What's a cool [ideally DIYable] compressor?

[Officer Bukowski]

I've been thinking of trying a compressor for a while now. At this point I don't really want to buy anything anymore so if there's something that's really rad and well documented with schematics and whatnot floating around that would be perfect.

So what is the most AWESOME compressor that fits my criteria?

Btw dunno if it matters but I usually leave my fuck overdrive on all the time so if it plays well with overdrive that would be sweet. Or maybe I'm mistaken about how they're used and you can set me straight.

[sylnau]

BYOC

[Officer Bukowski]

Those are too expensive for what I'm looking to do. I've got no problem sourcing parts and everything by myself I'm just wondering what everyone thinks is a cool well documented circuit.

The Orange Squeezer seems really popular but are they any good? I want something like REALLY good.

[hazelwould]

I'd poke around and see if you can find an older rack mount schematic. An with anything just add a blend. It makes a huge difference in how natural they can sound.

Or just get a BOSS.

[Officer Bukowski]

That's an interesting idea and I could definitely add a blend to any circuit. Thanks.

Any specific circuits come to mind?

[hazelwould]

That's an interesting idea and I could definitely add a blend to any circuit. Thanks.

Any specific circuits come to mind?

I think the most popular are the orange squeezer and the dynacomp.

[Officer Bukowski]

So I take it they're pretty rad since everyone's using them?

Cool thanks I'll check them out

[Officer Bukowski]

What do you guys think of the Mad Professor Forest Green Compressor?

That seems to be the fanciest one I can find good info on.

[sylnau]

At my local music store they said good thing about it.
You might also look at the circuit of the Diamond Compressor or the Barber Tone Press.

From my part, I can't really comment... I never use comp... I just don't like using them.

[amnesiac305]

What do you want a compressor for? Do you want it to color your tone or be fairly transparent? Which instrument?

For bass, my favorite compressor is the carl martin one. It sounds great and can be dialed in to add a little dirty.

Though, I don't really use compressors that often. Pretty much never on guitar.

[greyscales]

There are a few different types of compressors, electronically, that you may want to consider. Optical, IC, and transistor comps are the most common and easily DIYed. There are a few really simple comps that will sound just fine.
The Dyna Comp is pretty much the standard, I think. The Orange Squeezer is kind of limited in the amount of squish you can get. Personally I would go with a modded Dyna or John Hollis' Flat Line comp (check out Madbean's Afterlife board).

[Officer Bukowski]

What do you want a compressor for? Do you want it to color your tone or be fairly transparent? Which instrument?

For bass, my favorite compressor is the carl martin one. It sounds great and can be dialed in to add a little dirty.

Though, I don't really use compressors that often. Pretty much never on guitar.

First of all, woah. Is that picture in your avatar real?

I'm gonna be using it on a Telecaster. My friend said I would like one so I thought I'd try one. I thought it would be cool for a new song I'm working on where my guitar is clean and I need more sustain than I'm getting. I kinda just want to play around with a new effect too. Transparency is cool but if it changes the sound for the better that's even cooler.

Thanks for the advice everybody. I'm gonna check it all out, so far I think the forest green thing seems pretty appealing from what I've found

[greyscales]

Keep in mind that compressors don't always provide a ton of sustain, but just limit your dynamics so that playing lightly and playing aggressively are around the same volume. Naturally this lends towards sustain, but it also introduces noise into your signal if you compress too much.
But good luck on your quest. Compressors can be even more difficult to pick out than dirt pedals.

[Mike]

I have built two compressors-- the Orange Squeezer and the Demeter Compulator. Both are good.

The Orange Squeezer is a compression effect. All you get is a volume knob. There are no real controls over the typical things you want to control with compression-- attack, release, ratio, threshold, etc.. There are mods that can be done, but there are better options. Setup can be a bit fiddly. I do like it, though.

The Demeter Compulator is great. I use it constantly. It's opto-based, and needs a VTL5C10, if I recall correctly. I posted a layout at FSB that works great, and was really easy to build. It has a pre-gain control that acts as a threshold, a compression control that controls the ratio, and a volume control at the end. It is really transparent, and the opto-coupler means it is very unlikely to distort. It works equally well on guitar as it does on bass. Check it out.

Mike

[Helter]

If you can find a cheap boss cs-1, they are pretty cool and have a treble switch that the newer models don't, and that can totally change your sound and with reverb you can get the twangiest garage rock tone out of your tele.