Compressor stomp boxes!

joelkriske · Post by **joelkriske** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 1:54 am

ok
so i used TFSF and nothing seemed to surface.

a few of questions, sorry, they're all kinda broad.

1) what's your favorite stomp box compressor for guitars? (think first in chain).
please list the style of music you're doing and why you love it!

2) what's your favorite stomp box compressor in general? (think all uses, bass, guitar, instert for mixing/tracking, etc...)

3) for those of you (Joel Hamilton?) with mucho experience with both, what are the major differences, sonically and application wise, between the two electro harmonix fingers? (black/white)

As far as question #3 goes, i'm kinda thinking the white finger is the answer for guitar (plus more road worthy), while the black finger is sweeter and a better piece of studio gear.

thoughts?

covert · Post by **covert** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 5:27 am

joelkriske wrote: 1) what's your favorite stomp box compressor for guitars? (think first in chain).
please list the style of music you're doing and why you love it!

Ibanez CP-9: Nice sustain and a bit of treble boost.
Aphex Punch Factory: As close to a good box as I have found. Adds a bit of drive.
Barber Tone Press: Interesting attempt at parallel compression in a box.

2) what's your favorite stomp box compressor in general? (think all uses, bass, guitar, instert for mixing/tracking, etc...)

See above, but I use rack units for inserts and 2 buss.

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 7:20 am

No question, my favorite stompbox compressor is the Maxon CP101. It's more subtle than a Dynacomp, but boy does it sound sweet and very quiet to boot. The attack is chopped just right (mostly preserved).

Worth every penny. It's always on in my pedalboard.

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 7:31 am

joelkriske wrote:ok
so i used TFSF and nothing seemed to surface.

a few of questions, sorry, they're all kinda broad.

3) for those of you (Joel Hamilton?) with mucho experience with both, what are the major differences, sonically and application wise, between the two electro harmonix fingers? (black/white)

As far as question #3 goes, i'm kinda thinking the white finger is the answer for guitar (plus more road worthy), while the black finger is sweeter and a better piece of studio gear.

thoughts?

The black finger is an amazing guitar comp pedal, that you can also use in the studio. I have a couple of white fingers racked up with xformer in/out for using on drum smashing. So I would kind of go opposite from what you said. I would use the black finger for guitar, because it sounds so good in that application, and the white finger for FET based mashing of drums....

E-Rock · Post by **E-Rock** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:53 am

I love the Analogman CompROSSor. Gooey thick comp.

Shawn Simmons · Post by **Shawn Simmons** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 10:06 am

The Diamond compressor pedal is pretty awesome. I use it all the time in the studio.

http://diamondpedals.com/products/compressor.html

Jon Nolan · Post by **Jon Nolan** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:38 am

i'm certainly no expert but here's my experience.

the two compressor stompers i've used extensively are the BOSS compressor/sustainer, and an old EH "Soul Preacher" comp/sustainer.

i used 'em for helping me induces the ebow'esque waves of feedbacky guitar for my old 'alt-country' band. (think electric neil young & crazy horse like skronk and feebacky stuff....)

the BOSS was more utilitarian - something that didn't fall apart right away and got the job done for a volume kick. it did have sketchy input jacks actually. i could use a smidge on some pedal steel and dig it, but the sound of this comp over all isn't very exciting. it is relatively quiet though.

I looove the EH, but it didn't like the heavy road work as much, though that didn't stop me from touring it all over creation. that said, it has great sound, and it was perfect for the guitar stuff i was doing, but it's NOT quiet. very hissy, which again, was fine for the guitar, but DEF not for my steel stuff - especially in the studio.

i did use them both in the studio as well as for live work. I think there must be plenty of way better options than the BOSS, but the EH is rad, if application dependent.

dunno if that's at all useful to you.

best,
Jon

EH samples:

from some site:
http://www.tonefrenzy.com/effects/elect ... acher.html
(this EH sounds a lot quieter than mine)

me:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sayzuzu2
(on the song 'lonely' - little feedbacky swell at front of the tune, and it rears it's head again ion the last 20 seconds of this clip too...)

Skipwave · Post by **Skipwave** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 11:58 am

I've only used the MXR Limiter, the Boss Compressor/Sustainer, and some ghetto-ass plastic Ibanez thing. I love the MXR Limiter for steady staccato chords. Any part with lots of rests. It does a nice job of evening out riffs that switch from chords to individual note plucking, which I try to do a lot of. It does get switched out whenever I need more natural dynamics to come through (I guess that should be obvious), which means it gets switched a lot during an indie rock {ugh} song. When I'm going for a crunchy guitar tone I don't use it at all. Seems counterproductive, since that kind of heavy distortion leaves little room for dynamic playing anyway.

That was thoroughly useless, but no one else mentioned it so there you go. MXR Limiter.

joelkriske · Post by **joelkriske** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:00 pm

thanks for all the input guys!

thanks for the clips jon, that's a nice little rocker you got there!

joelkriske · Post by **joelkriske** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:02 pm

ooo
also, any suggestions for going for more of a byrds type chimey goodness?

joel hamilton · Post by **joel hamilton** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:22 pm

joelkriske wrote:ooo
also, any suggestions for going for more of a byrds type chimey goodness?

Wow, funny...
I had to do a "sound alike" of a byrds song, and found out that they actually ran the 12 string through two fairchilds!!!! We used a gates sta-level, and a collins 26-1U instead, but with a black finger on the way in... Totally worked really, really well. That black finger can get really crunchy, but retain some chime along the way. I used an RCA BK5 on a twin with a Sage electronics SE-1 mic pre, and Jon Graboff (laura cantrell, ryan adams) playng the 12 string.... He is amazing, and sounded great through the black finger/ twin mic/ pre setup described.

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 12:51 pm

joelkriske wrote:ooo
also, any suggestions for going for more of a byrds type chimey goodness?

Wasn't it just a maxed out Dynacomp? (Of course, the Ric 12 string too).

tommy · Post by **tommy** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 1:01 pm

I wanna say that Roger McGuinn had a compressor built into his rick but I'm not too sure about it.

tommy · Post by **tommy** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 1:06 pm

Oh and about the black finger compressor. I have one and indeed they do sound amazing as a guitar pedal but I gotta say I hate the way the thing looks. So much so that I only use it for recording. Live I use an old ibinez comp and while not as cool sounding, it does a close enough similar thing.

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 2:27 pm

tommy wrote:I wanna say that Roger McGuinn had a compressor built into his rick but I'm not too sure about it.

You're right. http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2005/03/02/mcguinn.html

Although you can get it in a box now: http://www.janglebox.com/

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