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Jackie

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I've been toying with the idea of getting a compressor for my Mesa and Marshall's clean channel. Looking for a simple warm comp that doesn't compromise clarity, don't need anything really aggressive.

It's my experience that these buggers tend to noise things up. Are there any comps I should avoid because of that?

What would you recommend? I'm also a little bit restrained by budget too though.
 
All comps are going to add noise to a certain degree, however, the MXR DynaComp and the Boss CS3 are some of the noisier mainstream ones out there. You might want to avoid those.
 
I'm using compression on a lot of my sounds and don't have any noise or tone-eating issues, you've just to tweak it to a not-too-much-just-enough level depending on what you need, I use it to cut out those ear-piercing dynamics that can occur when hitting the strings too much, specially on cleans and lower gain tones so I use it only on the top side of the sound and nothing to rise the bottom side. I've used and use the G-Maj comp, Boss CS3 and some other brand stomps and racks, I've come to a point where the CS3's very usefull only if you wanna to really hard-compress your sound (and touch) like in speed solos or clean acoustic-like parts (arps or chords where you've to create a compact "floor") and this way you add some noise that can easly cut out with a gate. The G-Maj comp's much more subtle and usefull to me, really transparent and preservs all the dynamics, touch and tone but you cannot get that "in a tight box" sound. Never tried the MXR, someone says it's too noisy, some other says it's really good, I would give it a try if I can, there's also the EHX tube comp (white or black finger I think) and Carl Martin comp that are very tone-preserving quality, but also are on the very expensive side (and also very big).
 
Carl Martin compressor/limiter. Or dbx 166.

What ever you choose, you will want to be able to adjust compression ratio, threshold, response time and gain.
 
I picked up a Barber Tone Press last week. Great pedal.... It's not leaving my board. I guess it depends what sort of compression you're after.
 
after 5 years, my Barber Tone Press is still on the board.


when i find something better, i'll replace it.

but so far, no takers.
 
I've never tried the Tone Press, mostly because their marketing description reads like a bunch of BS. They essentially say that

1. Good compressors are too hard to use (fiddling with the attack/release knobs is too much trouble)
2. Pedals "phase reverse", and that the Tone Press sounds better because it doesn't. That is a "marketing breakthrough". Phase-reversal does not cause the "pop", it is the combination of too much compression ratio and delayed attack. The Human ear cannot detect phase-reversal UNLESS there are two parallel paths, and one of them is not in phase with the other. The Tone Press HAS to have constant phase because it mixes the compressed signal with the uncompressed signal.
3. The concept of mixing basically means "we add a mediocre compressor in parallel with your normal signal". So I get the guitar's dynamics and tone via the uncompressed path, but then what do I do about the fact that I wanted to compress those dynamics? It's just like the idea that "FX sound terrible, so I'll make my amp's FX loop parallel to save my tone, rather than use good FX".

Don't get me wrong: I have not tried the Tone Press, and can't say whether or not it works or sounds good. My point is that the advertising comes off as arrogant and technically misleading. If I felt the manufacturer was more honest and candid, I would probably have tried one. I wish that companies were confident enough to be straight with their customers and didn't let the marketing guys run amok. I have worked in this industry, and there is plenty of snake oil to go around. I would think that reputable companies would want to avoid getting lumped in with the guys who put a red LED in a plastic tube to make the product look like it gets "tube tone".

Must've gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning...
 
LOL It's okay Elvis :)

Some of the stuff I've read turned me off as well. I happen to come across the pedal on Craigslist for $95 so I went with it. Hands down the best compressor I've ever used.
 
The Barber Tone Press is a great pedal. Had one but could never click with it. Sold it.

I've also tried a Dyna-Comp. Very noisy with High Gain.

The stock BOSS CS-3 was almost as noisy as the Dyna-Comp.

Tried a ROSS clone, nice pedal but too thin sounding for me, same goes for the Keeley 4 Knob.

The BYOC Optical Comp is a nice pedal, but I could never find a sweet spot on it I really liked. It seemed like it was either hardly there or too extreme.

I have done a Monte Allums Ultra+ mod to the BOSS CS-3 that is now just incredible when mixed in parallel with the dry signal. It's going into the rack for sure. Yea it's still just a little noisy when pushed into a high gain amp, but much less now with the mod & well worth it for the warm sustain it gets. Without the parallel dry signal it gets too squishy for where I like my sustain settings.

I've only really used it for my Solo settings in CH3 Vintage. I find good lead settings on the CS-3 to be too much for Modern mode rhythms in CH4 of the Roadster.

Of course, YMMV.

Dom
 
I've never tried the Tone Press, mostly because their marketing description reads like a bunch of BS.

hm.

i'm not really sure how to respond to that.
sounds a bit like a tirade.

i would NEVER trust marketing hype to select any kind of gear.

only trust your ears, and the opinion of others you may trust.


i can say this.
i've tried most all of them, and only about 2% of the pedals that are out there, can actually do what this one does.

that may or may not work for you.
it did win a guitar player editor's choice a long time back....
http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/barber-tone-press/7869

tons of reviews on the web:
http://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ix=seb&ie=UTF-8&ion=1#pq=barber+tone+press+guitar+player&hl=en&gs_nf=1&cp=19&gs_id=3&xhr=t&q=barber+tone+press+review&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&pbx=1&oq=barber+tone+press+r&aq=0&aqi=g3g-v1&aql=&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=397959c7f37b83a6&biw=1606&bih=896&ix=seb&ion=1

i've been using one to record with for about 6 years now.
 
Simple, and simply the best in my opinion. I personally prefer the 2 knob to the 4 knob version. You'll see the Keeley hidden away in alot of Nashville stars boards. I've been meaning to buy one. Blows the MXR out of the water and the Boss is pretty much a noise box with a hint of compression. It is a studio quality compressor, for sure.

K-COMP-2T.jpg
 
purely my opinion.
but for what it's worth...



i had a dynacomp for 10 years.

then i tried a barber tone press, and was absolutely sold.

i a/b'd it against a Keeley compressor.

here's my review:



got to a-b a Keeley compressor against a Barber tone press

:D
both of these, are guitar player magazine editor's choice award winners.

my luthier, bought a keeley comp.

i bought a Barber tone press.

we got together last night and a/b'd the two-- same rig, same guitar, same settings, etc.

gotta say, they're both amazingly good sounding compressers.

both are pretty transparent.

both are dirt simple to operate.

both have true bypass. you don't hear them in line at all, when the effect is off.
all other compressors, i've ever tried, sucked tone when off.

both have led's to show when the effect is engaged.

both are made very well.

the barber is bigger, and a bit heftier, than the keeley. i like heavy, myself, but if it was an issue of fitting a smaller pedal on a pedalboard, the keeley has the upper hand.

Keeley1x.jpg

$219

the keeley, is based somewhat on the mxr dynacomp.
i had a dyncomp, til about a month ago, so i'm well versed in the feel of that classic comp.
the keeley, is more transparent, and not quite as noisy, as the original mxr dynacomp.
the keeley has more aggressive settings on the sensitivity, and gets pretty noisy when dimed (completely understandable with high settings of ANY compressor).

-but the middle settings sounds really nice, and even at really low settings, you can get very transparent compressor settings. Still, you can hear a certain amount of 'pop' at the harder pick attacks, and this is very much in line with the classic dynacomp sound....and it still sounds 'squished' to my ears...... it's more obvious that this effect is on, even on mild settings, than what is achievable with the tone press.

it has an 'attack' control, inside the box, that can be tweaked to a degree, but is somewhat a nuisance to get to and mess with...
we left this set on the factory setting for this test.

the barber Tone Press, can do this same sound, but has a completely other side as well....

it can do "Parallel compression".
and it works.

website defines it best:
Barber developed a one-of-a-kind and quite proprietary continuous “blend control” circuit and combined it with a discrete “Class A” FET mixer circuit to allow you to continuously blend the natural signal of your carefully selected guitar with a “phase-corrected” classic compression circuit.

basically, i can dial in the amount of compression (sustain) i want, then take the blend knob and dial in the straight, dry unaffected guitar signal along with the compressed signal.
this allows me to set the compressor so i get exactly the amount of 'attack' i want, and it comes through without being squished.

when i first plugged it in, it almost seemed like the compressor was not doing anything...
because you hear all of your original attack, and with typical compressors, you hear the compressor working on the signal right away. i had to leave that session, come back later with a different mindset, before i really became aware of how this thing really works.

--with the tone press, it's very subtle how it's working, and doesn't mess with the basic tone and dynamics as much, based on how you set the blend control. but you still get all the compression you want, it's just way more dynamic.

it seems to enhance the tone as well, meaning, it doesn't 'take away' any of the treble or bass response. you can turn the blend all the way to the right, and get the 'dynacomp' sound if you want it.

but i'm finding, the unique sound of this compressor has allowed me to dial in a much more natural sounding effect.

it sounds perfect for strats.

i back it down a bit for humbuckers....... which is as easy as just dialing the 'blend' knob back a notch or two.....

a side benefit of this pedal...
you can use it as a class A 'clean boost'.......... with 8 db of boost, and the blend all the way to the left.

there is a 'color' trim pot inside the box. you can tweak this to give a more round vintage sound. i like it in the factory 'full on' setting.

Tone_Press_front.jpg

$139.95

for the price, i think it's a no brainer.

YMMV
 
Cool, lots of responses, thanks a billion guys!

I tried the Dynacomp with my Marshall once and I liked it, but yes, it was noisy and to me it sounded a bit "aggressive", I could use a little less compression. Would love to try a Keeley.

I don't care what the Barber Tone Press is supposed to do, I don't even buy into marketing BS. I hate the way Mesa brags in their manuals for instance. I only care if it sounds/feels good... I checked out a couple of demos of it and it seems up my alley. The only problem is availability, I think I'll have a hard time getting either the Keeley or the Tone Press in Europe. I should have stated that first.

What of the BBE OptoStomp and the other comps in the MXR range (mainly the SuperComp)? I heard the "old red logo" optostomp is seemingly better than the "new black logo" one.
 
Forgive me for not reading the entire thread, but the OP should check out the Strymon compressor. Strymon effects are currently among the best of the best.
 

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