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I want an untransparent, "compy" sounding compressor.


bikehorn

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I haven't been using compressors very long, but I like them. I have an MXR Dyna Comp reissue and I always have both the volume and sustain controls completely maxed. It's like it's not even worth having it on if they aren't all the way up. I want a little more flexibility so that my baseline compressor sound doesn't require full-up controls....you know, so I can turn it up a little more when needed, maybe to '11'.

 

I tried a BBE Opto stomp, which was nice and I'd like one some day but it's not the type of compression I'm after right now. I also tried a Boss CS-3, and that wasn't doing it either. I need more of that clicky, squishy Dyna Comp sound and boutique is not an option, although DIY is. What about an Orange squeezer type thing. Are these 'compy' sounding? How much can/do they compress? What about an EHX Black Finger? Or White Finger?

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I haven't been using compressors very long, but I like them. I have an MXR Dyna Comp reissue and I always have both the volume and sustain controls completely maxed. It's like it's not even worth having it on if they aren't all the way up. I want a little more flexibility so that my baseline compressor sound doesn't require full-up controls....you know, so I can turn it up a little more when needed, maybe to '11'.


I tried a BBE Opto stomp, which was nice and I'd like one some day but it's not the type of compression I'm after right now. I also tried a Boss CS-3, and that wasn't doing it either. I need more of that clicky, squishy Dyna Comp sound and boutique is not an option, although DIY is. What about an Orange squeezer type thing. Are these 'compy' sounding? How much can/do they compress? What about an EHX Black Finger? Or White Finger?

 

 

Any ross clone.

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I'm a little confused by what the OP is using the compressor for.

It sounds like he isn't using it so much for the compression as much as he is for the squish on the atack of the note, the "sag," if you will.

Most times compressors that are transparent are considered more desirable. The old saying was the best compression is the kind that you only notice when you turn it off. That said, the Dynacomp became the Nashville standard in the '70's because it did add a little of it's own flavor, that little bloom on the attack of the note. And nothing but a Ross (or clone) could give the signature Ross squish that all the Trey Anastasio fans were looking for (and has now become the modern Nashville standard)

I mean I easily get enough compression from my old script Dynacomp for my finger-picking, chicken-pickin' and slide work. But if I wanted the over over emphasis the squish, in essence create at effect out of the sound, I would look for a comp where I could dial this in. Unfortunately, almost all of these are boutique that I can think of.

If squish is what you want, you want to avoid the Orange Squeezer clones, the OS is popular because it doesn't have much of an affect on the attack of the note (think Dire Straits).

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Really? The schematics are almost the same and some adjectives I've seen used with Ross types relative to Dyna Comps are "smoother" and "slightly more transparent". Is this at all true?

 

 

If it's a real Ross clone, it should have a very pronounced squish on the attack of the note. Until 10 years ago, no one used them because they had such a prominent signature squish. The popularity of Trey Anastasio drove the price of originals up, inspired Analogman's clone and the pedal has taken off ever since.

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I'm a little confused by what the OP is using the compressor for.


It sounds like he isn't using it so much for the compression as much as he is for the squish on the atack of the note, the "sag," if you will.


Most times compressors that are transparent are considered more desirable. The old saying was the best compression is the kind that you only notice when you turn it off. That said, the Dynacomp became the Nashville standard in the '70's because it did add a little of it's own flavor, that little bloom on the attack of the note. And nothing but a Ross (or clone) could give the signature Ross squish that all the Trey Anastasio fans were looking for (and has now become the modern Nashville standard)


I mean I easily get enough compression from my old script Dynacomp for my finger-picking, chicken-pickin' and slide work. But if I wanted the over over emphasis the squish, in essence create at effect out of the sound, I would look for a comp where I could dial this in. Unfortunately, almost all of these are boutique that I can think of.


If squish is what you want, you want to avoid the Orange Squeezer clones, the OS is popular because it doesn't have much of an affect on the attack of the note (think Dire Straits).

 

 

Precisely. I wasn't sure how to word it. It's the squish I'm after. That bouncy kind of sound it gives the attack. I'm looking for about double the squish the DC is capable of...

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