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Looking for the best compression pedal? The reviews on this site are written for musicians, by musicians. We've tested all of the top compression pedals, spoken with other musicians, read all of the relevant forums, blogs, and manuals, and put all of our findings in one convenient place to help you take your playing to the next level. If you have something to add, feel free to submit your own comments and reviews.
Best Compression Pedals of 2012
Fromel Electronics Velvet Vice
John Fromel is a hometown hero for Seattle pedalheads. From his workshop in North Seattle he produces a line of high end stompboxes that feature beautiful and unique acid etched housings. The Velvet Vice is a unique compressor produced by Fromel Electronics. John describes it as a compressor for people who hate [more]
3Leaf Audio PWNZOR Optical Compressor
The 3 Leaf Audio PWNZOR offers features in a compression stompbox normally only found in studio compressors. It includes controls for nearly every parameter imaginable, including input sensitivity, input gain, attack, release, compression ratio, and output gain. There is also an internal switch allowing users to choose between buffered and true bypass, as well as a 'vintage' switch [more]
Firstly, to avoid confusion, this is the 2-dial version of the popular and highly acclaimed Keeley Compressor. In fact, many stompbox devotees would rate this shiny little box firmly in their top ten pedals of all time. And rightly so! Outwardly the Keeley Compressor might look very basic, but it does exactly what it’s supposed to do and it does [more]
MXR's CSP202 Custom Comp is a relatively new addition to their lineup. On the surface it looks like a Dyna Comp painted white, but the Custom Comp is a different animal altogether. Inside its slightly lighter chassis are two small pots controlling attack and tone. The footswitch has been replaced with one of much higher quality as well, though the [more]
Coming from the same company that made the superlative Ibanez Tubescreamer, you’d expect the Maxon CP101 to be a real contender and certainly, when it came to the test, we had no complaints. Even at minimal settings, like any decent compressor should, the Maxon CP101 Compressor thickened out guitar tone nicely and managed to remove some of those weird noises [more]
Boss CS-3 Compressor Sustainer
Boss has a solid reputation among musicians for building rugged professional gear at a reasonable price point. Their compressor stompbox, the CS-3 Compression Sustainer has been a reliable choice for guitarists for over two decades. I found this pedal to be very versatile. It adequately added definition and sustain to distorted tones, and was able to even out my strumming [more]
Coming from the people who brought us the hugely successful original Keeley compressor, it makes perfect sense for Keeley to address one of the few negatives levelled at the prototype in the follow-up. As a result, an extra two dials have been added for more control – one for ‘attack’ and one labelled ‘clipping’ to control input gain. [more]
