Which mxr compressor is best

I have d allen echoes pu into a hiwatt. My favourite is the PC-2A. About using the compressor in solos, like comfortably numb, to improve the sustain, yellow comp, Xotic SP, mxr mini or tone corset? Would love to see a review of the Kongpressor by Orange. Would be interested how it compares to the iron fist. It can be a straight up eq pedal, or a compressor, or both. I have the solid state Orange CR60, and that pedal gives it some serious tube like warmth.

It also has the 12 db of clean boost, so if you max the clean channel volume out, and add the 12 dB of clean boost, you get some sweet overdrive. Which when I first did it, I was surprised my amp could react that way considering it is a solid state. It also works well with my BYOC triangle as a clean booster. The pedal just does so much! Bottom line is get it if you dont have it already. I have the Mooer Yellow Comp. I also have a Boss Equalizer. They were just used buys to just try them out.

I never used either much and meant to list them to sell. It sounded blah. I added a chorus and a reverb TC electronics both to the FX loop of the amp and the whole thing is just awesome. I always use the compressor, for the cleans and overdrive solos. Do you recommend using the compressor too on that occasion?

Depends on what you want to achieve with the compressor. Do you feel that you need it? Especially if you get some of that tube and speaker compression too from playing loud. I often kick in the compressor for certain things though, like for creating dynamics in a solo or adding a bit of sustain.

Costs very little and it sounds great. Clearly based on the old Klon, with a nice boost, mid range and gain character. Can be a bit overwhelming with Marshall and Hiwatt.

Hi, Bjorn.. My pedals are: mooer phaser, vick audio 73, mooer black secret, tol, mooer chorus and canyon delay.. Strat and Bugera v5. What does Bjorn tell me? Thank you. Ah right! Very transparent and dynamic and it also got a bit of boost, which will come handy. The best feature though is the blend control. If so, why? Thanks Paul. He did use them in combination but as far as I know, the only time he used all three was for the intro on Time.

Did you ever get a chance to try the Wampler Ego? Do you normally turn off your compressor when going through higher gain stomps, like a muff? Adding a bit of compression to Big Muffs makes them sound smoother and you can also get a bit of high end roll off. I was trying it different ways yesterday.

I was trying to figure out how I could use it to reduce the amount of dirt. It kills the picking dynamic and makes the sustain drop off and sustain again in a weird way. I dig it in front of the ToL and the Plexidrive. Both of those are set either noon or just below. It also adds a nice fattening effect to my Hi Gain channel of my amp. If I start stacking the ToL, Plexi, or hitting the amp harder it just gets too much.

It does sound good on its own if I get the level knob in the sweet spot going straight in my amp. My amp is set to clip only when I hit the strings hard or engage the boost on my Music Man Luke 3.

The level knob seems to control the squareness of the muff sound. It rounds out as I turn it up. I just wish I could tame some of added clipping in upper frequencies. Maybe a touch of eq pedal would be better than trying to stack it with a boost?

Stacking is always tricky because how you should do it or what fits depends on so many things. Good point Bjorn. I should try compressor with different Muff pedals to see if I make the tone more balanced out and perhaps more widely usable. I was thinking a multi-band compressor perhaps gives more option to balance out the tone, something like TC Electronic Hypergravity.

The blackbox Russian that I have has such a big bass that I imagine a full range compression would not sound good on it, but with tweaking the amount of compression for each band and adjusting the crossover frequency, that could potentially be a relief to find solutions to such unbalanced tones, and perhaps Fender amp users will appreciate using Muff pedals even more.

That might do the trick but you might also want to consider a EQ to better tame those frequencies. More efficient imo. The switch engages parallel compression mode in Sustain position. In Compressor position pedal is the same as PGC. More versatile than PGC. Try it if you can. I see the Iron Fist you recommend hase this function, as well. Do you think I can skip the purchase of a dedicated noise gate and trust the ironfist will do that job?

Best, Andre. Bjorn, Have you taken a look at the new Keeley Compressor Plus? Did some research and picked one up about a month ago. I love it, check it out here. Just OK. It went the maybe-sell-them-at-some-point shelf.

The mooer pedal came into life — everything sounded better defined, solos, strums, arpeggiated chords. They work very well together. How would you rate him? Thank you! The Dynacomp is much more aggressive and typically used for single coils, clean tones and finger picking but it works great with high gain effects too. Back in the 70s, he mostly used either a clean tone with delay or a Fuzz Face with delay for the heavier parts. Hei Bjorn! I was thinking of buying the script one, but then I came across this mini model, which would fit my already too crowded pedalboard.

If you have tried it, please share your impressions! Always looking forward to your opinion. Again, hard to tell for sure but to me it sounded very similar to the script model. Smoother and more headroom than the block logo.

Excellent pedal. My first Xotic was purchased around , I sold it, then got another one late The first was better, more articulate, responsive, and better sparkle could be dialed in. I sit I listen and it seems to me that Demeter Compulator sounds is more melodious or I am not right?! I apologize for English, I hope you understood… thanks! Depends on what you want. Hi there! I was wondering if I should put my Analog. Hello Bjorn,are you familiar with the Ross Gray Compressor?

I had a ross gray and a dynacomp, and got rid of the dynacomp quickly. Even if they were based on similar circuitry, the dynacomp sounds nothing like the ross gray, i suspect it has to do with the chemicals in the cans and subtle circuit differences which make major sound differences.

I just got an SP, i would say the sound quality is good but the effect itself is not smooth enough on the attack, havent noticed any bloom yet either.

Its just a digital take on a compressor. Imo, a great compressor gives you the option of keeping more attack and signal dynamics, but adding a warm sustain with bloom. A compressor should also add sparkle and be suitable for always on no matter what you are playing through it.

The SP is like a big mac, and the ross gray is like prime rib, heheh. I cant believe these pedal designers cant figure this out. And sorry, you havent played a compressor pedal until youve played a ross. It took me decades to appreciate it. Not being a snob, just sayin. The Xotic sp is not bad, quiet and clean, but i use it at the lowest setting. I believe noise would have been the deciding factor, my ross had a relatively clean signal. A fucking Dyna Comp sounds nothing like a Ross, lol there i said it.

Not when dialed in to what i consider best advantage yeah subjective. Lastly they all say they are built like a ross or a dynacomp circuit, but they are not, and i doubt half of them grasp why a ross sounds different from an mxr. Consider an echoplex. I screwed up in my speculation based on I completely forgot the implications of passive vs active pickups with compression.

The SP, as well as the Ross and many others enhance your tone much better with passive pickups. The actives are already semi-compressed. Ironically, the SP has an internal DIP switch setting which is supposed to help pre-process the signal when using high output humbuckers or actives and guess what? This way my pick attack is not affected much not squished but I get way enhanced sustain, even for actives. I went with the audience in my decision to get the SP, as I was torturing myself, as many do, over making the right decision on what to get, etc.

Will it give you the killer, perfect tone you are striving for? Highly unlikely. Will it enhance your sound and be useful 6 months to a couple of years from now? Highly likely it will.

So, here I am trying to make the actives sound more like passives, because, or course, the grass is always greener. How about the old Orange Squeezer?

Best regards! It would be mainly used for clean, slightly overdriven tones. I find that just plugged straight into the amp there is something missing somewhere and I think that compression might smooth things out a bit without the added color of an OD pedal.

That will create the compression you need. You might also want to roll down the guitar volume control just a hair to round off that sometimes harsh top end. Mind though that this does not work that well on solid state amps. A compressor allows you to have better control of the amount of compression you need but which to choose depends on what sort of compression you want. The intro of this feature explains some of the differences. Thanks Bjorn. Thanks again, your site is one of the best on the web!

A compressor can compensate to some degree. You can create a similar effect to the compression you get from hot tubes and speakers that are driven hard but how a compressor ends up sounding, depends on your pickups and the voicing of your amp.

I will do a little more research as to which comp might be the best compliment to my Tele and this particular amp and take it from there, or maybe look for one that has a lot of versatility. Thanks again Bjorn, you do us all a great service! I got the sp finally, very versatile jack of all trades, master at none. Gilmour is a demigod of sorts, heheh. Hi Bjorn, Thanks for your response regarding Demeter Compulator. Demeter has another pedal called mid boost. I imagine David Gilmore after using DMG pickup with that sort of hybrid of single coil and humbucker thick tone might have had a tendency to get some of that thick mid range character with his recent lineup of pedals after he switched back to Fender pickup.

If so, which pedal combination would create some of that thick tone without sounding too compressed or too over driven so I can use it as a basis for tone building prior to my overdrive pedals?

Thanks again and sorry if it is a bit off topic. However I think a mid band compression is part of the trick to get that thick DMG mid boost tone. These kinds of pedals always depend on the pickups and amps you use them with. It can sometimes be a bit too much or too subtle. The Effectrode Fire Bottle is kind of similar, with a high end roll off option similar to swapping from single coils to P90s. For that you would need a band EQ, like the GE7. I use a Fender American strat with custom shop fat 50s and an Epiphone les Paul standard into a vintage Peavey Bandit.

Hope that gives you some info as to what my rig resembles. Thanks and have a nice December! You could go for any of these but the Keeley C4 and Diamond are perhaps the most versatile and easiest to make work with different amps. Hard to find anything on the internet about it! I have. Very smooth and transaprent but it responds incredibly well to your playing. Hi everybody from Italy. A question about compressor. Thanks to you all!!!!! I have used compressors since the original Orange Squeezer.

For many years I used the Boss cs I wanted one that could delay the attack and ended p with a Belcat CMP I really like it. It isn;t that friendly on a shared power supply, but it has a nice attack delay , tons of compression, and 3 times the output of the Boss. A compressor pedal is compressing the signal from the guitar and not the amp.

Check out this feature for some tips on choosing the right pedals for an amp. I had a Moen Unicomp compressor on my board and never liked it. It seemed to suck out the bass and made the tone tight and squishy.

I play in an Elvis tribute band Telecaster into Fender Blues Junior with a lot of clean stuff and wanted something to thicken up the clean tone without going into overdrive.

The Custom Shop was better but over twice the cost. But once I heard the Boss I knew this is what I wanted. I can now produce a stronger clean tone with a little sustain, and I also use it to add sustain to my overdrive without adding dirt. I also have a BIg Muff that I use in one Elvis song and the CS3 just adds a touch more sustain to it for soloing as well as taming a bit of the sharpness.

Looks and sounds great IMHO. Thanks for your fantastic job! These are rare and cost more on the used market than CS-2 models of which plenty are available. As far as images from his studio and the current tour can tell, he does not use the Dynacomp or CS2 anymore.

The Dyna was last seen on the Pulse tour in and the CS2 in Sure, for the late 70s tones I would go for a Dynacomp or a similar sounding clone. For the 80s and 90s, you will get closer with a CS2.

Still, that is not really the point with these buyers guides. If it where, I could just list whatever David used on the albums and tours, which I have done here , and you could buy that. The guides are my very personal and subjective reviews and presentations of pedals that I think sounds great for Davids tones. Some better than what he actually used. In my opinion. Compressors usually goes first or at least before gain pedals. Be careful with compressing a high gain pedal such as Muff, as it has a lot of compression in the tone already.

Synths usually goes first, and before compressors, to be able to track the guitar properly. But These along with the Nova Delay I just bought drive me to keep cost not at high end.

I play at moderate basement levels using the 7 or 15W settings on both amps simlutaniously sometimes bedroom levels. It will roll off some of the highs and create some sustain, but the key to those silky smooth Muff tones, is mid range and high volume. Would you be able to suggest the possible DG setting for the original, by any chance, played through a Cub 12R? The Mooer is a great reprod of the Diamond, so yes, both are worth checking out. The Diamond is also available in a couple of different models.

Compressor settings are hard to recommend because it depends so much on how it will respond to your gear. Start by setting the volume to unity and the compression low. Turn it up and hear how that effects your tone. How much depends on your amp settings, pedals and pickups. Thank you, Bjorn.

Just picked up the Diamond comp original yellow box, not the mini one. Hi Bjorn, thanks a bunch for this guide. I almost got my first comp based on the recommendations here either the Dyna or the Boss CS3 but in the end I actually got the Warden by Earthquaker Devices.

It did everything the dyna and the Boss did, but also much more and its dead quiet. Have you tried it? Hey there Bjorn, and all of you Gilmour heads! Bjorn, the gear guide update has been very interesting reading, and I keep going back to it, and the pedal selection article that preceded it for reference. You have a great ear, and write in a manner that even the newbies amongst us can understand.

Your work is so greatly appreciated, and I applaud the seemingly endless energy, and devotion you put into Gilmourish.

Please keep up your great work, you help so many young guitarists, and have even taught an old guy a bunch of new tricks. My tone has never sounded better!!! Hi Bjorn, thanks very much for this, amazing as usual! Would you have an opinion on this? I know how much you love the Effectrode but everyone seems to say the Cali76 is the best out there. The Cali 76 is similar but perhaps less subtle and you got the versions with more controls, which can be handy.

You could go with either. I too have had this dilemma. So I bought both and will be returning one. But which one? At the time of writing I am in two minds. Subtle is the way to go. For this, the Electrode is so well suited. It is slightly warming and at first I was concerned it was reducing the crispness of the pick attack but this smoothing seems less pronounced after some burning in time.

The Cali is also incredible and is actually the better compressor. The preamp in itself is great irrespective of any compression you dial in.

It gives real punch and clarity to the tone. I found that the blend pot was useful but I really liked a dry signal with a third wet mixed in. This is parallel compression and arguably is only a very modest use of the tool.

So in this quest, I was finding that what I was looking for was getting more body and sparkle. Actual compression in terms of signal compensation was quite secondary. While the Cali is more versatile and gives you more control over the compression, I think that I just need mild compression but tone enhancement was the priority.

And for this reason the Effecteode will be staying. Hope this was useful. Thanks Again! Check out the Whirlwind for the best replica. Excellent article Bjorn! I understand they are quite different, different chip. There are some mods you can perform though. Do a quick search… :. Had a dynacomp for ages but never felt it was doing that much so was on and off my board quite a lot. Then a while back after you reviewed a compressor i decided to try something different.

Ended up getting a t rex comp nova second hand and its barely been turned off since i got it. Hi Bjorn just a thought regarding the optivalve and for that matter, other pedals with valves in them. Do the valves ever need changing or does the pedal perform differently over time?

Depends on how you treat them. All tubes needs to be changed eventually, but if they get the right powering, then they will last a very long time. Mind that the power tubes in an amp, often needs to be replaced more often. You will probably notice a change in the tone or, that pedal gets microphonic. Again, if powered properly, it will probably last a decade or even longer.

Hey Bjorn! Thanks for another great reviews! Elsewhere, this is just an excellent compressor, operating at the nexus between digital and analogue.

You can switch between true- or buffered bypass, there is a familiar menu of controls for dialing in your compression and it is built tough. While most compressors can give your signal a little jump-start in the boost department, the OB-1 has a dedicated boost that can be set for bass, middle or treble.

The layout is super-simple. Dial in your compression and the level of boost and then set the output how you like it. The Fat General has two settings: Juicy and Blend. These are selected by a two-way toggle switch and have an assigned control that performs differently in each mode.

In Blend mode you can turn the knob fully counterclockwise so that only your dry signal is passing through the unit. Then you can dial in how much of the compressed signal you need over the top of that.

You can keep all the dynamics and articulation you want, but with added sustain. This has all the quack and plunk you could need. Telecaster heaven! Compressor pedals can be a little noisy, but not the Cali This is transparent, boosting sustain and saucing your tone with a little studio magic.

There are some situations where a compressor is essential - think rhythmically complex funk or the twangy licks of country. A compressor can also be beneficial if you're a metal player who has a penchant for legato shred - I mean, who doesn't? Some people find these pedals challenging to use, so let's go through some standard controls found on the best compressor pedals.

It should be noted that not every pedal has all of these controls, this is just a general guide to what these terms mean. This is probably the most crucial control and the easiest to explain. Sometimes labeled as sustain, compression, or simply comp, this knob controls the overall level of compression your signal receives. The higher the dial, usually the more sustain you will get. Be warned, though, sometimes the more compression you add, the more noise you can add to your signal as well.

The attack knob simply adjusts how quickly the compressor kicks in. A slower attack will allow a portion of your note to be unaffected. In contrast, a fast attack means the compression is immediate. If your compressor has this control, it's worth playing around with it to get the exact sound you want. Due to the OTA amplifi er that makes up the core of the circuit having a variable gain, the output allows the player to tame this amplifi ed signal.

Typically, a studio compressor will have controls for some combination of threshold, ratio, attack and release, whereas on the Dyna Comp the compression is completely controlled via the sensitivity, or threshold knob.

This is because the attack of the unit is pre-set, the threshold is a factor in working out the compression ratio. Compression in the case of the Dyna Comp is about setting a top threshold, or attenuation level, and a bottom threshold, or boost level. A heavily-compressed signal will have a less dynamic range. The goal is to smooth out the signal so that the overall average level can be brought up. Check out our Black Friday guitar deals page for all the latest news and the biggest offers on compressor pedals and many more.

He started out as one of the original pedal tweakers, modding mass-produced stompboxes by companies like Boss and Ibanez to increase tone and decrease noise.

Eventually he started his own company and the Keeley Compressor Plus remains one of his best-sellers today. The Xotic SP compressor pedal lives up to the hallmark of the brand — delivering world-class tones in a tiny, user-friendly package. Top-quality compression doesn't get much easier than this.

The Xotic SP features the same OTA operational transconductance amplifier technology as the Ross Compressor, so it provides the sort of squash familiar to many guitarists. With the combination of boost and compression offering loads of options, this is a versatile addition to any 'board. Read the full Xotic SP Compressor review.

With an internal charge pump to 18 volts, a normal nine-volt power supply will suffice for optimal operation and allow for more headroom. There's even a handy gain-reduction indicator to show your current compression amount. The drive knob turns up the compression with the LED glowing pink rather than white when you are compressing the signal.

There are also knobs for release time for the compression recovery and output volume. The pedal has little hiss, adds a nice snap to your note envelope without being too obtrusive and, via the Blend knob, can add compression effects, such as increased sustain, without totally squashing your core sound.

Read the full Fender The Bends Compressor review. You get a sustain control to effectively increase the amount of compression, and an attack knob, which tweaks the start of your note envelope to give it the sort of 'snap' that works so well for country picking.

But it's actually the blend knob that gives you loads more options for a natural but compressed sound, allowing some of your unprocessed tone through in parallel with the compressed. Whatever you need a compressor for, this should deliver it for you. There's a mini version available now, too.

Read the full Wampler Ego Compressor review. The HyperGravity features a blend facility as well as a range of different types of compression. A three-way switch enables you to select Vintage or Spectra, representing respectively the sort of squashy tone typical of the most-copied of stompbox compressor designs and multi-band compression that offers a more transparent signal control. Both do a decent job, but the jewel in the crown is the TonePrint option, where you can load the pedal with compression programmed by TC, one of its roster of guitarists, or create your own with the software editor.