good compressor/sustainer pedal?

[guitorture]

i'm trying to get my tone to have more sustain for doing extended legato/tapping type stuff...any recs?? here's my gear:

Jackson DX7
marshall jcm 2000 tsl 60
peavy 4-12 cab (stock speakers)

[Spivonious]

Get higher output pickups or a higher gain amp.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

get an overdrive pedal. don't really care which one. run the level high and the gain down or off. you'll get the sparkle and sustain you're missing.

[roodyrocker]

For a Compressor pedal, the Maxon CP-9 is nice. High quality stuff but not cheap!

[Racerx2k]

I've been wanting to try out one of those little Guyatone ST2s, especially with the Direct switch engaged.

[Axewielder]

MXR makes a nice inexpensive one

[missionguitars1]

Get higher output pickups or a higher gain amp.

Indeed, if you still have the Duncan Designed p'ups still in there, you might want to consider something else...I have both a DX7 and a DR7T, and while I like the way they play, they both sound like ass...

[Erez]

The best compressor I've ever used was the good old ibanez tube king, you should check it out, its so natural that you can set it that when its on you will not hear that there is a compressor at all, but the notes will ring forever and you can tap anything.

[emperor_black]

get an overdrive pedal. don't really care which one. run the level high and the gain down or off. you'll get the sparkle and sustain you're missing.

But that is not what a compressor/limiter does. It helps to smooth out your playing. Loud sounds like a barre chord will sound mellow and lightly picked notes will sound louder. Sustain is just the compressor's way of killing the notes gradually instead of quickly. An OD pedal boosts your signal so preamp tubes are pushed harder. It cannot be compared to a compressor. Compressors get a bad name because everyone's looking for that "infinite sustain" and tend to dime the sustain knob which will increase the noise/hiss so much that its unusable.

That said, I just purchased an ART tube compressor on the bay. Once I test it out, I'll let you know.

[Rupe]

I've used the blue Boss model since '88 and it's always worked great for me.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

compression units are overated. i based my response on what he wants to accomplish. i'm giving him the lead guitar seceret to natural sustain.

[Spivonious]

compression units are overated. i based my response on what he wants to accomplish. i'm giving him the lead guitar seceret to natural sustain.

+1

Good technique results in even playing. Relying on a compressor/limiter to even out your playing only hurts you in the long run.

If he wants sustain for long tapping/legato sections, more gain is what he needs.

[Rupe]

+1

Good technique results in even playing. Relying on a compressor/limiter to even out your playing only hurts you in the long run.

If he wants sustain for long tapping/legato sections, more gain is what he needs.

Sorry, but that's simply not even close to being true. First off, most guitars have idiosyncrasies that create volume differences between certain different notes and/or strings that have nothing to do with playing technique...they are simply an inherent characteristic of the given instrument which can be mitigated through the use of a compressor. This is especially useful with clean tones.

Secondly, more gain can/will change your tone/attack/dynamic feel in a much more drastic manner than a well dialed in compressor which will effectively retain most of the tonal characteristics while enhancing sustain. Obviously, you can set a compressor in such a way as to do all of the detrimental things that I just mentioned about using more gain, but used properly, you can avoid these issues to a great degree. More gain can be a solution, but frequently it's not a good one.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

i don't beleive in more gain either.

i just feel that the sound he's looking for would be better achieved by a clean boost than a compressor pedal.

[Rupe]

i don't beleive in more gain either.

i just feel that the sound he's looking for would be better achieved by a clean boost than a compressor pedal.

That very well could be, I actually use both depending on the desired outcome.