good compressor/sustainer pedal?

[yard dawg]

I had great results with a CS3 that I modded. It went from an average pedal I wouldnt own to a great pedal.

[Partial @ Marshall]

I have a Keeley that is great...but prefer natural compression from the amp so it is just sitting around. They seem to kill dynamics for me, but they do smooth everything out.

[Larz]

I have my Boss CS-2 still from the mid-80's, decent, I use it on clean stuff more than high gain settings, where it tends to hiss like a cornered alley cat.

[yard dawg]

I have my Boss CS-2 still from the mid-80's, decent, I use it on clean stuff more than high gain settings, where it tends to hiss like a cornered alley cat.

a few mods can remove alot of the hiss. do you use it before or after a distortion pedal? using it before works best

[surfreak]

Don't get a compressor pedal, like the various Boss, MXR, Keeley etc.

These range from decent (MXR) to very good (Keeley), but they are all, invariably, simple designs, which will affect not only your attack and sustain but also your tone, and in my opinion they are more (if not only) suited to "clean tone" situations, to get that country compressed Tele tone.

If you want to add sustain and a much milder, but more transparent compression which will work well for high gain tones, get a studio-quality opto compressor, and you'll be surprised.

Don't let the word studio scare you: these are normally cheaper than their "boutique" pedal counterparts - often nowadays boutique means a retired electrician building them off their garage and selling them for a premium.

I'm talking about the ART Tube Pac for example, the Joe Meek half-rack unit etc., i.e. compressors not specifically designed for the guitar.

[Larz]

a few mods can remove alot of the hiss. do you use it before or after a distortion pedal? using it before works best

I'd have it out in front of the amp, first thing my guitar was plugged into and often the the only thing.

Would a longer cord from the pedal to the amp help? I didn't try that, moving it further away, I just had it on a 3 footer.

[emperor_black]

Well, that's the thing about pedals which can add gain to your guitar signal. if you have bad grounding and/or you have a guitar with humming problems, a compressor/OD/distortion pedal will just increase the problem. I dont think a longer cord will help either. I used to use a Behringer cheapo compressor in front of a peavey XXX and there was no humming problems whatsoever.

On an unrelated topic...your power adapters can also exacerbate your pedals' humming problem. I use the godlyke powerall. It does not have a transformer and my pedals are usually super quiet.

Also, I was researching the Line6 constrictor compressor pedal and according to user reviews on Harmony central, that compressor pedal needs to be on its own power supply and not be daisy chained with other pedals. if daisy chained, the hum/hiss is intolerable. What a weird requirement. not sure if any other compressor pedals behave similarly.

[yard dawg]

I'd have it out in front of the amp, first thing my guitar was plugged into and often the the only thing.

Would a longer cord from the pedal to the amp help? I didn't try that, moving it further away, I just had it on a 3 footer.

A longer cord wont help. The thing about a compresser is that they make the softer sounds louder. If there is hiss and hum from other parts of the chain the comp will make it louder.

If youre handy with a solder iron shoot me a PM and I will give you the info on the parts to swap out to make it better and remove alot of the hiss.

[guitorture]

Don't get a compressor pedal, like the various Boss, MXR, Keeley etc.

These range from decent (MXR) to very good (Keeley), but they are all, invariably, simple designs, which will affect not only your attack and sustain but also your tone, and in my opinion they are more (if not only) suited to "clean tone" situations, to get that country compressed Tele tone.

If you want to add sustain and a much milder, but more transparent compression which will work well for high gain tones, get a studio-quality opto compressor, and you'll be surprised.

Don't let the word studio scare you: these are normally cheaper than their "boutique" pedal counterparts - often nowadays boutique means a retired electrician building them off their garage and selling them for a premium.

I'm talking about the ART Tube Pac for example, the Joe Meek half-rack unit etc., i.e. compressors not specifically designed for the guitar.

hmm, interesting. so i don't need to have anything extra for one of these, correct? meaning can i just take an opto compressor and plug it into my guitar/amp, basically using it like a regular effects pedal?

[surfreak]

That's right. The drawback is that in most cases, you can't use a footswitch to turn it on/off, which for studio work is not a problem, but live it would be.

Another plus is that most of these "semipro" boxes like the ART, Joe Meek etc. come also with a mic preamp, which works great to add a clean boost to your guitar signal. Again here in my opinion the name of the game is tone quality: many of these are tube based and designed for noise-free recording applications, so compared to a regular pedal boost they are much more transparent, have more gain and simply won't affect your tone.

This may sound like a rant, but believe me, I've taken apart many compressor and boost pedals, and invariably, including highly priced "boutique" ones, their design and components choice are simple, crude and cheap.

[emperor_black]

That's right. The drawback is that in most cases, you can't use a footswitch to turn it on/off, which for studio work is not a problem, but live it would be.

Just get a Dod A/B box for $20 on the bay (which I did last week) and switch on/off the path in which the compressor pedal is.

[Extant]

Don't get a compressor pedal, like the various Boss, MXR, Keeley etc.

These range from decent (MXR) to very good (Keeley), but they are all, invariably, simple designs, which will affect not only your attack and sustain but also your tone, and in my opinion they are more (if not only) suited to "clean tone" situations, to get that country compressed Tele tone.

If you want to add sustain and a much milder, but more transparent compression which will work well for high gain tones, get a studio-quality opto compressor, and you'll be surprised.

Don't let the word studio scare you: these are normally cheaper than their "boutique" pedal counterparts - often nowadays boutique means a retired electrician building them off their garage and selling them for a premium.

I'm talking about the ART Tube Pac for example, the Joe Meek half-rack unit etc., i.e. compressors not specifically designed for the guitar.

There're some really nice stompbox non-ross-style studio opto compressors, however. They do go for a bit, but they're worth it when you can snag one used for a good deal. I'm a big fan of the Diamond Compressor.

[cookiemonster2]

If you want more sustain try a Radial Tonebone Hot British or the two channel version of the Hot British called the Plexitube. I know it's not a compressor but tone wise it should go with your Marshall and give more sustain than you ever imagined.