CS-3 Compression Sustainer

Great Pedal for Blues & R&B.I use mine with a American Standard Strat thru Fender Twin tube and Peavey Solidstate Trans Tube pratice amp.Good Tone. Great Sustain.

comp with tone

I bought this pedal with my first ever guitar amp (a marshall MG series half stack), and several amps and 5 years later I have finally found the settings that do your guitar justice. The key is to work with the attack and sustain knobs to dial in the right kind of compression. When I first bought this pedal, I thought: "WOAH! attack! I want my attack to be all the way up!" of course what I thought attack meant back then does not agree with what I now know attack to be: how fast the harsh transients are hit with compression. So don't turn the attack to "max" because then there will never be time to compress unless it's the last drawn out note of a song. And of course don't turn the attack all the way to minimum because then you get way too much compression and it really cuts down on the output of your amp and palm mutes and quieter picks don't come out whatsoever. And the sustain knob is pretty straightforward. ANOTHER key part is the level knob. I speak from experience that the level knob should be set so that when you turn the pedal off, there is NO change in volume. I had the level on this thing all the way up and it was nothing but horrible noise and hiss coming out of my amp.

But this review is called "comp with tone" for a reason. I have A/B'ed my guitar tone bypassing and compressed a million times, and I always choose the compressed signal. Just some mid-range bite (my tone knob is in the low mid setting. go figure!) that beefed up my sound, and not to mention, this pedal really does add tremendous amount of sustain to chords. I would give it a 5star rating but the level pot fell off and its just a pain to have to readjust it without the indentation when some band mate has screwed around with my pedals.

For the price this cannot be beat. But don't take my settings and apply them to your guitar, because unless you have the same setup (koa tele through pedals through BBE 482i through Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with Groove Tubes), this pedal will not work the same for you. You need to set aside a good two hours with this pedal, understand the different settings, and dial in the right kind of compression. And the great thing about this pedal is that it is not a one trick pony: it will work great with all of your amp/guitar situations. I am done rambling.

boss cs-3 compressor

rounds out the special leads where you lead a litlle more lenght to your notes, and adds that sweet spot that you need from time to time very effectively!

Theres Better out there

I purchased this CS-3 hoping to create better sustain in my crunch mix but was not impressed with this effect. The only noticeable effect this pedal created was a volume boost. The attack knob cranked over 50% created a nasty slapping sound when combined with my delay pedal. After having it for months in my pedalboard chain and not using it I decided to replace it. Spend the money get something a little more useful.

Ends don't justify the means...

I've never liked this pedal at all. I've used it when it was the only option, but ended up just turning it off because it never helped my tone more than it hurt it. I found it to be harsh, noisy, and not musical at all. Many guitarists I've talked to share the same sentiment. It just comes across as harsh and uninspiring.

I've also used a Maxon CP101. It's quieter, and seemingly adds zero tonal coloration. It seemed to be everything I wished the CS-3 would be. But, I chucked that pedal too for a Keeley Compressor. The Keeley is noisy and adds a certain tonal coloration, but that coloration is welcome on my board any day. Both are great alternatives I'd recommend checking into before you go with a CS-3.