FX Doctor Dyna Comp Ross Mod

Two knobs, too easy! Level goes past unity gain when modded (which is great!!). If memory serves me right, I had a bit of a problem before the mod with headroom. I don't need a manual for this one.

At first, this pedal was kind of harsh and biting to my ears (unmodded). I've only had 2 compressors ever, a Boss (sucked, I gave it away) and a TC which I still have. The TC sounds a bit worse with age, and I've heard that changing the caps works, so it looks like I'll have to do some sort of surgery. So I haven't used a compressor for a long time really. There is a lot of hype about them for country pickers and Phish wannabes. I'm a bit of both, I guess, but like I said before, the stock Dyna Comp lacked warmth and was too squashed. I looked around for some people to mod this thing and FX Doctor was the cheapest by far! I bought the Dyna Comp from eBay because I wanted somewhat an entry level compressor before I make a big pop for a Barber Tone Press or Carl Martin if I decide that I liked it. Well, I got the pedal back and man does it sound absolutely sweet. Now I know what the compressor hype is all about. I used to wonder what people were thinking when they talked about leaving their compressors on all the time, now I get the point. I run it with the level at 3 o' clock to full and the sustain about 9 o' clock or a tiny bit more. The sound is even and full and absolutely warm. I gig with this setup: Fender Strat with Dimarzio HS-2's OR Fender '72 reissue Tele with a Duncan Jazz and a Duncan Custom >> Whirlwind A/B Box >> modded Dunlop wah >> Keeley modded BD-2 >> self modded TS-9 >> Barber Direct Drive >> Boss CE-2 >> Korg Toneworks Dynamic Echo >> Tech 21 Trademark 60 (D.I. out to board) OR Fender Bassman OR Fender Twin with JBL's. In front of the drive, it mellows it out nicely and evenly. But I prefer it in front so that I can play some butt rock!! In front of the overdrives, each one is hopped up in the strat-osphere. Used this way, this thing just sustains the hell out of the guitar. Unless I crank the sensitivity up, it is pretty quiet. It just sounds better to me not to have the sensitivity cranked, I want a bit of natural attack. I've never tried a Ross Compressor, so comparing them is out of the question. But you know what? Who gives a damn! This thing sounds great and found a permanant home on the pedalboard. I doubt that I'll be buying another compressor.

I bought this from eBay, so I knew that it had a bad switch. Josh offered to replace, but I decided to change the switch on my own. Man was that a pain in the ass. It took about an hour and a half, but now the thing is absolutely flawless. It's not too often that MXR pedals crap out (I've got an old Distortion+ and a script Phase 90, no problems, still kickin'!). I am pretty sure that Josh stands behind his work, so it doesn't worry me. I can't imagine something happening to it other than getting stolen, which would bug me out! Except for the switch, I give it a thumbs up, but like I said, I bought it with that flaw.

I waited for a while to get a notification from Josh, about a month, and finally emailed him. He said that my pedal was ready after 2 weeks, but that my email was bouncing. I try to keep spammers discouraged and overfill my email accounts every so often so that they stop sending spam (it works). He was extremely cool about getting it to me priority mail and we talked for a bit on the phone. Cool guy indeed. If I had a problem with it, I'd feel confident in getting Josh to check it out.

I play lots of styles, I'm a pro so I need gear to be consistently dependable and I don't want to mess with too many options to get a good sound. I've been in touring gospel bands, LOTS of straight ahead jazz, tons of R&B, lots of classic rock, fusion, done lots of tours with country bands and the list goes on. Been playing about 20 years and own an assload of gear (too much, really). If it were lost or stolen, I'd beat the thief with the pedal (OWCH!!) or have it replaced without a doubt. It's easy as hell to use, sounds creamy and punchy and just damn good. I don't see me needing too many options for a compressor, really, just don't sound squashy and weird, only make the good sounds of my rig really shine. This thing does just that! Good price, cool guy, AWESOME DEAL ON AWESOME PEDAL!