Best Rated Compressor Pedals To Take A Look At

Last Updated: November 19, 2019

Have you ever thought about emulating some classic sounds featured in the rock and roll hall of fame? Compression adds character and distinction to your sound while beautifully enhancing it. It will make you stand out amidst your band/group, and should you decide to get your hands on one of these babies, you might just realize it’s the missing piece you’ve been looking for. We prepared a list of valuable pedals designed to suit your needs if you’re just starting out and thinking about your first pedal, or to match your taste if you’re already an experienced guitar virtuoso. Take a look and decide for yourself:

Top 10 Best Compression Pedals:

The Compression Effect

In order to explain compression, we must start by looking at its full name – Dynamic Range Compression, which adds more clarification when trying to fully comprehend it. The compression effect in guitar pedals evens out the signals in your sound wave, by reducing the volume of distinctive loud tones and increasing the volume of quiet tones, hence the “evens out” part. The desirable overall volume of your compressed signal can be pre-determined by controls and modifications, naturally featured on every single compression pedal. The most frequently met controls on modern compression pedals sometimes have different names, but they always maintain the same function. We will briefly explain them below: Threshold & Ratio – determining the compression threshold (measured in dB) e.g. at which point volume-wise you want your sound to be narrowed down or up, and various tweaks to it. Attack & Release – controlling how fast you want the compression effect to engage and/or disengage. Gain – adding artificial gain e.g. boost to your signal, bypassing the compression threshold.

Going Beyond The Definition

Compressors are a very interesting type of effect. For starters, they aren't as overt as some other pedals. When you plug in an overdrive stomp box into your signal chain, you will definitely know when it’s on. That isn't necessarily the case with compressors. We say necessarily because there are several schools of thought when it comes to this and we are about to look into the most dominant ones.

Compressor As A Tool

The most common way of using a compressor is to approach it as a tool that can iron out imperfections in your tone. When applied in this context, you won't hear a compressor in the mix. However, you will definitely notice when said compressor is taken out of the signal chain. Ironing out various spikes and dips in your tone can be extremely beneficial. Right off the bat none of this sounds like something a beginner would even want to use. While that might be true, it is worth mentioning that learning how to use compressors from the start can only bring benefits down the road. Here are some concrete scenarios where a simple compressor can really change the game for you. If you are fingerpicking a clean guitar or an acoustic guitar, having some compression in there can even out your picks and make them sound more uniform.. Those who are into fast picking will benefit even more. On the other hand, alternate picking on an electric guitar with a heavy distortion applied can also benefit from a compressor. In some ways, a compressor can cover some technique issues such as the intensity of attack on the string and so forth. In summary, it's not something that drastically alters the tone like a phaser pedal, but silent tool that irons out the quirks.

Compressors As Overt Effects

Now that we covered the actual purpose of compressors, lets talk a little about what compressors can do in the overt sense. When you set compression parameters so that you eliminate peaks but also boost that lacking low end, one interesting thing happens. You get boosted sustain. Since the pedal is working hard to keep those notes going, you can use a compressor as a sustain pedal without adding any other changes to your tone. This makes it a great tool to use with clean guitars and acoustic guitars.

Figuring Out Compressor Controls

Controls on an average compressor tend to be fairly simple. However, this also depends on the type of pedal you got. Compressors can be fairly complex, which has its benefits to say the least. Most basic compressors have two or three controls. First one is Level. This is the knob you use yo set the output of the pedal. Next comes the sustain knob which can be labeled differently depending on the pedal you own. Sustain allows you to set the amount of compression in the signal. These two represent the most basic control layout. In addition to Level and Sustain, you might run into Attack knobs. These are determining how quickly the compression is going to kick in. Again, there are more complex pedals on the market that allow for much more overall control.

Where Do Compressors Fit Into An Average Signal Chain?

Placement of compressors is fairly important if you want to get the best performance out of them. Since compressors are used to unwanted spikes and dips in the signal, they are almost exclusively placed at the very beginning of the signal chain. The only pedal you would want to put before a compressor is a tuner if you are using one in a pedal format. The reason for this is pretty simple. It is much easier to apply compression to a signal which is raw and pure of other effects. Once a guitar signal passes through five or six other effects, it would be much harder or even impossible for a compressor to sort it out. Even so, there are some applications which warrant that you put a compressor at the very end of the chain after a hot distortion and other pedals, but those are very rare.

Do You Really Need A Compressor Pedal?

This is a question which many guitar players are asking lately. The answer is going to depend largely on how you treat your guitar tone. Those who aren't that worried about imperfections in their tone may not find it useful to have a compressor as a part of their gear. On the other hand, those who are aiming for perfection will most definitely have a compressor pedal among other similar tools. When it comes to beginners who are just setting up their pedal boards, things are much simpler. Compressors are not something you need to think about in the beginning. Is it beneficial to knowhow to use one this early on in your journey? Sure, but it isn't crucial. Truth be told, there are many other more important pedals that you should cover before reaching compressors. The thing to remember is to actually look into compressors at some point.

Cheap VS High End

Choosing between cheap and expensive compressors comes down to what you need. Most guitar players who aren't familiar with this effect tend to start with something that is easy to work with and easy to understand. Such pedals are often fairly cheap. We can definitely recommend that you take this approach. It is much more beneficial to learn how to use a simple compressor. The last thing you want is to get one with all the bells and whistles, only to find yourself lost in all of the additional controls. Once you have figured things out and learned what kind of compression works best for your sound, then it might be a good time to consider some better and more expensive options. If you scratch the surface, you will find an abundance of awesome compressor pedals, many of which we have included on our top list. Just remember, once you start using a compressor, you won't be able to play without it.

Conclusion

That’s it for now as far as compression pedals are concerned. We featured some odd-balls and some staple classics, covering the needs of guitarists coming from various backgrounds. Don’t hesitate to check back here from time to time as we further enrich our list with worthy additions, our picks are carefully selected and offer the best balance in terms of price and quality.