Best Compression Pedals of 2013
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. There is no perfect compression pedal for all guitarists, but here are a few of our top picks for 2013:
Keeley Compressor
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 Custom Comp CSP202
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]
Maxon CP101 Compressor
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]
Keeley 4 Knob Compressor
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]
Visual Sound Comp 663Admin2013-01-10 01:43:16Visual Sound has gone for looks over sound quality with this cute looking stompbox, but are they going down the right route? The Visual Sound Comp 66 is the offspring of the Route 66 American Overdrive stompbox, an overdriver that incorporated a compressor. The company’s marketing blurb claims that owners of the Route 66 American Overdrive believed the compressor channel to be so good that it deserved a dedicated stompbox of its own, hence the development of the Comp 66.
Visual Sound has gone for looks over sound quality with this cute looking stompbox, but are they going down the right route? The Visual Sound Comp 66 is the offspring of the Route 66 American Overdrive stompbox, an overdriver that incorporated a compressor. The company’s marketing blurb claims that owners of the Route 66 American Overdrive believed the compressor channel to be so good that it deserved a dedicated stompbox of its own, hence the development of the Comp 66.
Read more... Check Current Price
The Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone is a high-end compressor with a couple of unique features. Unlike most compressors, it sports a blend knob that allows users to mix their dry signal with the pedal's compressed output. The Philosopher's Tone also offers on-board distortion with its 'grit' control. Overall, the build quality of this pedal was very high. The LED on the one I tested was not centered well in its bezel, but I noticed no flaws otherwise.
Read more... Check Current Price
Unlike many of its competitors, the latest version of MXR’s classic compressor comes with an ‘attack’ dial, as well as ‘output’ and ‘sensitivity’ knobs. The goal of this is to alleviate that squishing tone found in earlier compressor models and with a bit of tweaking, the MXR M132 achieves this quite well. However, be careful. Once past noon, we thought the sustain had an artificial quality about it. Best keep it on low settings for a more natural tone.
Read more... Check Current Price
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 it very, very well.
Read more... Check Current Price
The Electro-Harmonix Freeze is a sustain pedal, but it isn't a compressor. It is actually a delay-based effect that can be used to create drones or imitate a grand piano's sostenuto pedal. To my knowledge, the Freeze offers a completely unique effect (except for some of the larger EHX pedals). In most settings, the pedal takes a very short sample of your signal when the foot switch is first depressed. This sample is repeated until the foot switch is released.
Read more... Check Current Price
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 general build style remains the same as any MXR pedal.
Read more... Check Current Price
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 that happen when you hit a string by mistake.
Read more... Check Current Price
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 volume effectively.
Read more... Check Current Price
Although targeting both the six-string and four-string markets, Electro-Harmonix’s Black Finger Compressor is really one for the four-stringers. At its heart are two 12AX7EH tube valves, which, no doubt, are the main reason for the above average price tag. However, those valves are the reason behind the authentically vintage sound produced by the Black Finger.
Read more... Check Current Price
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.
Read more... Check Current Price
