compressors

[fastisgood]

I think it's time to go to and play some

I have to agree...within 7 days you could order it, receive it, play it, judge it, and send it back if you don't like it.

you gotta play it YOURSELF to know if it does what you want.

I think at this point in my life I have a pretty good idea of what to expect sound-wise and quality-wise from guitar products; I picked the Tone Press and Opto-Compulator because they appear to be the cream of the crop in pedal compression. So, here's the thing: the Tone Press gives the more subtle/unnoticable compression (due to the blend feature), but the Opto-Compulator seems to deliver the better compression, even though the entire signal is being compressed. While fattening/doubling my tone/sound is an interesting thought, parallel compression seems to be used (from what I've read) mostly to raise the signal while preserving dynamics. I know this may not sound very professional, but I'm not interested in preserving much in the way of dynamics. I'm sure you can squelch your dynamics with the tone press, but I'm pretty sure the results will be squishy (at least from what I've read). So, the Opto-Compulator seems to be the more logical choice. Really, I'd like to get both of them, but I don't want to develop tone/control o.c.d. . I'm sure both of them are great pedals and I'd be happy with either.

 

[GONZO-X]

well, you're right to do your homework, ask all the questions, and narrow it down.

but so many times, i've seen guys say 'that's what i want', based on what they've read...
only to get it in their hands, and go 'yuck!'

LOL

take the mxr dynacomp, for example:

you can get similar types of 'squish' out of the tone press....
but the tone press does not sound like a dynacomp at all.

now, some guys really like the sound of the dynacomp.....

so, ultimately, it's really subjective.

i hate not being able to try out everything that's available (especially the hand made shit)....

but if you can find a pedal maker, who is willing to give you a money back guarantee, or trial period, that's a pretty good deal.