Sell me on a new compressor

[Jack Clayton]

I've been going through a Radiohead phase lately, really falling in love with Thom Yorkes playing and tone, which often features heavy compression. I currently own three compressors, all of which I enjoy and don't plan to get rid of. A JHS Pulp n' Peel, an old silver Keeley, and a BBE Opto Stomp. They each do different things and do them well, but I'm looking to explore more of the less transparent compressors. The ones that really color your tone in interesting ways.

The only one I've demoed, and really liked, was the Way Huge Saffron Squeeze. It adds a touch of grit, and just generally makes a strong tone statement as opposed to say my Pulp N Peel. That's one I'll definitely pick up if I see it locally again.

Would love some recommendations in this category. Again, kinda looking for less transparent compressors, and preferable ones I can afford without a second mortgage.

Thanks as always.

 

[Jakedog]

I’ve been gigging an EHX Tone Corset for more than two years now. I love it. It’s got a mix knob so you can blend in the uneffected signal, to make it as transparent (or far from it) as you want. It’s very versatile. Also has a pad switch for better use with higher output pickups.

Definitely won’t break the bank. Stupid paint job. Cool pedal.

Of course for a seriously non-transparent comp it’s hard to be the classic Dynacomp.

 

[Vibroluxer]

Diamond makes a nice compressor. It's optical and has a unique tone controls: it's neutral at 12:00. Turning clockwise increases the treble and counter clockwise, the bass.

Let us know what you select.

 

[KC]

Been messing around lately with a Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone germanium gold mini, which is a very long name for a tiny little pedal. Bought it a while ago on a STOTD for peanuts, got a Cali76 so I never used it much but now putting together a mini-board. I have to say this thing kind of rocks. Has the mix knob so you can do parallel compression but on full compression with the "sustain" knob a ways up it will definitely color the sound; also has a "grit" knob for dialing in distortion. Lots of different sounds in a small box. Most useful to me as a fairly transparent boost / comp, which it does well, but there are lots of other tricks in the bag. Plus it's cheap, and tiny.

 

[telekaster1999]

Boss CS-2 been on my board 25 years. Your mileage may vary.

 

[johnny k]

my boss compressor is the only pedal i have that i can't tell if it is engaged or not. Not playing with it any more.

 

[tomasz]

I Like the TC Gravity Mini, you can use tone prints with it, which makes it pretty versatile. You can also try stacking compressors for finding your tone, which should be fun, as you own 3

 

[ChicknPickn]

DOD Milk Box is a beauty if you can find one.

 

[tele_pathic]

I've been going through a Radiohead phase lately, really falling in love with Thom Yorkes playing and tone, which often features heavy compression. I currently own three compressors, all of which I enjoy and don't plan to get rid of. A JHS Pulp n' Peel, an old silver Keeley, and a BBE Opto Stomp. They each do different things and do them well, but I'm looking to explore more of the less transparent compressors. The ones that really color your tone in interesting ways.

The only one I've demoed, and really liked, was the Way Huge Saffron Squeeze. It adds a touch of grit, and just generally makes a strong tone statement as opposed to say my Pulp N Peel. That's one I'll definitely pick up if I see it locally again.

Would love some recommendations in this category. Again, kinda looking for less transparent compressors, and preferable ones I can afford without a second mortgage.

OP/Jack/Can I call you JC?,

Do you have the V1 PnP or the V2 PnP with the dirt switch? FWIW, I love, LOVE Way Huge stuff. Pedals like the Pork Loin are magical. I would imagine maybe the Saffron would be neat also.


Hmmm what timing. I mean, that's one of the many reasons why I love this place.

I've used an Xotic SP compressor for YEARS!!! And then for some reason, it just seemed to be really noisy, annoy me. I don't know if it's always been that way, but I just really noticed it: adds a lot of noise, esp with an od pedal. Tried the TC EL Hypergravity that lives in my TC EL Plethora X3: same thing. A/B'ed both and same thing: super noisy. So I shopped, watched videos, and settled on a JHS Whitey Tighty compressor. It should be here today. I'll let you know how it is. In the demos I listened to with headphones, it was pretty transparent until you turned the blend down (0% dry, all compressor), turned the compressor up, then it got really "compressor" sounding. Then turnin the volume all the way up, it became like a transparent od, or added quite a bit of grit, or at least a shocking amount of it.

 

[Phrygian77]

I've been using a Suhr Woodshed. It's probably the best mini comp I've tried. Although, I'd really like a bigger threshold knob, makes it a little hard to control.

 

[Edgar Allan Presley]

You might consider a Boss CS-3. Relatively inexpensive, and one that Thom Yorke has used quite a bit. Here's a page talking about Yorke's compressors.

 

[TomBrokaw]

If you haven't already, you should check out Ovni, he did tons of reviews. He doesn't do new ones anymore though, I guess.

Compressor Reviews

 

[northernguitar]

I'm a terrible judge of what a good compressor pedal is. I've settled on the TC Electronic HyperGravity Compressor. It's a 'multiband' digital compressor, billed as being 'studio quality'. Whatever, it does a good job squishing my tones. I found it plays nice with the lows and highs than did the analog pedals I've tried.

 

[Brent Hutto]

I got a Source Audio Atlas to give the compressor thing a try. It'll do anything from Orange Squeezer to Dual-Band comps to studio comps like 1176 or optical-whatever. Or any other thing you think of, it's programmable.

The nice thing about that was, after HOURS of playing around with the built-in presets, download some additional ones, customizing them for my own experiments I found the same thing as a lot of people do. There are two kinds of compression I can use. The kind that I can't tell is doing anything and the kind that I can tell but I don't like what it does to my sound.

So I'm selling the Atlas and it's nice not to have to wonder "what if I had a [fill in the blank] compressor", ever again.

I'd rather buy distortion pedals anyway...

 

[Jack Clayton]

OP/Jack/Can I call you JC?,

Do you have the V1 PnP or the V2 PnP with the dirt switch? FWIW, I love, LOVE Way Huge stuff. Pedals like the Pork Loin are magical. I would imagine maybe the Saffron would be neat also.


Hmmm what timing. I mean, that's one of the many reasons why I love this place.

I've used an Xotic SP compressor for YEARS!!! And then for some reason, it just seemed to be really noisy, annoy me. I don't know if it's always been that way, but I just really noticed it: adds a lot of noise, esp with an od pedal. Tried the TC EL Hypergravity that lives in my TC EL Plethora X3: same thing. A/B'ed both and same thing: super noisy. So I shopped, watched videos, and settled on a JHS Whitey Tighty compressor. It should be here today. I'll let you know how it is. In the demos I listened to with headphones, it was pretty transparent until you turned the blend down (0% dry, all compressor), turned the compressor up, then it got really "compressor" sounding. Then turnin the volume all the way up, it became like a transparent od, or added quite a bit of grit, or at least a shocking amount of it.

I got the most recent version with the dirt switch. Apparently it's a modded rat. Sounds great through my Princeton reverb.

It's funny how sometimes your ears change and a piece of gear just doesn't work for you anymore. I've had that happen many times. I'm also a big Way Huge fan. I've never played a WH pedal that I didn't like. The Saffron definitely has that touch of grit. A bit noisy, but seems like the natural trade off. The PnP is more of a natural "always on" kinda compressor.

I just saw a dyna comp up for sale locally for $40. For that kinda money, I think that'll probably be my next try. If I'm not in love with it, I also see a few boss CS-3's around. Might try that next.

 

[Festofish]

BBE Opto-Stomp! If you’ve never tried an optical compressor then you should. The BBE does compression without stomping all over your tone. It’s much smoother.

 

[scottser]

BBE Opto-Stomp! If you’ve never tried an optical compressor then you should. The BBE does compression without stomping all over your tone. It’s much smoother.

I have an opto stomp too. I normally hate compressor pedals but this is nice. No squish, very usable.

 

[OmegaWoods]

Boss CS-2 been on my board 25 years. Your mileage may very.

Boss CS-2 get my vote.

 

[4pickupguy]

Boss CS-2 been on my board 25 years. Your mileage may very.

This one is pretty obvious in a good way.

 

[That Cal Webway]

Yep on the Suhr Woodshed and SA Atlas!
The Boss CP-1X is also nice.

I also have and really like the API TranZformer CMP compressor.
9 or 18 volts. Very quiet.

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