which compressor?

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lord of the strings

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looking for a good compressor for a doug aldrich,john nurom, kind of style.
boss cs2? mxr old dyna comp? keeley? demeter comp1? other?
please help
 
i had a dynacomp for 10 years.

then i tried a barber tone press, and was absolutely sold.

i a/b'd it against a Keeley compressor.

here's my review:



got to a-b a Keeley compressor against a Barber tone press

:D
both of these, are guitar player magazine editor's choice award winners.

my luthier, bought a keeley comp.

i bought a Barber tone press.

we got together last night and a/b'd the two-- same rig, same guitar, same settings, etc.

gotta say, they're both amazingly good sounding compressers.

both are pretty transparent.

both are dirt simple to operate.

both have true bypass. you don't hear them in line at all, when the effect is off.
all other compressors, i've ever tried, sucked tone when off.

both have led's to show when the effect is engaged.

both are made very well.

the barber is bigger, and a bit heftier, than the keeley. i like heavy, myself, but if it was an issue of fitting a smaller pedal on a pedalboard, the keeley has the upper hand.

Keeley1x.jpg

$219

the keeley, is based somewhat on the mxr dynacomp.
i had a dyncomp, til about a month ago, so i'm well versed in the feel of that classic comp.
the keeley, is more transparent, and not quite as noisy, as the original mxr dynacomp.
the keeley has more aggressive settings on the sensitivity, and gets pretty noisy when dimed (completely understandable with high settings of ANY compressor).

-but the middle settings sounds really nice, and even at really low settings, you can get very transparent compressor settings. Still, you can hear a certain amount of 'pop' at the harder pick attacks, and this is very much in line with the classic dynacomp sound....and it still sounds 'squished' to my ears...... it's more obvious that this effect is on, even on mild settings, than what is achievable with the tone press.

it has an 'attack' control, inside the box, that can be tweaked to a degree, but is somewhat a nuisance to get to and mess with...
we left this set on the factory setting for this test.

the barber Tone Press, can do this same sound, but has a completely other side as well....

it can do "Parallel compression".
and it works.

website defines it best:
Barber developed a one-of-a-kind and quite proprietary continuous “blend control” circuit and combined it with a discrete “Class A” FET mixer circuit to allow you to continuously blend the natural signal of your carefully selected guitar with a “phase-corrected” classic compression circuit.

basically, i can dial in the amount of compression (sustain) i want, then take the blend knob and dial in the straight, dry unaffected guitar signal along with the compressed signal.
this allows me to set the compressor so i get exactly the amount of 'attack' i want, and it comes through without being squished.

when i first plugged it in, it almost seemed like the compressor was not doing anything...
because you hear all of your original attack, and with typical compressors, you hear the compressor working on the signal right away. i had to leave that session, come back later with a different mindset, before i really became aware of how this thing really works.

--with the tone press, it's very subtle how it's working, and doesn't mess with the basic tone and dynamics as much, based on how you set the blend control. but you still get all the compression you want, it's just way more dynamic.

it seems to enhance the tone as well, meaning, it doesn't 'take away' any of the treble or bass response. you can turn the blend all the way to the right, and get the 'dynacomp' sound if you want it.

but i'm finding, the unique sound of this compressor has allowed me to dial in a much more natural sounding effect.

it sounds perfect for strats.

i back it down a bit for humbuckers....... which is as easy as just dialing the 'blend' knob back a notch or two.....

a side benefit of this pedal...
you can use it as a class A 'clean boost'.......... with 8 db of boost, and the blend all the way to the left.

there is a 'color' trim pot inside the box. you can tweak this to give a more round vintage sound. i like it in the factory 'full on' setting.

Tone_Press_front.jpg

$139.95

for the price, i think it's a no brainer.

YMMV
 
Nice comparison! I've only ever heard the 4-knob Keeley compressor. After reading your post I would go with the tone press if I was in the market for a compressor!
 
i had a CS2, back years ago..
it was a good utilitarian pedal, but had tone suck.
it clamped pretty hard, and yet still had a 'mushy' factor to it.
 
and compare to a mxr dynacmop or a vintage one ? maybe do you know if there are a huge diffrent between the new , vintage or the new 76 reissue?

or the CARL MARTIN COMPRESSOR LIMITER

*i have just read the the new 76 reissue dosnt have a power adaptor jack and a LED....
 
I own the Barber, and have owned the Boss and tried Keeley and BBE. Barber is for me - don't get a lot of that squashed sound but rounds out the edges and gives nice sustain. I use the "magic dust" setting with blend/sustain around 11:00 and it's like you don't know when it's on, but you can tell when it's off. Boss on the other hand was too extreme, almost like an effect pedal and it completely changed the tone of my rig. Keeley was good, a bit squishier than Barber and much more expensive. BBE was just so so - didn't do much until you cranked it. If you want to keep the integrity of your tone, smooth out your cleans, and add some sustain I highly recommend Tone Press. If you're looking for that chicken fried pickin' sound you hear in country so much, I'd probably try some other compressors.
 
Tone Press..... no questions asked!

The Dyna Comp is good if you mod it, but it aint no Barber. Allums modded CS3 is good, but it also has some serious issues at extreme settings. The control of the attack is the weakest link in the Boss.

If you want something to compare to the Barber without paying Keeley prices, try a CMATMODS. Excellent stuff, almost in league with Barber, certainly a darn good run for the money! I have both and I aint letting go of either one. I put the modded CS3 on my stage board and promoted the Barber and CMAT to recording use.
 
Another vote for the Barber Tone Press. Got is a couple of months ago and it has yet to leave my board. Does exactly what it claims. It is almost always on when I use my clean channel.
 
Diamond compressor is a nice pedal- Diamond is a great builder....but when it is all said and done, the Diamond, or Keeley, CAN NOT do parallel compression like the Barber- and that is why so many love the Barber....
 
I've owned the Boss, dynacomp, analogman juicer, & analogman comprossor. Played the keeley quite a bit. as far as standard priced, I'll take the dynacomp over the CS-2 every time. the dynacomp really is a great pedal for what it is, a standard, affordable compressor. the compressor is/was a huge part of my sound, though. The juicer is tight but has only one tone. I'd go with the barber or the keeley just based on the options alone. juicer is great but not versatile.
The large, three knob analogman comprossor is an amazing pedal. it's a clone of the old ross compressors, and sounds even better to me. new circuitry and true bypass and everything. I swear by that thing. I would try out a comprossor, a tone press, and a keeley for sure. see which one you like.
 
TREC said:
I use an electro harmonix soul preacher which may be worth checking out.

You should compare the soul preacher to some of the modded pedals, and especially to the Barber, and see what you think. All the EHX stuff I've had sounds good but is very noisy.
 
Has anybody tried the Retro-Sonic compressor or compared it to the Barber?
 
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