Compression pedal < 50$

[guitarplayer100]

Hi I'm looking for a new compression pedal which works fine and it's cheap. I've found there is T-Rex Tonebug Sustainer 60% off in my guitar shop so its only like 40$ now. Is it worth?

[Hecubus]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

For around $50 you can do better. The tonebug is really subtle to the point that it is almost undetectable. There are lots of choices and it really depends on what you want to use it for. If you want to squish your sound, I suggest a used Dynacomp or used Chicago Stompworks Squeezy or build your own orange squeezer clone (very easy first build). If you are looking to increase clean sustain or make chords more chimey, I suggest looking into something with a blend knob which will increase your price to about $80. If you are looking for the latter, I suggest a used Xotic SP or Pigtronix philosopher's tone.

[guitarplayer100]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

All these pedals are a bit pricey, MXR coasts more than 2x as much as T-Rex, the same with Boss so I'm looking for a bit cheaper stuff.

[Matt42]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

You can get the MXR Dyna Comp used on ebay for under $50 pretty easily.

I've heard decent things about the Joyo comp, but I've never played it myself. Joyo is a good option for cheaper pedals.

[Hecubus]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

I sold my MXR Dynacomp on Reverb for about $50 shipped and got my Philosophers Tone for $75 on ebay. If you shop used on ebay, craigslist, reverb, and even guitar center, good deals are out there.

[GuitarStv]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

Marshall used to make a decent compressor . . . the ED-1 . They sound decent, and there isn't much buzz around them. You could probably pick a used one up for next to nothing. Might be worth checking out.

[Snake Aces]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

You can definitely find a used Boss CS-3. It's a good comp, I love mine. Sure, it's not a rackmount, studio quality comp but for $50 or under the Boss CS-3 has never failed me for either guitar or bass.

On a side-note: I like my comp to be my one non-true bypass in my chain. It can be beneficial to have one buffer in your chain if you are using low output pickups like I do: http://www.gilmourish.com/?p=1611

[guitarplayer100]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

So, I'm buying comp pedal "again" and I think I'll go with Dyna Comp. When I was in local store trying out compressors I was suprised how ****ty T-Rex Sustainer really was so I tryed Boss CS-3, didn't like it, I tried T-Rex Comp Nova which was too expensive and I got Boss BD-2 at the end. The only problem is that Dyna Comp isn't in stock in my local store so I can't try it out. I'm looking for more like The Police sounds (with flanger of course when needed).

[marcboomer]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

I always regret using "going for cheaper" as my priority when buying anything for my rig. It's worth waiting and saving a bit longer so not to forever be thinking "I shoulda"....

[Chickenwings]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

joyo, danelectro, second hand boss, biyang, moen, second hand mxr
there are heaps.
Go to ebay and type in compressor pedal, then sort it so its listed with price and postage as lowest first and take your pick.

[Aceman]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

What are you using this compressor for? What purpose? Acoustic, electric, clean, dirty, recording, live, sustain, limiting, attack mods, boost….

All very important. Or do you want one just to have one?

[St_Genesius]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

Grab any ten compressors at random and like eight of them will be variations on the Ross circuit. It's probably the sound most guitarists think of when they think of comps, so it's a pretty decent place to start for your first one. $50 isn't going to go an especially long way, but there are some options: Ibanez CP5 being perhaps the cheapest I know of. You can get those all day for about $30 shipped.

But, as others have mentioned, shopping by price first isn't the best way to go about this. Even within the Ross-derived pedals, there's a very wide range of features, and only you can know which ones are important to you.

Looking at this list: https://reverb.com/marketplace/effec...rt=price%7Casc the cheapest one that I have personal experience with is the Boss CS3 at $65. Boss isn't a brand with a lot of internet forum cache, but that's a fine pedal. I notice that the SD Double Back is available for $85 shipped there too. That's a TON of pedal for the money. Second best pedal Duncan has ever made, imo.

[St_Genesius]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

Oh, uhhh, woops. I *may* have tossed a lowball offer on that Double Back...and it *may* have just been accepted. So...huh. Sorry about that. It was still more than $50, if that helps.

[jtougas]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

If anyone is wondering, this is the definition of "Orpheo'd"...

[St_Genesius]

Re: Compression pedal &lt; 50$

Well, not EXACTLY: it was over his budget and not something he'd expressed interest in. But...a little, yeah. I feel a little dickish.