Compressor shopping in this period

[Devy]

The other day, I visited a fellating lover of mine for jamming and such. We were discussing gear and things when he mentioned how pleased he was with his MXR compressor (the black one). Being sceptical about how much difference such a pedal could make, I tried it with my setup and was amazed by the difference.



With that background part out of the way, I'm looking into getting one. What I don't understand though is how much compression pedals vary. It doesn't strike me as an effect that can be done wrong really. So should I be looking to get that MXR considering I know it works, or would I be wise to look at some cheaper models which will do exactly the same job for less money?

[M.Bison]

What tonal differences did you notice?



I have only had experience with the pod2.0's delay/compressor effects for leads, it would make harmonics and such sustain longer.

[Devy]

Well the problem I've had with my current guitar is that the pickups respond to how hard you pick. This might be good for some people, but I fucking hate it. The compressor fixed that straight away, it became way easier to play and sounded like a guitar worthy of the price I paid. It sustained forever, harmonics and such were clearer and it just sounded fucking great.

[Uni777]

[quote name="Devy"]Well the problem I've had with my current guitar is that the pickups respond to how hard you pick. This might be good for some people, but I fucking hate it.[/quote]

LOL, this is exactly what i look for in a guiter. Thats why i do not like EMG's. They compress too much. I love a guitar sound for which you have to work hard.

[Devy]

This is happening with EMG'S! It's that Schecter V we were talking about at Neurotic. I don't know if it makes any difference that they're the TW 81 and 85 pickups, but they've been a massive pain in the arse so far.

[Anjel]

I use an EMG 81 at the bridge and I don't have this problem, sure, there are SOME dynamics but it's pretty even otherwise.

[Uni777]

[quote name="Devy"]This is happening with EMG'S! It's that Schecter V we were talking about at Neurotic. I don't know if it makes any difference that they're the TW 81 and 85 pickups, but they've been a massive pain in the arse so far.[/quote]

It is true that the newer EMG's have more dynamic range. Though i thought those were called the EMG-X series. But with the ammount of gain used in the type of music you play there should occur a lot of compression already...

That 7 string schecter we've talked about had 707's with coiltap and that guitar was a struggle for me to get the dynamics of either hitting hard or soft. I am used to lower output pups though. The highest output bucker i use is a dual sound (Super distortion with switching options) pretty far from the strings to prevent muddiness (sp?).



Out of the EMG range i prefer the 85 in the bridge position. That pup is a little rounder and fuller in sound compared to a 81 which to my ears sounds pretty shrill. I have a set of 85's in my explorer which sound OK but i still have the dynamics issue.



What pickup is there in your Washburn? Thats a very cool guitar btw.

[Devy]

I wouldn't mind if it had standard dynamics, but I'm starting to wonder if it might be a wiring problem. It really doesn't sound like I'm getting 100% from it, so maybe that's the next step rather than buying another pedal.



The Washburn's got an X2N in the bridge and a PAF Pro in the neck. I adore it, that guitar is probably going to stay with me for the rest of my life. The hard-on bearer that produced the old band's first album hated it though, but then again he hated pretty much everything

[vO)))id]

I still fucking love that elastic strap of yours

[Devy]

Everyone loves the elastic strap

[Uni777]

Buckethead acrobatics FTW