COMPRESSOR PEDALS
Using a compressor pedal with your instrument will add distinction and character to your sound, while also balancing out your tone.
Having a guitar compressor pedal in your gear selection may seem like an effect that you really don’t need, as compressor pedals don’t really alter your sound like other pedals, such as fuzz pedals do. However, if you are an experienced musician who is looking to expand upon your overall sound, getting your hands on a compressor pedal can really help you to achieve a more versatile sound.
What is Compression?
The technical name for the compression effect is Dynamic Range Compression, which may provide you with an easier understanding of this effect. The use of a compression pedal with your guitar will even out your sound wave by minimizing the volume of individual loud tones and by increasing the volume of quiet tones.
Cali76 Compact Bass Compressor
Caline DCP-01 Artemis Compressor
By evening out these sounds, the overall volume of your compressed sound can be switched by using modifications and controls, which you can find on pretty much every single compression pedal. You will find these controls on the majority of the compression pedals on the market today.
Threshold and Ratio
This control allows you to determine the compression threshold and at which volume level you want your sound to be increased or narrowed down.
Orange Kongpressor
Attack and Release
This control allows you to control how fast you want the compression effect to disengage or engage.
Walrus Audio Mira Optical Compressor
Gain
This control adds artificial gain in order to boost your audio signal, which will bypass the compression kickoff
Aguilar TLC V2 Bass Compressor
A compressor can provide your sound with a consistent volume output level. In order words, this means that a compressor pedal will take the sound that your guitar produces and lower the volume spikes when you strum or pick too hard. At the same time, a compressor pedal will also increase sustain by raising the level of quiet sounds. Basically, a compressor pedal evens out the playing dynamics while also adding a clean sustain to your sound.
Caroline Hawaiian Pizza
AZOR Compressor
Adding a compressor pedal is a great way to build a strong tonal foundation for your sound that also helps to strengthen and purify the rest of the effects that you have in line. Even if you are a musician who doesn’t have any other effect pedal lined up, and you’re just someone who plugs your instrument directly into a guitar amp, adding a compressor pedal can still greatly benefit you.
By using a guitar compressor pedal in the middle, you can create a coherent, responsive connection between your amplifier and your instrument while ensuring the preservation of your tone.
All compressor pedals are not the same. While all compressor pedals generally do the same thing, which is attenuate volume, there are hundreds of different types of compressor pedals with different characteristics. When choosing a compressor pedal that best suits your own personal needs, make sure that you’re selecting the pedal that matches your playing style the best.
Keeley Aria Compressor
Types of Compressor Pedals
There are a few inconsistent pedals that didn’t fit into these categories, but the compression pedal types that we have listed down below are the most commonly found and best compressors that are available on the market.
The order that we have these different types of pedals listed does not signify an order of best to worst pedals. Each of the pedal types that we have listed here each has unique qualities that sets them apart from other pedals and we hope to explain how each pedal works to give you a better understanding of what guitar pedal will best suit your personal needs.
Multiband Compressor
Multiband compression can frequently be found in plug-in compression software that is used within a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), such as Logic or Pro Tools. Using multiband compression helps to separate the frequency bands, as well as to compress the frequency band to help ensure each band is carefully controlled. Multiband compression is best to use for precise compression and in-depth control of your sound
Ultrawave Multiband Guitar Processor
Boss CS-3 Compressor/Sustainer
Voltage Controlled Amplifier (VCA)
Voltage Controlled Amplifiers are the compressor pedals that are known to be the most common pedals in-studio use. VCA compressors provide users with a very clean sound and don’t add a lot of color to your tone. The VCA compressors are also well-known for being incredibly responsive and accurate. VCA compressors are best used if you are looking for responsiveness and studio-style control.
Operational Transconductance Amplifier (OTA)
The OTA compression pedal is one of the oldest compression pedals on the market. These pedals don’t really do anything super impressive and they just really provide the guitar with an organic quality. While the earlier Operational Transconductance Amplifiers caused a lot of trouble by coloring tone, the more modern versions of the OTA have fixed this problem.
Donner Compressor Guitar Pedal
The Warden V2 Optical Compressor
Optical Compressor
Optical compressors use a photoresistor as well as a light source to attenuate your guitar’s signal. Optical compressors are very natural sounding, especially due to the slower release times that come with the optical compressor. This type of compressor pedal is best used if you’re looking for a smooth, organic feel.
Field Effect Transistor (FET)
The Field Effect Transistor is another compressor that would work really well as a studio compressor. The feature set on the FET can sometimes add additional (sometimes unwanted) tonal color into your sound, especially if you use a power transformer. The FET compressor is best used if you are looking for added color, transparency, and responsiveness.
Walrus Audio Deep Six V3 Compressor
Carl Martin ATCOMPLIM Compression
Tube Compressor
Tube compressors are best known for their warmth and ability to add tone to a guitar’s sound. These types of compressors are best used to add warmth and smoothness to your overall sound.
Caline CP-47
Origin Effects CALI76
JOYO Compressor
Recommended Compressor Pedals
MXR M76 Studio Compressor
The MXR Studio Compressor features Attack, Release, Ratio, Input, and Output controls so you can fine-tune your compression level-from subtle to squashing-right on stage with visual feedback from a bright LED gain-reduction status meter.
BOSS Bass Compressor
This premium stompbox features pro-level multiband compression controlled by intelligent circuitry, making it simple to dial in natural sounds for any playing style.
TC Electronic HYPERGRAVITY COMPRESSOR
Featuring no less than three amazing modes, HYPERGRAVITY COMPRESSOR includes a state-of-the-art multiband compressor, a cool vintage compressor, plus endless compression combinations through TonePrint.
Aguilar TLC Bass Compression
The TLC Compressor is designed to give musicians the ability to control their dynamics in a flexible and musical way, making it an invaluable musical tool for both recording and live use.
Empress Compressor MKII
When Empress released the original Compressor back in 2011, it quickly became a favorite among guitar and bass players alike who were searching for something more than the typical oversimplified controls found on most compressor pedals. Now, based on users’ valuable feedback, they’re taken everything great about the original Compressor and made it even better with the Empress Effects Compress MKII.
There are a lot of guitar players that use flanger pedals, mostly because the effect they can obtain is very interesting. Of course, choosing the best Flanger pedal is sometimes a matter of price, as the high-end options will bring more versatility and higher sound quality to the table.
If you are a beginner, you might find yourself overwhelmed with the controls and possibilities offered by some of the higher-end models, in which case it’s best to stick with a more inexpensive and basic guitar pedal. But keep in mind that finding the right flanger pedal can be a matter of experimenting, so don’t be afraid to upgrade as your guitar experience progresses and you understand more about how these babies can enhance your sound.
