What's the skinny on Compressors?

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PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
I'm looking at compressor pedals. I'd like a nice one (bought second hand here would be even nicer).

Candidates under consideration so far:
  • TC Electronic Hypergravity
  • Wampler Ego
  • MXR Dyna Comp
  • Exotic SP
Thoughts?
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Comments

  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7734
    edited October 2017
    The wampler is the most talked about of those. Depends what you want to use it for.

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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    The wampler is the most talked about of those. Depends what you want to use it for.

    Notes that sustain and ring out...
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  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7734
    edited October 2017
    Wampler is more versatile & mxr gives a softer attack if you like the thing slide players do w comps.
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  • Suhr Koji is the best compression I've ever tried.  It was better than the MXR because you can blend in your clean signal and I felt it was a little less noisy.  
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  • Would suggest you look at the Fairfield Circuitry Accountant. Absolutely lovely; mine is always on. 
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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8534
    Scrap all your suggestions and buy a Diamond comp Jr.
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    edited October 2017
    dindude said:
    Scrap all your suggestions and buy a Diamond comp Jr.
    Edit: who sells these in the UK?
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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    edited October 2017
    dindude said:
    Scrap all your suggestions and buy a Diamond comp Jr.
    Isn't that a light compressor, (4:1?), acting more as a leveller, sweetner? Excellent if that's what you're after. If you are looking for chicken pickin' country squash there are probably better ones. As someone already mentioned, it depends what you want it to achieve.

    There's a Biyang Compress X up on eBay atm, very reasonable. It's a cleaned up Dyna Comp and a good starting point if you're not sure what it is you're after.

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Biyang-CO10-Compressor-Sustainer-Pedal-/142526904957?hash=item212f43fa7d:g:JcYAAOSwgeVZ046A
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    Skinny? Did that man say Skinny?!?!?
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  • I realise it's noisy but I like the mxr

    Instagram is Rocknrollismyescape -

    FOR SALE - Catalinbread Echorec, Sonic Blue classic player strat and a Digitech bad monkey

     

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  • JDEJDE Frets: 1092
    All flavours of comps will increase sustain. The Dynacomp and Dyna-inspired ones will squash the most - more sustain, more noise, they also normally darken the tone a little which is why a lot of Tele players like them and a lot of modern Dyna types have clean blends. They don't add that certain sparkle/chime that a lot of people want, which is what I think of when you say "ring out." Lighter comps - Diamond, optical compressors and the lighter more modern comps will do this. The best thing to do is try each type of comp - Ross/Dyna, Optical, "Studio" (Fairfield etc) and a light modern (Diamond). Comps obviously respond to what you put into them, so how hard you hit the strings, how much output your pickups have, how much extra noise you're prepared to accept, etc etc all make a massive difference. For example, I know I don't like Dyna's if I use humbuckers or play with a pick, I don't like the slow attack. I like them for finger picking or slide, though.
    If you've never had a comp at all before I would actually say the best thing to do is get a Boss CS-3 which is capable of a very large range of compression, see which is the sort of ballpark you wanna be in and then go from there. The CS-3 is really underrated in my opinion. People say they're noisy and they're right at high levels of compression, but they're no noisier than Dyna's in my experience.
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  • dindudedindude Frets: 8534
    Philtre said:
    dindude said:
    Scrap all your suggestions and buy a Diamond comp Jr.
    Edit: who sells these in the UK?
    Think I got mine from Thomann, as has been said it is on the subtle side but sounds very sweet
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  • MrMusicMrMusic Frets: 44
    Exotic SP all day long, couldn't do without mine. Really great pedal by itself
    but also really brings OD pedals to life! Sounds amazing in front of my KOT
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  • CirrusCirrus Frets: 8481
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  • prlgmnrprlgmnr Frets: 3964
    The SP is great as you can switch from incredibly subtle "is this doing anything??" to country twanginess, with the flick of a switch rather than having to actually learn anything about how compressors work or touch any knobs*.

    *This also may count as what's bad about it.
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  • Dan_HalenDan_Halen Frets: 1646
    Agree - the SP is great and the knobs are very intuitive. The toggle gives you a big jump so you can really feel how your sound changes then fine tune. This makes it great for beginners as you can really feel the difference and understand what it is a comp does. The 'blend' control is very handy as well and not all comps have this. If you're not a big compressor user, some of the pedals with more features may just be a hindrance as it's complicated to dial in if you don't know what you're doing.

    Also.... if you're going to be using as an always on pedal (or a mostly on), don't buy a cheap and nasty one. Unlike the other guy, I'd say definitely don't get a Boss CS-3. It's noisy, really colours your tone and cannot take any gain without squealing. I know compressors and overdrive/distortion needs to be handled carefully when used together.... but a good comp like the SP or Wampler seem to have a much higher ceiling when used with gain. I used to have a CS-3 for when I felt I needed a comp but really hated it. I then got an SP and a Signa Comp Deluxe and was like 'aaaahhh, that's what compressors are supposed to be like!'.

    There will be guys who absolutely disagree with me but that's pedals for you :-) 

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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    Thanks for advice so far guys. I'm aiming for the higher end I think, so SP and Wampler and Diamond are on the shortlist. That Silky Comp looks interesting, though.

    I'm keeping an eye on the FX £ sub-forum for interesting sales....

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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    Again, Fairfield Circuitry! 
    OK, will check out YT videos... :-)
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