More practical: phaser or compressor?

[gutsofgold]

A bit of a silly question. I have a nicely painted orange MXR sized enclosure. Would make for a perfect phase45/90 clone! At the same time it would be a good orange squeezer type pedal. I don't know of many bands that use phaser, hell I've only played one for a few minutes. On the other hand many people have told me compressors on guitar are pointless.

Suggestions!?

[Mark Hammer]

Compressors are one of the most useful pedals around.  That would be my vote.

[Ripthorn]

Van Halen and Live have made phasers fairly famous, but a compressor is on more tracks than you will likely ever know.

[ollie]

Compressor would probably be more useful but man do I love phasers, they get my vote 

[BAARON]

My vote is for compressor.  A good compressor can smooth out a solo, act as a clean boost, make your guitar sound right when you're trying to play music by The Police or Dire Straits, etc.  You can use it all over the place... rhythm or lead playing!

A phaser, uh, sounds like a phaser.  You can only use it a little while before it starts to piss your audience off.

[gutsofgold]

haha, compressor it is! is the orange compressor a good one? I never kept up on compressors and any recent mods or anything. does anyone have a good layout?

[FlyingZ]

OS is by far the best comp out there. Good choice!

[petemoore]

On the other hand many people have told me compressors on guitar are pointless.
 They are pointless, and they're priceless.
 Pointless:
 When all it seems to do is raise the noise floor.
  When the distortion box is compressing so hard that adding compression before is nearly indistinguishable from using say a booster, or using the compressor after just makes the compressor distort, which can be nasty, and makes the noise floor completely rediculous.
 Priceless:
 The altered dynamics of the compressor...this effect offers better/easier control over the dynamics of the amp [or other effects], allowing picking style changes which offer a range of tones unavailable without it.
   I have 2 of them aboard.
 

[BAARON]

OS is by far the best comp out there. Good choice!

It really depends on the sound you're looking for, I think.  Every style of compressor has its own advantages and disadvantages... but the OS definitely is one of the more popular ones.  You'll most likely find Dynacomp/Ross compressors to be a bit noisier, but their somewhat unique tonal character still makes them charming if you're into Andy Summers.  I actually find my tweaked Ross to be a bit more open sounding and clearer than the Orange Squeezers I've had a chance to compare it to.

If you want an optical compressor (they're supposed to be very transparent sounding), I've heard very good things about John Hollis's Flatline Compressor.

[Taylor]

If you're going for practicality, an effect pedal isn't a good choice. I would stick with some duct tape, maybe a Honda Civic.

I wouldn't get caught up in what is useful to other people. I currently have 2 spring reverbs and 4 ring modulators, but not a single distortion pedal. But I freely admit that my setup would be totally useless to a lot of people. Also, you don't need to worry about what other bands are using. Build them both (they're relatively simple circuits) and see which you prefer.

[Eb7+9]

... suggestions ?

why not combine both in one circuit ?! (I'm hoping you're talking limiter as most do)

the front end preamp in the phase 45 can have an LDR attached to the 10k feedback resistor - as shine acted upon it past a threshold the equivalent resistance would drop and hence the gain of the preamp ... the first op-amp stage is not doing anything other than providing a fixed AC gain, you could give it a second job to perform ... with a 90 you'd have to mod the front end buffer to accomodate resistors in the feedback path

if you hookup a (variable gain threshold) detector circuit at the output of the preamp to drive an LED and then made the audio output switcheable between phasor mix (for comp/phase combo) and straight preamp output for comp alone you might get interesting possibilities aside from simplifying your signal chain and potentially saving on overall noise by combining both functions into one ... include a comp sensitivity control so you can disengage the comp action and you have neutral phasing ...

~jc

[solderman]

A bit of a silly question. I have a nicely painted orange MXR sized enclosure. Would make for a perfect phase45/90 clone! At the same time it would be a good orange squeezer type pedal. I don't know of many bands that use phaser, hell I've only played one for a few minutes. On the other hand many people have told me compressors on guitar are pointless.

Suggestions!?

For Phase samples listen to Pink Floyd, Dark Side Of the Moon. and most US soul/funk records from late 70 early 80,s you migt eaven spot a filter auto wha there. Shaft Theem beeing a tip.

Compressor is a most, listen to Sultans of Swing (sayd to be orange squeeser but who knows)

//Solderman

[frequencycentral]

If you're going for practicality, an effect pedal isn't a good choice. I would stick with some duct tape, maybe a Honda Civic.

......and always buy good quality footwear.

[oldrocker]

Both phasers and compressors have their place.  My vote is for the compressors.  I've built the Phase 45 and The John Hollis Easyvibe that I modded to be a straight phaser.  I love phasers but I use them sparingly.  As for compressors I've built a few.  DOD 250, Flatline and the OS.  The OS is my favorite.  I use it all the time for guitar and bass.  I won't play my bass without an OS turned on.  The John Hollis Flatline is nice too especially for guitar.  The DOD has some distortion properties so I use it with my dirty pedals.
As for Phasers I haven't built many.   I've used them for years though.  The Phase 45 is nice and smooth more subtle phaser which is why I like it.  And that means you can use more since it's not such an in your face effect.

[StephenGiles]

It might be nice to compress the phased audio before it is mixed with the dry signal.