Best rack compressor for guitar

[Gerax]

Hi all

I'm putting together my guitar rig, and since I mostly have rack gear (Mesa Triaxis, Mesa Power amp, a line mixer, Eventide Eclipse and Lexicon MPX-1) I'm looking into a rack compressor to add to the party.
Mainly I'd use it to compress clean sounds (to get the Eric Johnosn/Steve Morse style "bell" like clean tones) and for a bit of a noise gate for high gain sound.
So ideally it should be 2 channels as I'd hook it up to the rest of my rig with a GCX looper/switcher.
Since I'm a studio guy I have an old dBx 266XL laying around that rarely gets used for mixing, so I thought about giving it a try. Any feedback about this?

Other ideas (I'm also eyeing BSS or Drawmer compressors, but they don't have gates built in...)

Thanx

[octatonic]

Neither Eric Johnson or Steve Morse use a compressor in their chain.

I don't particularly like the DBX 266XL on guitar.
To be honest mate I would look at a guitar-centric pedal like the keeley compressor if you need one.
You should get ample sustain from the Triaxis though.

Not sure I would use a Triaxis to try to cop the EJ tone though.
His leadtone is more of a Fuzzface into a dimed plexi.

[666666]

Originally Posted by octatonic

Neither Eric Johnson or Steve Morse use a compressor in their chain. I don't particularly like the DBX 266XL on guitar. To be honest mate I would look at a guitar-centric pedal....

Agreed

[carlheinz]

The DBX unit is used by many.

[Gerax]

Myabe I haven't explained myself clearly...I'm not trying to get EJ tones out of the Triaxis (particulary lead ones), I just say that I want to compress my clean sounds to get them controlled and...yes, "compressed" kind of like those EJ ore Morse use (and belive me, they are compressed).

The pedal compressor is a thing I'm considering, I just had a dBx around, so I may as well give it a try...just looking for feedback and this...I've seen studio session players even usinga Distressor in their guitar rack, so I wonder even the dBx shouldn't be that bad...

[666666]

Worked with a bass player one time that had a dbx 1066 in his rig. Overall sounded poor. We pulled out the 1066 and there was a serious improvement in overall sound quality.

Side note... I had a 266A here a long time ago... I threw it away, that probably gives you an idea of what I thought of it.

The only way for you to know whether or not your dbx will work for you would be to actually try it. I guess depending on what you're shooting for, it might be ok... or not.

[allphourus]

I have used two Boss CL 50 cmpressors in my Triaxis rig. One before everything for compression as needed, they have external foot switch jacks, and one after the Triaxes but before the rack FX as a limiter, I don't use the Triaxis's Loop but run out of the the outputs splitting the signal stereo in a Rocktron Intelifex before the power amp. The CL 50 has input and output volume contols, threshold,ratio, attack and release so I can do everything from subtle smoothing to over the top pumping.

[nedorama]

Originally Posted by carlheinz

The DBX unit is used by many.

which DBX? the 266XL is MI-grade stuff and not great. Will it work in a pinch? Yes, but not great. I've owned a 165, 166, 1046 and a 163 and I'd put them all above a 266XL.

I find that having a compressor before the sound goes into the amp can help greatly; I use a Keeley compressor before any other overdrive pedals (although some like it after). For recording, I use a Sennheiser e906 into a Summit 2BA-221 Tube pre and then a TLA-50 tube compressor, mostly for warmth vs. tough compression.

We just finished recording the band to 24 tracks on an Alesis HD24 that we rented. The Keeley really helps to keep the range consistent without killing note attack, either for clean, crunch or slightly dirty. Went into Pro Tools and used a BF Fairchild 660 to even it out slightly and add warmth.

Try the Keeley and I think you'll find it's what you're looking for and will be a lot easier to work with than the dbx. The 2 knob version works fine for me; they also have a 4-knob version for more control.

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by Gerax

Myabe I haven't explained myself clearly...I'm not trying to get EJ tones out of the Triaxis (particulary lead ones), I just say that I want to compress my clean sounds to get them controlled and...yes, "compressed" kind of like those EJ ore Morse use (and belive me, they are compressed).

The pedal compressor is a thing I'm considering, I just had a dBx around, so I may as well give it a try...just looking for feedback and this...I've seen studio session players even usinga Distressor in their guitar rack, so I wonder even the dBx shouldn't be that bad...

That particular DBX, as I said already, is the wrong tool for the job.
You can use it sure, but you would be better off not using it and letting the triaxis doing the compression via gain/distortion.

There is no comparison between a Distressor and a DBX 266XL other than they are both rack compressors.

As far as a clean sound, yes fine (but a compressed clean tone is more Petrucci than Morse/Johnson)- but a Kelley compressor or something similar is going to sound a lot better, especially on the front end of the Triaxis.

[Gerax]

I understand what you're saying. I might check out some stomp boxes compressors, but I'd like to have the flexibility of a dual channel compressor for different settings with gate and switch them in and out via GCX depending on the preset. This way I guess I'll have to buy 2 comps and a gate...

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by Gerax

I understand what you're saying. I might check out some stomp boxes compressors, but I'd like to have the flexibility of a dual channel compressor for different settings with gate and switch them in and out via GCX depending on the preset. This way I guess I'll have to buy 2 comps and a gate...

Cool.
If you are looking for a good but affordable rack compressor then look at the Drawmer MX30.

Focusrite Compounder might be worth a shot too.
You would tend to run all of them after the Triaxis though, which might not be what you want esp on the gainier Triaxis tones.

[Gerax]

Hey, I figure if that Drawmer sounds as good as it looks it's a killer! I'm checking that out, thanx for the tip.

I usually hook up my guitar gear kind of like I'd do with studio gear, so preamp, dynamics, mixer and FXs. I'm looking at a GCX switcher so I could patch the two compressor's channels into independent loops and program which one I want to use for any given sound.

I'm also looking into a second preamp and an overdrive pedal to integrate in the setup: Soldano SP77 if I'm able to find one and either a Tube Screamer tipe OD or some kind of Fuzz on which I'm doing some research.

The compressor should come post all of this stuff, just before the MIDI VCA box for remote volume control and line mixer for FX (i like time and modulation effects form studio units); I may put the OD pedals in front of the pres and switch them in or out via the GCX, keeping the compressor post gain so that the FX section gets the compressed signal too; I'm not looking at super squashed compressiion, just a bit of snap and levelling on clean sounds and very light to no cmpression on distortion. Noise shouldn't be an issue then...

[octatonic]

Originally Posted by Gerax

Hey, I figure if that Drawmer sounds as good as it looks it's a killer! I'm checking that out, thanx for the tip.

I usually hook up my guitar gear kind of like I'd do with studio gear, so preamp, dynamics, mixer and FXs. I'm looking at a GCX switcher so I could patch the two compressor's channels into independent loops and program which one I want to use for any given sound.

I'm also looking into a second preamp and an overdrive pedal to integrate in the setup: Soldano SP77 if I'm able to find one and either a Tube Screamer tipe OD or some kind of Fuzz on which I'm doing some research.

The compressor should come post all of this stuff, just before the MIDI VCA box for remote volume control and line mixer for FX (i like time and modulation effects form studio units); I may put the OD pedals in front of the pres and switch them in or out via the GCX, keeping the compressor post gain so that the FX section gets the compressed signal too; I'm not looking at super squashed compressiion, just a bit of snap and levelling on clean sounds and very light to no cmpression on distortion. Noise shouldn't be an issue then...

Ok, just so you know I've been down this particular road myself.
This is my rig from a few years ago:



Yes you can use the GCX to toggle between channels on a dual mono compressor- in this rig I had two stereo compressors that I was doing something similar- but I was running effects chains in the GCX loops, not just single devices).

[macleodgrant]

i've been on the hunt (on and off) for a compressor for years.
the nicest one i tried about 15 years ago was this one but i couldn't afford it then
Ibanez: Tube King Compressor / TC999 - sstony's Pictures | Ultimate-Guitar.Com
they didn't really make very many - nicely fully featured

i own the tube king distortion from that same range and it's amazing, will never sell it.

anyways, i finally satisfied my desire for a great compressor about 2 weeks ago and set it in stone this past weekend.
it's the MXR Custom Comp CSP202

so what was not immediately obvious to me was that internally are 2 additional controls. 1 for trimming the tonal character and another for ATTACK...
they are both key to getting the best out of the pedal.
anyways, i love it and it works so well with humbuckers and single coil for tame or aggressive.
TRIM = set fully clockwise
ATTACK = set about 1:30
setting attack too fast causes the circuitry to distort as it tracks the waveform

i tried my DBX 166XL but it takes too much of the highs out. you then need to compensate on the amp. if it's always in, that's ok i guess.
the other thing is that the comp in my case needs to go pre preamp. doing this in the loop just raises the noise floor of the pre amp which isn't good.
the amp i'm using is the Mesa Boogie TA30; absolutely beautiful amp.
all gain stages should go pre preamp unless of course you're on the board in a live gig but that kind of compression is very different.

obviously there's many ways to skin a cat and i'm loving this combo.
i tried a few comps and checked a bunch of reviews and i was lucky enough to get to test ride this bad boy - for me an attack control is very very important.

[robot gigante]

A RNC also can work well.

[Igotsoul4u]

I think the best rack comp for guitar is the distressor. I can't say I wouldn't mind having one in my chain. It has a complete range of parameters and the "dist" settings ad something really nice to my guitar tone. Maybe a fatso for 2 channels? I personally use a diamond compressor on my pedal board and it's pretty amazing. Its like having a little LA2a on your board. I would try that first.

[Animus]

Andy Timmons uses a Carl Martin compressor in front of a Mesa Lone Star. He get's fantastic tones.

[pan60]

personally i love the Carl Martin compressor, probably my all time favorite for guitar front end.

hard to beat awesome build quality and just a great peace of gear.
someday i'll snag another off ebay just for a spare: )~

[_Ludovico]

Well, if you're not dead set on the rackmount thing, the Barber Tone Press with it's blend feature is pretty neat...

Also, the Effectrode La2a type tube stompbox looks pretty hot.

[Les Paul Gibson]

Originally Posted by carlheinz

The DBX unit is used by many.

+3 it works great..I use a the newer compulator pro by Demeter, its a pedal but it sounds great

[sonic dogg]

Another vote for the Carl Martin Compressor/Limiter. REAL internal power supply, no wall wart, helps smooth transients. At least as good as a large number of rack units! I've used mine as 'another' comp thru the console inserted on a particular channel that needed that little 'something'. The Keeley is also a great little pedal.

[atomicohm]

Urei 1176...............

[atomicohm]

Also the UA LA-3A. Sweet...

[JDC]

Great post, just so many darn types to choose from.
I was also thinking of buying a used dbx 266xl, but, from the reviews here I'm not so sure anymore.

I have a single purpose for my purchase, overall guitar sound. I have also been looking at the ART VLA II? Any opinions on this?

I personally don't like clutter at my feet and I'm a messy guy as it is! So pedals just don't do it for me, it's a shame, I know there are a lot of great pedals out there. I''ve always just used an all in one pedal but recently have decided to get some rack gear. I started with an older Roland GP8 and and Behringer V-Amp for the Virtual Amp processing.

I am doing some research on a decent guitar compressor but I'm so torn. This is a great post but I'm now at the end of this post and find myself not torn but now scattered as to what I think I need! arg :(

Anyway, any opinions on the ART VLA II as a guitar compressor?

[KingBugsy]

Originally Posted by sonic dogg

....Another vote for the Carl Martin Compressor/Limiter. REAL internal power supply, no wall wart, helps smooth transients. At least as good as a large number of rack units!...

...The Keeley is also a great little pedal....

I totally agree.

The Carl Martin and Keeley seem to be the best.

I've tried many in the past, the Carl Martin and Keeley far outshine them all.

Between the Carl Martin and Keeley, each has its strengths.

The Carl Martin has the 120V power cord (built-in power supply) which I tend to prefer in the studio. Also, the Carl Martin has a gain reduction indicator light which is handy and really cool (most others do not have this). Plus, this unit has perhaps the most control out of any other compressors of this type... not just the fact that it has four knobs, but those knobs cover a very large range, you can really go from ultra subtle to ultra squashed and everywhere in between. You can dial in a classic compression behavior or make it very transparent, very versatile overall.

The Keeley is smaller, which for some, is a really big deal. I understand, gigging musicians don't need to be lugging around a pedal board that is bigger and heavier than it truly needs to be. The Keeley also has a very wide range of control and seems easy to dial in. The Carl Martin may be a tad more versatile, but the Keeley always gets me to where I need to go regardless... it always does what you need it to do. I should mention that I am specifically referring to the 4-knob version (which is what I have), I never tried the 2-knob version.

And both the Carl Martin and Keeley are built like tanks, very high quality overall. The Keeley is smaller and lighter but still very heavy-duty.

Typically my Carl Martin is in my studio and my Keeley (4-knob version) is on my pedal board. Though, often my pedal board is in the studio anyway, both get used in the studio. Many of the other more common, less expensive compressor pedals I've tried just don't compare at all. They can really take the overall fidelity of what's happening down quite a few notches as well as provide generally poor compression performance. I'd never even think of recording through any of that other stuff, or even using live for that matter. Once you get spoiled with the good stuff, there's no going back!

[MarkhamCornoit]

HI, I've been checking out the DBX products, I use their rack EQ which is a fantastic piece of kit, now to complete my rack I need a decent compressor, has anyone tried the DBX266XL or better still the DBX166XL? Any other brands I should try first?

[retone]

old dbx 160x

[Mario-C.]

If you are getting dull sounds with a dbx try slowing the attack setting and a faster release ... oh and a lower ratio too, 1.5 or 2 is usually enough

[nedorama]

Originally Posted by MarkhamCornoit

HI, I've been checking out the DBX products, I use their rack EQ which is a fantastic piece of kit, now to complete my rack I need a decent compressor, has anyone tried the DBX266XL or better still the DBX166XL? Any other brands I should try first?

If you read through the whole thread, there's comments on the 266.

The 166 is better than the 266 series; the Drawmer used is a much better sounding unit.