Live Guitar Pedals-Tremolo and Compression?

[Noah]

For my live guitar rig I need a good Tremolo pedal as well as a heavy hitting compressor. What are people's favorites? I just tried the Line6 TapTremolo and the tap part is cool, but even on the smoothest setting the tremolo is too square.

How about a good guitar compressor for a live rig? I've played with a couple of pedals, but never felt like they did much. What are you guys using?

Thanks,

Noah

[seriousfun]

An original MXR Dyna Comp is the classic electric guitar compressor. Try a few of the newer clones to see if they suit you. I have my original on my pedal board.

I don't have a tremelo pedal, but the Fulltone has a great reputation.

[paterno]

Originally posted by Noah
For my live guitar rig I need a good Tremolo pedal as well as a heavy hitting compressor. What are people's favorites? I just tried the Line6 TapTremolo and the tap part is cool, but even on the smoothest setting the tremolo is too square.

The Voodoo Lab Tremolo is pretty awesome. For comps, i tend to use the CS-3 by Boss more often than not. There is a company called HomeBrew that seems to making some cool pedals, and they have a compressor in their line:
HomeBrew

good luck,

john

[Ruudman]

Ah, pedals;
welcome to the jungle, my friend

I'll forward this thread to Dr. Threm, my pedal-yogi.

One word comes to mind when I think of live performance:
tank - it has to be built like one, and love all the hittin'...

My tip:

Heavy hitting comp: Analog Man Juicer
Tremolo: Demeter Tremulator

Many could be mentioned.

I traded one Carl Martin comp with Threm, and it has been
serving me well; it's on my top 3 list of comps I've tested.
But no battery power.


ruudman

[enharmonic]

I'll second the Demeter...AWESOME trem . I also like the Diaz Tremodillo, and the vibrato side of a Roger Mayer VooDoo Vibe...which isn't exactly a tremolo, but with that pedal you can fake it real good.

If you're a tweaker like me, then only a Lovetone Wobulator will do..but take a deep breath before you go hunting for one.... I've heard that they're pulling as much as $1500...which is just nuts.

I don't use compression in my live rig, but I have auditioned a Keeley Compresser, and it was damned nice. Demeter makes a pretty sweet one too.

[threm]

Regarding compressors, do you want;
1) Much squash with added sustain,
2) Or more like a limiter keeping the original attack without much sustain added,
3) A combination of the above

The Carl Martin can do all the above. There's a knob for treshold.
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effec...imiter-01.html
http://www.carlmartin.com/

There are a traditinally couple of main groups of comp stomps;
1) The Dyna/Ross/reissue MXR™ dynacomp clones.

Like the Homebrew Tramp, Analogman Comprossor and Keeley.

The Analogman Comprossor has a knob for attack which is a good thing. Sounding a tiny little bit brighter than the Homebrew which again has some good open mids. The Comprossor is a great quite versatile pedal, a little more character than the Carl Martin but not as flexible.
http://www.analogman.com/rossmod.htm



I like the Homebrew a lot. Very nice open mids and about as versatile as the Comprossor.



http://homebrewelectronics.com/products.htm
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effec...na/CPR-01.html

A copy of the Keeley (again a copy of the Ross) at 1/2 price is the Teese FK-1 (supposed to mean 'F**k Keley #1' after some inside disagreement over matters). Has an internal Attack trimmer.
http://www.realmccoycustom.com/FK-1.htm



2) The Dan Armstrong™ Orange Squeezer clones.
* Analogmans 'Juicer'. Very nice, fat and punchy, still quite clear.
GREAT pedal with lots of character.
http://www.analogman.com/rossmod.htm



* Bob McBrooms 'McSqueeze'. A little more 'transparent' with more highs than the Juicer. A mini toggle switch for switching it over to a 'McBoost' mode. So it's two pedals in one; a compressor or a booster. A GREAT pedal, a little 'cleaner' than the Juicer.
http://www.pedalworx.com/mcsqueeze.html

* Toadworks 'MrSquishy' at $109 (just lowered the price). Also a very nice pedal. Clear and punchy.
http://www.guitareffectspedals.com/toadworks

3) Just mentioning a third group;
A few comps have the ability to blend in the direct signal (but an dedicated Attack knob will do much the same).

The Barber Tonepress has a Blend knob. $139 and rave reviews.
http://www.barberelectronics.com/tonepress.htm
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effec..._Press-01.html

The Guyatone, a good pedal and a sleeper at $67 has a Direct switch. Cheaper build quality.
http://www.guitareffectspedals.com/guyatone

Should also mention here;
The Demeter Comp-1 Compulator. Doesn't have a Direct switch some some claim it's the most natural/pristine sounding, more so than the Ross clones.
http://www.musictoyz.com/guitar/pedals/dem.php
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effec...ulator-01.html

Blackbox Oxygen
http://www.blackboxmusicfx.com/oxy.html
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Data/Blackbox/

BJF Pale Green Compressor
http://www.custom-sounds.com/epages/...products/12011



T-Rex Comp Nova
http://www.custom-sounds.com/epages/.../products/1360
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effec...mpnova-01.html

4) A fourth group would be more specialized comps;

The Jangle Box; supposed to replicate the Byrds type shimmery jangle. http://www.janglebox.com/about.htm
Demos (mostly recorded direct) at
http://www.bluepacific1.com/Janglebox.htm



TC Sustain+ Param EQ; can do much the same as the Janglebox. Tons of sustain but not much left of original attack of the signal. Used by Eric Johnsen and others for that long smooth sustain on solos.



Menatone JAC; supposed to mimic a 1176 (or a La2a some people claim).
http://www.musictoyz.com/guitar/pedals/mena.php

Tremolos
The Frantone Vibutron is a beautiful and very flexible trem, a little expensive though. Warm, clear with refined highs. Can do deep choppy if neede.



http://www.frantone.com/vibutron.html
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effec...butron-01.html

The Demeter Tremulator is also very good, maybe a little more swampy than the Frantone due to some more colored mids. On the other hand it can get a little more muddy than the Vibutron.
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effec...ulator-01.html



The Fulltone Supa-Trem is like a mixture of the two above, but some more features. A half speed switch and mini toggle for deeper/choppier trems.
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effec...remelo-01.html



Monster Effects Swamp Thang; supposed to be a geat trem, more towards the brownface type.
http://www.harmony-central.com/Effec..._Thang-01.html

I've also got a Toneczar Powerglide but more bells and whistles than you need.
http://www.toneczareffects.com/lg-pedals.htm

More specialized trems;
Auralux King Trem; " the KingTrem® produces a very complex tremolo all it's own! Very swampy with hints of univibe and rotary speaker." Soundfiles on the site.
http://www.auraluxamps.com/king.html

Redwhich Moon Phaser; has a seperate setting for trem only.
http://www.redwitchanalogpedals.com/menu.html

Some of the Zvex pedals like Seek Trem and Ooh Wah II have trem sounds. Videos on the site.
http://www.zvex.com/effects.html

[Noah]

Wow!!

Lots O' good information here. I have played with the Demeter, and it was hi on my list. Truth be told after playing with a plug-in tremolo that had a bunch of neat features it is hard to go back to a simple pedal or amp trem. I'm trying though, and it's one of those effects that is so right when it’s good. After Listening to a couple of Luna albums I don't know how everyone doesn't use more tremolo.

As for the compressor, I'm looking for something to hit really hard. Probably one of my favorite albums is "Bang Masters" by Van Morrison. It's a similar album to "Blown' your mind" but more raw. In it the guitar is all high end and squashed to hell. What a sound! And great licks too. After a bottle of wine or two no album grooves like that.

Anyway, my main guitar right now (I have plenty of others, but this thing has soul!) is an old National "Map" guitar from 1962 or so. It has these funky German pickups, and doesn't play all that well, but boy does it sound sexy. I need something to squash a bit more out of it. Not really sustain, but pain... or something. I tend to play hard, but I want these notes to feel like they are going to break, but not in a distortion way. I'm not sure any of this makes sense...

I will check out all the recommendations with much interest.

Noah

[threm]

Noah,
from your description I think the Analogman Juicer could be a good start. Or the McSqeezer for a little more hifi sound. They'll both react with more squeeze by being run with a booster of some kind before them. It's often a blend of some pedals that will bring out a certain sound where each pedal bings their own spices to the meal.

If you want highs maybe the McSqueezer but the Juicer with an Overdrive after it adding some highs could do it.
There's a lot of rave about the new Fulltone OCD pedal now among the pedal nuts;
Search (Fulltone) OCD here if you want info;

http://musictoyz.infopop.cc/eve/ubb....1&f=4066066091

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/for....php?forumid=4

[BrianBrian]

Wow, Threm pretty much covered all of them, but I will also recommend the Analogman pedals (comprossor or juicer) or a MXR Dynacomp.

[TML]

Fulltone Supa Trem...........Carl Martin Comp.....very nice......
Tim

[Ruudman]

Didn't I tell ya'?

Dr. Threm is da' pedal wiz, and my personal trainer in that departement.

And to those who think I'm sarcastic:
Threm is one of my best friends, and this is a subject he happens to know lot about..


ruudman

[paulrocker]

VT-X VINTAGE TREMOLO

http://guyatone.com/reviews/pr_gp_vtx_sep02.html

Guitar Player listed it as one of the 50 greatest stomp boxes of all time. Its really an amazing trem. I think it beats the fulltone stuff, and thats saying a lot.

Paul

[threm]

Paul, the VT-X should be mentioned also.
I had in fact the VT-X for a short time. Something wrong with it (loud hum) and I returned it back to the US. But yeah, some people like it a lot.
For those who can deal with rack stuff; the tube driven tremolo in the Peavey Valverb is truly nice, especially combined with the reverb there. One problem; kicking in the tremolo drops the volume quite a bit.
I've got a CAE Super Temolo, a 1/2 rack very flexible unit, but not with the same swampy vintage vibe as the Valverb.

[doorknocker]

Originally posted by paulrocker
VT-X VINTAGE TREMOLO
http://guyatone.com/reviews/pr_gp_vtx_sep02.html
Guitar Player listed it as one of the 50 greatest stomp boxes of all time. Its really an amazing trem. I think it beats the fulltone stuff, and thats saying a lot.

Sorry to be spoiler here but the Guyatone is the worst piece of horrible shit I ever made the mistake of buying. The sound would basically be o.k....only with the slight annoyance of ca. 60db of hiss, horrible! I though it was broken but that's the way it is, it also features the convenience of a 12V or whatever 'unusual' power supply. (That I bought sepereately for the pedal and couldn't use anymore once I- thank God- could return the Guyatone.)

I trust a GUITAR PLAYER review about as much as a statement from George W. Bush about weapons of mass destruction. It used to be a great mag that turned into a shameless, industry-fed collection of ads over the years. (They have the nerve to charge about $ 14 per issue for this here in Europe!!)

Rant over

On the positive front, I absolutely can recommend the Analog Man Comprossor, I use it live but even more so in the studio. It's got the best of the attributes of an old MXR script logo or Ross compressor with none of the drawbacks.
I got the AnalogMan BiComprossor, actually two pedals in one with the addition of an Orange Squeezer clone. The BiComprossor's got a long waiting list (I waited a full year) but although I like the Squeezer portion, I could live with just the Comprossor. The single version should be ready available though.

Stay away from the MXR Dynacomp reissues, they're a complete waste of money and energy.


Andi

www.doorknocker.ch

[threm]

Andi,
Talking about pedals, I saw (on your site) that you have a 'Tech 21 Sans Amp Original'. Is that the 'Classic'. I once had one (have a PSA-1 now) that I used for direct recording. I never tried it before (into) an amp, like any other OD pedal.
Does it work into the gtr input on an amp?

There's a sound I remember getting with the Classic that I've had a hard to finding with other pedals into amps at lower volumes.
It's a kind of big and bold 'clean' sound, tight and a little compressed, something like a blackface/6L6 turned up.
Not really clean, but a big solid core and just breaking up around the edges. A tight 'hi-gain' twangy sound that still sound somewhat clean. What I mean is that it's not a saturated OD sound at all.
Hard to describe sound.

Always wondered if it was worth getting the Classic again for using it into an amp.
Have you tried it this way?
Thanks!

[doorknocker]

Originally posted by threm
Andi,
Talking about pedals, I saw (on your site) that you have a 'Tech 21 Sans Amp Original'. Is that the 'Classic'. I once had one (have a PSA-1 now) that I used for direct recording. I never tried it before (into) an amp, like any other OD pedal.
Does it work into the gtr input on an amp?

There's a sound I remember getting with the Classic that I've had a hard to finding with other pedals into amps at lower volumes.
It's a kind of big and bold 'clean' sound, tight and a little compressed, something like a blackface/6L6 turned up.
Not really clean, but a big solid core and just breaking up around the edges. A tight 'hi-gain' twangy sound that still sound somewhat clean. What I mean is that it's not a saturated OD sound at all.
Hard to describe sound.
Always wondered if it was worth getting the Classic again for using it into an amp.
Have you tried it this way?
Thanks!

Hi threm,

yes, it's the one that's called 'Classic' now. i must admit that I haven't used it too much yet, mainly because I like the PSA-1 so much. I use the PSA-1 mostly on bass, less often on guitar but you could easily put it before an amp too.
As far as the 'Classic' is concerned, I sometimes used it live with a small Fender Blues Junior amp. The sound you describe is indeed possible to get, in fact I tried it just yesterday (again with the Blues Junior) for a country-rock tune.
I don't particularily like the tiny buttons on the 'Classic', it's also sometimes too much to mess with the amps pre/post breakup along with the pedal setting, not even mentioning the options with pres, comps etc further down the recording chain.
Anyway, I don't think that you would need another 'Classic', the PSA-1 should work just fine in front of an amp.
My main use for this application though is a POD. I got some pretty nice sounds by going from the POD into an amp. What worked best was using mini amps like the Fender Mini Twin or Danelectro Honeytone. These can sound pretty mean when driven by the POD and then close-miked!


Andi

www.doorknocker.ch

[threm]

Thanks for the reply, Andi!

I'll try the PSA-1 into an amp tonight.
Yes, it's nice on bass to get a little crunch. Mine is wired to the patchbay on the mixer so it's quite easy run stuff through it and then just use the front input (overriding the rear input) for gtr, bass etc.
Talking about mini budget amps. Ruudman who posted earlier on this thread uses the 10" Vox Pathfinder. Sounds great.
I've gotten some nice sounds going through som ancient tube radios. The only place where I've used an Aphex Exciter with much success, to beef up the sound making the 5 or 6" speakers sound quite big.

[shikawkee]

My faves are the Fulltone Supa-Trem which I've found to be rich and creamy and easily adjusted and tweaked thanks to the speed switch and mix knob. For unobtrusive compression, a nice shimmer and a bit of bite, I find the Aphex Punch Factory to be ideal. I also dig the T-Rex compressor but that's a whole 'nother, more aggressive pedal. I tried a bunch and I was surprised how good the Aphex was. Good luck.

[sysexguy]

I'm a big biG BIG Analogman bi-comp fan!!!

On a recent session, another guitar player heard it and ordered one on the spot.....that being said, these things are very personal depending on style/feel etc.

The AM BC, Keeley, retro comp and a whole bunch of others all have roots in the trusty Red DynaComp.... just like having the Orange Squeezer sound as an option especially since it was pretty much on everything hard/fun to play in the pre VH days.

Tremolos are even more about the interaction between hands/instrument and amp.

2 on my shorts list are:

http://www.area51tubeaudiodesigns.com/bmt60deluxe.htm
haven't tried it yet, but I got one of their wah kits and I'm lovin' it...

http://www.catalinbread.com/pedals.html ......not out yet but if all the controls really do stuff and there isn't a loss of gain, I'm pulling out the VISA (again )

Andy

[willvis]

Tremelo---Demeter Tremulator or Danelectro (the cheap little yellow box). The Demeter is really nice and sounds like an old Fender amp. In addition, you get a couple of dBs of boost, to give you some presence while the tremelo is on. The Danelectro is my backup, but it is very uselful, though cheaply made (don't stomp on this plastic thingy)----it has a switch that allows you to choose a vintage amp type trem or a hard, squarewave trem.

Comp---Blue Boss Compressor pedal. I've had two for many many years. Virtually indestructible and, well, they sound like compressor pedals. I've used the Keeley and the Aphex and tried a few more boutique comp stompers, and of course I've owned several MXR Dyna Comps over the years. But until the Boss breaks, I'll be using it. And that may mean forever.

[Ruudman]

My newest pedal:



- 3 selectable waveforms
- tap tempo
- variable output gain
- rythm presets


Me like!


ruudman