Compressor pedals

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GattonFan
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Compressor pedals

Postby GattonFan » Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:01 am

Do any of you have any recommendations on a good pedal compressor? I want something that squashes the sound to get that highly-compressed, chicken-pickin', country twang. I kind of like the Strymon pedals quality, but they're strictly on-line ordering, can only listen to sound bites, not like trying one out.
Dennis
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Veenture
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Re: Compressor pedals

Postby Veenture » Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:39 am


jtr654
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Re: Compressor pedals

Postby jtr654 » Mon Aug 15, 2011 3:54 pm

Any compresser will do the job MXR/DOD/DBX ,ect. They really don't very that much. Danolectro's pedals are cheap?

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Re: Compressor pedals

Postby willc » Mon Sep 05, 2011 7:25 am

Lately I have been using a compressor pedal more often than not. For the most part they are a more subtle type of effect and overlooked on most players setups.

My favorite one is a DOD FX80, which are very cheap if you can find one, and it is called an optical compressor because of the LED and LDR (light dependent resistor) setup. It gives me a nice squash to single notes and really does sustain notes much better than other compressors that I have tried.

The Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer is also a good pedal and I used to use it a lot. I don't think they make them anymore but I actually built my own from a General Guitar Gadgets PCB and in addition to compressing the signal it could add a good bit of boost and sparkle if you so desired.

I normally run more than a few pedals and am constantly changing them around. It is fun for me to tweak my sound and trial and error is how I get to the place where I am happy with the sounds coming out of my amps.

The Strymon stuff does look really interesting but it is a bit rich for my taste. From what I have heard their digital modulation pedals are really cool and I would be really interested to see what is under the hood of their compressor.

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Re: Compressor pedals

Postby olrocknroller » Mon Sep 05, 2011 11:21 am

It's odd, I guess, but the more I play, the more I progress toward a "dry" amp with no pedals... I have experimented with modeling the sound, but have never found just what I'm looking to achieve.

Last time Nokie played my rig, I took note of how he set it up... Tone controls all at 12 o'clock, no delay, reverb, etc...but the volume was way up there on an 80 watt Roland Cube amp! He also dials in a little extra with the guitar tone knob, going about half-way to bleed off some of the highs on the bridge pickup...

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Dennisthe Menace
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Re: Compressor pedals

Postby Dennisthe Menace » Mon Sep 05, 2011 11:25 am

Dennis, I'm still a Boss Pedal fan, and in this vid from youtube, this might be the squashed
chicken-picken sound along with a little delay on top that you are hopefully looking for.... ;)

http://youtu.be/ZsOO77QvxNg
make the Mos' of it, choose the 'rite stuff.
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1963 "the Ventures" Model s/n #0038
http://www.thevintagerockproject.com/

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Re: Compressor pedals

Postby vjf1968 » Mon Sep 05, 2011 3:19 pm

GattonFan wrote:Do any of you have any recommendations on a good pedal compressor? I want something that squashes the sound to get that highly-compressed, chicken-pickin', country twang. I kind of like the Strymon pedals quality, but they're strictly on-line ordering, can only listen to sound bites, not like trying one out.
Dennis


The Barber Tone Press is a pretty good one to try since it offers you a "blend" function. This allows you to mix your dry and effected signal (hence the name parallel compressor) and by adjusting the sustain you can vary the level of compression. There is a trim pot located inside the pedal for even more tonal options.

There are other options like the MXR Custom Comp, which is a better version of the standard DynaComp.

It is your money but a compressor is one of those effects that are subtle. In other words, a little dab will do you. You do not have to pay over $175 for a compressor.

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Re: Compressor pedals

Postby wabbitguy » Sun Sep 25, 2011 4:35 pm

GattonFan wrote:Do any of you have any recommendations on a good pedal compressor? I want something that squashes the sound to get that highly-compressed, chicken-pickin', country twang. I kind of like the Strymon pedals quality, but they're strictly on-line ordering, can only listen to sound bites, not like trying one out.
Dennis


The most informative source I've found for compressor pedals is from Ovnilab:

http://www.ovnilab.com/index.shtml

I was looking for something to replace my Boss CS-2/Barber Tone Press and was looking at FEA's OPTI-FET or the Empress Compressor. Having owned too many of the budget compressors I thought I'd spend some bucks and see if that made a difference. I flipped a coin and ordered FEA's OPTI-FET compressor.

It was a wise investment. I've never had a compressor with this many features, that ran this silent that wasn't in a recording rack. Neither of my previous compressors can even come close to the quality, sound or control of the OPTI-FET. I'm sure the Empress would probably be just as good, they just didn't win the coin toss..:D

I think it's great that Ovnilab has taken the compressors by the horns and provided so many reviews on so many different ones. Makes for fascinating reading.

Mel

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Dennisthe Menace
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Re: Compressor pedals

Postby Dennisthe Menace » Wed Sep 28, 2011 6:46 pm

Dennis, just wandering if you had any luck with any of these..... :|
make the Mos' of it, choose the 'rite stuff.
.........Owner of 9 Mosrites...
.....proud owner and documented:
1963 "the Ventures" Model s/n #0038
http://www.thevintagerockproject.com/

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Re: Compressor pedals

Postby GattonFan » Thu Sep 29, 2011 3:32 pm

I haven't pulled the trigger on any one yet - there are a ton of compressors out there! But, the Empress pedal reviews and specs are looking good. I have Strymon el Capistan delay pedal, and even though they are pricey, these things are top shelf. Still thinkin' ... still lookin'
Dennis
So many guitars; So little time ..


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