MXR Dyna Comp

Bare essentials in a compressor - 2 controls: Output level and Sensitivity (the threshold at which the compressor kicks in). I don't know if sensitivity also affects the compression ratio as well...not sure. The manual is very brief and also available on the website. But it's enough of a quick explanation to how to use the pedal. Doesn't actually explain the basics of compression though.

I bought this cause a friend of mine has one and it sounds freaking awesome through his set up. The compression kicks in quite strongly and noticeably so you don't even have to turn up the sensitivity very high before you get a nice evened-out, warmer and smoother tone.

I am putting it in a chain like so:
guitar > tuner > dyna comp > wah > overdrive > amp loop > chorus > volume > reverb/delay
(amp is a Traynor Custom Valve 40)

I have my output at almost 3 o'clock and sensitivity at 9 o'clock. It does such a good job at balancing the output from my guitars, especially with the coil taps and different pickup selections. Sustain is so sweet and you can get wanted feedback at lower volumes and gain levels. Also makes overdriven leads fuller sounding esp up high on the neck plus hammer ons and slurs are boosted. Oh...harmonics are also louder :)

If you turn the compression up it gives you the strong clicky sound good for funk/blues, but it also has a noticeable delay in response when you play hard (when the compression kicks in to even out the output). Also some of the quieter notes are a bit too loud when the sensitivity is too high. Last thing is that the feedback for the lower notes is too strong and easily occuring when sensitivity is pushed too high. And of course, it gets a bit noisy. Having said that, I just don't turn that control up too high hahaha.

Built like a tank. Haven't had it for long though. But from what I've heard, it will last forever, seeming that the original releases are still around!

N/A

I play mainly rock so the little gadget is great just having it on all the time. The clicky effect on clean sounds is great for that percussive playing. Been playing for 9 years. Gosh there are a lot of questions to answer from those dot points.

It's a must have in every rig. It's just one of those things you realise how much it helps when you finally get one (or if you lose
one hahaha). Some use it as a lead booster...I just like having it on all the time at a low sensitivity to compress my guitar output nicely.

It only has two knobs, output volume and Sustain so no problems here.

Great sound but not a match for my Pedaldoc modified CS3. I find this one a bit too "sharp" for my taste and it colours the sound in a way I find a bit too much. However the pedal sound is very good and I would certainly would give it a try if you are looking for a compressor.

Very rugged case. I find somehow anoying to have to remove four screws to access the battery. My experience tells me this a recipe for disaster as if you are a bit lazy (and I am) or your have had a few beers you tend to screw a couple of the screws and leave the others somewhere for the next time. No need to say that they always disappear...

Never called them.

Good value for money. However you can get something better if you are a little interested in electronics and have and old Cs3. A good compressor for those who have never had this kind of effect.

It only has two knobs, output volume and Sustain so no problems here.

Great sound but not a match for my Pedaldoc modified CS3. I find this one a bit too "sharp" for my taste and it colours the sound in a way I don??t like. However the pedal sound is very good and I would certainly would give it a try if you are looking for a compressor.

Very rugged case. I find somehow anoying to have to remove four screws to access the battery. My experience tells me this a recipe for disaster as if you are a bit lazy (and I am) or your have had a few beers you tend to screw a couple of the screws and leave the others somewhere for the next time. No need to say that they always disappear...

Never called them.

Good value for money. However you can get something better if you are a little interested in electronics and have and old Cs3. A good compressor for those who have never had this kind of effect.

Almost all MXR pedals are designed with simplicity in mind. This is also the case for the Dyna Comp. Just two controls here...OUTPUT & SENSITIVITY.

I have been playing guitar for many years and had some hell experiences with compressors/sustainers, namely DOD. I kind of got scared off compressors after being robbed by DOD of valuable tone and cutting edge.

Recently I purchased a second hand MXR Dyna Comp and have be pleasantly surprised. The Dyna Comp is very versatile and extremely easy to use without having to sacrifice precious tone and the highly sought after cutting edge.

My current rig is....Epiphone Ace Frehley Les Paul, Epiphone Les Paul Studio, Ibanez Lawsuits (1974 Flying V, 1977 Double Neck 6/12), Ibanez PS10, Karina Gold Top Les Paul fed into the following...>Rocktron Short Timer> Behringer Ultra Tremolo> Behringer Hellbabe Wah> Marshall DSL100 stack (2 4x12 cabs)with the following in the effects loop MXR Dynacomp> MXR Distortion +> MXR Phase 90. I find the effects loop works well with my MXR pedals.

My Dyna Comp is set up like this...OUTPUT at 1 oclock and SENSITIVITY at 11 oclock.


This little rocket delivers awesome dynamics and really enhances your sound. As you can see above, I place my Dyna Comp in the Marshalls effects loop before my MXR Distortion and Phase 90. This works great as it sharpens up the whole sound giving it more presence and sizzle than a hot grill at a burger joint!

I am not too crazy about comparing the Dunlop reissues to the MXR originals for two reasons...

1. I could never afford an original MXR and subsequently have never tried one.

2. By the time I start rockin out my musical vibe takes off and gives me the greatest feeling and makes me appreciate what I have got rather than what I have not got!

I have no real issues with noise because of the settings but as previously stated by me and others....the higher you crank it and the more pedals in your line the more noise.

MXR pedals seem simple enough in design and construction and hence their subsequent reliability. I think there's loads of these pedals that have passed the 15-20 year mark without dying...they're generally good for a couple of decades at least!

I have never had to call upon tech support.

I am a 'guitar hero' fan from way back...JIMI HENDRIX, JIMMY PAGE, PETER FRAMPTON, RORY GALLAGHER, ACE FREHLEY, PETE TOWNSEND, RICHIE BLACKMORE, JOE PERRY, RANDY RHOADS, TONI IOMI, VINNIE VINCENT, EDIE VAN HALEN, SLASH and on and on and on.....so I play hard rock and I love that classic 1970's/1980's rock sound.

Of all my pedals the MXR Dyna Comp stays on all of the time. It really works hard for me through clean, crunch and searing lead. Dyna Comp is the only compressor I'll use.

The MXR Dyna Comp is worth it's weight in gold because of its simplicity, ease of use and great dynamic sound. I find this pedal cleans up my sound and adds a new dimension. It makes my guitars come alive with more balance and presence than any other compression pedal Ive tried.

If you have an effects loop, try it there as it really shines.

Alongside the MXR Phase 90, the Dyna Comp would have to be their flagship pedal. You will not regret buying an MXR Dyna Comp....PERIOD!

2 knobs cant fail to make it sound good.

I use this with various Les Pauls, Strats and a PRS with Fender and Marshall and Carvin Amps, its clean.

i have a script logo in 75 never had a problem with it.

Its worked since I bought it new.

I bought this and a Phase 90 in the mid 70s, I still have and use them both. It gave me sustain and output giving more versitility in different environments.

This is the easiest... output and comp level... HOT output... perfect!

I think most people in here are comparing later models to the original. The one that I have appears to be true bypass and DOES NOT change tone or EQ at ALL! I have tried so MANY compressors over the years... rack mounts, stomp boxes... this is the ONE... NOW, I have the original SCRIPT logo era dyna-comp.. the rarest of them all... it has a BLOCK logo, but the back plate has a script logo embossed in it. This seems to make all the difference! I use this for SO many tones... put it in front of a TS-808 with the 808 on about 50% gain and the comp on FULL... use your volume to attenuate total gain... MOST compressors would hiss and BREATH... I have never been able to get this one to do that! I don't know what magic spell they used on this one... it just brings up your gain to the most sensitive levels ever attained... the attack and decay are invisible, it just seems to work... optimized for guitar, and amazingly pure. I use an analogue pedal board with a hi-fi full range amplifier, so everything from 40-10k is out there in the open... this sounds great straight into the board! I place it AFTER the wah pedal (for clean wah, it reigns in the mid shift without distortion) and before the overdrive/distortion (BECAUSE I CAN!). It sounds great by itself or with any chorus or delay... it takes a single coil and puts it INSIDE your head, with every high end tinkle perfectly audible and scintilating.

it's about 30 years old, i've never had another... it shorted out one time when the foam rubber sheet they wrapped the internal IC board in finally dissolved and grounded out against the metal shell... I always use batteries, and soemtimes leave it on.... if your battery dies it still works in bypass mode... and I believe that makes this true bypass.

never had to deal with it... I hear that these are never really an issue for repairs... but the FLANGER is another matter... (I love their flangers and wish I still had mine... it died and apparently can't be repaired).

I play cover and original rock... although this works for everything... it ESPECIALLY works for country... I also use an expression (active volume) pedal... (very important, in my opinion) but using the dyna-comp with the volume, and also a whammy bar, you can fool ppl into thinking you're playing pedal steel... not if they're LOOKING at you per se, but in a lot of these recordings, on more than one occasion, it totally fooled fellow musicians.

Very easy to use, noone should have a problem. First set the volume, then the sensitivity.

I am using a fender clapton strat with a small marshall combo solid state. No other effects.
The problem is that I have to set the volume on max in order to achieve the by-passed volume. I keep the sens. on 9 in order to "broaden" the sound. It also changes the tone, doesn't make it worse but certainly different. Doea anyone know how to install a true bypass in this effect?

Works fine

Never dealt with

I play blues and rock and have played 15 years.
Didn't really try other effects but saw that it it possible to modify. Is this easy?

Very easy. Just an output knob and a sensitivity knob. I just fiddled until the output would be the same as the level when the pedal was turned off and found a good sensitivity.

AWESOME! Gives me the clicky clean sound and also creamy sustain when the distortion kicks in. With this pedal, distortion, and the Bigsby on my axe I can get violin-like lead lines. And for soloing, the sustain can't be beat.

As with all MXR stuff, built like a brick.

N/A

The best compressor/sustainer out there. GET IT!

Dead easy to use. Output control essential to match volume of uneffected and effected. SEnsitivty adjusts the "strength" of the compression and then there's the obligatory on/off footswitch.
Intuitive.

Recent Fender US Srat and Tele. Dyna-comp, Boss noise suppressor, Boss Power Wah, Boss Tuner, Boss GE7 equlaizer, Boss Super Overdrive, Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer, Boss Giga Delay, MXR FLanger (J Dunlop), EHX Holy Grail reverb,Pete Cornish ss2/P2 duplex pedal (giggle!!). 2 Power bank Ac-DC adaptors and Boss PSA adaptors for the P2/SS2 and wah - which for some reasons makes these units run quieter. High qulaity cables all running into an Orange AD15 revalved with Harma's from Watford valves.
The sound from the Dynacomp - the latest edition to my board is even better than I'd hoped. It hardly colours the sound at all and gives a great push to squeeze even more sustain - whether playing clean crunch or searing lead. This set-up is remarkably quiet and hiss free.
Just waiting for my Dejavibe Ebay purchase and EMG DG pickup set to arrive to complete my ever evolving set-up. I am not sure it gets mmuch better than this. At 48 it's taken a life time to assemble this kit. And it's been worth every hard earned penny.
Guess who influences me. Yeah David Gilmour. Also Jeff Beck, Keith Richards and Robin Trower. I can get as close to Gilmour as I need to - I love his tone - although there's no way I can play like him. A few licks come close though.

Only had it a couple of days.

No idea.

Very basic rock and blues with a Gilmour Beck Trower mix/influence and if I cant get close with this lot it is time to give up and take up (that even more expensive hobby, as I keep telling the wife) Golf.
Bought the Dynacomp after years of hearing Mr Gilmour uses one. I used to have a Boss GT6. It just didn't compare with the (yeah I know more expensive) individual pedals option - but it was very, very good for what it was. Especially with the cheaper amp I had before investing in the Orange. The GT6 was great for recording direct to tape too.
Anything else I'd like? Yeah a Boss RC-50 loop station as soon as they hit the shops. No point going down the computer route for jamming etc after having invested in this tasty lot.

I guess it depends on your tastes. But, only two knobs, one for volume and the other for amount of compression. Super easy.

I play an Ernie Ball Music Man Stingray 5 through an Ampeg SVT-350H head, that goes to an Avatar 2X12 cab. Its pretty noisy, but as most will agree, thats to be expected with a compressor. If you crank the sensitivity, you get distortion, but you can get a really good amount of compression at a low level, so I don't know why you would want to turn it up that high...it does suck a rather large amount of high end out of your tone, which I was dismayed over, but there are at least 5 people that will do mods on this thing to fix that problem.

http://www.monteallums.com/Product_links.html

Thats who I suggest. Cheap and very high quality work. If you buy one of these and get a hi-fi mod, they best compressors costing 100's of dollars more. Me, I can live without the mod...it sounds fine as it is to me, but I'll probably get the mod anyways.

Honestly, if I needed a light weapon, this is what I would use if it was handy. Its small and made of metal, none of that plastic crap that you get with Danos. You could seriously throw it as high as possible and it would most likely still be functional.

Never dealt with them.

I play in a band that does pretty much everything. Even though my setup is as simple as they come, its as versatile as I'll ever need it to be. I needed very good compression that was cheap, and this delivered with flying colors. I highly suggest it...if it were lost or stolen, I would definitely buy another one. I've tried the Boss bass limiter, and it was only good for extreme compressing...plus the enhancer made my bass sound overprocessed.