top five compressors

bluesfloyd

hi guys,
i play blues and classic rock using a strat with three single coils pickups, what compressors would you guys recommend me buy? price for me no problem,
thanks for your time,
bluesfloyd.

Megi

I'm really unqualified to answer this - but I had a TC Electronic Hypergravity digital compressor pedal for a while, which I found quite good, except perhaps a tad noisy on high compression levels (although it could go to higher compression than many others, so perhaps unfair) and also a bit cold-sounding somehow.

Before that I had a cheapo Behringer CS100 (or was it a CS300?) - a 4 control one, supposedly a clone of the 4 control Boss one. Anyhow, it wasn't bad, except it didn't have enough gain, which meant it was impossible to avoid a volume drop if using a low level of compression - so not good there, also, it could be noisy at high compression level. I'm sure the actual Boss one is a lot better.

Another one I had for a bit was a Juan Solo (a UK hand maker of pedals) one, using an improved MXR dynacomp/Ross compressor type circuit - of the three I had, that was probably the best in a way - certainly the warmest sounding. Not as versatile as the Hypergravity though, but what it did, it did nicely.

Then I started going in for multi-effects units more - I had a Boss MS3 for a bit, and was surprised to find I liked the built-in compressor on that considerably more than anything else I'd had before - it did a range of different compressor types, and seemed to do everything well, with little noise. I still think that was a great unit, but now I've switched to a Line 6 Helix, and that has an excellent range of compressor models also. They all seem very good indeed, but I really like the "LA Studio Compressor" model.

waylon

I can recommend You Xotic SP or Wampler Ego. I have Xotic and it's works great.
https://www.gear4music.com/guitar-effects.html
https://musicsquare.co.uk/137150g_Guitar-and-Bass-Guitar-and-Bass-Effects-Guitar-Effects-Pedals.html
https://www.sweetwater.com/shop/guitars/guitar-pedals/

ESBlonde

If you are going for an 'always on' effect or using it at home for recording I would say get a decent rack unit with full flexibility and learn what knee, threshold, makeup gain etc. mean and do. this will give you the best and most flexible option (it is a learning curve though).
If it's for live and off/on then try the pedals, each music style benefits slightly from the subtle differences in the presets (hence the rack being most flexible) and you need to select the best option for you.
For what it's worth all comps will lose a bit of brightness and if you use a lot of comp ratio and makeup gain it will get noisy (background hiss) so a gate might be needed if that is your desire, again rack units tend to come with a gate already.

Silvershark

You might want to check out this website. http://guitargearfinder.com/guides/ultimate-guide-to-guitar-compressor-pedals/ I came across this when looking for a description of compressor terminology like knee, threshold, etc.. Some useful info here although it does focus on the traditional floor pedal and no mention of the studio-style rack mounted compressors.

bluesfloyd

hi guys,
big thanks to all you guys above who posted your comments, a great help for me,

bluesfloyd.

Screaming Dave

I use an MXR Dyna Comp. I haven't tried lots of others, so I couldn't vouch that it's better or worse than any others, though