What's the scoop on these? Everybody talks about the compressor offerings from Keeley, Analogman, Home Brew, etc. Never even see the Carl Martin Compressor mentioned.
Funny, I just mentioned it on the BJF compressor thread. I had a Carl Martin on my pedal board for several years. I recently replaced it with the BJF PGC. Not a knock on the CM- its a studio rack quality compressor/limiter in pedal format. Reliable. Quiet. I just found the BJF better suited my needs in a more simple format. The good thing about the CM is if you are willing to buy one second-hand they should be reasonable. I sold mine for half what it costs new. A great deal for the buyer, but weak resale value from the sellers standpoint.
I have a used CM Compressor/Limiter... I think it's great... caveat: I am not a big compressor user, but the CM is very tweakable, super high quality. I also use a diff. compressor for vintage comp but the CM is a keeper (esp. when bought used for a reasonable price).
I had a discussion with Stephen Bruton (Texas and LA hotshot guitarist) about compressors a few weeks back. He said that he recently lined up every compressor you can think of in the studio. He had all the boutique stuff and vintage stuff you can imagine. I won't name names but I'm sure you get the idea. He rated the Carl Martin as the best. He said it was the most transparent of all of them. Again, just one guy's opinion.......
I suppose if I had agreed I would have kept mine. Perhaps he didn't have a BJF PGC. Pretty hard to come by........
I have to respectfully disagree - the CM compressor is okay sounding, but totally unusable for me, because there is so much RFI, it's ridiculous. I mentioned this to a friend who uses one, and he said, "yeah, it's a drag, but I haven't figured out how to get rid of the RFI." I'd never recommend it.
Well all pedals can experience that under the wrong circumstances. We used to get that alot here back in the days too, radio Luxemburg and Russian radio went straight into our gear, turning the volumeknob changed the frequency. And that occured no matter what gear we where using. Radiowave pollution of the air, not much to do about it.
I live in an area w/ bad RFI problems. My 1st used CM Comp/Lim had a problem with it, my 2d does not.
I'd imagine if one lived in an area of high RF noise, one would have a problem no matter what pedal they were using, no? Or are you saying that the CM pedal seems more prone to interference than other pedals - that perhaps the problem disappeared when using other pedals?
I'm in a high RF area but it's not present with all amps/pedals. The first CM Compressor/Limiter I had was very susceptible to RF; I checked it out w/ people I trust incl. a Carl Martin dealer and they said that should not be typical. I tried a 2d and it was much better.
I've never had a problem here in the Detroit area with ANY pedal (talking about RFI) except the Carl Martin. You'd think that with a metal box, it would shield it somewhat, but such was not the case. Don't like it, don't use it.
