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best CHEAP compressor..
- Thread starter quadrogong
- Start date
bongomania
Commercial User
Joe P and I will disagree about this, but I think the stock CS3 is crap for bass. IMO it needs the mods to be usable on bass.
i'm a mr. squishy user, very transparent effect but it fattens the tone up for me. not really experienced with other compressors so i can't give a very detailed explanation of what makes it so good to other compressors.
i've tried the dyna comp for about 2 minutes before. too much hiss at any setting. i'm anal like that i guess...
i've tried the dyna comp for about 2 minutes before. too much hiss at any setting. i'm anal like that i guess...
yeah, thanx..i'm still between the presonus and the squishy..
i'll be fine with either i think.. i have to just decide already,thanx,all!
i'll be fine with either i think.. i have to just decide already,thanx,all!
The Punch factory is subtle but for me it tightens things up and adds a real sparke and sheen to finger taps and harmonics that is really noticeable when you turn it off.
I have used mine with several different rigs and basses and just love it. Its now mounted in my pedal board and never gets turned off.
I have used mine with several different rigs and basses and just love it. Its now mounted in my pedal board and never gets turned off.
im using the PF very successfully, on an ampeg svt classic and active bass. it sounds great. buy it and you wont end up returning it
I actually liked RockTron's Big Crush, I'll probably purchase one unit.
Didn't hear the MXR DynaComp in action but heard many many people complaining about way too much low-end loss.
Didn't hear the MXR DynaComp in action but heard many many people complaining about way too much low-end loss.
No; no, we don't disagree all that much - I admit that I've been running a pretty radical, rawcous sound these days.
My stock CS-3 downright distorts - especially on double-stops or chords - when the 'attack' control is set higher than.. 1:30 or-so. I can certainly see how this would be objectionable in most cases! When I play guitar-fingerstyle chording for my 'lounge version' arrangements (working on a solo show), I have to turn the attack control back to 11:00 to not have a gritty growl on harmonies - but then the release is longer than it should be (the control says "attack" but it actually changes the release too; setting a longer attack causes a shorter release, the way this thing's designed)!
Aaaand it does suck a little bass! There's a bit of a low-end rolloff there.
Nope: I need mods. ***BUT NOT ONES THAT TAKE-AWAY MY 'SQUISHY-ness'!
I guess What I'd like - off the top of my head - would be (besides fixing the low-cut situation) to have the attack set like 5:00, when the release is set like 11:00... or somehting like that.
I'm planning on sending it off to have Bongo do the modifications.
Joe
+1
The CS-3 was my first compressor pedal. Were it not for reading these forums, I'd have given up on compressors completely!
I just can't find myself to like that pedal. It just doesn't sound good to me, period. Not to mention, it dramatically changes your tone and is noisy in stock configuration.
I've heard good things about the CS-3 mods, though.
I should specify that when I say "distorts", I don't mean 'clip', as-in 'overload'!
I mean that strange 'intermodulation distortion' that you most-often get from having too-fast of a release time. The VCA (or whatever-exactly the gain control device is) starts 'tracking across the tops' of waves down at the lower frequency components of the signal.
Y' end-up getting freaky 'sum and difference frequencies' (known also as 'beat frequencies') that are based on the signal that the unit is s'pose'ta be processing, and this new 'bumpy' signal that's coming from the envelope detector - which is being presented as the VCA's control voltage.
You know: many effects 'share circuitry'. A compressor's detector is the same kind of circuit that's in an envelope follower, and the VCA can be the same as what's used in tremelos, and similar to the theory of operation in up-octaves and 'ring modulator'-type effects.
Now that I think about it: ANY compressor circuit could easily be modded into a trem.. OR have trem added-on along with the compression.
I think I might set-up a little electronics lab again one of these... uh: months or years (It'd kind'a be hard to do in my little one-room apartment); I've been thinking about this kind of stuff a lot lately.
Anyone have a CS-3 schematic laying around?
Joe
I also own a late model Dynacomp. I bought it for kicks as it was cheap and I wanted to get that "chicken pickin" sound when goofing around with my 6 string electric guitar. It works quite well for that but I have tried it with my bass rig several times and it just pumps too hard, sucks too much low end and adds too much noise to be of any use.
In the early seventies, this may have been one of the few compressor pedals available for a bass player to use but these days, there are a bunch that work well.
The Punch Factory as mentioned earlier, works really well in my opinion and aside from the whole "its too transparent" argument that pops up here and there, you will find a lot of big fans of this pedal here on TB.
In the early seventies, this may have been one of the few compressor pedals available for a bass player to use but these days, there are a bunch that work well.
The Punch Factory as mentioned earlier, works really well in my opinion and aside from the whole "its too transparent" argument that pops up here and there, you will find a lot of big fans of this pedal here on TB.
I found the Dynacomp to do what it was supposed to do really well which was add spunk and sustain but on bass I found myself lost in the mix (a common problem with compression if not used properly). I did have some success using it on my Tacoma acoustic bass during an acoustic performance, got my levels up without feedback.
I have a punch factory that I'm still trying to get use out of in a live setting, struggling with the bury factor. But I have found it indispensible for home recording. It boosts and evens the bass signal appreciably.
The boss CS is really harsh IME.
I have a punch factory that I'm still trying to get use out of in a live setting, struggling with the bury factor. But I have found it indispensible for home recording. It boosts and evens the bass signal appreciably.
The boss CS is really harsh IME.
How well can you wield a soldering iron? Get a BYOC comp and build your own, or pay a little extra and have them build it for you. The pedals are sweet and inexpensive.
This thread is good reading for me; I recently sold my Alesis Nanocomp. It was a good compressor, but I find myself wanting to try new things. I might give the Mr. Squishy a shot... I've also thought about a FMR Audio RNC, but that's a little out of the price range for the topic of this thread. From what I've read though, it does seem to rule the school for inexpensive compressors.
bongomania
Commercial User
Everybody has different ears and tastes, but for my money the RNC sucked. It took a lot of time and tweaking to dial in settings that didn't distort in an unpleasant way. And then when I changed basses or playing styles, I had to spend another age tweaking it again. It's one of the few on my page that gets a bad review.
