Anyone play with compression on most/all of the time?

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pj
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Re: Anyone play with compression on most/all of the time?

Post by pj » Wed Nov 28, 2018 3:05 am

My Xotic SP is on almost always when I play clean or with fuzz. I turn it off when I use distortion.

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popvulture
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Re: Anyone play with compression on most/all of the time?

Post by popvulture » Mon Dec 03, 2018 12:53 pm

I hate em so much, and it's not for lack of trying. I've had...

AnalogMan Bicomp
Warden
Cali76TX
Cali76 Compact Deluxe
Bondi 2026

and more?

The only ones I've thought even remotely did it for me were the Bondi and a friend's Empress that I checked out. The thing I always come back to is that there are tons of fantastic studio compressors out there, but they pretty much start north of 1500 and go way up... why on earth would a $200 pedal version even remotely compare?

Anyway, I just love dynamics and every time I lose some in the quest for sustain, I hate it. That's not to say I won't keep looking for a comp I actually like though, haha... :fp:
Last edited by popvulture on Tue Dec 04, 2018 5:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

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somanytoys
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Re: Anyone play with compression on most/all of the time?

Post by somanytoys » Mon Dec 03, 2018 2:33 pm

shoule79 wrote:
Sun Jun 03, 2018 4:24 pm
Just linked to this thread and can't believe the lack of Keeley in here.

The guy who got me into compression let me try his Keeley during a jam, and the next day I went out and bought the best compressor I could afford, a Boss CS-3. It wasn't bad, but it kept working its way off the board, and definitely wasn't always on. I did some experimenting with the Dynacomp through the years as well.

A few months ago I stumbled across a used 4 knob Keeley on Kijiji, and have barely turned it off since.
I bought a Keeley 4 knob years ago, at least 10-12 years ago, it was one of my first pedal purchases (along with 3 others from him). I like it, but as more pedals came along and started to compete for board space, it lost, and it doesn't get used very much anymore. i also bought a VFE White Horse optical compressor a few years ago, practically unused. I should pull them out and try them out again, at the very least for the nice suggestion made below.
oid wrote:
Thu Mar 29, 2018 3:08 pm
The only time I use it for actual compression is when playing low volume, some compression before the amp does wonders for low volume tone.
Hmm, that's a good point, I should try that with my smaller amps that I got specifically for low volume playing. Thanks.
Mike S wrote:
Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:54 pm
Does anyone use the EHX Tube Black Finger? I feel like that's the only compressor I would consider owning.
I remember years ago, wanting that pedal so badly for so long. I think that eventually my tastes turned to almost every other kind of pedal, and I had almost forgotten about it - at least until I saw an ad for it somewhere in the past few months, made me smile.

I'd like to know how good it actually is.
-David

It's a boost booster, to boost your boost - it makes your tone much muchier.

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Telemnemonics
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Re: Anyone play with compression on most/all of the time?

Post by Telemnemonics » Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:04 pm

I have a couple of vintage block logo Dyna Comps, a Boss CS-2 and a Pigtronix Philosophers bass compressor.
A decent range of styles of comp, but I still prefer the compression of the right size tube amp, usually an 18w TMB.
I can use the Pigtronix as an effect, but would never leave a comp pedal on for long, even with the mix knob blending some attack back in.
Wouldn't choose a super punchy amp either, and find even most bigger tube amps have enough feel to work with.

Oddly, a hobbyist built D style amp I own has a super punchy totally uncompressed clean sound that I find uncomfortable.
BF/SF Fenders feel fine, as does a Hiwatt, but this oddball is just hard to play clean.
I tried using the Pigtronix with it and it helped, but doesn't get the thing a more forgiving tube amps does.
Really doesn't take much.

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