# Compressor For tone enhancement



## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I'm looking for recommendations on a new compressor. I'd like something that fattens up the tone considerably, adds some sustain but not looking for that squishy sound as I find that makes tone thinner sounding..
I recently had the Empress compressor which was a fine pedal and could do what I wanted but it had so much more on it. I'm looking for a simpler unit. Just looking for something to beef it up and leave it on always.


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## garrettdavis275 (May 30, 2014)

Maxon CP101 or CP9+


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## markxander (Oct 24, 2009)

The Diamond Compressor will get you there -- if you can find a clone of the Way Huge Saffron Squeeze (good luck finding an original...), I really liked mine for an always-on "sweetener".


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Try the MXR Supercomp, or basically any compressor with a variable "attack" control. Shorter attack times (actually, these are gain-recovery times) allow more of the natural sound and pick attack of the instrument to come through. Much of what drives players crazy is 2-knob compressors with a fixed, and long, gain-recovery time.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

markxander said:


> The Diamond Compressor will get you there -- if you can find a clone of the Way Huge Saffron Squeeze (good luck finding an original...), I really liked mine for an always-on "sweetener".


The diamond is one that is on my radar for serious consideration. If only it had a blend knob. The minute I buy it diamond will release a version with blend.
Of course I'm also thinking that if it serves to beef up sound, add a bit of sustain and for the most part be transparent do I really need a "blend" option.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I've gone through lots of compressors. Dynacomp-based, Ross-based, you name it. My favourites are the Barber Tone Press and the Xotic SP Compressor (both have blends). I had an SP for a while and sold it. I realized a few months later that that was stupid and bought another one. The Xotic SP Compressor is a fantastic comp. Don't let the size fool you, it's a killer tool and definitely can fatten up the tone. Blend knob, too!


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## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

I've been using MXR dynacomp for that for many years but I hate not being able to control the release and attack time so I switched to a booster/od, the Mentone ms Foxy Brown does a great job. 
Now that mhammer added a release switch to my dynacomp it might come back to my gigging board because is has always had a lot of character which I love.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I think I'm going to give the Diamond a try. There's one on Kijiji for a good price. I'm getting tired of buying brand new pedals only to give others great deals a few months down the road.
I wouldn't mind giving the Strymon OB-1 a try but from everything I read it seems the Diamond fits.
Does anyone know if Diamond includes a power supply with the compressor? In case the one on Kijiji doesn't have it, will help me to make an offer.
Called Long and Mcquade but the guy I talked to doesn't know. How can they not know when they work there and carry Diamond products. Ah another rant.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

I had an OB 1 and it was almost too transparent. I had a hard time telling it was on. Nice and quiet, but didn't have enough comp range for me. The Diamond is very much like the Empress but with a tone knob and simpler controls. Both have very little coloration. The SP excellent if you want a bit of thickness as well. Its like a quieter version of the Keeley to me, and I like the blend a lot.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

guitarman2 said:


> I wouldn't mind giving the Strymon OB-1 a try but from everything I read it seems the Diamond fits.
> Does anyone know if Diamond includes a power supply with the compressor?


I don't think so and unfortunately the price at L&M just went up 50 bucks last week, it was 195 and went up to 249 if I remember right.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

zdogma said:


> I had an OB 1 and it was almost too transparent. I had a hard time telling it was on. Nice and quiet, but didn't have enough comp range for me.


Thats strange. The description for the OB-1 says it goes from 3:1 ratio to 20:1. The Diamond states fixed 3:1


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## cboutilier (Jan 12, 2016)

Another vote on a Diamond from me, for your needs. I use Boss compressors, but I've never turned the attack way down on it to try it.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

guitarman2 said:


> Thats strange. The description for the OB-1 says it goes from 3:1 ratio to 20:1. The Diamond states fixed 3:1


Yeah, I agree. It might have had something to do with the way they set the attack and release. Good pedal, well made like all the Strymon stuff, but subtle for sure. I think I sold it to Chito, I'd be interested to hear what he thought of it.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

If you haven't already made your decision, I liked the old wampler Ego Compressor. A lot of tweakability. My tone was always better with it on.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

In the last two or four years I've tried, as a mission, 7-8 compressors. The Diamond was ok, didn't grow on me. It lasted 3-4 months and I moved it along. Sounded nice but also squishy to me, not overly but enough for me to pass. The Empress was very good but I found it to be a little thin sounding, almost sterile, and as much as I like a lot of control in my compressors it had too much. I wanted to keep tweaking all those knobs and switches. The Ego was the first one I bought in my experiment and I still have it. It added thickness and enhanced the tone, plus a blend knob helped control things so with little tweaking you got big results. The Effectrode has become my favorite, didn't you own one at some point? I was very hesitant because it only has two knobs and the price of it but in this case the deal was right, so I went for it and it is awesome. Noticeably thickens both acoustic and electric and beautifully blooms notes while keeping sustain natural. I also like how it plays with humbuckers, so many comps seem to not favor buckers especially on the lower strings. 
Those are my two favs. 
I still wouldn't mind trying the SP, I briefly played one at a friends but haven't put it through my paces. Sounded good from what I remember. Wanted to try the Strymon but in my search for one kept coming across unfavorable reviews, so I passed. 
The rest aren't worth mentioning.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Yes I did own the Effectrode at one time. Thats one of 2 pedals I really regret selling. The other was the Diamond memory lane 2. 
A couple of reasons I'd like to avoid getting another effectrode. #1. Not sure I want to spend that much. #2. It would defeat my quest to have all the pedals on my board powered by the mondo. With the 2 Kingsley pedals and the 2 Strymons taking the lion share of the current, I have no way left to supply the 350 mA the PCA-2 would need.


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

Yea, that 12VDC is a real pain. I ended up just using a small power bar and running the factory power supply under my board.

I would say you should try the Diamond if the price is right. It's a quality and popular comp, may not be for me but it works well for many and could also for you.
......

..

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I'm putting the ML2 to good use, thank you.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

gonna go for the Diamond for now. Found a guy that will sell me an almost new one for $160. Figure I could flip it and get most or all my money back if I don't like it.


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Man you are just cleaning up on the pedal hunt! I love it!


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Budda said:


> Man you are just cleaning up on the pedal hunt! I love it!


You wouldn't believe the pedal board obsession I got going right now. I'm determined to have the neatest, tidiest pedal-board I've ever had. Got the mondo installed nicely up underneath and am currently cleaning all Velcro off and using bicycle links. Found a bicycle shop that gave me all the chain I wanted if I bought the tool that takes them apart to get what I need. $20 for the tool.
I'll finish it up with a Peterson strobostomp classic


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Stoked to see it! I look forward to my rewire of my board. Hoping I don't need anything extra if I add one more pedal (see the chase bliss thread).


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

So I picked up the Diamond on the weekend. Pretty good deal. Its a near brand new mint unit. The guy had bought it then his wife had bought him the SE version. So the one I bought is hardly been out of the box. For $160 if I end up flipping it, should be ok to get my money back. And I may just end up doing that. I wasn't completely overwhelmed. It does beef up the tone nicely and its not an overly noticeable compression, which is what I wanted. But I'm thinking maybe I'm just not a pedal compression guy. Cause I've had some nice compressor boxes but never really been happy. I'll leave it on the board for now and see if it grows on me.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

guitarman2 said:


> So I picked up the Diamond on the weekend. Pretty good deal. Its a near brand new mint unit. The guy had bought it then his wife had bought him the SE version. So the one I bought is hardly been out of the box. For $160 if I end up flipping it, should be ok to get my money back. And I may just end up doing that. I wasn't completely overwhelmed. It does beef up the tone nicely and its not an overly noticeable compression, which is what I wanted. But I'm thinking maybe I'm just not a pedal compression guy. Cause I've had some nice compressor boxes but never really been happy. I'll leave it on the board for now and see if it grows on me.


Give the Xotic SP a whirl. It's got a blend and 3 different compression settings AND internal dip switches that allow you to set it to suit your needs. I can't recommend it highly enough. It can be transparent or it can squish the hell out of your signal or it can do all sorts of stuff in between. Don't make the mistake of writing it off because it's a mini-sized pedal - it's not a cheap toy. It weighs more than you think it would because it's built well.


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## zdogma (Mar 21, 2006)

guitarman2 said:


> So I picked up the Diamond on the weekend. Pretty good deal. Its a near brand new mint unit. The guy had bought it then his wife had bought him the SE version. So the one I bought is hardly been out of the box. For $160 if I end up flipping it, should be ok to get my money back. And I may just end up doing that. I wasn't completely overwhelmed. It does beef up the tone nicely and its not an overly noticeable compression, which is what I wanted. But I'm thinking maybe I'm just not a pedal compression guy. Cause I've had some nice compressor boxes but never really been happy. I'll leave it on the board for now and see if it grows on me.


Yeah, its true. I have a hard time with compressors too. Mainly the noise and that weird thing it does to your attack. I do like the your empress a lot, it took me about 2 weeks of tinkering to figure out the settings and where to use it in the chain (it seems to work better in front lighter OD/fuzz pedals but my Octron likes to be after the comp) but now its very good.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

hollowbody said:


> Don't make the mistake of writing it off because it's a mini-sized pedal - it's not a cheap toy. It weighs more than you think it would because it's built well.


I would look at small size as a bonus. I was over at Scotts (Axe and you shall receive) to pick something up and spent some time listening to the catalinbread Topanga. I was very impressed. Its really small but the reverb in that has me now seriously contemplating getting rid of my Flint.


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