Compressor Pedal Buying Guide
While compressor pedals may not seem as exciting as a new delay or tremolo pedal, the right compressor pedal can be the perfect way to enhance your guitar or bass tone. Compressor pedals are some of the most misunderstood signal processors among guitarists, partly because explaining what they do (reducing the dynamic range of your signal) doesn’t really portray what you’ll hear (a fatter signal with more consistent volume and tone). If you want to juice up your tone with bolder bass, enhanced sustain, and greater detail, one of the compressor pedals below is right for you.
Why Use a Compressor Pedal?
Acoustic, electric, and bass can all benefit from a compressor pedal. Compression "evens out" the dynamics of your signal, which means consistent volume that holds your place in a mix. In multitrack recording, most (if not all) individual tracks are compressed a bit, and then the whole mix is further compressed — it's the sound we're used to hearing whether we know it or not. For live performance, compression helps get you closer to "album quality" tone, but there's more to it than that.
For electric guitarists, compressors can help tame the output of spiky single-coil pickups, and fine-tune how their overdrive responds to their playing dynamics. Bass players can enhance their fundamental tones to create rock-solid bass tones, and reduce variations in volume for consistent, driving bass lines. Acoustic guitarists can use compression to "bring up" the softer, more delicate nuances of their instrument, especially ideal for fingerpicking and percussive styles. These are just a few examples: basically, a compressor pedal will make louder parts a bit less loud and bring up the volume of quieter parts, giving you more control and rewarding your listeners with more consistent sound.
MXR DYNA COMP MINI COMPRESSOR PEDAL
First introduced in 1972, the MXR Dyna Comp pedal is one of the most widely-used compressor pedals ever made. Today the MXR Dyna Comp Mini delivers the same iconic "squash" as the original, in a pedalboard-friendly format. Famous players like John Frusciante, Andy Summers, David Gilmour and many more have all tapped into the Dyna Comp for instant sonic enhancement.
As you may have guessed by some of the pro players we mentioned, the MXR Dyna Comp excels at taming single-coil pickups. Especially with Strats and Teles going into clean amplifiers, the MXR Dyna Comp makes it easy to smooth out your volume while also fattening up your tone. The MXR Dyna Comp Mini maintains the 2-knob simplicity of the original, and offers an Attack button that adjusts how quickly you hear the compression kicks in. Once you find the right setting for your gear and your play style, you'll never want to turn it off.
Why Players Love the MXR Dyna Comp Mini Pedal:
- Simple to use and doesn't take up much pedalboard space
- Easy way to make lackluster clean tones more exciting
- Enhances sustain without excessive noise or distortion
XOTIC SP COMPRESSOR PEDAL
The Xotic SP Compressor has become a popular compressor pedal for players in a wide range of genres including pro players like Chris Duarte, Brent Mason and Oz Noy. There are a few reasons the Xotic SP Compressor is such a versatile pedal. The interface is simple to dial in, but also appeals to tone tweakers with a set of internal DIP switches: open the pedal up and you can fine-tune the attack, release, and HF rolloff characteristics of the compression.
The Blend control is also a big reason players love the Xotic SP Compressor — by blending your dry tone with the compressed tone, you can enjoy the fatter tone while also retaining some of the lively dynamics of your dry tone. You can also run the Xotic SP Compressor at a higher voltage than 9V pedal allow, resulting in more headroom and top-end brightness. If you want a simple 2-knob compressor that gives you a lot more tone-tweaking potential than you'd expect, you'll be impressed with the Xotic SP Compressor.
Why Players Love the Xotic SP Compressor:
- Extremely transparent compression that doesn't color your sound
- Simple to operate while still offering deep control over compression characteristics
- Blend control allows you to balance the compressed sound with your dry sound to maintain dynamic interest
JHS PULP 'N' PEEL V4
If you've found it tricky to pair compression with subtle overdrive, the JHS Pulp 'N' Peel V4 compressor pedal was made for you. It packs a switchable overdrive circuit that ranges from warm harmonic enhancement to biting drive, without the increased noise and reduced articulation that compression can sometimes create when you run it into a separate overdrive. And even if you leave the overdrive off, the Pulp 'N' Peel's Blend and EQ controls give any guitar or bass a polished enhancement suitable for any style.
The JHS Pulp 'N' Peel compressor also stands out with its combination of 1/4-inch unbalanced output and balanced XLR output. Bass players could use just this pedal to go direct to the sound board or recording device, while maximizing punch, power, and harmonic content. And the output volume control has enough gain on tap to use the Pulp 'N' Peel as a clean boost for tube amps. However you use it, you'll be impressed with the JHS Pulp 'N' Peel compressor pedal.
Why Players Love the JHS Pulp 'N' Peel Compressor Pedal:
- Blend control helps retain the lively dynamics of your uncompressed signal
- Unbalanced 1/4-inch and balanced XLR outputs for versatility with electric, acoustic, and bass
- Switchable overdrive circuit with side-mounted gain control to prevent unwanted changes
FISHMAN AFX ACOUSTICOMP MINI
Acoustic-electric guitar in particular benefits from compression — but you should definitely use a compressor pedal made for acoustic guitar, otherwise your tone will suffer. The Fishman AFX AcoustiComp Mini pedal is designed specifically for the extended frequency range and dynamics of your acoustic guitar, with an ultra-simple two-knob interface that makes it easy to find your ideal sound. The AFX AcoustiComp Mini also supports Fishman's Dual Audio Path technology, which allows you to layer other AFX acoustic effects without compromising your core acoustic tone.
Why Players Love the Fishman AcoustiComp Mini Acoustic Compressor Pedal:
- Optimizes your tone for performance with easy-to-use controls
- Adds subtle sweetness, thickness and sustain to your tone
- Supports Fishman's Dual Path Technology for creating parallel effects paths
Want to learn more about the AFX AcoustiComp Mini? See our full article on Fishman AFX Acousticomp Mini Compressor Pedal
WAMPLER EGO COMPRESSOR PEDAL
The Wampler Ego Compressor pedal aims to give you transparent compression while maintaining the feel you're looking for. Depending on how you play, some compressor pedals may feel like they're pulling the life out of your performance: the Ego Compressor is designed to avoid that, with Attack and Blend controls. Dial in the Attack control so that your notes stay punchy without getting clamped down too much, and turn the Blend all the way up for a smooth and lively compressed tone. Or reduce the attack time to clamp everything down, and use the Blend control to balance that with the dynamics of your uncompressed tone. When it comes to keeping your tone consistent and under control, the Wampler Ego Compressor pedal gives you everything you need and nothing you don't.
Why Players Love the Wampler Ego Compressor Pedal:
- Attack control makes it easy to fine-tune the "sweet spot" of compression
- Blend control allows you to balance the compressed signal with your uncompressed tone
- Extremely transparent compression that can be shaped to your preferred "feel"
BOSS CP-1X COMPRESSOR PEDAL
If you're already familiar with studio compressors and compressor plug-ins, you'll feel right at home the BOSS CP-1X Compressor pedal. While some pedal companies get creative with the names of their controls, the CP-1X offers familiar controls for Level, Attack, Ratio, and Compression. What's more, you'll also find a dB level reduction meter to indicate precisely how much compression is being applied, a feature not normally found on stompbox compressors.
Also unique to the CP-1X Compressor is BOSS's MultiDimensional Processing (MDP), which purportedly analyzes your signal and applies frequency-based processing for "natural compression that intelligently follows and adapts to your playing". In practice, players report the CP-1X Compressor maintains their preferred "feel" even with heavy compression settings. If prefer the straightforward layout and metering of a studio compressor, but want it on your pedalboard, you'll be happy with the BOSS CP-1X Compressor Pedal.
Why Players Love the BOSS CP-1X Compressor Pedal:
- Natural-sounding compression that adapts to your playing
- Level Reduction meter shows you exactly how much compression is being applied
- Maintains your core tone even with extreme amounts of compression
ORIGIN EFFECTS CALI76 STACKED COMPRESSOR
Stacking two compressors is a time-proven studio technique to create ultra-polished guitar tones — use one compressor to tame the biggest volume spikes, and a second more subtle compressor to even out the performance and bring out low-level nuance. The Origin Effects Cali76 Stacked Compressor gives you all of this in a single pedal, and complete with a Blend control to bring in some of your uncompressed sound too.
The Cali76 combines attack and release into a single knob (one for each of the two compressors) which makes it easy to dial in a fast, punchy sound or a spongier, squishier tone. Use the Thru knob to determine how hard the first compressor drives the second — there's a lot of sonic territory to explore here. It's also worth noting the Cali76 Stacked Compressor internally increases the voltage to 24V for higher headroom, which also happens to make it suitable for use with line-level and even mic-level signals without introducing noise. Basically, the Cali76 Stacked Compressor gives you two studio-quality compressors in a single pedal, and it could be the key to your ideal tone.
Why Players Love the Origin Effects Cali76 Stacked Compressor Pedal:
- Dual-stage compression allows you to tame peaks and fatten tone without sacrificing nuance and feel
- Internally boosts voltage to 24V for higher headroom, also suitable for line-level and mic-level signals
- Allows you to enjoy extreme sustain and "squish" while balancing with your dry uncompressed sound
STRYMON COMPADRE DUAL VOICE COMPRESSOR & BOOST
In typical Strymon fashion, the Compadre Dual Voice Compressor & Boost pedal packs a surprising amount of tonal versatility in a relatively simple and streamlined format. As the name implies, the Compadre Dual Voice Compressor & Boost packs separate footswitches for Boost and Compression. The Boost circuit offers three selectable EQ curves (including a Flat option for clean boost), while the Compression circuit offers Studio and Squeeze modes. Studio is more transparent and precise, while Squeeze is heavier compression with lots of sustain.
The Compadre Dual Voice Compressor & Boost goes beyond a compressor's typical call of duty with an input for an expression pedal, allowing you to use it as a VCA-based volume pedal. It's also equipped for integration in modern production environments, with support for MIDI or Strymon's accessory switches to access hundreds of presets. If you're looking for a compression pedal that can give you a lot more than the basics, you should definitely check out the Compadre Dual Voice Compressor & Boost pedal.
Why Players Love the Strymon Compadre Dual Voice Compressor & Boost Pedal:
- Ultra-low noise even with heavy compression
- Switchable clean/dirty boost with 3 selectable EQ curves
- 2 distinct styles of compression with easy-to-use controls
A compressor pedal will make your tone fatter and more consistent, by taming sharp peaks while bringing up the low-level nuances of your performance. But where should you place your compressor pedal in your signal chain? Learn all about your signal chain with our No Fear Guides in our video.
