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Thread: MXR Compressor

  1. #1
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    MXR Compressor

    I've had it about a year and a half. Sure, I get a bit of sustain out of it, but it colors the tone too much. I can't really see any benefit to using it. It's coming off my pedal board.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  2. #2
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    Yep, had one but it colors too much! See if you can get a BBE "Opto Stomp", MUCHO better!!! I use it in my bass rig cuz it doesn't change your tone at all. With that and a SansAmp Bassdriver I can get just about any SS bass head to sound and feel like a tube head. I want to get another Opto Stomp for my guitar board for when I play my 12 string.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  3. #3
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    I've heard good things about the Octo-Stomp. I don't know if I'd ever use it. Besides, that's just more room on my pedal board for my Banshee Talk Box--the most wonderfully useless pedal that I plan tol overuse next gig...
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  4. #4
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  5. #5
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    I bought and returned an MXR compressor. I couldn't stand what it did to my sound.

    I have a friend's Joe Meek FloorQ. It's incredibly transparent- so much that it didn't seem to do anything at first. Then, mid song, I realized everything just seemed easier to play and really "popped".

    It's great, but I have a hard time giving up the space and money for something that's so subtle.

  6. #6
    Gravity Jim
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    The only compressor I've found that I really like is the Barber Tone Press. You make it go all spongey and "MXR-y" if you want, but mostly I use it for what it seems to do best... a smooth, transparent "push".

  7. #7
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    Yeah, the MXR is squishy, and it makes it sound like I'm playing cheap plastic strings with a felt button as a pick--and that starts at super low settings. I even think at the time I bought it, someone on these pages said that it colors the sound too much.

    Okay, I don't usually hate on my hard-earned gear, but I've come to loathe this pedal. I think I'll sell it on craigslist.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  8. #8
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    Dump it and get something you like, whether that's another comp or something else.
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  9. #9
    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    Truth is, compressors are a p@in in the butt to set up, but they do a nice job to your tone after you get them right.

    In fact, I dare to say there's no huuuge difference between them, you may pick the Boss CS3, the MXR or whatever, just take your time and be patient, you'll end up finding the best settings for attack and sustain...

    The thing is, compressors do suck tone and mess up your results if not exactly set. It's quite a temperamental pedal, I know many guitar players who just don't have patience and dump them.

  10. #10
    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    Erm... what? lol

  11. #11
    Forum Member Offshore Angler's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    I like the ART Pro VLA II, I can set the threshold, ratio, attack and limiter. It doesn't color the sound, and it works really well when doing 80's-style chorused / flanged and delayed swirleys, and still adds punch to a clean Tele. It also seems to bring the "wood" out of my semi-hollow, if that makes sense.
    "No harmonic knowledge, no sense of time, a ghastly tone, unskilled vibrato, and so on. Chuck is one of the worst guitar players I know" -Gravity Jim

  12. #12
    Gravity Jim
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    Quote Originally Posted by de Melo View Post
    Truth is, compressors are a p@in in the butt to set up, but they do a nice job to your tone after you get them right.

    In fact, I dare to say there's no huuuge difference between them, you may pick the Boss CS3, the MXR or whatever, just take your time and be patient, you'll end up finding the best settings for attack and sustain...

    The thing is, compressors do suck tone and mess up your results if not exactly set. It's quite a temperamental pedal, I know many guitar players who just don't have patience and dump them.
    Yeah, I know a lot of guitar players who didn't even have the patience to learn how to play.

    Compressors are not all the same, not by a long shot. And guitar players don't learn to use them because they don't understand what's going on inside.... they think of it as a "sustainer," which it actually isn't. It's a compressor... it compresses signals by reducing gain by a given amount above a given threshold. A single knob comp will have all that stuff preset for you. More knobs means more control over threshold, attack & release, pre and post, gain, etc. Comps like the Barber Tone Press perform a parallel compression, allowing you to blend the unaffected signal with the affected signal in a phase-coherent manner, producing a very different sound. Also, I'm not exactly sure what "suck tone" means, but a good compressor doesn't make your guitar sound... uh... less? Bad?

    The MXR is a classic, but it's only going to do one thing. A good comp isn't temperamental if you know what it's doing when you turn the knob.

  13. #13
    Forum Member lure555's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    I haven't played with the MXR compressor, but the way it's been described to me sounds like it acts like an actual sound effect. I have a Maxon compressor that I like quite a bit. I set it up a 1/4 way and makes my sound a bit more "HiFi" in a good way.

  14. #14
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    I don't like the MXR because it sounds like a blanket has been put over my amp. Lows sound mushy and the highs are attenuated. There are plenty of nice of compressors to use on your guitar, I just don't think the new MXR's are one of them! Maybe the original ones sound better? IDK as I've never played one. I'm sticking with my BBE as my tone sounds the same whether it is on or not, only difference is whether my signal is compressed or not.

    I am however interested in the Jangle Box and Tone Press. Bus or parallel compression can be really bitchin'!!!
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  15. #15
    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    Quote Originally Posted by silent j. View Post
    Yeah, I know a lot of guitar players who didn't even have the patience to learn how to play.

    Compressors are not all the same, not by a long shot. And guitar players don't learn to use them because they don't understand what's going on inside.... they think of it as a "sustainer," which it actually isn't. It's a compressor... it compresses signals by reducing gain by a given amount above a given threshold. A single knob comp will have all that stuff preset for you. More knobs means more control over threshold, attack & release, pre and post, gain, etc. Comps like the Barber Tone Press perform a parallel compression, allowing you to blend the unaffected signal with the affected signal in a phase-coherent manner, producing a very different sound. Also, I'm not exactly sure what "suck tone" means, but a good compressor doesn't make your guitar sound... uh... less? Bad?

    The MXR is a classic, but it's only going to do one thing. A good comp isn't temperamental if you know what it's doing when you turn the knob.

    You didn't understand my point. I said exactly what you mean, but there ARE indeed people who just won't have the patience. I wasn't talking about myself there.

    And most compressors will make you sound dull unless they're properly set, which can take some time... That's all.

    I got a Boss CS3 in my chain and it does a good job.

  16. #16
    Forum Member Old Ranger's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    Guess I'm just too old to understand the need for a bunch of pedals. 75% of the time I don't even use pedals. Just my amp with it's reverb and the OD, if it has it, and I'm good to go. I just don't like all that stuff choking the life outta my signal. I'll sometimes drop my RAT on the floor and plug that in to scream and maybe the Carbon Copy for some delay. But you'll never see a compressor, EQ, sustainer, and other stuff in my world. Yup, I must be an eccentric old coot that just doesn't know any better. But my tone is clear and sweet, at least to my wounded old ears, and that's what I like.
    I forgot what I was going to say...

  17. #17
    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    I like plugging straight into an amp, but I also like having a few pedals to play with the tones--whatever the song requires. I'm not a purist. I love the palette to paint with.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

  18. #18
    Forum Member Rickenjangle's Avatar
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    Re: MXR Compressor

    Quote Originally Posted by Old Ranger View Post
    Guess I'm just too old to understand the need for a bunch of pedals. 75% of the time I don't even use pedals. Just my amp with it's reverb and the OD, if it has it, and I'm good to go. I just don't like all that stuff choking the life outta my signal. I'll sometimes drop my RAT on the floor and plug that in to scream and maybe the Carbon Copy for some delay. But you'll never see a compressor, EQ, sustainer, and other stuff in my world. Yup, I must be an eccentric old coot that just doesn't know any better. But my tone is clear and sweet, at least to my wounded old ears, and that's what I like.
    I know I have a small list of go-to pedals so that I can either cover sounds that were recorded on the original songs (a good example is using an MXR Phase 90 for some '70's tunes - or a digital delay if you're trying to cop that Edge delay sound for a U2 song)...the compressor, which I use only occasionally, is great for copping the clean-sustained smooth punchiness that you'd want for country music.

    "I'm gonna find myself a girl
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