Compressors, The good, The bad, The ugly??

[6stringdrug]

So here is my next question. Out of all the effects I've ever used, I don't recall ever really using a compressor. This is more of an opinion thread. I will probably get one here soon, but who uses them? Are they worth it? and what's your favorite?

I have heard great thing about keely, carl martin, diamond. But I think they might be a bit pricey for my first one. I think I prefer to get a decent one at $100 or less and see if I like it. Because, you know, my first car wasn't a cadillac, it was a toyota. Kind of using the same rationale here.

Sound off fretters!:thumbsup

[Spudman]

Compressors are great. I love them. I don't use one all the time but when you really get to know one you'll know exactly where to use it and it can really add a great different dimension to your sound and touch on the instrument.

I initially started with an MXR Dyna Comp 30 years ago. I loved it but a friend loved it more so he owns it now and I use one of the several compressors available in my M13.

[6stringdrug]

I've narrowed my choices down to a few. Any input on these is welcome and appreciated.

Boss CS-2
MXR Dyna Comp
MXR Custom Comp
BBE Orange Squeeze
BBE Bench Press (really interested in this one)
Keely (when my lotto numbers hit)

[deeaa]

I got into guitar compression late in the game, after using them in the studio and stage for over a decade...and I suppose my views on compression differ a lot.

I seem to hate most compressors out there, the boss the dod the mxr, well all I've tried, as they sound like an effect, which is NOT what I want from a comp. And I suppose most guitarists want a comp that's an effect.

I want a compressor for it's ability to bring up nuances in the sound otherwise hidden, and I think comps are by far both the most difficult and the most important audio tools in general...even on a simple recording project I can have like twenty compressors going on at all times, on each channel and master, and several too, multi-frequency ones etc.

That's why I like the Marshall ED-1, it's the closest stomp to a rack compressor I've tried - you don't really hear it's on and you can only compress highs or lows if you want, to squeeze out more harmonics etc. But it sounds nothing like the boss does, which IMO clearly sounds like a bad compressor. BUT I suppose that's what people prefer - an effect not a compressor per se.

[6stringdrug]

deeaa, hmmm, I never thought of it like that. I imagine it would have to do something to the tone or there would be no point of using it. When I record, I go to the studio, plug in my gear and play. I suppose I am just looking to experiment with my tone a bit and a compressor is one of the few effects I havent tried yet. To me, it's another toy to play with and if I don't dig it, I'll sell it and move on to the next toy. I'm a fool on a neverending quest for MY perfect tone, and I guess I won't be able to rest with a clear head untill I've tried everything I can find. I'm starting with more affordable effects, and as I learn more about them and how best to use them, I look into upgrading or in some cases, stand pat with a pedal I have come to love.

[Tig]

While I sometimes use (barely) whatever compressors are in a multi-effects system, I've been interested in the Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone for awhile now. It has a great sustain as well as compression, and is among the most transparent.
Check out the demo at ProGuitarShops.com (http://proguitarshop.com/store/effects-compressor-pedals-c-602_87/pigtronix-philosopher-s-tone-p-719).
http://www.stepupguitars.com/images/p1_untibbnm2_so.jpg

They also have the slighty pricier Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone Germanium Gold LTD (http://proguitarshop.com/store/effects-compressor-pedals-pigtronix-compressor-sustainer-c-602_87_97/pigtronix-philosopher-s-tone-germanium-gold-ltd-p-1831).

[deeaa]

deeaa, hmmm, I never thought of it like that. I imagine it would have to do something to the tone or there would be no point of using it. When I record, I go to the studio, plug in my gear and play. I suppose I am just looking to experiment with my tone a bit and a compressor is one of the few effects I havent tried yet. To me, it's another toy to play with and if I don't dig it, I'll sell it and move on to the next toy. I'm a fool on a neverending quest for MY perfect tone, and I guess I won't be able to rest with a clear head untill I've tried everything I can find. I'm starting with more affordable effects, and as I learn more about them and how best to use them, I look into upgrading or in some cases, stand pat with a pedal I have come to love.

Well of course it has to be heard...but not like an effect for me; more like a booster, which doesn't simply boost the level, but instead allows you to select what frequencies to boost and sound thicker.

I don't use much gain at all; I may have up to three gain stages going on and the end product on tape can sound really gainy even, but it really has next to no gain, just some OD...and the compressor makes it sound way thicker and gainier than it is. Sort of, I like to compress higher sounds more, that way I get more clarity out of low end, can play riffs without much drive, and when I hit full chords, the bad end won't mush up...but still the high strings shimmer with thick harmonics and they can even be played in riffs etc. and not sound totally clean.

BUt most people - I guess - probably want that 'tone suck' chunc-a chuncha- feel with the compressor, or the sort of 'rockabilly' twangy spongy response. I don't. I want it to change the sound *parts* not the sound itself...if it makes sense.

[Bloozcat]

What exactly do you want a compressor for? What do you want it to do?

When I was in the market for a compressor there were two things I was looking for: Evening out the volume/level and added sustain. I wasn't looking for a lot of squish (compression). That might sound counter-intuitive - wanting a compressor but not wanting compressed tone. But I wanted a more subtle effect - one that I didn't realize was on until I turned it off. So in other words, I wanted it to enhance my tone without altering it significantly (other than in the afore mentioned ways).

After doing a lot of research I chose the BBE Orange Squash, and I'm quite pleased with it. It does exactly what I wanted in a compressor.

[deeaa]

Sounds like I might like that bbe as well, based on that blooz.

[jpfeifer]

Hi 6stringdrug,

To your original question, you had asked who uses them, what's our favorite, etc.

Compressors are a weird effect because, it's sometimes hard to tell what they do for your sound unless you've already played with them.

For me, compression is a must for certain sounds. For example, to really nail that Telecaster chicken-pick'n tone you really need a compressor. I use a compressor alot for this kind of tone as well in addition to clean blues sorts of tones when I want the sustain but not the distortion. They also help tremendously for funk rhythm playing. If you're doing a lot of fast funk-style guitar parts, a compressor really helps to make the guitar sound more even and "funky-er", which is a good thing!

I also use a compressor (along with a volume pedal and chorus and delay) to do big chordal swells. The compressor helps the guitar to sustain so that I can hit a chord or group of notes then swell into it with the volume pedal. This sound works really well as a sound effect behind vocalists, to provide more of an atmospheric sort of vibe.

I haven't tried a wide assortment of compressors, however, I did settle on the Boss CS-3 and it suits my needs pretty well. The key thing to do is play around with the senitivity and attack settings so that it fattens your tone without being too noticable. The compressor is more noticable to the player than the listener. It affects the way that the guitar tone responds to your pick attack more than anything else, this is why it's sometimes hard to tell when the darn thing is on :-)

--Jim

[Mr Pants]

I use the one on my RP350 all the time, brings the tone to life, to my ears. I just finished building a BYOC kit compressor, which seems to work fine also

[6stringdrug]

I play alot of blues, but more rocked up. My background is as a solo acoustic guitarist (only played electric for about 3 years now) and my style on acoustic has really crossed over to my electric playing. For so many years playing lead and rythym at the same time and making sure every space was filled with sound, I developed a fast, funky style of rythym. My leads are the same, just fills, hammer ons, pull off, arppeggios. I have been learning how to lengthen my fills so they become solos. Im looking for a bit more sustain and evening out my volume, because I still go back and forth between rythym and lead all the time. I use alot of OD, I have 2 tubescreamers, one is on almost all the time, the other I add on for the heavy stuff, really over the top. I also use chorus, flanger (yes I know they are very similar) delay, and wah.

What I've found, is when I play, my bass notes seem to overpower the treble, even tweaking the setup on my amp, pickup height, it still seems to happen. When I play lighter, it settles the issue, but when I'm onstage, pumped out and rocking, I NEVER play light. Just trying to clean it up a little, I suppose.

I'm really intrigued by the BBE pedals. The orange squeeze is discontinued but still available and the bench press looks to be the next step up. Its pretty new and I can't find many reviews for it and none of my local shops carry it so I can't try it out.

Rambling, sorry.

[deeaa]

Im looking for a bit more sustain and evening out my volume, because I still go back and forth between rythym and lead all the time. I use alot of OD, I have 2 tubescreamers, one is on almost all the time, the other I add on for the heavy stuff, really over the top. I also use chorus, flanger (yes I know they are very similar) delay, and wah.

What I've found, is when I play, my bass notes seem to overpower the treble, even tweaking the setup on my amp, pickup height, it still seems to happen. When I play lighter, it settles the issue, but when I'm onstage, pumped out and rocking, I NEVER play light. Just trying to clean it up a little, I suppose.


Evening out your volume? That seems really strange to me... I can NEVER get enough volume differences in my playing. I have 8 different gain/volume levels and its nowhere near enough still.

I'd need a clean sound, actually a couple of different ones, that are very quiet for intros etc. but then I'd need the same MUCH louder for bits between songs. I have lead settings but I suppose I'd really need another amp for leads really---my sound is built on a cranked 18W and it just can't be cranked higher no more so I'd need another 50W head or something to really get my leads out at double the volume of my rhythms.

Yeah, volume pedal could be the answer, had it too, but it just won't work for several reasons...first off, the amp sound just dies if I cut the input much. For the same reason my pedals are all looped, even just simply chaining pedals up front ruins the sound, nevermind the vol pedal...anyway the fact is I would need sounds that vary like 2-3fold in levels in my playing, certainly not even anything up even more. So that sounds weird to me - why would you want 'even' levels? When the singer sings you should play like a whisper and when the time comes for your lead you should be able to blow the roof off with volume.


But anyway, to my knowledge the Marshall comp is the only one that allows for compressing either low or high end respectively, so maybe it is something to think about. I use it for very similar reason, to bring out the high end sparkle without making the bass end boomy messy or too loud.

[6stringdrug]

Volume I control with my guitar and my second OD pedal. I get enough out of that to get by. I'm still learning the electric and experimenting with different effects and sounds searching for mine. My next experiments are the compressor, analog delay, and Leslie simulator. Some work for me, some do not. For example, I havce found little success with distortion, but have found my niche with overdrive. I use two, and have been tooling with a third. I can get some pretty nasty growl depending on the order I use them in. But everydistortion pedal I used sounded (to my ear) just ugly. I switch channels on my amp, clean (no gain) to clean (high gain). I never use the distorted models my amp offers, I add the layers via my pedal chain. My amp doesnt have an effects loop, that limits me, I know. We play a lot of covers, blues, rock from the 60's to now, and some folkie acoustic style stuff. I write a lot of stuff and we play an original from time to time, but we havent developed enough of a following to really play too much stuff the audience doesnt know. I am growing real tired of sweet home alabama and highway to hell! Off topic we have become. I just pulled the trigger on a BBE orange squash. Hope to have it late next week. Price, availability and positive reviews swayed my desicion. If its not for me, then oh well, it was a $50 experiment. I spent almost $400 trying to find a wah I liked!!!

[DeanEVO_Dude]

Evening out your volume? That seems really strange to me... I can NEVER get enough volume differences in my playing. I have 8 different gain/volume levels and its nowhere near enough still.

I'd need a clean sound, actually a couple of different ones, that are very quiet for intros etc. but then I'd need the same MUCH louder for bits between songs. I have lead settings but I suppose I'd really need another amp for leads really---my sound is built on a cranked 18W and it just can't be cranked higher no more so I'd need another 50W head or something to really get my leads out at double the volume of my rhythms.

Yeah, volume pedal could be the answer, had it too, but it just won't work for several reasons...first off, the amp sound just dies if I cut the input much. For the same reason my pedals are all looped, even just simply chaining pedals up front ruins the sound, nevermind the vol pedal...anyway the fact is I would need sounds that vary like 2-3fold in levels in my playing, certainly not even anything up even more. So that sounds weird to me - why would you want 'even' levels? When the singer sings you should play like a whisper and when the time comes for your lead you should be able to blow the roof off with volume.


But anyway, to my knowledge the Marshall comp is the only one that allows for compressing either low or high end respectively, so maybe it is something to think about. I use it for very similar reason, to bring out the high end sparkle without making the bass end boomy messy or too loud.

I am not sure about other compressors, but the "evening out your volume" from my experience with my DOD FX80 (two-knobs: Level and Compression), it is the string-string volume. As long as I keep the compression between 9 and 1 o'clock, it is still prety dynamic and responds to the volume knob, not nearly as dynamic as without the compressor, but still workable and useable. The FX80 is not a compressor/sustainer, just a compressor (the only one I have ever had in my posession), so I don't know if that makes a huge difference or not.

Just a few more pennies thrown into the pile... Cheers!

[Andy]

compressors are used in many,many pro situations, a little goes a long way..country pickin is a more extreme example actually.

I doubt many people here could name one guitarist/album/cd that did not run the guitar thru some type of compressor in the studio,all the way back to the 50's
hendrix,clapton,page..it just adds that extra umph and sparkle when used sparingly.

when you crank a marshall, part of that holy bliss is the natural compression that results.
a good compressor will not kill dynamics, unless you want it too.
I use mine as a volume boost with a touch of compression, it adds that wonderfull sustain and clarity to a solo.

[6stringdrug]

ok, I got 2 to experiment with. A bbe orange squeeze. Very subtle, not transparent, can definitly hear the diffrence in a good way. Really brightens up my leads and tightens the rythym parts. Don't like what it does to the wah, chorus, flanger or phaser. But does great things to my clean and OD sounds. Also picked up a boss cs-2. Really not as happy with this and it will probably end back up on ebay. It compresses much more than the bbe and colors my sound at every setting. It brightens the treble but kills my lows. The attack knob is actually in my way because I need to change it for rythym or lead. The best part is the sustain part, it holds the note forever! Other than that, it seems overrated or maybe I just don't like it as much. My bandmate has a bbe bench press he loves and is going to swap me for a week for the orange squeeze. I'll see if simplicity wins again over modernization. All in all, I have found a new pedal on my board, a very nice situational effect that adds just a little extra when I want it.

[DeanEVO_Dude]

Well, not to point out the obvous, but...
A compressor is not supposed to be "transparent" LOL That's like saying my Chorus is "transparent"
Just kidding!!! I know what you mean, my DOD FX80 is prety transparent, just brings every string up to an "even keel", but I do set the Compression knob less than half way (about 11 o'clock). The only time I really hear that it is on, is when going from silence to playing, pops off a bit of the attack from the first note, it has a bit of a slow response.

There is one major difference between the Orange Crush and the CS-2:
The Orange is a compressor, squashes some or all of the attack, then releases it, generally, up to its original level (as set by the level knob) as it decays.
The Boss CS-2 is can do the same thing, plus it can amplify the decaying note well beyond what a simple compressor does (that's where the Sustain knob comes into play).
Thats the difference between a Compressor and a Compressor/Sustainer. I don't think that Boss ever had just a compressor...

[6stringdrug]

Dean, I think it's the extra sustain that's turning me off right now. I really havent played either of them enough to make a real desicion, but I am leaning towards the orange squash so far. This is really my first foray into compressors so I am kinda learning as I go. So far it is a pretty useful, situational pedal. I will get a chance to play more the next few days and rehearsal on sunday. I'm not planning on using it onstage until I get a chance to use it in the band setting. The transparency thing, I know, is relative...hehehe....they are fun for funk and this jeff beck jazzy kick I'm on at home, like I said above, I HAVE to turn it off if I'm using anymodulation effects, it just sounds like mush. I suppose they are compressing the modulation and ruins what those pedals are trying to do. I will figure them out though.

[Andy]

where you have it in the chain makes a big difference,,if used after modulation pedals it canl do some funky things to your sound..I have mine first in the chain dialed in low so it really doesn't alter my other effects in a very noticeable way.

I can't say enough about the byoc 5 knob, it's as "transparent' as any compresser I've used and the most important to me... amazingly quiet for a compressor.

I also used a dynacomp for years but it definatly colors the tone, some people really like it's vibe but I am more into keeping the original tone as much as possible these days and the 5 knob does just that (it's infinitly adjustable)

[DeanEVO_Dude]

Yeah, 6stringdrug, they can take some getting used to. One thing to keep in mind, as Andy states, compressors should be before (as a general rule) any modulation effects. Usually the first thing you plug your guitar into (maybe an EQ first, then compressor), so try it first, with the compression set low like I have mine. See how it treats your effects then. If you have an effects loop on your amp, might try putting the modulation effects there.
The general rule of thumb for effects order is:
Compression
Distortion/overdrive/fuzz
Modulation (phaser, flager, chorus, etc.)
Delay/Echo
the the amp

But, this is a guideline, not set in stone. For example, I have 2 phasers, the VP1 (EH clone), I think, sound best before the distortion/overdrive; the other, a PH9 (MXR 90 clone) sounds best after... Some put Wah pedals before distortion/fuzz, some after, it is all a matter of taste. For the most part, you will find that most people prefer compression to be before most all effects in the chain.
I hope this helps in your [never-ending] quest for the best tone you can get!

[6stringdrug]

As of this moment, my chain is as follows:

Guitar
Boss Tu-2
Comp (either bbe orange squeeze or boss cs2)
Budda budwah
Ibanez ts-808
boss ph-2
ibanez cs-9
boss bf-2
boss dd3
fender superchamp xd

still playing with the phaser, it's new to me too, love it. I probably will take the flanger out, don't use it so much anyway, and I can get a very similar sound out of the phaser and chorus in unison. The more time I spend with the compressors the more I like them. They both have very unique capabilities. I am running out of room on my board, but since it's homemade, I can always make another. I would like to keep them both, the boss is a great boost/sustainer and the bbe is a very nice compressor. I like the compression on the bbe better, but the boost/sustain from the boss is very very cool. Still looking to add analog delay, a leslie simulator and another distortion and OD pedals.

My quest for the "precious" IS neverending. I am currently squirrlling my money for a Blues deluxe. Played one at GC a couple months back and am in absolute love over it. Told anyone who might possibly get me a gift for christmas to give me cash or ebay cards! lol

back to subject.....I have had some more time to play with these two compressors and for sure am going to find tons of applications for them. Thanks for all the input guys!

[DeanEVO_Dude]

That looks like a great setup you have. I don't even have a flanger (can't seem to find one that I like), but, I am a big fan of phasers. That is the reason I have two of them! I must admit that one of the main reasons that I put the VP1 (EH Small Stone clone) before the distortion is because of a level difference between when it is on vs. when it is off. When it is after the distortion (or without it) you can hear the change in volume when it is switched on... Not so much with the PH9. And, they sound very different from each other (maybe I will do a comparrison...).

Anyway, if you want the "best" compressor for guitar, the Rockman Guitar Compressor was designed for the guitar, "tailor made" for the way that a guitar sounds/plays/etc... If money could be picked from trees, I would have one of those! LOL

[6stringdrug]

dean, the phaser is awesome. starting to wonder why I ever got rid of my phase 90. That was years ago and I really wasn't toying with sound like I do now. I might have to get another ph2 so I don't have to switch from mode I to mode II onstage. I really hate messing with my pedal settings onstage, I have tweaked them so outta whack I can't listen to myself anymore! That's why I use the flanger, it gives me the chorus on steroids sound. Andy Summers style. We do a cover of "faith" and I start clean, then add flange, then OD as it progresses. But I've been liking what the phaser does instead of the flanger on that song. I have rehearsal tomorrow, I'd like to hear what the rest of the band thinks before I break it out onstage. We are pretty tight onstage, even our improvs are well planned, I'd hate to surprize them and ruin a gig that way!!