Bass Xciter vs compressor!

[Venom of God]

So, I am in the market for just one pedal! I don't want anything too drastic, more of an always on pedal to just improve my sound a bit. I was thinking of either an Aphex Bass Xciter or a Punch Factory, though the MarkBass Tube comp looks appealing too.

What would you guys suggest? We already have a Presonus hardware comp that is probably good enough for recording and my head (Harke 3500) has an inbuilt comp too, though I would like something better. My next amp will be an SVT-VR, would I even need a compressor with that?

I ask here because no local dealers have any of these pedals, so I can't really try before buying. I really do love the idea of an Xciter, I'm just not sure how well they actually work.

Thoughts and opinions would be really appreciated, thanks!

[Swift713]

I haven't tried the Xciter but I have tried the BBE Sonic Stomp which is apparently similar. It was fine if you like that kind of sound but a little eq tweaking can accomplish essentially the same results. There has been debate over whether these products are snake oil.
If you like compression, the Markbass is well regarded. Check out what our pal Bongomania has to say about these things. http://www.ovnilab.com/index.shtml

[Smurf-o-Deth]

Here's a question: in what way would you like to "improve" your sound? What are you not getting that you would like to have?

[Joe.shaffer]

The bass xciter really didn't do much for me. My amp does the same things it does, only better.

[Zooberwerx]

I'd go with a decent compressor over-and-above everything else as a starting point. A used BBE OptoStomp compressor can be had for ~$60. My brother, Jan, uses both a OptoStomp and SonicStomp in his signal chain.

Riis

[Nephilymbass]

Keeley makes 2 great compressors in pedal format, highly recommend them for recording or jamming. I hardly ever use compression for shows because it seems like every club we play the sound guy has his own compressors and I think when bass is compressed multiple times it ends up sounding like crap. No compression is definitely better than over compression to me. On the other hand a good limiter tends to work well in any situation. I've noticed from experimenting with different setups that my SWR 750x has a great limiter and power amp, but the pre amp in it sucks. I now use a tech 21 RBI into the effects return of the 750 to bypass the SWRs pre but the limiter control and master volume on the swr are still tweakable

I do like the BBE sonic stomp I never play without it. Its basically an EQ type filter but I don't agree that you can get the exact same sound just by EQing the amp a little because it also seems to help correct phasing issues as well when used with a multiple speaker rig

[Venom of God]

Smurf-o-Deth, what I was hoping for from a compressor was more punch, something to bring the sound forward a bit more. The Markbass one read up really good on that Ovinlab site!

As for the bass Xciter, I was under the impression that it would make my rig sound "bigger," which as a three piece rock band would be a really good thing. Would you guys say the Sonic Stomp does that?

[Swift713]

IME the Sonic Stomp adds hi-fi clarity. I think just about any decent compressor will do what you want. I use the Maxon CP9, it does the dynamic part without changing the tone at all that I can hear.