Best compressor for sustaining notes?

Imperial_Tone

Imperial_Tone

All things with a Maple Cap
Messages
1,188
Cali76 and the SlidRig. Haven't found better comps than these two. The Cali TX-L might appeal to you the most if your worried about sound coloration. Killer comps.

Edit: I'd also throw the BearFoot PGC in there as well. Little cheaper than the Cali's but just as killer.
 
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Dexter.Sinister

Dexter.Sinister

Still breathing
Platinum Supporting Member
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6,965
My SlideRig compact is remarkable. I usually apply compression at the desk, but have tried and tried to get pedal compressors to work for me live. I have tried FETs, and optical units and Cetera, but the SlideRig is really great. I got it for slide, but have it on all the time with some amps and axes now.
 
D

DaveKS

Member
Messages
16,706
White Horse for me. When he kicks it on about :40 you don't really here tone change that much, just the notes start hanging around a little longer.

 
mattymel

mattymel

Member
Messages
1,415
Looks like nice stuff there. Unfortunately a lot more than I'm looking to spend.

I went and checked out a few pedals at my local spots. Keeley 4knob, Xotic SP, Wampler Ego, and Pigtronix Philosophers Tone.

I have to say so far the Keeley is front runner. Maxed out on a clean amp it sounded almost on the verge of a sustainer. The clipping knob was a bit of a mystery as to what it was supposed to do. But overall it was a very tweakable pedal. As noticeable as you would want it to be.

Tie for 2nd with the Xotic SP and Pigtronix PT. The SP worked pretty well. Pretty quiet. Not nearly as tweakable as the Keeley, but had an interesting character. Not nearly as splatty but still sustained nicely. Couldn't put my finger on what was different about it.

Honestly I would have bought the Pigtronix because it was selling close out for $99. Seemed like a no brainer but I didn't like that it had an OD "grit" built in. You can turn it all the way down, when you turn it up it basically gets mixed in with the clean via a "blend" control. Compressor worked well but didn't have much control at all other than sustain and a "treble" that acted similar to attack, but not really. Overall it just seemed like kind of a confused pedal. If the Blend had worked on the compression instead of the gain I would have immediately thrown down $100 and walked out with a decent compressor. But I figured it was always going to bug me in some way.

The Wampler I just didn't like at all. Didn't spend that much time with it, as once you hear the Keeley (for the same $$$) it just didn't have the same nuances.

Hoping I stumble across another good deal somewhere. Compression isn't my thing overall. Basically a tool Id like to have on my board for when I need it.

Really my sole purpose is to use it to sustain notes going into a Moog MF102 Ring Modulator. Sometimes the notes die out if you sustain them long enough. I used a friend's Boss compressor to see if it helped. It did, but those Boss some pretty crappy. Obviously not as noticeable going into a Moog RM, but I'd still rather have a compressor I could use other than for that.
 
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Michael_V

Michael_V

Member
Messages
4,856
I'm going to go against the grain and say I get much better results getting long, sustained notes by boosting my amp and using its own natural tube compression. SHO and Klon circuits work fantastic for that in my rig. Much better than I can get with a compressor. Of course, it's going to be loud....
 
dwoverdrive

dwoverdrive

Silver Supporting Member
Messages
3,665
Without coloring the sound I would say the Strymon OB.1 due to it being the most transparent compression in a pedal Ive ever come across and sustain is great at high settings. That being said, the effect is more subtle than other compressors so its transparency comes with a price. There are plenty of compressors that can beat it for sustain but I can't vouch for transparency on any that I can think of.
 
Stratobuc

Stratobuc

Member
Messages
15,922
mattymel said:
Looks like nice stuff there. Unfortunately a lot more than I'm looking to spend.

I went and checked out a few pedals at my local spots. Keeley 4knob, Xotic SP, Wampler Ego, and Pigtronix Philosophers Tone.

I have to say so far the Keeley is front runner. Maxed out on a clean amp it sounded almost on the verge of a sustainer. The clipping knob was a bit of a mystery as to what it was supposed to do. But overall it was a very tweakable pedal. As noticeable as you would want it to be.

Tie for 2nd with the Xotic SP and Pigtronix PT. The SP worked pretty well. Pretty quiet. Not nearly as tweakable as the Keeley, but had an interesting character. Not nearly as splatty but still sustained nicely. Couldn't put my finger on what was different about it.

Honestly I would have bought the Pigtronix because it was selling close out for $99. Seemed like a no brainer but I didn't like that it had an OD "grit" built in. You can turn it all the way down, when you turn it up it basically gets mixed in with the clean via a "blend" control. Compressor worked well but didn't have much control at all other than sustain and a "treble" that acted similar to attack, but not really. Overall it just seemed like kind of a confused pedal. If the blown had worked on the compressor instead of the gain I would have thrown down $100 and walked out with a decent compressor. But I figured it was always going to bug me into some way.

The Wampler I just didn't like at all. Didn't spend that much time with it, as once you hear the Keeley (for the same $$$) it just didn't have the same nuances.

Hoping I stumble across another good deal somewhere. Compression isn't my thing overall. Basically a tool Id like to have on my board for when I need it.

Really my sole purpose is to use it to sustain notes going into a Moog MF102 Ring Modulator. Sometimes the notes die out if you sustain them long enough. I used a friend's Boss compressor to see if it helped. It did, but those Boss some kind of crappy. Obviously not as noticeable going into the Moog, but I'd still rather have a compressor I could use other than for that.
Click to expand...
If I were looking at lower priced comps. - I'd look at the VFE White Horse used. I find they color my tone a bit. The FX Engineering RAF Mirage is clean as a whistle, but a bit pricier.
 
Whiskeyrebel

Whiskeyrebel

Silver Supporting Member
Messages
30,299
Michael_V said:
I'm going to go against the grain and say I get much better results getting long, sustained notes by boosting my amp and using its own natural tube compression. SHO and Klon circuits work fantastic for that in my rig. Much better than I can get with a compressor. Of course, it's going to be loud....
Click to expand...
Naturally that sounds better. But using enough SPL to make your guitar vibrate and reinforce the strings' motion isn't always an available option. Trying to get a similar sound and touch at a lower SPL is pretty much the goal of a compressor.
 
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