Best Compressor Pedal For Guitar (2024 Update)

I bought this compression pedal to boost my acoustic signal as well as fatten the sound a bit. I love the size as it fits on my board perfectly. I leave it on all the time so it neatly fits up top. I mainly lead worship at my church and was looking to make my Martin D-15 sound more like it is supposed to plugged in.Mark

The Xotic SP Compressor is without a doubt a 5 Star product! For many years I used a 1953 Gibson ES 175 or 1966 Telecaster plugged into a MXR Dyna Comp and grew to appreciate the warm squash this device had to offer as I lost the taste for most all distortion devices on the market. The Dyna Comp was a simple two knob device that squeezed my signal rather nicely to which I still have 3 of them floating about the house. I also have the more expanded version, MXR Limiter dating from the early 80s that also does a nice job modifying my signal. The only initial down side to the Dyna Comp was a little bit of noise. However the real down side to the old Dyna Comp was sometime in the early 90s, after Dunlop acquired ownership of the MXR Product, decided to reduce the cost of production by having all the jacks, pots, and switch connected directly to the PC Board via solder bath. Not only did this process of assembly affect the durability of this classic old compressor, it also compromised the tone and performance of a one great pedal. The vintage Dyna Comps wired point to point are far superior product. If you have one, keep it! In the wake of the cheapening of the Dyna Comp came the Keeley Compressor. I bought a Keeler Compressor somewhere around 10 years ago a noticed an improvement in performance over my old Dyna Comps with less noise. And with going into great detail, every guitar, from my old 1951 L5 to any of my old Fender sound great through this compressor. So now a new and somewhat revolutionary compressor has hit in the market by way of the Xotic SP. These guys are making some of the best pedals that I?ve run across in years. By the time I got my SP I was already the proud owner of an EP Booster and SL Drive. To later I have to say it is the only distortion that has come out in the last 30 years with a decent sounding tone that does not narrow the bandwidth of your signal path. Not to mention these pedals just happen to be the cutest looking signal devices on the market. What really makes the SP Compressor outstanding is the 3 position Hi/Mid/Low switch. The versatility to this pedal via of this switch is just amazing. In the Hi mode I can match the performance of my Keeley and Dyna Comp compressors for Jazz applications. However, I have taken using the Mid position for a great Blues/Rock tone. In this position the pedal allows me to play over the top of the compressor for soaring highs. This works in great combination with my 1960 Telecaster with Barden pickups. Anyway, I highly recommend the Xotic SP Compressor with its advantage in versatility over other compressors on the market. And here?s the bonus, this pedal is priced about $100 less than the Keeley. My hat?s off to you folks at Xotic for manufacturing a fantastic compressor at an affordable price that will thousands of guitar players sound better and better. Now if you can reinvent the Sola Sound Tone Bender in one of these small bud boxes, that would be fantastic!David A

I tried the Wampler and it was too much going on and I could find a sound I like. That was my first compressor so i'm Sure it was me. With this one I set it to Humbucker setting per the manual and it was fantastic. I just made the volume a little lower so that it was the same as my OD and TS pedals so that I control the gain there not with the compresssor. I leave it on all the time now. I never realized how much better the sound would be from just this. I always thought of it just pushing down the high parts but the making the lower parts a little louder made a big difference. This is going to be on permanently. Crystal clear sound wise too.Mike CT

Studio grade compressor in a pedal. Can be as subtle or extreme as necessary. The auto switch and Hard/soft switches are very clever and really work. Very well built. Small footprint fits easily on a pedal board.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I’m more of a Keeley Compressor Plus fan, when you turn one of those in it’s like oh yeah! The Pulp n Peel, however is much more subtle and more of a tone-shaper. I have a Katana boost immediately after and they work well together. The dirt switch is useless for me. It has a strong bump in the midrange that colors the tone too much. Maybe if you don’t have an overdrive.. All in all it’s a great pedal, but given the choice again, I’d probably go with the Keeley again.Michael R.

First of all, I already own other Boss pedals and I can say that it is a quality brand. The pedal in question, not cheap but in an average price range, does just what it needs to do! The sound is clear, well finished on all frequencies, the dynamics improve and the overall level of the guitar sound is also raised and leveled. There is a fairly long sustain of the sound. I recommend this pedal to professional musicians.Stella B.

I usually play clean or near-clean through a Fender-ish Carvin SX-100 Combo. Until today, no matter what I did, my thin hollowbody Ibanez AFS-75 always had just a little "crud" in the tone. After reading another review talking about how they used the CS-3, I experimented around and here's what I've done. I've put the CS-3 between the guitar and the amp and run the rest of the effects including EQ through the effects loop setting the CS-3 (from Left to Right) at 1, 1, 10, 11. At these settings, my Flat Wounds have a new sparkle and equal level from string to string. There is no distortion pedal in my effects setup although I do dirty up the signal just a tiny bit using the Carvin Amp Distortion to add just a bit of life to my playing. I'm a Jazz Student (emphasis on student) seeking that organic jazz guitar sound and the CS-3 has improved the tonality and removed the crud. It's actually pretty startling.Ed

I'll directly get down to the Pros & Cons: Pros: *Good sustain *Rich & clear tone *Produce a kind of slapping & sharp tone once you increase the attack knob. *It suppresses the sound of hard strumming & boost the sound of soft strumming & produces a well balanced sound. Cons: *Creates noise, I'm not sure either my order of placing the pedal is not right or is it due to power supply kind of problem which Daisy chain that I was using earlier. But now I've shifted to voodoo lab power supply & I've started using Noise suppressor. So. overall it's a good pedal, but it creates a lot of unwanted noise too & that's the only drawback this has. I think Boss should take this into consideration. And if you buy this pedal, then I recommend you to buy a noise suppressor too & if possible buy a all in one isolated power supply like voodoo lab, etc. Thank you!!!N S.

I'll try to keep this short. I was looking for a 'Trey tone' type compressor that could give me that dynamic attack that Trey's Ross Compressor gives him. This pedal does that very well. In fact, this is a damn good compressor, slightly different than the Dyna Comp and not just because of the attack but an overall slightly different flavor.I put the Super Comp after my Barber LTD (Sliver=Awesome) and wahla! Instant Trey tone.. kinda, you gotta fiddle with the Overdrive and EQ on your amp to get close to that tone. But overall this is a good compressor.Huge CON: Its terribly noisy. Its very difficult to tame this noise because i like to keep the compressor on all the time (except with the Q Tron on). I have to use my Volume pedal to silence my signal when im not playing or else deal with feedback or noise. (Not feedback due to other effects on as well, just w/. compressor on)Other than the noisy-ness, this is a pretty good compressor. Attack nob is very useful, you can go from Trey Tone to complete transparency. Check one out and fiddle with it, it takes some real fiddling if your gonna use it with other pedals to get your sound.Jesus-i9BdY

Overall: I was building a 'short board,' and I got a Super Comp. It is really priceless at the beginning of my chain. I have a DynaComp, a Soul Preacher, and a couple of digital multis that do compression. Sould Preacher is by far the best. Edges out the Soul Preacher on having a really fine attack adjustment. The EHX comp is just lacking. DynaComp is okay, but it is NOISY. The noise difference alone is enough to justify the $10 to step up to a SuperComp. It's maybe a little bit better sounding than DynaComp, and slightly more adjustable with the attack setting. SuperComp is for sure my favorite comp right now. I know I will draw some complaints with this one, but I would see absolutely no reason to own a DynaComp with the SuperComp available. $10 gets you soooo much…. IMO of course.Michael

I can't profess to be an expert on compressors but I understand the concept. I wanted to add a ringing sustained fullness to a fairly full sounding rig and browsed myriad reviews of the MXR line. [Going to MXR was a no brainer. They are analog – Boss and most others are digital.] The Super Comp seemed to best suit my needs and it has made a remarkable improvement in my overall sound. Having the attack control knob is a huge plus. I play a lot of sustained notes and placing the Super Comp between the MXR 10 band EQ and Dist.+ creates a creamy fluid sustain that oozes for several full measures – it can begin to feedback but that isn't entirely bad, is it? The compressor isn't a drastic pedal like an OD or distortion but once you find your 'right' setting, it is a pedal you will turn on and leave on. Attached is a photo showing the FX chain with the settings for the Super Comp. and the Dist.+ highlighted. [Not shown is a reverb and Bad Horsie wah. The wah goes in between the Super Comp. and Dist.+] (For more "zing" bump up the gain slider on the EQ to a +3.) A Gibson Les Paul, Epiphone Les Paul, and Fender Tele and Strat were all used and all sounded more powerful and dynamic. A Kustom KG210FX 20w was the amp I used. I first used my vintage 6 watt 1979 Fender Champ and quickly learned that you could blow up a small amp with this rig. I built a home studio in a spare bathroom and a compressor is a must-have piece of equipment for recording, especially undistorted sounds. I didn't notice any coloring of tone on clean settings, the Tele lead pup is a Duncan vintage model and it rings like a bell and sustains almost like an organ. Almost. I have one of almost every type of pedal and a compressor was the last effect I bought. Hindsight being 20/20, I would have bought it years ago. Oh, and make sure you get the Super Comp. The attack control knob is worth its weight in gold.Les Paul Disciple

Built like a tank. Clean sound (I have a good power noise filter). It's got many options that I like….a clean boost with the compressor turned down, makes a good smoothed signal, or make your signal percussive, can be set as more of a limitor….. If I use a digital effect, I put it in front of this, then through my tube distortion and to a tube/hybrid amp. I plugged my digital drums into this enhanced the sound as well. Like the big ehx pedals, you have more options to shape you sound than most other pedals. Their new digital octaves and delays make me wish that it could save settings, lol this a great analog comp.Anonymous

Nice boost, however it is a bit dirty. If you're interested in buying one of these I recommend reading up about it as much as you can. can't beat it for the money it's well-built. It has good controls. I bought this in Hope of using it for an acoustic guitar boost that didn't work out so well but it's fantastic for electric guitar before and after certain pedals. For conversation purpose I also have a EP booster buy exotic effects. However there are very different just to draw a distinction.cashflowkid61

Great quick shipping in original box. Absolutely like-new (cool sparkly powder-coat type finish) – sounds terrific! too bad this box (itself a re-issue) is discontinued… great to smack your pedal chain or amp with a nice clean (but edgy) boost!helix-28588

I have been on the fence about boosting effects for a while, never Really Thought I NEEDED one but at this price I decided to give it a shot. Searching and transaction were both easy, the sale was awesome-PERFECT price and shipped in practically 2 days! I love the pedal, really breaths life into my secondary set up. I'm honestly contemplating if I want to grab the dod Comp or overdrive!BUCKROGEZ87

First of all, I already own other Boss pedals and I can say that it is a quality brand. The pedal in question, not cheap but in an average price range, does just what it needs to do! The sound is clear, well finished on all frequencies, the dynamics improve and the overall level of the guitar sound is also raised and leveled. There is a fairly long sustain of the sound. I recommend this pedal to professional musicians.Stella B.

I usually play clean or near-clean through a Fender-ish Carvin SX-100 Combo. Until today, no matter what I did, my thin hollowbody Ibanez AFS-75 always had just a little "crud" in the tone. After reading another review talking about how they used the CS-3, I experimented around and here's what I've done. I've put the CS-3 between the guitar and the amp and run the rest of the effects including EQ through the effects loop setting the CS-3 (from Left to Right) at 1, 1, 10, 11. At these settings, my Flat Wounds have a new sparkle and equal level from string to string. There is no distortion pedal in my effects setup although I do dirty up the signal just a tiny bit using the Carvin Amp Distortion to add just a bit of life to my playing. I'm a Jazz Student (emphasis on student) seeking that organic jazz guitar sound and the CS-3 has improved the tonality and removed the crud. It's actually pretty startling.Ed

I'll directly get down to the Pros & Cons: Pros: *Good sustain *Rich & clear tone *Produce a kind of slapping & sharp tone once you increase the attack knob. *It suppresses the sound of hard strumming & boost the sound of soft strumming & produces a well balanced sound. Cons: *Creates noise, I'm not sure either my order of placing the pedal is not right or is it due to power supply kind of problem which Daisy chain that I was using earlier. But now I've shifted to voodoo lab power supply & I've started using Noise suppressor. So. overall it's a good pedal, but it creates a lot of unwanted noise too & that's the only drawback this has. I think Boss should take this into consideration. And if you buy this pedal, then I recommend you to buy a noise suppressor too & if possible buy a all in one isolated power supply like voodoo lab, etc. Thank you!!!N S.

I bought this compression pedal to boost my acoustic signal as well as fatten the sound a bit. I love the size as it fits on my board perfectly. I leave it on all the time so it neatly fits up top. I mainly lead worship at my church and was looking to make my Martin D-15 sound more like it is supposed to plugged in.Mark

The Xotic SP Compressor is without a doubt a 5 Star product! For many years I used a 1953 Gibson ES 175 or 1966 Telecaster plugged into a MXR Dyna Comp and grew to appreciate the warm squash this device had to offer as I lost the taste for most all distortion devices on the market. The Dyna Comp was a simple two knob device that squeezed my signal rather nicely to which I still have 3 of them floating about the house. I also have the more expanded version, MXR Limiter dating from the early 80s that also does a nice job modifying my signal. The only initial down side to the Dyna Comp was a little bit of noise. However the real down side to the old Dyna Comp was sometime in the early 90s, after Dunlop acquired ownership of the MXR Product, decided to reduce the cost of production by having all the jacks, pots, and switch connected directly to the PC Board via solder bath. Not only did this process of assembly affect the durability of this classic old compressor, it also compromised the tone and performance of a one great pedal. The vintage Dyna Comps wired point to point are far superior product. If you have one, keep it! In the wake of the cheapening of the Dyna Comp came the Keeley Compressor. I bought a Keeler Compressor somewhere around 10 years ago a noticed an improvement in performance over my old Dyna Comps with less noise. And with going into great detail, every guitar, from my old 1951 L5 to any of my old Fender sound great through this compressor. So now a new and somewhat revolutionary compressor has hit in the market by way of the Xotic SP. These guys are making some of the best pedals that I?ve run across in years. By the time I got my SP I was already the proud owner of an EP Booster and SL Drive. To later I have to say it is the only distortion that has come out in the last 30 years with a decent sounding tone that does not narrow the bandwidth of your signal path. Not to mention these pedals just happen to be the cutest looking signal devices on the market. What really makes the SP Compressor outstanding is the 3 position Hi/Mid/Low switch. The versatility to this pedal via of this switch is just amazing. In the Hi mode I can match the performance of my Keeley and Dyna Comp compressors for Jazz applications. However, I have taken using the Mid position for a great Blues/Rock tone. In this position the pedal allows me to play over the top of the compressor for soaring highs. This works in great combination with my 1960 Telecaster with Barden pickups. Anyway, I highly recommend the Xotic SP Compressor with its advantage in versatility over other compressors on the market. And here?s the bonus, this pedal is priced about $100 less than the Keeley. My hat?s off to you folks at Xotic for manufacturing a fantastic compressor at an affordable price that will thousands of guitar players sound better and better. Now if you can reinvent the Sola Sound Tone Bender in one of these small bud boxes, that would be fantastic!David A

I tried the Wampler and it was too much going on and I could find a sound I like. That was my first compressor so i'm Sure it was me. With this one I set it to Humbucker setting per the manual and it was fantastic. I just made the volume a little lower so that it was the same as my OD and TS pedals so that I control the gain there not with the compresssor. I leave it on all the time now. I never realized how much better the sound would be from just this. I always thought of it just pushing down the high parts but the making the lower parts a little louder made a big difference. This is going to be on permanently. Crystal clear sound wise too.Mike CT

First of all, I already own other Boss pedals and I can say that it is a quality brand. The pedal in question, not cheap but in an average price range, does just what it needs to do! The sound is clear, well finished on all frequencies, the dynamics improve and the overall level of the guitar sound is also raised and leveled. There is a fairly long sustain of the sound. I recommend this pedal to professional musicians.Stella B.

I usually play clean or near-clean through a Fender-ish Carvin SX-100 Combo. Until today, no matter what I did, my thin hollowbody Ibanez AFS-75 always had just a little "crud" in the tone. After reading another review talking about how they used the CS-3, I experimented around and here's what I've done. I've put the CS-3 between the guitar and the amp and run the rest of the effects including EQ through the effects loop setting the CS-3 (from Left to Right) at 1, 1, 10, 11. At these settings, my Flat Wounds have a new sparkle and equal level from string to string. There is no distortion pedal in my effects setup although I do dirty up the signal just a tiny bit using the Carvin Amp Distortion to add just a bit of life to my playing. I'm a Jazz Student (emphasis on student) seeking that organic jazz guitar sound and the CS-3 has improved the tonality and removed the crud. It's actually pretty startling.Ed

I'll directly get down to the Pros & Cons: Pros: *Good sustain *Rich & clear tone *Produce a kind of slapping & sharp tone once you increase the attack knob. *It suppresses the sound of hard strumming & boost the sound of soft strumming & produces a well balanced sound. Cons: *Creates noise, I'm not sure either my order of placing the pedal is not right or is it due to power supply kind of problem which Daisy chain that I was using earlier. But now I've shifted to voodoo lab power supply & I've started using Noise suppressor. So. overall it's a good pedal, but it creates a lot of unwanted noise too & that's the only drawback this has. I think Boss should take this into consideration. And if you buy this pedal, then I recommend you to buy a noise suppressor too & if possible buy a all in one isolated power supply like voodoo lab, etc. Thank you!!!N S.

This pedal changes your tone right off the bat… takes away the bottom.. sure you can add it on again.. but who wants rework your tone just to get to a starting point.. I also didn't like the EQ choices and you have to really push the fades for the changes to kik in. The commission was decent..Srr

I bought this compressor intending to use it with both Fender Strat and my bass guitar. I am a professional music producer and listened to the unit carefully in the studio headphones. It is a great tool if you know what to use it for. When used with a strat it makes the sound crisp and places the funky clean tone perfectly in the mix. The tone is somewhat on the colder side, with bright fluid sustain added to the sound. Think about it as a sustainer first and then compressor. Great tool in the pallette. However, there are a few things to keep in mind: – the unit makes a sub low cut when engaged even with the minimum effect added to the direct signal. Bassists bear this in mind (unless you are a hardcore punk bassist playing with distortion and a pick and don't care much about your sub bass tone). It can also be felt on the clean electric guitar sound (if it's funky tone in the band setting you would cut off the low end of the strat anyway). – with higher compression ratio settings you get more sustain but some noise is also added. – if you want to use the 9V battery with the unit keep in mind that to change the battery you need to use a screwdriver for 4 screws to remove the back panel of the unit.J

I love this pedal. I play an Epi Les Paul Classic, into my pedalboard, and into a 90's Peavey Bandit. The amp has a Jensen Mod soesker, not the original Scorpion speaker. The Bandit with this speaker has a great clean channel. I'm a long time Fender guy. Strats and Teles. I like a clear, bright fundamental tone. I found myself compensating with the LP and using the bridge pickup a lot. But still not satisfied with the clean tones from the LP. That changed when I put the Keeley Compressor Plus on my board. The conbination of the Blend control and the Tone knob gives me what I want. The Tone control is, to my ear, an exceptional circuit. I get the bright, clear tone I need and superb sustain. This pedal is a godsend for playing slide. The compressor goes before my dirt pedals with beautiful results-1-. I use a Boss SD-1 overdrive and a Donner Dark Mouse – a Rat clone. I'm very impressed with this compressor. I put all controls at about 12:00, which the manual recommends for humbuckers. Minimal tweaks from there to get what I want. I love that it doesn't squash the life out of my pick attack. It is always on. Works great with acoustic/electrics as well. Great, musical piece of gear. Well done, Mr. Keeley.Mister G.

There is only one Artist Toneprint (by Rudy Sarzo) for bass. But I've been able to use it for both of my basses (a very hot pick up G&L L2000 and not so hot Sire V7 Fretless) with minor adjustments to the knobs. I've also been able to use knobs only to get good sounding compression for finger, slap and pick on the G&L. I had a go with the Toneprint editor with one of the templates. I got a usable compressor within an hour or so based on settings someone had given me – but I preferred the Rudy Sarzo one so stuck with it. If you understand compression, the toneprint editor is logical. It's cleaned up my tone. I'm very happy with it.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This is a great compressor, with lots of options. If you're not very used to hearing compression, you can set it to be really unsubtle so your ears can easily pick out the compression effect – and then you can make it as transparent as you like as well. Really adds a bit of pro polish to your sound.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

First time with a TC product and apart from colour (which I love but is a personal choice) this pedal is bullet proof. No power supply but that's a small issue as my last purchase was a True Tone CS12. Pedal isn't a straight out of the box product as the overall tone benefits from experimentation, more with this pedal than some others I've used, but the flexibility and variety of compression somehow seem to make each string sound rounded and full of character. Will probably become a permanent part of my pedal set up.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Fantastic compressor with side chain. I'm using it for a live electronic setup where I want the bass synth to duck when the kick is playing. Basic really but since I'm using different machines for each sound the Emptess Comp has been a life saver. Great build and relatively easy to use although the side chain output needs strange cables. But you can get around it.Reviewed by SX Pro customer

Great compressor with LED lights to aid sound choices. Will have to be more careful with this one as the power input is a bit fragile.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Amazing compressor, super transparent but allows for some tone sculpting if transparency isn't your thing. Sidechain works a treat (you need a stereo breakout cable for it).Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This is a very versatile and smooth sounding compressor. Don't let all of the knobs intimidate you. Two knobs control the pre gain and post gain levels. I really appreciate the pre gain control since it allows me to fine tune the output signal from my instrument. Turn it down for hotter output or active pickups or up for lower output pups. Then use the post gain control to set your overall level. Two knobs are actually just two-way switches for Normal/Squash and Lamp/LED modes. Finally you have knobs controlling the level of compression and sensitivity, which changes the character of the compression. Noise level is pretty low except at more extreme compression settings, which I don't normally use anyway. Excellent for both bass and guitar. Can do subtle "always on" compression or steamroller squish. One drawback is that it takes up a good amount of pedal board space. On the other hand, it does more than most stomp box compressors are capable of.stingrayslospecial

Danelectro 12 string and this pedal nails McGuinn tone. Not hard to dial in and the noise I've seen folks complain about isn't noticeable to me in a band setting.budhdallas