Colorful Compressor for DI guitar

[ratrod]

Hey y’all
Been doing a lot more direct recording lately. Playing quieter music as well.
I’m usually running a dirty compressed clean tone from my amp and hitting it with a cranked Rat. So when I play DI I’m missing that squash from the amp.
I know I could get an amp/cab sim pedal, but I don’t want to give up the full frequency response of direct injection.

SO

I’m thinking a compressor pedal with some gritty character could really fill out my sound. What compressors do you guys like on guitar in a DI situation?

[Inconuucl]

Preampy compression? The Accountant comes to mind, it use to be an always on pedal for me because it really love how it colored my sound.

[PeteeBee]

Came here to say accountant as well.

[shikawkee]

JPTR makes that saturation pedal now. Even in a mini. Could work?

[retinal orbita]

DOD Milk Box will definitely “colour” your tone (even though milk is white) and not difficult to come by. I absolutely love mine even if I’m hardly using compression in what I play now, I’d never sell it (or the Boss CS-2 which lives up to the hype).

However I play bass so maybe these don’t work as well with guitar? I dunno man. I am always on the lookout for the Milk Box with the fuckin’ UDDERS..... what a design!!!

[shikawkee]

Also a really good DI with great transformers will do the trick. If you wanna' go upscale Radial has that new big box DI that's made specifically for this purpose.

[ratrod]

I’m digging the size and simplicity of the Accountant, but not so much the price. Gotta check out that milk box!

[Inconuucl]

I’m digging the size and simplicity of the Accountant, but not so much the price. Gotta check out that milk box!

I just checked...It used to be half the price it is now, holy shit.

[retinal orbita]

Gotta check out that milk box!

Sheesh just looked it up on Reverb.... looks like the secret is out!!!

[ratrod]

JHS YouTube vlog must be stopped.

[neonblack]

Jeez. Came to recommend the Accountant as well but wtf that price.

I believe I paid $125 used for mine. This is like the third pedal this week where the price was drastically higher than last time I checked.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah I wanted an accountant recently till I saw the price. It does seem like they're significantly cheaper used but still, yeesh that new price!

[niftyprose]

I really like my DBX MC6, which is effectively a rackmount compressor in a small plastic box. They can often be found for stupidly cheap missing their weirdo 9.75Vac PSU. (That's AC, not DC, guys -- let's be careful out there -- and the secret no-one tells you is that the transformer from an old Hayes modem will work absolutely fine.) The DBX rackmount inheritance gives you access to some features that pedals don't usually provide, and no-one said you had to use sensible combinations of settings.

I will mention in passing that OvniLab is a fantastically knowledgeable resource but that my own tastes are about 180 degrees out of phase with those of its maintainer. Often, I like the compressors he doesn't for precisely the reasons he gives. He doesn't think much of the MC6. De gustibus...

[shikawkee]

This is the new Radial I was speaking of. It's got a "color" control and other features and a posh price. I hear it's great though:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... lsrc=aw.ds

[mcatano]

If you want to join the finer things club, check out the acme audio WB3.