Help me choose Compressor Sustainer

[woodman]

i would try to save up a little more money for the Barber Tone Press — the ability to blend in the uncompressed signal does wonders to add transparent sustain with no squish.

[manic]

I currently play in an outlaw country band. Ive played in country bands for about 20 years now. Done both new and old school country.

YIKES, has it been that long?....

I've tried a few of the classics i.e. CS3,CS2,Dynacomp,Keeley.... I've also tried a couple different rack comps and a "flatline" optical(homemade).

I might mention that I'm really a fan of the buffers that are in most pedals. The Boss pedals buffers just wreck My tone when bypassed. Boss pedals are the WORST pedals EVER. IMO. They are banned forever from My pedal board.

Some buffers are better than others, meaning they are more transparent.

The Dynacomp/keeley comp isnt My cup of tea either, its the actual compression effect I dont care for with those. Its to squishy sounding.

I build My own amps and have worked years to find decent tele tone, the last thing I want is a crappy arse pedal to ruin it, EVEN WHEN ITS OFF!!!

To get to the point, My singer got a box of pedals from a friend for free, in that box of pedals was a DOD FX84 comp. I saw it and scoffed at it. It sat around in My pedal box for about 6 months. Not being happy with My Keeley, one day I broke it out and gave it a try. I couldnt believe My ears! This little POS sounded greaaaat!

Its quiet, it doesnt pump, color the tone much and the buffer sounds pretty decent.

Another cool thing about it is that when I back off the volume on My guitar the compression effect almost vanishes completely. Now thats cool.

Its been about a year now and I still dig the DOD FX84. Baffling.

My 3 cents.

C. Smith

[Joefaity]

Also have you checked out the black finger and white finger compressors by Electro Harmonix? If you haven't, then I would check out the demos on their site, done by Sheryl Crow's guitarist. I didn't end up going with one, I went for the Mr Squishy as stated before, but they might be good for you. I still love the Squishy though, very transparent.

[Easyrom]

Hi,
If you want a very transparent, efficient, quiet compressor, you can go with the Rothwell Love Squeeze.
If you want less transparency, but more magic (and noise), go with a Dynacomp (a Monte Allums modded one, way better than stock in my opinion).

[ravindave_3600]

Originally Posted by RomanS

The Dynacomp is great, but a one-trick pony; the Marshall Edward The Compressor is also low-priced, sounds just as good as the Dynacomp, but is much more versatile; I personally don't like the Boss CS3...

Agreed. I got mine for $40 or so. I usually use it with only a little squish and gain up; it makes a great boost for blues and rock leads. Maybe country, too, but I don't play that stuff very much.

[vsv972]

I used a lot of compressors :
Boss CS3 -> Bad ! no lows, noisy
Ibanez CP3 -> good sustain, no highs, noisy
MXR DYNACOMP -> good sound, super sustain, adds brillance without agressivity -> my favorite
BBE optocomp -> good and clear, good lows but less squash than MXR -> perfect for bass
Keeley is Perfect, sound, sustain no noise -> but not so different than MXR dynacomp. So the question is budget !

[manic]

Originally Posted by manic

pedals from a friend for free, in that box of pedals was a DOD FX84 comp. I saw it and scoffed at it. It sat around in My pedal box for about 6 months. Not being happy with My Keeley, one day I broke it out and gave it a try. I couldn't believe My ears! This little POS sounded greaaaat!

Its quiet, it doesnt pump, color the tone much and the buffer sounds pretty decent.

Another cool thing about it is that when I back off the volume on My guitar the compression effect almost vanishes completely. Now thats cool.

C. Smith

OK guys, I retested that DOD and the buffer IS NOT as good as I thought.



The rest of what I said about the DOD FX84 is still true*.

...so I wanted to correct what I said so as to not possibly mislead anyone.

I need a good buffer pedal.

From what I have heard during testing the first buffer seems to set the stage for the tone of the entire pedal board.

After testing all My pedals, looking for a decent first buffer, My Chandler Tube Driver(rack version) seems to be the best, so that's the first buffered pedal in the chain of FX.

It also makes a decent riser for the back row of pedals on My board.




FWIW

[fiestabender]

i love and can't live without my analog man mini bi-comp. the orange squeezer and ross side by side. orange gives it that dire straits sound and the ross side squeezes it good

[ravindave_3600]

Ahhhh, so maybe the trick for some of you is to have two set for different things. As for me, I only use my Ed-the-Comp for the one thing (see post #45) and it's like a big chocolate chip cookie - warm, fat, and filling.

[schenkadere]

Originally Posted by woodman

i would try to save up a little more money for the Barber Tone Press — the ability to blend in the uncompressed signal does wonders to add transparent sustain with no squish.

I like squish.

[Texas Picker]

I had an old original DynaComp that I loved. Tried a BOSS Compressor and didn't like it as much. I've picked up a new DynaComp and its pretty good.

One thing that I like to do with the DynaComps is to use a 9V battery that is almost dead. Makes a nice edgy sound. You can get a similar effect using the SAG function on a VooDoo Labs power supply.

If you ever have a larger budget, I'd recommend the AnalogMan BiCompROSSor pedal. Its the best compressor I've ever used.

[guit30]

For 199, you can get some country snap and sustain with the Wampler Ego Compressor!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa50qw9j5bc

[olaftheholy]

analogman mini bi-comp.... if ya have the hair to wait!

otherwise google love squeeze






(oh and behringer makes a clone of the dynacomp for peanut-money)

[slap dat]

Route 66. Awesome, natural compression and smooth, endless sustain.

[twangstick]

I like the MXRs. Easy to use and sound great.

[Jimmy Dean]

I have been playing for years & never owned a compressor. 2 weeks ago I bought an MXR Super Comp. Sounded strange at first but after I got it dialed in it really made a difference in my tone. Don't know how I got along without one for so many years.