Compressor help?

[fulltone1989]

Exactly, I need to upgrade the board itself too. PT-1 Hardcase for $129 at GC seems like a good ol deal to me!

I think you can get the PT-2 with a soft case for that same price.  More real estate for the future, and I don't know what kind of gigging our touring you are doing, but the softcase is great if you're staying local.  Even if I'm touring and packing the gear myself, I know I'm fine w/ my softcase, but I guess if you were to fly with it the hardcase would be a bonus.

Yeah I was thinking about that too. If I get anymore pedals it would definitely be a compressor (thinking the AM ross) and MAYBE the new (yet-to-be-released) Whammy V if I wait a while and find it used. I plan on using a VP on the ground and if needed, my RMC Wah too if I get more stuff.

I actually owned a PT-Pro for awhile with a SC but was difficult to deal with in terms of flimsyness and my knobs getting twisted (first world problem.)

GRANTED, the PT-Pro is a much larger and heavier board. I like the idea of a Hard Case for the PT-1 because it protects all my investments better than the SC did. I also picked up a great handtruck so hauling gear is easier and with the HC the PT and my DRRI can get to the car in one trip with my guitar. I just graduated so I am hoping to open up my gigging schedule. YMMV though that is just what I have encountered with the pedaltrains.

EDIT: Just checked GC and they are the same price, when I get to the store I will check on how sturdy it is.

[MomaDan]

Just got a Keeley 2 knob comp. Problem is even with the level at full it barely reaches unity volume on my amp. With a friend's Mesa Express every position sounded good and didnt choke the volume. I started tweaking the trimpots but that seems to quiet the comp a little more.

Heady I saw a thread on TGP where you had the same problem. Did you end up sending it back to Keeley to fix? That's a little discouraging considering its a brand new pedal, I'd rather not have to send it out. Unless shipping is free of course.

[Heady Jam Fan]

I sent it to Keeley once and they made a couple basic changes - it was the 'newest' circuit, but builders were forgetting one wire that was of minimal importance. They added the wire and said everything was functioning perfectly. Still had the problem after that and spent quite a bit of time on the phone with Robert who is a very nice guy. He tried out one or two in his shop with a few Gibson's (I was playing a Les Paul) and he got plenty of boost out of it (he was playing some Dead tunes which was cool). He wanted me to ship it back to them again, but I listed it on CList and explained the situation to the buyer who was still very thrilled with the pedal.

I find that many Ross clones don't have a ton of boost, but usually enough to stay at unity or give a little more. My Analogman had more volume, so did the Barber IIRC and my Retro Sonic has never run out of volume, though sometimes I have the volume knob maxed. Despite enjoying my conversations with Robert, I have read a couple threads with people having that problem and I think they shouldn't market the pedal as doubling as a clean boost - it makes it sound like it has more gain on tap than competitors and it does not. Great for Strats or Tele's with lower output (hence the Country players who love the Keeley), but I would suggest ditching it for a recent Analogman (since he changed the pot type on the sustain knob) or Retro Sonic. The Keeley would be the best if it had more volume since the input clipping knob is a great feature when using it after dirt. I can't imagine using the Keeley at line level (as their marketing suggests it can because of the clipping knob), that hot of a signal would lead to more compression and much less than unity output.

[MomaDan]

Yea in the instructions it says to turn down the sustain for a clean boost but as it is now that would never work. I literally just got it and first tried with my LP and the Mesa. Then I couldn't recreate those same sounds on the Vox. The Keeley just couldnt hit enough volume for me without cranking a TS. I'm gonna tweak some more and see if amp volume changes anything in the equation. Maybe I could try to trade the Keeley for a AM Ross, that might be my best bet right now. I wonder if there is a resistor that could be changed to increase volume. I'm gonna email RK to see what he says.

[Heady Jam Fan]

It can't hurt to get in touch with Keeley, but I don't think anything is wrong with your pedal. I can't recall the correct title of all of the LP models, but some of those reissues from specific years in the past have hotter pups. I think that slight increase in output is what results in more compression and less output available (compared to the Gibson LP's Robert was testing at his shop with typical PAF output).

The good thing is that nothing is wrong with the pedal IMO, so you don't have to feel bad about trading it - you just haven't bonded with it. Unfortunately, you haven't bonded with it.

PS - I don't think there is a resistor on the volume knob. Good idea to check on your part, but I can't imagine why they would do that, I don't remember it being the case, and I would expect Keeley would have decided to stop limiting the output volume once he realized people wanted more. In the mean time, I would suspect the best way to compensate is turning up the input volume on the amp.

[MomaDan]

Hmm strange  My Wolfetone's have much less output than the stock ones. Its like 13k to 8.5 with the swap. Maybe the increased bass response changes the squish characteristics but I dont know what that would have to do with the volume. Tomorrow I'll mess with the eq and ratio of top boost to clean volume to see if that helps at all. My theory right now is that the amp is a much bigger part in achieving tone with a compressor than guitar, or at least this comp.

[Heady Jam Fan]

Yea... good luck figured it out! I'll be interested in hearing if anything gives

One thing about resistance ratings - they apparently don't give as much information as people think / as much as companies imply it means. I have Joe Barden's in my Solid Body and the resistance would imply very low output (in fact, Barden doesn't share their resistance ratings for that reason, it can be misleading), but they pack quite a punch without the loss of top-end (as many pups do when they are higher output). Reminds me of Roy Buchannon's pup - wouldn't give an ohm reading, but produced a lauded tone that people have tried to emulate for years. After typing this, I realize this probably isn't helpful, but whatev...

[webephishin]

Heady Jam Fan, I just wanna say I lurke around these forums quite a bit and I love reading your posts- they are very informative and beneficial to a lot of the questions I have.  A lot of the times my questions are being answered before I need to even ask them.  With that said, you appear to have a TON of experience and knowledge with a lot of different pedals....I have my eye on the standard AM Comprossor and was wondering if you'd had any personal experience with it...basically what did you think of it? what's is pros and cons?  I'm excited to finally add a compressor to my rig because I think it will add more character, boldness and sustain to my higher notes on my lower e string higher up the fretboard!

[Heady Jam Fan]

Lol, thanks man! There are a lot of really well-informed people here and I learned a lot from them as well.

I have had a handful of Ross type compressors in the past two years or so, the Analogman was the first one I tried and looking back on it, one of my favorites as well.

I had an older version of the AM ComROSSor which had a different pot controlling the sustain, which resulted in significantly more compression from the get-go compared to other Ross clones. Since then, Mike started using different pots so the uptake is slower (meaning you can dial in a milder compression more easily). I think it is a great pedal and I think I would have liked it even more if I had one with the new potentiometers he started using (not sure when he made the change).

I have also owned the Barber Tone Press and Keeley 4 knob. The Keeley runs out of volume too quickly, but has a sweeter tone than the Barber or AM. The Barber was similar to the AM in a lot of ways (I had them at the same time, but about 2 years ago), but I didn't care for the blend knob and it was bigger than competitors (in Trey's use of a comp, it really helps to maintain volume from clean to mean, using a blend diminishes how well a comp can do this).

I am using the Retro Sonic now and I like it a lot. I think it has slightly more headroom than the others, I think I remember the Analogman having a little more volume on tap though. The RS also has a slightly sweeter tone like the Keeley.

Seems a lot of people here like the CMATMODS, which I have not tried, but their prices are usually very nice.

That being said, I would happily go back to an Analogman. Though I should admit I never owned a real Ross. People seem to like the Black Ross's as much as the Grey ones, so I tried to find a Black one for sale (costs significantly less) and I couldn't get my hands on one. AM says his clone sounds exactly the same as a Ross, and he uses NOS parts I believe, however people with a real Ross would argue there are differences. That could be their investment speaking, but I also suspect NOS is only half the battle at matching a vintage pedal, I think some magic happens when a pedal (and the components) are being used, hence not only the oldest, but sometimes the most beat up pedals sound the best (like Analogman's TS9 page that shows the most ragged TS9's that sound incredible - the difference between my two early 80's TS9's is pretty significant).

[sour d]

There is a bunch of info on the compressors on here all ready. Here is a link to some circuit pics of some of them.
http://strangedesign.org/forums/index.php?topic=1565.msg7771#msg7771

I have owned them all and there is nuthin like a real ross. Black or grey. Nothing NOS about those clone boards really. It's all about values and tolerances and the mojo that comes with aging I assume. I currently have 2 greys and a black that I won't part with. They don't all sound or perform the same. You notice the same thing when you start buying different tube screamers. In the end they are all just tools for you to sculpt "your" sound. People must have laughed at Trey when he put that $35 dollar compressor on his board. Then they heard him play through it..........

[IamWILSON]

I've mentioned it in here before, and I'll say it again about my really old Keeley 2-knob compressor.  When I switched from using modded ts9's to early 80's ts9's, the Keeley all of a sudden responded much better and had plenty of volume.  That leads me to believe that too much bass hitting the Keeley comp poorly effects the tone.  But with a standard tubescreamer (that cuts the bass and adds mids) it may be fine.

[MomaDan]

I've mentioned it in here before, and I'll say it again about my really old Keeley 2-knob compressor.  When I switched from using modded ts9's to early 80's ts9's, the Keeley all of a sudden responded much better and had plenty of volume.  That leads me to believe that too much bass hitting the Keeley comp poorly effects the tone.  But with a standard tubescreamer (that cuts the bass and adds mids) it may be fine.

The Keeley just doesn't work well with humbuckers but it worked perfectly with my strat. Too bad I really only use the Les Paul. It was exchanged for a Deja Vibe so I'm happy now. The volume drop turns out to be a pretty common issue from searching the forums.

[fulltone1989]

I use the CMATmods 3 knob and it has more than enough volume, underrated Ross clone IHMO.

[Happyorange27]

Yep never had a Ross but love my 2 know CMATMODS compressor.  I was using the sustain at 10 o'clock mostly but now have been using it closer to noon and 1.  Still plenty of dynamics when needed.

[fulltone1989]

Yep never had a Ross but love my 2 know CMATMODS compressor.  I was using the sustain at 10 o'clock mostly but now have been using it closer to noon and 1.  Still plenty of dynamics when needed.

I've have to try the comp w/ the sustain a bit higher on mine as I ran it on 10 and although it sounds awesome new settings are always fun to try. Do you find your two-knob dark at all?