Boss CS-3 Compressor with Monte Allums Opto Plus Mod

[Platefire]

I haven't had or used a bunch of compressors to know what's great, or whats not but I recently picked up the modded CS-3 and just really impressed with it. I always used them to record with but never could get one to really work for me in a live situation but this one has broke the ice. The most impressive thing about it to me is that it actually inspires me to stretch out beyond my normal bounds---haven't experienced that in a while so it's got my attention.

I wouldn't mind trying out a Wampler Ego Compressor. Maybe in time? I like the fast chicken picken with good bit of squash and sustain. Anybody else much into compressors? Platefire

[Ed_Chambley]

Oh yea!  imagine I said that with a deep vice.  There are basically 3 floor models with versions of each. The ross, the Dan Armstrong squeeze and the new optical. The diamond is an optical.


Designers who choose an optical circuit are not usually looking to squeeze.  The optical mod does not make the CS-3 a true optical.  The CS-3 is one of my favorites, but they can be noisy and the mod helps this a lot.  The optical makes everything sparkle for lack of a better word.  It enhances and I like this.  I even have a Joe Meek Floor Q.  They are huge, but they have a great open tone.  Not for the country squeeze.



The mix knob seems to be all the rage currently with the Ego and Barbar.  I have both, but not because of that.  I get them off Craigslist for cheep and try them for a while to see if I can find one I like better than the old Dynacomp.  I make a little pocket change selling them on Ebay.  The old Ego is the same as the new one except for the tone know which is useless to me.  A compressor of this type makes your sound have seeming more treble and the knob adds more.  I turned it all the way left and left it there.  I sold that one and bought an old one without it to keep.  Got it for $50


It is old and who wants that in a pedal.




They are different on other ways, like how they stack with other pedals.  The Keeley is my favorite, but I sold it because it does not stack well and becomes noisy if running into some overdrive pedals.  I know how to mod it to stop this, but they are so expensive I would not do it  Besides, there is not a lot of difference from it to the Dynacomp and they are so cheap, I decided to mod one of those.


The blend know is nothing more than a dual pot and as you turn it is sends more into the compressor section the less it is up the more it bypasses and goes straight to the output.  Hey wait, doesn't the Dynacomp do this without a blend knob simply by how much you turn up the sensitivity?  The level knob lets the available signal in and will also boost it.  All others do as well.  The orange squeeze simply does the same thing with one knob and offers no boost and a simpler circuit and works well for sustain in rock.  Marshall amps do not like too much boost, but they do sound great this way right before the meltdown.


I always have a compressor running.  Always.  Not to squash, but I do that too.  The Ross Style has the best squash tone to me.  I have had and still do have many.  Right now I have 3 I am using as I have 3 pedal boards.  I am using the Barber in my little board and it stacks well in front of a Paisley drive.  It is my country board and has a MXR carbon Copy, a HBP Chorus and a late 70's Boss Phaser for Waylon.  The Modulation is setup to fun through a loop.  All this sits on a mini pedaltrain.


My large board has 2 and one is Diamond optical and the other is a very modded Dynacomp.  Sparke or squeeze, whatever I need.  You can find Dan Armstrong squeezer circuit in many distortion/overdrive pedals of today or vary similar to it.  That is why I don't have one separate.


So yes, to answer you question.  I have used a compressor.

[smackoj]

I have experimented with several name brand comps. I found this DIY schemo on freestompboxes and will be building a 2nd one of these pdq. This type of opto comp is called an "is it on" effect. Shapes your sound without any mind blowing alterations. I like this type becuz it gives the tone a new dimension without doing away with the sound of your amp, guitar and playing style.

This is recommended for the intermediate and above diy'r cuz the led/light resistor have to be set just right and the container MUST be light tight.   

[Platefire]

Ed

Yelp! I would say you are the compressor man and that's just what I wanted to hear from someone that's had a lot of experience with different compressors out there and actually uses one. I have been doing a lot of research lately on it and the Dyna Comp comes up everywhere and apparently that was the standard in Nashville in the 70's/80's. Brent Mason I think is using the Ego. First compressor I got in the 80's was  the orange DOD. I guess it kinda worked ok but was so noisy I couldn't take it. I've got two rack mount old dbx's 163X and 266 stereo I use for recording. I picked up a used Route 66 OD/Comp about 8 years ago and have been using that compressor on my large pedal-board. Now I got the newer modded CS-3 on my small pedal-board at church. I have been generally leaving it on all the time---something I've never done before. On songs like "I'll Fly Away" & "He set me Free" you can do some serious chicken picking and the CS-3 works great for that. Sense your familiar with the so called opto mod on the CS-3 and the CS-3 has more controls than a dyna, can you set a modded CS-3 to sound like a dyna or do you just have to have a dyna to get its sound?

I almost bought one of those Joyo compressors that I understand is a Ross clone but the reviews said it wasn't very good at squashing. I've got a Joyo Vintage OD that's pretty good. I'm very curious about the dyna and may try to pick one up cheap. I may need to hang out on Craigslist a while and see what turns up. Thanks for all the info, that helps. Platefire

[Platefire]

smackoj

Somehow I've avoided working on or building pedals so far. The small PCB boards with the super small delicate solder joints has scared me away. My old eyes have a hard time also with micro electronics. I really need someone to teach me how to properly solder these small joints without destroying things. I guess I just need to mod one or build one to break the ice.

On the Boss CS-3 I got was an opto mod that my Son gave me that he had attempted to install about a year ago that he couldn't get to work. I just set it up in the closet and only now took it out tested/probed the PCB  live and when I touched a resistor it started working. I tried re-floating the resistor solder joints and it still wouldn't stay on. I then de-soldered both joints, re-soldered it and still wouldn't work. It wasn't getting continuity from one leg of the resistor through the trace to the next joint. I ended up getting it working by installing a jumper wire between the two connections to bypass that trace. I think I may have destroyed that trace with my much soldering!? Anyway that's the story on that, the first pedal I've ever worked on.

Let me know how your DIY build turns out. My use of a compressor is kind of like a distortion pedal to get that sustain and sensitivity except with a clean sound instead of distorted. I like the idea of maintaining the sound of your guitar and amp in the process and not coloring it away. Platefire

[Platefire]

Well on the modded CS-3 I've been wanting a compressor I could really fall in love with even though I didn't fork a lot of money out to try all the latest comps to find it, this one kind of fell in my lap for free. The Lord works in mysterious ways! I'll be happy for now with this comp breakthrough and spend some serious time learning how to tweak it to get the most out of it for my purposes. I will have my eye out on high end compressors possibly with a blend knob for a little more control. Platefire

[Ed_Chambley]

Well on the modded CS-3 I've been wanting a compressor I could really fall in love with even though I didn't fork a lot of money out to try all the latest comps to find it, this one kind of fell in my lap for free. The Lord works in mysterious ways! I'll be happy for now with this comp breakthrough and spend some serious time learning how to tweak it to get the most out of it for my purposes. I will have my eye out on high end compressors possibly with a blend knob for a little more control. Platefire

That compressor you have is really nice.  The blend knob is not a big deal.  The Keeley is one of the best and it does not have a blend knob.  If you want one, go with the Barber for a nice squash and bypass.  I prefer the older Ego to the new one.  As I said, the only difference is the tone control and it makes the pedal too bright.


If you can find a place that has a Keeley, go try it.  With the CS-3, the Keeley will offer a nice alternative.

[Platefire]

Thanks Ed

Appreciate your help on this. You've made me aware of some good compressors I've never even heard of. My son uses a SL(or S&L can't remember) comp with a blend knob that he likes a lot and leaves it on all the time.
I did a search and couldn't find it. I've seen a lot of good reports on the Keeley you have mentioned in my comp research lately and curious enough to want to try one out. I'll have to look up the Barber. My hearing is getting worse so I think use of a compressor to get the kind of sensitivity I like at a lower volume is a step in the right direction. I listened to a player a while back that was a little too loud and to me it was uncomfortable and took the pleasure out of hearing him--so I don't want to be found doing the same thing to my listeners. Platefire

[thermion]

I use a joemeek MQ3 some, it's got a lot of control over compression parameters plus an onboard eq and it'll take an XLR or 1/4". I like the sound of it alot but it can't handle a big input level with out breaking up, say from hot humbuckers and a line buffer. It's a single channel miracle in a box for mics however...this into my parallel 6sl7 line driver actually makes me want to improve my singing!
I recently bought a strymon OB.1 to overcome the input level problem so I could use a compressor live. It's optical, not a DSP modeller like all their other gear, and is really quite lovely and can handle big input no problem. Nice sheen and sparkle, really brings the sound "forward" if that makes any sense but pretty limited controls. It also has a switchable clean boost, so that's handy.
My long-time guitar bud has had an EHX soul preacher forever, and uses it all the time. It sounds good but it pretty noisy, definately a rock n roll pedal. It's also real picky about how you power it (noise).
Looks like Xotic has a new compressor out, it's an OTA circuit (like Ross). Probably pretty good...
Happy hunting!

[Platefire]

I played my Route 66 OD/Comp tonight. I did a little research after the jam and the Route 66 compressor is suppose to be able to sound like a Dyna or a Ross. It has Sustain/Tone/Gain. Had to turn the sustain up almost 100% to get what I wanted. Here I was thinking of getting a MRX Dyna and didn't know I had a clone already.
The Route 66 can't squash effectively as much as the CS-3 but by turning the attack up on the CS-3, think you could make it sound a lot like the 66. The 66 has more sustain than squash--seems like! Platefire

BTW-Here is a link to a page with a lot of the main comps available--some are missing:

http://www.pedalspluseffectswarehouse.com/Compression_s/45.htm

[Ed_Chambley]

I played my Route 66 OD/Comp tonight. I did a little research after the jam and the Route 66 compressor is suppose to be able to sound like a Dyna or a Ross. It has Sustain/Tone/Gain. Had to turn the sustain up almost 100% to get what I wanted. Here I was thinking of getting a MRX Dyna and didn't know I had a clone already.
The Route 66 can't squash effectively as much as the CS-3 but by turning the attack up on the CS-3, think you could make it sound a lot like the 66. The 66 has more sustain than squash--seems like! Platefire

BTW-Here is a link to a page with a lot of the main comps available--some are missing:

http://www.pedalspluseffectswarehouse.com/Compression_s/45.htm

Get a DynaComp off EBAY for cheep.  You will quickly see why everyone who knows how to use a compressor has one they keep.  I still have mine and sold my Keeley.
It has not left my mind since you started this thread as so I am going by a place today that has them.  I prefer the 2 knob to the 4 knob.  They are exactly the same as the 2 knob version has the other 2 adjustments inside,  For my style I do not need change them as I never use a Keeley with Humblukers.
My favorite for humbuckers is the Diamond and other optical.


There is great confusion over compressors because of the thing called a limiter.  In studio gear as well as vocal the 3:1 setting and soft knee as opposed to hard knee are all limiting factors and do tend to put s ceiling on the overall sound and if used on guitar will remove that delicate interaction of the dynamic an experienced player can do with their hands.


Squash is an effect and useful  when wanting to enhance that clucking sound chicken pickin.  Here you really are limiting.  Most players will get a pedal like a dynacomp and urn it up so they can hear a difference while plucking.  This approach makes the compressor too heavy when the player begins to play.  If someone familiar with a good compressor sets it for the player while they are playing, they will not notice the compressor until they turn it off.  That is the way it should work.


The Route 66 is not a Dynacomp.  It is it's own version of the ross circuit, but shares components.  It is a cool pedal, but I found it to be lacking a tad in both areas.


If you can get a Dunacomp, any one of them and get it cheap.  Check out this:
http://www.jhspedals.com/products/mod-shop/mxr-dyna-comp-dyna-ross/


Whole dynacomp modded to ross which is funny because a Ross was made from copying a dynacomp.  Go figure.  YOu can hear the difference.  I have pedals I collect and do not use on my board.  The Ross I have does not respond as well as a DunaComp, never did.  Not even the new ones.  Not even script.  The block will do just fine and the amp has a lot to do with the compressor.


I have a friend who uses a DS-3 with the attached mod and it was simple to do and helped with noise and stacking.  Noise is your enemy in compressors because you want them uofront


http://www.lynx.bc.ca/~jc/pedalsDynacomp.html
Another cool page.

[Platefire]

Thanks Ed

Everyone says the Keeley is the holy grail---and you sold yours? Well I'm kind of a tight old codger and I would have to really be sold on something to give $200+ for it new. Of course you can always turn it over on e-bay and maybe get most of your money back. 

I'll keep looking at the Dyna comps. You can get them new at around $70.00 or maybe a little less but most of the used prices I've followed on e-bay end up about $50.00 by final bid. If I can't find one at about half new or less, I feel I haven't got a good deal. To pay $50 for used, I had just as soon go ahead pay the extra $20. and buy new. I'll keep looking and try to net in that good deal. Sometime a "buy in now" comes in at a good price but you have to catch it quickly because it won't last long. Since the dyna is kind of a standard, I would like to try it myself. Sounds like VS 66 just tried to go for a little of dyna and a little of ross and didn't get either one solid.

Have you ever tired the Keeley 2 knob?? Just wondering. Platefire

[Ed_Chambley]

I wish I hadn't sold the Keeley, but none of my overdrive pedals followed it very well.  I have a Catlinbread  No5 which I dearly love.  Runs off 18 volts, but will run off 9.  Running in on 18 volts the thing sounds really great.  I also have a Paisley drive and a whole lot more, but these are my go to pedals.  They were just too noisy and I tried different arrangements and did not like any.  Even my Keeley Fuzz Head was noisy and I am not talking slightly.

That is the only thing, but it was a deal breaker for me.  I tried a buffer, no deal.  I have an Xotic BB+ which id a dual pedal and a RC booster and it stacked well with both of them.  I tried the keeley just after any of the pedals and it worked fine, but I do not like to send overdrive into a compressor and I do not like to turn my compressor off.   I hate pedal dancing.

I am with you, $200+ is a lot and I know exactly how to mod the keeley and called them about it and was told if I change the impedance, I will change the pedal.  They are aware the pedal does this, but it is something you have to live with to have the compressor.  It is the nicest stomp compressor I have ever used barring the stacking.

Sorry to respond so much, but I love compression and really like it when others are testing them.

I took an old Dynacomp I got for $20 and just replaced all the caps in it with high quality ones and I really like it.  Right this minute I am using the Barber tone press.  Nice pedal, but it is too big and it needs to put the jacks on the top.  I mentioned it to David Barber and he said it could be done, but he was not making any that way.

Really try to test the Keeley.  I believe you will like it.  Keep in mind the CS-3 IMO is a great pedal and it sustains as good as any, except for the keeley.  I am bidding on one right now.  What happened is I wanted to try some others and I got mad at the keeley and sold it.  Used the money to get the Barber.

[Platefire]

This is my large pedal-board and is really simple. Signal goes into a DIY true bypass Looper with only two loops. Loop one goes through the boss tuner, Route 66, Dunlap Stereo tremolo/pan, Boss Super Chorus and Line 6 Delay Modeler. Loop #2 goes through a Digitech RP-55 only. I only use the little processor for reverbs for my non-reverb DIY amps.

The small pedal-board is just a Digitech Jamman with a Direct box and power supply. I have about 50 backup tracks recorded on there that I plug into a PA set and use it like a one man band mostly to practice with. I have used it live on occasion. You just have to have the jamman strong in your personal monitor for your reference. If the volume gets to low, you loose your point of reference and your lost. 

I have another small pedal-board (not pictured)I use at church that has the CS-3, Joyo Vintage Overdrive, old 80's DOD analog delay pedal and a Dano Cool Cat Tremolo.

EDIT: I bid on a late 90's dyna that closes today. I'll let you know how I came out.  http://www.ebay.com/itm/261447198033?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649


I'm keeping my eye out on e-bay for a while so if a good deal pops up on a dyna or keeley, I can close in. Hope your able to nail that Keeley and bring it back home. Platefire

[Platefire]

Hay Ed

I just snagged a barley used dyna for $40 + $5.95 Shipping on a "Buy it Now".

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251504733461?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

[Ed_Chambley]

Hay Ed

I just snagged a barley used dyna for $40 + $5.95 Shipping on a "Buy it Now".

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251504733461?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

That is a good deal and usually how I get mine.  It looks brand new.  If I get one like this, I can usually auction and make a couple bucks.  I don't think you will get rid of it tho.  After all the pedals I have bought and sold, I have always kept a Dyna Comp.  This one sure looks better than mine.


Now you have the standard and can hear the differences other makers have done when you try them.

[Platefire]

Yep, after the research on e-bay I've done lately I knew that was a definate go and didn't hesitate. Also along with my research I've read where the modern version is inferior to the vintage script logo or the big block logos but as nice as a vintage piece is along with it's big vintage price I think the RI still will have the initial original circuit intact for me to hear. Looking forward to running it through the paces. Platefire

[Platefire]

Got the dyna in today. Man that thing is like brand new---nice! Everything works fine. I've been around the dial on the sensitivity and seems like I end up about 12:00 oclock every time. Has about the right amount of duck and sustain there. The output knob brings up a lot of volume. It might make an effective clean boost with the sensitivity down. I've read where these comps make a lot of noise but I haven't noticed any on my testing so far. I'm trying to determine how much coloration it's added--seems like it's thickening it up a bit--but hard to tell---not much change. So this is the one that started it all! I'll be looking forward to using it with my church group. Compressor School 101--har. Thanks, Platefire

EDIT: Another good setting is sensitivity at 9:00 and volume at 1:00. This retains almost all of your original dynamics, adds sustain, thickens your sound and levels it at the same volume level as with the pedal off but all the ice pick peaks are leveled/fattened. I think this would be a good setting to leave on all the time just playing clean or with any other pedal. Think I'm beginning to see the beauty of the dyna. 

[Ed_Chambley]

Got the dyna in today. Man that thing is like brand new---nice! Everything works fine. I've been around the dial on the sensitivity and seems like I end up about 12:00 oclock every time. Has about the right amount of duck and sustain there. The output knob brings up a lot of volume. It might make an effective clean boost with the sensitivity down. I've read where these comps make a lot of noise but I haven't noticed any on my testing so far. I'm trying to determine how much coloration it's added--seems like it's thickening it up a bit--but hard to tell---not much change. So this is the one that started it all! I'll be looking forward to using it with my church group. Compressor School 101--har. Thanks, Platefire

EDIT: Another good setting is sensitivity at 9:00 and volume at 1:00. This retains almost all of your original dynamics, adds sustain, thickens your sound and levels it at the same volume level as with the pedal off but all the ice pick peaks are leveled/fattened. I think this would be a good setting to leave on all the time just playing clean or with any other pedal. Think I'm beginning to see the beauty of the dyna. 

The most common setting on the Dyna Comp is called cat eyes.  That is 3 on the level and 9 on sensitivity as the pedal looks like it has cat eyes.  This is the most popular set and forget setting.  I see you have already found this, or very close.  The pots vary some between pedals, but what you are describing is where I tend to use it mostly.


I roll the level up all the way often with with my foot to five me a little boost.
I have heard the noise thing, but never noticed it.  Other compressors seem to be more noisy.  I know they are not as noisy as the CS-3, but after the mod they are supposed to be quiet.   I am sure yours is since you did not notice.


Be careful as they are addictive.  They do not do a lot which is readily noticeable like a overdrive, however they make your guitar feel different and each good one does this in a different way.  That i why I have so many different ones and am trading them around a lot.


Still trying to get another Keeley.  No luck yet.  Gals you like yours.  It looked new in the ad.

[Platefire]

Today I've had the thought of two compressors side by side. One at a general leveling setting and one at a squash setting. Have you ever tried that? I've noticed that with my compressor set to a  squash setting it effects my vibrato operation, so I have to turn it off for that but with the dyna on the cat eyes setting the vibrato works fine.

[Ed_Chambley]

Today I've had the thought of two compressors side by side. One at a general leveling setting and one at a squash setting. Have you ever tried that? I've noticed that with my compressor set to a  squash setting it effects my vibrato operation, so I have to turn it off for that but with the dyna on the cat eyes setting the vibrato works fine.

If you mean 1 after the other stacked, usually you will get noise.  In my medium board I have 2.  I have one after a volume pedal, I have no Wah pedals at all, but before drive pedals.  The second is a optical and is after an Anaolgman modded Boss EQ and runs into a few modualtion pedals.  I use this for amps that have no built ins like reverb or tremolo so these pedals are on this board along with echo, flanger, phaser, pitch shifter, well there is a lot.  I use the EQ to EQ the modualtion pedals and to boost into a passive loop.  The optical enhances these pedals and also keeps them in check.  A lot of modulation pedals simply have too much effect for me.  I also always have a small amp as well and if it doesn't sound right I turn on the small amp and run my modualtion section into it.  The amp I am using basically a Push Pull single 10, 2 6v6 with values of a twin, but no tone stack, just volume and it is only about 10 watts.  It is very small and usually I plug the power cord it right into my other amp I am using.  Most of the time these days it is a BlackFace Deluxe.  I don't want to install a loop in the Deluxe, plus I have found if I have a lot of modulation pedals it just sounds better if my wet signal is coming from another amp.


This comes from is a playing big stereo rigs.  IMO, stereo rigs sound much better with 2, 4 12 bottom Marshall cabs, but who wants to carry this anymore to play small rooms and at church it is just not necessary at all.  I do have it setup at church tho.  The youth christian rockers let the old man jam with them some.  They think it's cool an old dude will crank it and peel paint.  It is a load of fun and I try to help them when I have time.  They are great kids even if I cant understand the words they sing.

[Platefire]

Har! My youngest daughter came in yesterday, so I got grandchildren staying a few days. Had to put up all guitars, amps, effects and get everything breakable out of reach. I've tried to respond to this post several times but get interrupted before I can get though, so I guess I'll hang it up temporarily and just enjoy my grandchildren. Maybe after all go to bed  Platefire

[Willabe]

just enjoy my grandchildren.

Now your talkin!


              Brad     

[Platefire]

Well it's almost midnight, I might make a stab at it.

Interesting that your playing through a small 6V6 PP. I've been playing through my modded ST 1482 lately which is a downsize from what I've been using. Trying to get into a more friendly vol level--12 to 15 watts. I think the doubled compressors would work alright as long as I cut my leveler compressor off before kicking in the squasher.  Might give it a shot to see what gives. You must have gone through some careful deliberation to have your pedal-board arranged as you described. I haven't got near as many pedals work in, so mine is a little simpler. As I recall our church stage isn't but about 8' deep--and my rig is located pretty close to the pulpit, so I try to keep it simple so the preacher won't be stepping all over my pedals during his sermon. I also do a section of praise and worship with my acoustic---so I do some lead work when our bass player leads P & W and go to acoustic when I lead P & W. That's no fair you getting to play with the young folks---that's double dipping!  wish it was me. We actually don't have young folks at our church--so you are blessed.

I used a stereo rig only one time for a brief period. Liked the sound. It wasn't my rig so when the situation changed, I was busted back down to mono. Just to play though two amps in unison sounds pretty cool. I now generally play through just a single 12" mostly.

Got to go to bed. Happy Easter! Platefire

[Platefire]

Don't know that anybody would be interested in this, but I did an A/B test with the MXR Dyna comp and the Allums modded CS-3 to match the CS-3's sound/response with the dyna comp Snake eye setting which on the dyna is lev=3:00 Oclock and sus=9:00 Oclock. As Ed pointed out this is a popular setting on this comp and I have found I like it. So here I tried to match it close as possible.

So after a lot of listening and tweaking, I think these setting will get you in the ball park:

Level=9:00, Tone=12:00, Attack=11:30, Sustain=10:00(Boss CS-3 Allums opto mod=MXR dyna snake eyes setting)

EDIT: Went back re-did the first A/B tweaking session and came up with the same settings again. So beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this may not have any value to anyone but is now documented just in case it would.

[smackoj]

hey Plate, good to hear you are finding the sweet spot on those comps.     I got away from the comps at present and have been concentrating on SS preamp designs. I found this one a few days ago on a new forum I joined (ssguitar.com0 and it's a total winner. One nice 'coincidence' of this preamp is that it has natural compression and makes my strat sound Stevie Ray V. transparent. Here is a copy of the schemo for the Phabbtone preamp from Phil Abbott (an Aussie of all things!)

smacko jack

p.s. the trick to building on the small boards for me (I'm gettin' old too) is I use a small pencil tipped solder iron and some of the small diameter solder. Once you do a couple boards you learn quick that it only takes a few seconds to get a good, small solder joint.   

[smackoj]

I was cruisin' the freestompboxes.org site and found this link to a full on blog about compressors and some comparisons between them. Enjoy.
 

www.ovnilab.com 

[Platefire]

Hay! Pretty cool on the site with reviews on all the compressors. I once had a TC Electronics Sustainer/EQ----now that was a pedal! It doesn't really function as a compressor but is a sustainer that does sing.

Hard to say rather it will last but right now I like the compressor on all the time. I will switch it off every now and then thinking I will not use compressor on this song, but end up switching it back on again. You get it tweaked just right, it does great things. Platefire

[smackoj]

quote:  You get it tweaked just right, it does great things

I think that's one of the great movie lines that got left on the cutting room floor when they edited Tom Hanks and 'Apollo 13'  gasp!

Here is a second version of the Really Cheap Compressor that I think is a better 'mousetrap'

[Platefire]

Did you build one of these? I can only see a level and compression controls on the schematic. Platefire

[TeslaRect5150]

A few months ago I was cruisin' the forum here and ended up reading a thread about side-chain tube compressors. I thought I should try making one with transistors. So, blindly pushing forward with very little research I started soldering parts together for this "compressor."  I recently started messing with transistors, and while getting to know them I pieced together a couple fuzz pedals and boosters but wasn't too impressed with them.
I have no idea what a compressor is suppose to sound like...I have never plugged into one before. After trying out my "compressor" I thought it might have been working.   
After reviewing more schematics of SS compressors, reading R.G. Keens tech stuff, and reading some at a forum dedicated to pedals. I realized my original thought wasn't too crazy, but for sure wasn't RIGHT or that original. I changed some things on my "compressor." Still not totally sure it's right...
I had read through this thread a couple times and thought yall might be interested in taking a look at my schematics. I just downloaded ExpressSCH. a couple days ago, and am having a blast making schematics!
Still not sure if these are compressing. Still just trying to understand SS stuff in general anyway. They don't sound half bad when I play through them. Definitely adds a little something to the feel/tone. I get some distortion sometimes when picking hard. It seems like running them on 12v helped the headroom a bit.


Peace be da journey, 
Aaron

[Platefire]

What a compressor does is really hard to explain if you've never used one---but it leaves your tone clean but effects sustain, picking dynamics and can level your overall sound where all the notes are the same volume. 

I don't know what is changed in me but I've messed around with compressors for years but never could warm up to them but now I leave my compressor running all the time. I like having a nice level of sustain for lead playing that you can plainly hear but not blowing everybody out. Also good for curing ice pick tone. It all started when I got my hands on a Boss CS-3 that my Son had modified---now it's a must have! Platefire

[alerich]

I don't use a compressor in my dirty rig but I like having one in my clean rig. I like the little snap or pop that it gives to the tone. I don't go for the big compression effect. I like it subtle. Just enough that you can discern a difference if its on but not for the big effect. I use a Boss CS-3. It was really noisy (especially the sustain feature) so I did the Monte Allums "Opto Plus" mod to it. It quieted the pedal down very nicely. It's an always on effect for me. My pedal chain is Boss TU-2 tuner > CS-3 > Jetter Red² > Electra Chorus > Boss DD-7 > Dunlop Rotovibe > Fender Princeton Reverb RI.

[Platefire]

What I did with my Boss CS-3 with the "opto Mod" was A/B it with my Dyna Comp in the snake eyes position(level=3:00/Comp=9:00). I like the way the dyna comp works in that position. So I kept tweaking the CS-3 controls until the sound/response matched the dyna/snake eyes setting. I don't like my guitar to make a deep"duck" when I slam a note and this setting has more the natural feel of plugging direct in an amp but adds an element of sustain that is just great with soloing. Also something that I've been doing this weekend that I loved the results is keeping the compressor on when I turn my vintage OD on. I was turning the comp off when I turned the OD on, but like It much better with the comp on. Also something the CS-3 does I like is similar to a good distortion pedal---you back off the guitar volume and it cleans up and guitar vol full up you get the full effect--well the Boss does that too where the sustain is minimum a low guitar vol but a top G vol the sustain is full blown. Good stuff! Platefire

[mictester]

I have experimented with several name brand comps. I found this DIY schemo on freestompboxes and will be building a 2nd one of these pdq. This type of opto comp is called an "is it on" effect. Shapes your sound without any mind blowing alterations. I like this type becuz it gives the tone a new dimension without doing away with the sound of your amp, guitar and playing style.

This is recommended for the intermediate and above diy'r cuz the led/light resistor have to be set just right and the container MUST be light tight.   

I was the original designer of that pedal.  It's actually really easy to assemble - the LEDs and opto just have to be close to each other, so that the light from the LEDs illuminates the face of the opto-resistor.  You can pint the parts at each other then wrap black electrical tape around them to keep the light out (for testing), but when it's in the usual small diecast box, it's completely dark in there as long as the lid is on! 

One mistake people have made is to have light bleeding from the back of an indicator LED into the box - this can reduce the range of compression, so paint the back of any indicator LED with black marker or (better) a drop of black paint.

You'll see that there are a couple of capacitors in parallel - that was because there seemed to be a shortage of 15n caps at the time I was working on this!

There is a small improvement to be had by adding a capacitor in parallel with the input resistor to give some "top boost", and then put another capacitor across the volume pot to remove the extra treble (unless you want bright jangle!).  This will help to tame any hiss that your op-amp might be giving.

This circuit tends to retain the attack of each note because of the fairly slow reaction of the opto-resistor, but the sustain is quite remarkable even with guitars renowned for poor sustain!  It's not a hugely obvious effect, but it does make the guitar seem "livelier" to play, and more sensitive.  Many players don't notice the effect until it's turned off - they then want it back on immediately!

It's quiet enough (using a TL072) for studio use, and doesn't add any distortion.  Some "high gain" players like it before their distortion box of choice to make the sustain almost endless!  Have fun.

If you have any questions about the circuit, feel free to ask.