Maxon CP-101 Compressor

You cannot get a bad sound out of this! Sustain and Level - It doesn't get much easier than that. There is a manual to give you some basic starting points, but you really don't need it.

You still cannot get a bad sound out of this! I've used this with my Les Paul and my Strat and both sound great going into any amp I've played so far. I've gone into a small Marshall practice amp and my JCM-800 head into a Marshall cab - it just sounds great! You can get it to clip if you turn the level up too high, but that may or may not be a bad thing. The beauty is that the Strat sound still sounds like a Strat, but with perfect string to string balance and the Les Paul just sounds more even. If you want to get a good idea of what this pedal sounds like, check out the sounds at Maxon.com.

It is very reminiscent of the MXR Dynacomp - I don't think it would ever break - I try to take care of my equipment. I would definitely gig with it and not have a backup.

I have never dealt with them.

I mainly play original music that is completely inspired by Rush, Triumph, Thin Lizzy, etc. I have found a new love for compressors and now the Maxon is never off. I always found that compressors changed my tone or sucked the life out of my guitar, but not this one. It has inspired me to a new level of playing. It sustains beautifully and never, ever "squashes" your sound. It doesn't "bloom" either, which I've always hated on other compressors, where the sound gets louder after you stop picking before the note starts to fade. The best thing I can say about the CP-101 is that it is the perfect compressor for players who always hated compressors. It really is that good. It adds NO noise at all and doesn't suck tone, it just enhances the tone of your guitar! I've been playing for 26 years and this is the first compressor I've owned that I actually use. If someone stole it, I would beat them with my crappy Boss CS-3 compressor and then go get another CP-101. I've obviously played a CS-3 which is the ultimate TONE SUCKING machine, a CS-2 which I didn't care for, the Ibanez CP-9 (which is decent, but not near as sweet as the Maxon), the MXR Super Comp (which is OK), some Alesis comps (more for recording rather than guitar rigs) and an MXR Dynacomp (which was good, but a little noisy). I heard the Maxon on their website, thought I would give it try and absolutely have fallen in love with it. If you need a compressor, give the CP-101 a shot. If you're not sure if a compressor is something you need, buy the CP-101 and it will never leave your rig, your sight or your ears again! Enjoy!

Extremely easy to use. And as if that isn't enough, Maxon provides you with a very helpful users manual that shows some sample setting to help you acheive the basic sound you're after. 10 because it doesn't get any easier than this!

I had an MXR Dyna-Comp I sold because I thought I wanted a rack piece. One week of tweaking, reading and getting the same sound, I sent the rack piece back and ordered a Maxon. The MXR was fine, but wow, this little box is not only quiet, but has a great degree of compression variety without going to harsh extremes like on some compression pedals. For country or straight-ahead solos and chords, it's probably one of the best compressor pedals I've ever used.

Maxon pedals are not cheap, and Godlyke Distributing seems to be pretty proud of their warranty. I would put it up to any other stomp box like it in the active market today.

Never had to use them, so I'll leave this blank.

To each his own. In my opinion, this is the best compressor in a stomp box (or any format) period. In fact, I sometimes run it into my POD just because it's so quiet and beats Line 6's attempt at a compressor effect on the POD unit.

Absolutely no complaints here. I think it's a good deal for the money and worth trying if you are considering one.

Two knobs, Sustain and Level - simple. It really helps if you know what a compressor is supposed to do. I strongly disagree with the reveiwer that said the CP-101 doesn't compress. Either his was broken, or he just doesn't understand what audio compression is supposed to sound like.

I bought this primarily because I wanted a quiet compressor to use with my Yamaha electric-acoustic in order to even out the dynamics for live playing. The CP-101 is extremely quiet for a pedal compressor and works perfectly for helping my acoustic cut through and sustain when doing fingerpicking or single-note soloing. It gives chords an almost piano-like quality. I also own a Marshall Edward The Compressor, which is also a pretty decent compression pedal. The Maxon is more balanced, transparent and "elegant" sounding to my ears. I like the Marshall better for clean electric guitar because of the additional "Attack" control. It helps to make the Marshall sound just a bit more "funky" than the Maxon by allowing more pick attack to punch through. The Maxon however, has a more balanced and even sustain, with no audible "pumping" artifacts. It's also significantly quieter than the Marshall at extreme settings, making it nearly noiseless at nominal settings. It seems that Maxon has the noise reduction thing down quite well on their non-distortion effects. The CP-101 sounds just incredible on acoustic guitar.

It seems pretty reliable. I also own a Maxon AD-80 Analog Delay that I've used for a year with no problems, so I expect the same from the CP-101.

Never dealt with them. No opinion.

I'm pretty much a classic rocker and I've been playing since '77. I've owned and still own lots of gear and I'm pretty picky about tone. I would definitely replace it if I needed to, as it is a great compression effect and simple to use. I compared it against the Carl Martin and thought the CM was just as good sounding, but I wanted a pedal that I could chain to my 9 volt power supply with my other effects instead of having another thing to plug into a wall outlet (the CM has an internal power supply). I also tried the Boss CS-3; very noisy and it colored the sound quite a bit. The CP-101 is a very compact, transparent, quiet and elegant sounding unit. I only give it a 9 because of the price. 30 or 40 dollars cheaper and it would easily rate a 10. Highly recommended.

You'd need to be developmentally disabled or on PCP for this one to give you a tough time.

Using my Frankenstein/Gibson L6S Deluxe w/ Barden HBs through a Boss BD-2 and RV-3 into a Fender Pro Jr. notes from my slide were fat and hung on for days. This unit did darken my tone somewhat, which actually is a slight improvement, as I have a very sharp, bright pick attack. Compared to a Boss Compressor/Sustainer (a real tonesucker), it is very quiet,though not completely noiseless.

Can't tell after one afternoon, but it appears to be reasonably sturdy.

N/A

I'm a bluesdude essentially (30+yrs. playing), and purchased this device for a bit more sustain, especially for slide. This thing fits the bill with very low noise while leaving my tone, for the most part, intact. It definitely is is worth the price difference between it and the (useless) Boss POS.

Very easy to use - 2 knobs. Not a bad sound in it.

Almost transparent. Switch is NOT true bypass, but it doesn't matter.
Even with Sustain set to max, this is a fairly gentle compressor. It does what it should, and nothing more.

Appears well-built, with a sturdy switch. I wouldn't bother with a backup.

Can't imagine needing support...

Excellent for my use: fairly clean Tele and Strat country/blues/rock/jazz.

Only gripe is cost, but I think *all* effects are overpriced, since I know what's inside...

Very easy to use.

Very clean sounding, almost transparent. The amount of compression is limited compared to some others, but it makes it easy to set up. You can't make this sound bad.
I've only used it with Tele and Strat, it does exactly what I want, without any harsh side-effects.

COMMENT: Unlike what another reviewer wrote here, this box does NOT have true bypass (I just checked - SPDT switch). But, when it's turned off, I can't tell it's there. I'll probably mod it for true bypass, just to satisfy my obsessive purist self.

Looks sturdy to me, inside and out. Compression isn't life-or-death for me, so I'd definitely gig without a backup.

I don't even think about this, things seldom break for me.

Overall, for my style of Tele playing, jazzy-bluesy-country-rocky... it's about perfect. I'll always have one.

Let me first explain my rig so you don't think I'm some kind of chump. US strat(gold lace)-> vht valvulator-> budda budwah-> MAXON comp-> marshall bluesbreaker 2 dist.-> analogman chorus-> mxr flanger-> boss trem.-> boss dd5-> boss dd3-> boss eq-> marshall jcm800 lead combo with heil talkbox between the amp and the celestion greenback speakers. All cables monster 500.

Listen, if you want a compressor to use as an actual effect, turning it on and off, squashing the hell out of your sound when you feel the need, the maxon is not for you. At first, I wanted the analogman comprossor but the waiting list was too long. It worked out well that I had to get my 2nd choice because the maxon does exactly what I wanted and cost $40 less. I wanted to lessen the difference between my guitar's chord strum volume and single note volume so that I could incorporate riffs into songs without worrying about my presense dropping off in the band's mix.
The maxon compressor has the same sound characteristics that would be expected from any quality studio compressor. It is not noisy unless both knobs are at or near their max. It doesn't change your tone. I do notice that the physical sound of my pick hitting the string is more audible underneath the tone of the note but it still sounds good.

remember not to throw your shit around when you're bombed, packing up after the gig and your gear will last.

screw'em. If something breaks, I'd rather buy something else than wait for months for the manufacturer to fix the device. They already have my money. I'm not a priority on their list of things to do.

I give the maxon a 9 because it wasn't a fantastic value but I got what I paid for.

Basic

Hmmm .. how to say this nicely ... IT SUX ... Ok maybe I (LIke others) Expect more from this box. This box kills the guitar- amp dyanamics. It definetly does not sound Funky (as per reviewer below). It does a great job of evening things out but if you want to dig in to a note there will be no respone and do not expect the nice overtones from A US strat to come through ...VERY DISAPPOINTED MAXON !!!

I guess it can be i have tried it for a few months now

hmm no

DISAPOINTING

Very easy to use with a simple, straight-forward manual.

My rig starts with a LP Custom and a Dean EVO both with EMG 89's into a Tech 21 Killer Wah... Maxon Compressor... Mesa Studio Preamp... Digitech effects... BBE Sonic Maximizer... Carvin 50/50 EL34 power amp... 4x12 Celestion Vintage 30 speakers.
I had been using a Guyatone ST-2 compressor, which I was pretty happy with, but I decided to try this pedal because of the reviews it received for it's transparency. I thought I needed that because I'm fairly particular about having a good clean signal to send the preamp and power amp. It is transparent... however, it is also noisy no matter where I used it. Initially I thought it was just bad EM interference but it does it all the time. I eliminated the other components and went direct to the preamp and power amp AND I even took them out of the rack and connected the AC's to adapters to lift the grounds... still noise.
It did an OK job of compression but the Guyatone was not noisy at all, seemed generally better at sustain, and in my opinion, has better features. It has a mode switch for adding direct signal to the wet signal, smaller design with all jacks on top for easier pedalboard use, and the true-bypass switch on the Guyatone seemed a lot smoother. The Guyatone isn't as tranparent as the Maxon, but it has a slight warmth to it that was appealing and that I missed when I switched over to Maxon. I'll take off points for the noise.

It appears to be sturdy and dependable. Switch seemed kinda clunky though.

Don't know.

I play a wide variety of music... mostly rock though.
This pedal, the way it is, might be good for bass, but for guitar it shouldn't be so noisy (especially using Monster cables and active pickups!) maybe I had a defective one... I don't know, but I'll stick with what I had.
Also, the price they ask for these pedals is WAY too much. I expected a Holy Grail and got a box of noise. The Guyatone is about $70... almost 1/2 the price... can't beat it! Points off for cost, design and overall practical use.

This unit is relatively simple to use, but like most compressors it requires a little time to adjust for the right results. I found this a little more challenging on this unit because the effect is so SUBTLE that I really had to listen closely to what effect the "sustain" knob was having on the sound.

To address a couple of the issues brought up by other reviewers:
The sound quality of the CP101 is pristine. Really, I a/b this box against my dyna comp and the CP101 is just plain transparent with no real noise! With the Sustain cranked to Max and the Level at about 11 o'clock, you get the full strength effect at a good volume with almost zero noise. To address the issues mentioned: 1.)This thing does not sustain. Well, compared to a dyna comp, no it lacks that incredibly long sustain/heavilly compressed sound-This pedal is like a clean boost that evens out your dynamics very subtly with a natural decay-in this regard it is an excellent compressor, but not gobs of sustain for leads. 2.) this thing does not compress. Hmmm,,,,, well, again I think I understand what the reviewer means-This pedal most definitly compresses, but compared to a dyna comp, the CP101 DOES NOT affect your picking dynamics and attack, so it doesn't have that characteristic "funky" sound, it almost doesn't feel like it's doing much at all, but if you turn it off-you notice a HUGE difference. You can't really get that delayed hard compression like you can when you start funkin' it up with a dyna comp or other compressor-so if you are looking for that "type" of compression, the CP101 doesn't do that. But-this pedal is CLEAN, extremely transparent and adds plenty of definition when using overdrive. It is like a clean compressed boost that doesn't affect your original tone. I may have to keep both this and the dyna comp because the dyna comp has that funky character that is part of the rock vocabulary-The dyna comp also has a wicked mid range boost that the CP101 doesn't muddy you up with-

IT is very well made, but not as heavy-duty as the dynacomp. The switch is probably the NICEST switch I've ever felt/seen/used and it is true bypass-comes with a good warranty. Boss style AC adapter jack for power (and it's in the back-not the side like the MXR!)

Never dealt with them, but it has a good warranty.

I've been playing for 13 plus years. Club circut/semi-pro and this was a must have-I think it is an incredible sounding pedal and would clean up ANYONES sound in a pedal board. I give it a 9 because it should be 100.00 and not 135.00- Also, the addition of an "attack" trimpot that would allow for the user to dial in some of that hard compression but still maintain the pristine sound quality of this pedal would make it 100%. You must try this pedal out next to your current compressor-I chucked my Boss CS2 for this. If you need transparent, quiet, clean, subtle compression that is so small it fits into any pedalboard-try this.