox is pretty nice for a very low price unit. Never tried it.
Heard good comments about the Maxon CP-101 also.

 

[chyde]

I use a Maxxon compressor & love it. I leave it on all the time. Not so squashy sounding as other compressors & not expensive. Also true bypass if I'm thinking right.

Chris

 

[caucajun]

the mxr ain't bad......i hear alot of good thangs 'bout the analogman. but in front of a blues driver.?................never liked the blues driver.............y'oughtta just git a fulltone fulldrive 2 and be done withit.

you don't need a comp.........you need to git ridda that nasty ol' BD.

 

[Jimi D]

I use the MiC Marshall ED-1, and it's fine on my live pedal board - sounds really good, highly tweakable, really cheap... I only use it on three or four songs, so I'm not interested in investing in a boutique pedal for that, and this one meets all my requirements...

 

[dannymusic]

Since 1999 I purchased a TECH 21 COMPTORTION for a mere $50. That pedal is still with me and I still like it. It's similar to a VS route 66 pedal, but has a noise gate built in, which is very handy. I only own 2 pedals, that is one.
If you've never used a compressor, this is an inexpensive way to see if you like them. Has a distortion (tube screamerish) you can dial in also.

 

[brsmith21]

I have an Analogman orange squeezer clone first on my pedalboard and leave it on all the time and never tweek it. One knob.

I've also used the Barber, Carl Martin, Boss, Tech 21 and MXR. If I didn't have the Analogman, the Barber is my next favorite by a long shot. YMMV.