Compressor pedal?!

[stevenrberg]

I'm interested in what people think about the value of a compressor pedal for electric guitar. And for those with a positive opinion, what are some good ones? So far I've heard good things about Analog Man "Comprossor" (a rebuild of the no-longer-available Ross Compressor), the Keeley Compressor, and the Electro Harmonix Black Finger.

[GM Reszel]

I tried really hard to use a compressor mainly because of so many players who recommended them. I used them on and off for quite a few years. I tried MXR dyna comp, Boss CS-2, CS-3, Keeley and finally built a BYOC Ross clone and an optical one.

I mostly used them with a light squish to tighten up cleans tones ala country and also cranked them up for sustain use. After quite some time neither was useful to me anymore. I didn't like my cleans squashed (at all) and I didn't prefer the peakless sustain tone a cranked compressor gave to my distortion.

So just my opinion, many years later, I'm compressorless and not feeling the need to go back! Also (for what it's worth) all the models I tried were very similar in performance - a compressor is a very simple circuit and you either love it or not, me not so much.