Any views on a compressor pedal that works well with Alembic Guitars

[jazzyvee]

I'm using my alembic guitars more often these days which is great. In the past I have not really needed a compressor as I've never been big on effects so most things I can control with my fingers and technique. However I've recently started playing in a Stevie Wonder covers band and a few other guitar projects and therefore using effects more often than I have in the past. I'm basically trying keep the same level when I switch different effects in and out and not have to keep making volume adjustments on the guitar as it breaks the flow.  As a temporary measure i'm using my boss 1/2 rack sized compressor limiters which works fine but doesn't fit my pedal board and is a bit too delicate to have at my feet. I've been looking around on like and reading and watching reviews and found a few that seem to be featured enough to give me control over how they work. This is where I've narrowed it down to in order of preference. I just wondered if anyone has had any experience with them. [size=78%]Wampler Ego, Earthquaker Devices Warden, and the Seymour Duncan Vise Grip. I haven't used one bass live but if the need arises it would be good to have one that can be used in both situations.[/size]

[rv_bass]

I have used this Boss compressor for a long time. It boosts the volume, but you could use a volume pedal to try to control that.

http://www.bossus.com/products/cs-3/

[jazzyvee]

I bought one of those, used, about 3 or 4 years ago and didn't like it and sold it on soon afterwards.

[jacko]

I was going to say I had good results with an EBS multicomp but I've just realised you're talking about guitar, not bass. Still might be worth taking a look though.

Graeme

[hieronymous]

I can't really comment - I use an obscure, expensive Japanese tube compressor (CAJ V-Comp) - but I would suggest making sure that it has an LED that shows when it is actually compressing - not all of them do. There's a great site that reviews compressors for bass but not sure that it does it for guitar: http://www.ovnilab.com

[lbpesq]

Check out the Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone.  By far the best compressor I've found yet.  The blend control really makes it flexible.  I used to use a MXR Dyna-Comp modded by AnalogMan to Ross specs, but the Pigtronix easily beat it out.  You can find them all day on eBay for around $112, less than the usual $185 street price.

Bill, tgo

[mario_farufyno]

Check the MXR M87, it has adjustable attack and release time and a very handy gain reduction LED display. What bothers me when compressing is missing the transients and not knowing how much I am squeezing the signal. With a GR display I can figure out if I'm squashing it or compressing more gently. Transients are simply the percussive part of our tone, that kick at note begining, and if attack is too short at compressor the tone may get kind of mushy or muffled. So is a great improve being able to extend attack time at will and there are not many compressor pedals that enables us to do it right.

One tip to test is using some kind of signal split like Boss LS-2 to make a external effect loop and mix it with the raw signal (it has volume control over the 2 loops and can be set to switch between those 2, use both or combine them with the unaffected input). This is called parallel compression and you can set the effect fairly extreme since you keep the direct signal clean. This helps us to get the loudness and sustain improvement whithout  risks of destroing original signal pure tone, or is its mean. Obviously you have to adjust how much raw signal you will combine with the compressed one to get the best balance.

[sstillwell]

Origin Effects Cali 76 Compact Bass...pretty much an 1176 in a pedal.  You give up a few controls (dedicated attack/release times in favor of a combined control) and get a few extra ones (variable HPF in the detector circuit and wet/dry level controls for parallel compression).  Needs an external 18V supply (no room for battery inside).  Not cheap, but it's Good Stuff.

There's an older version in a BIG pedal that was originally intended for guitar, but it works pretty darn well also.  It's missing the sidechain HPF and wet/dry mixing ability, but it has better metering and there are versions with input and output transformers that let the iron work its mojo on the signal.


*EDIT* Oh, for guitar...misread.  The original Cali 76 and its variants would be awesome for guitar, and they have another pedal, the Slide Rig, that is basically two 1176s chained end-to-end...the Lowell George "Little Feat" slide guitar sound in a box (or a nice compressor and an awesome clean boost, if you dial it in that way)

[mario_farufyno]

wow, that Cali one looks great

[hieronymous]

Origin Effects Cali 76 Compact Bass...pretty much an 1176 in a pedal.  You give up a few controls (dedicated attack/release times in favor of a combined control) and get a few extra ones (variable HPF in the detector circuit and wet/dry level controls for parallel compression).  Needs an external 18V supply (no room for battery inside).  Not cheap, but it's Good Stuff.

There's an older version in a BIG pedal that was originally intended for guitar, but it works pretty darn well also.  It's missing the sidechain HPF and wet/dry mixing ability, but it has better metering and there are versions with input and output transformers that let the iron work its mojo on the signal.


*EDIT* Oh, for guitar...misread.  The original Cali 76 and its variants would be awesome for guitar, and they have another pedal, the Slide Rig, that is basically two 1176s chained end-to-end...the Lowell George "Little Feat" slide guitar sound in a box (or a nice compressor and an awesome clean boost, if you dial it in that way)

Wow, never heard of that one! Sounds very cool.