Compressor pedal for someone who hates compressor pedals?

[Ev_O)))]

Accountant is quite nice. I played one briefly. Could;t get a "that sounds bad" moment.
My housemate has a Bearfoot Evergreen. Pretty aggressive but it nails the "there is a compressor on" tone, sounds marvelous between his strat and Hiwatt
I have had an Xotic SP, Diamond and Maxon CP-101. They were all cool. I don;t get the hype of the diamond. Too subtle.

I currently have a MIJ Boss LM-2. Shits on the above mentioned pedals save for the bearfoot in my opinion. Has a DBX VCA and a fucking great all round sound. Mine was $100 AUS. They would have to be cheaper in the US.

None of those have the parrallel options. The Empress is good for that, pretty awesome bit of gear that I nearly sprung for, but the LM-2 came up in a Facebook group and I've been stoked with it.

[Hypnodrone]

See if you can find a Carlin compressor clone. I hate compressors but this one is so transparent you forget it's on until you switch it off and your clean sound goes "meh ...". Can be a bit hissy on high settings.

[waltdogg]

The MXR Bass Compressor is an 1176 in pedal form.

[popvulture]

See if you can find a Carlin compressor clone. I hate compressors but this one is so transparent you forget it's on until you switch it off and your clean sound goes "meh ...". Can be a bit hissy on high settings.

I've talked to Creepy Fingers about making me one of those before. They sound REALLY good... I think anyone who's into Reine Fiske will find out about that thing and think "THAT MUST BE IT!" Funny, though—that compression sound always sounded pretty aggressive / colored, albeit in a good way. Really, really would like to get a chance to try one of those out.

I have the schematic for it, too. Might just try to build one once I get a little more savvy.

[rustywire]

Interesting Effectrode was brought up--I just bought their Vibe (which is insane). I'll have to check it out. I'd be concerned about the lack of blend, but then again their shit sounds so good...

I think a blend knob is superfluous for this design. The Effectrode is program dependent...and with Gain Reduction knob fully ccw/minimum the pedal functions as a tube boost, bypassing the compression altogether. The way it functions is kind of like a built-in blend control. From minimum setting upward, the first 25% is subtle in the best way possible...even in the more extreme "Limit" mode. I prefer "Comp" mode in general, as a fattener & pick attack softener...especially with bass. The internal trimpots allow tweaking of the attack time & the 'knee' of the compression (early units like mine only have a trimpot for attack time...which I didn't even touch until 2 years after owning it).

It replaced a Custom Comp (MXR) and there's been no going back.

[frigid midget]

The MXR Bass Compressor is an 1176 in pedal form.

I've been on the lookout for one of those myself. Can't find to find one that fits my budget though. With the current state of the canadian dollar, the Fairfield Accountant looks like a better bang for the buck atm, and it doesn't hurt that it's even easier to fit on a crammed pedalboard. Also, the MXR doesn't seem to be too able to pull of a squishy swell-like effect quite as good as the Accountant. Or at least that's the impression I get from the reviews and demos
MXR took some design inspiration from the classic Urei 1176 studio rackmount comp

Btw, this is pretty much my main guide when it comes to compressors:

http://www.ovnilab.com/reviews/mxrbass.shtml

The MXR gets a lot of praise there, but even though it might still be as close to a 1176 as a pedal can get, it seems like the comparison needs to be taken with a grain of salt...

"MXR took some design inspiration from the classic Urei 1176 studio rackmount comp.
II find the action is somewhat similar to the 1176, but more "clinical" and less "fluid"

[waltdogg]

The MXR is definitely more stiff sounding in its response than the real deal. But it's a better deal than some booteek comps and far better than most basic comp pedals. However with the CAN $ being so weak your landscape changes.

[Ruiner]

I have a Cali 76 and a Diamond SE

......... still don't know how to utilize them to their full potential.

[tremolo3]

is so transparent you forget it's on

[popvulture]

I have a Cali 76 and a Diamond SE

......... still don't know how to utilize them to their full potential.

TBH that's really my problem, too. I know how to use studio compressors fairly well, but pedal comps just seem so much more horsey to work with, or at least they are for me. It makes sense though—I mean, even a $400 pedal comp isn't going to be as nice sounding as a $2K studio piece.

Bottom line: pretty much every one I've tried has been too aggressive, thus the interest in some kind of parallel/blend situation. Luckily there's a store here that carries Origin. Empress and Effectrode, so I can A/B/C those. Another one carries Diamond, so I'll give that a look as well.

Frankly this topic has always eluded and therefore annoyed the piss out of me, so dammit I'm gonna figure it out, haha...

[rustywire]

I have a Cali 76 and a Diamond SE

......... still don't know how to utilize them to their full potential.

TBH that's really my problem, too. I know how to use studio compressors fairly well, but pedal comps just seem so much more horsey to work with, or at least they are for me. It makes sense though—I mean, even a $400 pedal comp isn't going to be as nice sounding as a $2K studio piece.

Bottom line: pretty much every one I've tried has been too aggressive, thus the interest in some kind of parallel/blend situation. Luckily there's a store here that carries Origin. Empress and Effectrode, so I can A/B/C those. Another one carries Diamond, so I'll give that a look as well.

Frankly this topic has always eluded and therefore annoyed the piss out of me, so dammit I'm gonna figure it out, haha...

Large text (for emphasis) was my exact reasoning in skipping the beautiful Cali76 pedals exactly 1 year ago to the week. I'm sure I would thoroughly enjoy owning and using one...but the (limited, transformer'd) ones I wanted were approaching $700 and out of stock so figured I might as well just get an actual UA 1176LN secondhand for a few hundred more. They can occasionally be found under 1000...and it was well worth it.
No pedal compressor has input AND output transformers...and capability for doing the variable bias "British-style" all-button-mode like the real thing. Granted it aint pedalboard friendly, but I would have mostly used the Cali76 as a studio compressor for drum machines/samplers/synths/bass/drums/vocals. Also because my tube mic pre is only good for about 40dB gain...putting the 1176 in tandem gives enough gain for dynamic mics needing 65+ like an SM7B...which is now on my shortlist

[popvulture]

Yeah I agree with you there—I'd love to have an 1176. I currently have an FMR RNP and a UA LA-610, the compressor side of which is a more velvety / soft type of compressor like a LA-2A. The FMR is no 1176, but it does do a good job of some snappier, more aggressive sound when I want it.

The thing is, still need one for the board. I went to a local shop yesterday and tried a few things, including some Cali76s. Results:

Effectrode PC-2A — Sounded great but it's not what I'm looking for. It's set up like an LA-2A, which is a damn beautiful compressor, but not one I'd use regularly on electric guitar. Need attack/release. Ratio would be great. All in all, too simple, sounded too gooey.

Wren & Cuff Gold Comp — I was really impressed with this one. I could get pretty subtle but effective compression all the way through noon on the comp knob, after which things started to get more pumpy. Definitely an option.

But... ugh, the Cali76 stuff. I was initially interested in the Compact Deluxe due to its size and control set—they didn't have one in stock, so I checked out the regular Compact. It was pretty damn good. That said, the fucking big one (the one they had in stock was the Germanium w/headroom knob on the back) sounded insanely excellent. There was quite a lot of wiggle room with the controls before I got into aggressive sounding compression, and even then it sounded much more usable than the standard throb you get on a more run of the mill guitar comp pedal.

TBH I was expecting this. Bigger box, better components, closer to a studio comp. But—expensive as balls, and fucking enormous.

My hate is still strong. Ugh.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

have u looked at any of the old dbx half racks? those are lovely too

[waltdogg]

Vintage DBX 160 plz.

[rustywire]

This is how you score an 1176LN for a deal http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Audio ... 1971771443
VU meter bulbs out = should go for under 1000. For w/e reason that drives many potential bidders away, like they cant be bothered changing a lightbulb...but I'm one to talk heh. My VU meter arrived dark & remains dark. In reading up on the unit, many users reported different behavior (in a good way) with the backlights illuminated and dark
The info is probably still there if you go looking, I've only had mine for a year now.

Anyway, interesting about the PC-2a being "too gooey"
I'm curious how the internal trimmers were set.
Presuming it's a v2, there were only 50 or so with the square corner enclosures & single internal trimmer for Attack.
Higher settings on my v1 do get kind of...velvety. But I wouldn't say gooey, and certainly not in Limiter mode.
Then again, I'm all about the more subtle Peak Reduction knob settings. Rarely past 11o'clock.
...but fwiw I'm a much bigger fan of using [the Effectrode] with bass, drum machine/sampler/synth, vocals than electric guitar.
It's exceptional with acoustics though