Ibanez CP10 Compressor

Compressors are not the easiest effect to use. Too much and you sound artificial. Too little, and what's the point of adding the hiss.

I'm very happy with this compressor. I have tried a handful of compressor pedals over the past 10 years, and to me, this one is the keeper. I play a vintage ES335 through a vintage ampeg combo and I wanted a compressor to give me a bunch of sustain, only slightly mellow out the spikes when I really strum hard, and still sound warm. This compressor did all three of those the best for me, and actually provided me a warmer vintage sounding signal than straight into my amp, which was a welcome tone addition. If you crank the level, you get a slight overdrive, which I like, but it does add hiss. If that drives you crazy, you would need a noise suppressor. But for adding sustain, this pedal works great to me

Kind of a junky cheap switch. I leave it on at all times, so I feel ok about it - but if you wanted to switch it on and off frequently during song passages, I would definitely plan on fixing the switch every few years

Never used it so I have no opinion

Are there better compressors out there? Probably. Are there worse? Absolutely. If you are a modern amp, modern sound, type of tone person - this is not your pedal. If you use vintage amps and vintage guitars and wish you had more sustain and want to keep that vintage sound, I can recommend this pedal for you.

Easy as ABC. Step on it and it works! The controls are simple but don't expect any dynamics when you crank them, it's not that type of compressor, you'll get a very smooth transition with no changes in sound tones and you will have to listen carefully to hear the resposes.

I use a '62 strat and an anniversery strat into a 'toaster' (Bad Cat preamp floor box), 2 x delays then a Marshall Bluesbreaker. It performs clear and noislessly and once set up you can forget it. I alternate between old dynacomps and this one. Both dyna's are noisey bitches, have great dynamics and are fun to fight with. But as with women this can get tedious and I tend to settle down with the Iba when I don't need the hassle. It seems to have a good mid/bass range in sound quality and is not offensive. It's a sweetie which does a good safe job.

Bought new in 1982 for about #25-#30 I guess and travelled through some tuff gigs, drunks stepping on it, spilling booze on it etc but it never complains. It burns up batteries so plug in from a power source, unlike the Dyna which never seems to run out of battery power. I carry back up for everything but never had occasion to change it.

Never had to deal with Ibanez so can't comment.

I play slide/bottleneck blues based original and it fits ok but would probably be happier with a comp with greater control to adjust the nuences of the notes. I doubt if I would replace it same for same but consider a Sabine NEX5400 maybe. Since I started playing I have been through a lot of gear (don't we all?) and the Iba has stuck from the start, perhaps in some way it has contributed to the sound I have now and that I have taken it for granted over all these years. If you get your hands on one don't expect any revelations, just be smug knowing it's good classic gear that won't f'up your sound and will improve your playing style no end. TTFN.

Prior to having the CP10 I had two CP9s. If someone did a blindfold test on the two I don't think the even the most discriminating ears could tell the difference. I found the CP10 to get a good sound out of and the level gives a slight boost to your signal overdriving your amp.

Guitars I've used Ibanez CP10 with: 58 Gibson es125 TDC, 66 Rick 450 12string, 1980s fender and Tokai strat copies, Rick v63 325 and a gibson corvus. Amps: sliver face fenders, 50s magnatone, and JIMI Vox ac-10. I found that the Ibanez CP10 works best with hollow body guitars/strats into a fender amp. I like a boss CS2 a little better with Rick guitars. The ibanez unit is perfect though for that "nashville" sound or bealtes "day triper" sound though. The boss CS2 has a funny unnatural squishy sound when cranked that doesn't sound good to me recorded or live. I've had a few of them, few CP9's and currently own 2 CP10s. I prefer the ibanez units because they have a more natural, tube like compression. Noise is not bad for analog. I would say it's equal or better to boss or MXR units. Sometimes I use CP10s as direct boxes on home demos and run mikes or basses right into the board with them. I also found that CP10s sound great through a nice analog delay pedal. When I used boss cs-2s got that ice pick thing going on. The ibanez is just right and less is really more.

I've never had a problem with any Ibanez mij floor pedal. I would use it without back up on a gig. I bought a second one though because they are still affordable and people have not caught on this is the same pedal as the ibanez cp9 just in a very ugly box.

none existent

mostly originals. Music I play for my own pleasure is classic rock and the CP10 seems to cover all the bases and I very satisfied with it as a pedal compressor. Compressors I have owned or own: Gates tube limiter, level devil, sta level, limpander tube limiter. Boss cs2, fostex rack compressor, ibanez cp9, ibanez cp10 and presonus blue max. Of all the compressors I have or have had I used the cp10 the most recording or live. In fact 90% of the time when I am playing I have one on. Very satisfied with this unit. I would buy another in a heart beat I own two. The only negative is the external container which Ibanez came up with something truly unattractive and dated which has really made this a very affordable unit. I would say "yes" it helps me make music and is part of my current sound. The whole vintage pedal thing has gotten out of control. When people start paying $200 for $30 Ross pedals the world is upside down. I like that you can still pick these up for $30 on ebay. I've hesitated writing a review on this not wanting to drive up the price

typical compressor controls, easy to use

This was my primary compressor for at least five years, I probably would still be using it but it needs a little work. If you are looking for a transparent compressor, this probably isn't what you need. I just happen to love the "bump" it adds to your tone, it emphasizes the mids just a bit, nice and full and smooth. I have used it for boosting leads as well as clean passages and it works very well. It doesn't sound as good as my old Dynacomp, but it is a fine compressor.

I bought this thing many, many moons ago brand new. I never had any major problems with it except that the battery was a bee-otch to get in and out. Except for the Soundtank series, Ibanez has always made pretty sturdy stuff.

eh

Been playing forever, I know that some folks get pretty picky about compressors, I just like them to work. I'm currently using a Boss unit and the Ibanez blows it away.

like every compressor on the market, level attack sustein knobs

es 335 handmade and marshall jtm60
sounds not so bad, but useless to me, with a powerfull adaptor level up to max, other knobs to min, it's a clean boost very good.
6 for the compressor, i'll give it seven for the boost feature

there are a lot of compressors for this price, just now i've found a dynacomp vintage with the same price, nothing to tell, sell this and buy the other :)

Three controls for Attack, Sustain and Level. Fairly simple. I played with it and got good sounds immediately. I didn't have the maual.

This is my first compressor, I have an Ibanez Chorus pedal that is awesome, so I bought this. I like it alot with my Strat and so-so with my Gibson SG. I have some solid state amps that this works awesome with but I don't need it with my JCM800 combo. I'd say that this pedal is not that noisy and delivers the goods. Cool color too.
I tried it with a Bass and it seemed to work fairly good too. I have nothing to compare it to, so I can't give it the highest rating.

So far so good, I have never had a problem with my Chorus which is a ten-series also. It does use batteries if you leave it in the pedal.
No big deal, I just take it out after practicing or playing. I have never had a switching problem with this pedal.

I don't know.

It seems good to me. The level and sustain can really boost an old tube amp into distortion and it definitely helps for Strat sustain. I'll keep it.

No problems here

Using it with teles and fender amps. Sound quality is OK I guess, but I didn't use it for very long because I couldn't get over the noise, by which I mean an audible buzzing sound typical of compressors, but annoying nonetheless. I am very finicky about this and will probably have to go the boutique route to find a quiet one. I shield my guitars, they are very quiet straight into the amp, but when I plug into this, it's just BUZZZZ. no way. Not as bad as the cheapo mini-dano, but my dynacomp was quieter.

Not as tough as an MXR, but as long as you're not a complete klod it should last a while.

n/a

Bought it on a whim off of ebay, thinking it might be as good as my 10 series chorus, which is phenomenal. No such luck. merely OK.

The pedal is simple to use. Three knobs for Attack, Sustain, and Level. I wish they included a tone knob as well -- like on the Boss Compressor pedal.

I use this pedal in front of Crybaby, Proco Rat, TS5 Tubescreamer (yes, the "Soundtank" screamer. It rocks!), and Cool Cat Chorus. I have a 60's reissue Strat and an Epiphone Sheraton, playing through a 1X12 Fender Blues Deluxe. The Compressor works OK, but I don't like to use it much because I like the Strat twang. Setting Attack at low settings will kill the twang. I mainly use the pedal for the sustain -- to get crazy feedback sounds, for example. I think it sounds good with the Sustain set at 6-8, and Attack at 10. Then I can bend the high E string on my Strat a step and a half, and hold it, without the sound thinning too much. Great stuff. But setting the Sustain above 8 will cause lots of noise.

I hate the switch on this damn pedal. It "double switches" everytime. I got it used, and it looks pretty old, so may be I need to clen it with a contact cleaner. But the switch absolutely sucks.

N/A

The problem with the Strat is that when you play high up on the neck, and especially when you bend a high string for more than a whole tone, the sound thins out. So if you plug this pedal in, and set the attack to 10, you will get a better sustain without killing your natural Strat sound too much. But it does squash the sound (it's a compressor!!) so if you want a pure sustainer, go to your local music store (like Rosewood Music in Jeff City), and get a Fernandes Sustainer installed on your guitar. Boy that thing rocks.
As for its compressor feature, it does the job. I like the sound of a humbucker completely compressed. You can hit the strings as hard as you want, and the sound comes out all even.

Very easy to use, three knobs, if you use a compressor you know exactly what to do.

I use this pedal in the following chain - G&L Sc-3 Guitar into an Ibanez CP-10>Ibanez TS-10> Budda Tube OD>Analog Mike Clone/Clone Chorus> Ibanez Fl-10> Ibanez DL-10 or DDL-20 into either my 68 Fender Super, or my 1952 Danelctro Challenger amp. This compressor sounds excellent through this rig (can you tell I collect the Ibanez 10 series?)I give it a nine because it is a bit noisy, but not nearly as noisy as the CP-5 or Milk Box

Never had a Ibanez 10 series go bad and I have a dozen of these "10" series pedals of various types. However, I have had the LED go out on one and the switches are a bit tricky - sometimes it takes a couple of stomps to get 'em going. I would use without a backup, but I still have a backup just in case. I give it a eight because of the switch and LED

Never dealt with them! Never had to.

I like these compressors and I have had plenty and this is my favorite. Not built as solid as I wish, they do sound great. Terrific for country and for blues!

As easy an any stomp box compressor. Forget about the attack, set sustain/threshold/... so that the compression kicks in halfway of your guitar's volume and set the level to your liking. Play.

Sounds good with my strat (clean as well as dirty) and troublesome with my old Tokai "Les Paul" clean. The whole signal chain consists of guitar-compressor-Boss super overdrive-Boss digital delay-Peavey Classic 30 set clean. After playing the "LP" for ten years my brand new California-strat needed a boost and significantly more sustain. This stomp box delivers. But I found the same problem with the LP as I did with a Boss CS-2: my replacement humbuckers on ten sound squashed, crappy, strangled, horrible. So I can't use this compressor with my Paul.

The construction is inferior to Boss: plastic shafts, plastic jacks and plastic footswitch. I bought it used and so far it's been flawless. I don't gig currently, but I would not worry about backup for other than guitar (strings), amp (fuses) and cables. Backup fingers would make a great sales article, though...

I play a wide range of guitar driven music: Mayall-era to Journeyman Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, ACDC, Dire Straits, Hanoi Rocks, Guns'n Roses, The Shadows...Been playing since 1988. This compressor suits my needs as far as strat goes. It is not the final solution for my Les Paul. It may be due to too powerful pick-ups, bad pots or something, but I have to back off the LP volume to eight or nine to sound tolerable.
I went to buy a Boss CS-3, but the shop only had this and an Ibanez bass compressor (-10 series, too), so I chose this. Compressor has made my life with a strat much easier.