Rocktron Big Crush

three knobs... its pretty simple to figure out

There are good and bads about this pedal, first I'll start with the good. I love the sound of the compression I can get with this pedal but, it isn't very versatile. this pedal is mainly made for shredders because of the crazy amount of compression it produces. I run this at the end of my effects loop just before the gate (trust me the gate is a must, this pedal is NOISY!) and when it is switched on it makes my leads very defined and it gives a very nice boost. on the clean channel, it makes my guitars with even very hot pickups sparkle and pop like a strat which is very nice.

now, the real killer of this pedal. it is by far the noisiest pedal I have ever used, if I dont have a good gate after it the pedal screams, buzzes like a swarm of bees, feeds back like mad and occasionally produces a chorusy sound. not very desirable at all. and the worst part is that it attenuates the guitar signal so much that you need a clean boost in front of it in order to maintain at least some of your volume. and that doesn't even begin to mention how sterile and solid state it makes any amp sound when bypassed. I took this pedal out of my chain and every problem with my rig was solved. not a keeper at all.

hasn't broke on me yet

its the same customer service company as crate so they're good if you don't mind holding forever and a half to talk to somebody

i'm only giving this a 4 out of generosity because i do kinda like how it sounds when on, its hard to find a compressor that can squeeze like this one does, but it isn't a very useable pedal for any applications

Maybe the previous user have missunderstood me. The pedal sounds great, that's true, and it is also evident that it has a level knob for adjusting the output level. When I mentioned the problem with the volume and tone, I wanted to say that this pedal is a tone sucker!!. Just, try to put your guitar dirtectly into your amp at some level, and then put your guitar to the amp through the Big Crush in bypass, you will note a drop of about 40% of the volume and tone of your guitar. Oviously, this pedal is not true bypass, but there are a lot of pedals that being not true bypass, don't suck the volume as the Bigg Crush does!!. Finally, I would expect more respect and kind regarding some comments of the previous user.

I put 5 because this pedal is a volume sucker, and this is unacceptable for any guitarist, since it change completely the personality of your guitar sound when is in bypass, regardeless the quality of thhe amp you use..

3 Knobs. Pretty self explanatory. If you need to know about compressors then look it up!

I use a Strat with Lace Sensors, a Tele Custom with P90s, a Jagmaster with Duncan Hot Rodded Set, and a Dean Evo 2000 with Evolutions into a Line 6 Spyder or a Epiphone Valve Junior. This pedal has a wonderful way of fattening up my sound, I love it and always have it on. Put it first in your chain and you shouldn't have problems! To some of the complaints listed: This thing is not picking up radio signals or noise, it is your other crappy pedals. If you have an noisy pedal this will amplify the noise because that's what compressors do, they even out all levels (even bad ones!). As to complaining about losing your volume, are you retarded? The pedal has a volume knob that you match to your level for either no volume jump or a boost if you like. I don't use batteries but just a one spot and I love it! It is one of the best compressors I have heard and can be completely transparent or super squashy. Some people need to learn about compressors and their use before they post on here because they are misleading beginners because of their own ignorance about the pedal. I'm giving it an 8 due to their being super expensive great compressors out there, but for what it costs (got it off Musician's Friend for $40) it was easily a 10 for price/performance.

Solid as a rock. I would use it without a backup.

Haven't had to use it.

I play blues/rock/funk/jazz stuff. I have been playing for 10 or so years. I also work on electronics in guitars and pedals often. I hated my Boss Compressor (CS-3) and sold it two days after I got it. Something about this pedal draws me to the thickness it brings! I would buy it again definitely (for the $40 for sure). I didn't expect much when I got it and just wanted to give compression another shot and it has brought a whole new life to my Line 6 amp. Find a deal on it and give it a shot! Compression is complex though, and dependent upon your style and tone you may not need it.

This pedal ssound quite well when is on, but when you turn it off, you suddenly note that the volume and tone of your guittar drops about 40%. It is incredible that the design of this pedal be so weird.

I just communicated the volume drop problem in order to gget any support to avoid it, but no answer at all.

It is a pity, since the pedal sound quite well, pretty good I would say!!, but the problem when the pedal is off is too noticeable to rely in this pedal.

I've had this for a couple of years, and I keep finding myself putting it first in the signal chain....there is nothing to it for ease of use, just plug it in and twist the knobs for whatever sound you want....

Right now I've got it coming from a Strat and going to a fuzz face clone, and then to a Fender Champion 600 amp. It is only really noisy when the battery get weak, but sometimes then it makes really cool bizarre noises.

Reliable to the max, it's been kicked all around, but it's built like a brick house

never needed support

I play mostly burning blues and sick grunge, you need this for that. I've been playing for about 45 years. I own a dozen guitars and half a dozen amps....I tend towards Fender gear. If it were lost, I'd look for another. The sustain is the thing here as far as I'm concerned, and the way the tone changes when you twiddle the guitar volume knob...lots of shades there...it helps to make music, for sure. Run it into any other stomp box, and it will make that box sound better.

Three controls that pretty much explain themselves. Plug it in, dial it up...can't get much easier.

I read every review on here first before making my purchase. I'm kinda obsessed with getting the best for less (thank God for eBay). I'm upgrading my sound from a multi-effects unit to a more analog tone delivery with individual pedals that fit me as apposed to takin' what your givin'. I run this first in my chain with custom modified hot Tele and Strat guitars, and a Peavey Heritage VTX tube amp (say what you will, but once you find your settings on that thing, it's a monster).
I've never been able to find the sound I wanted with my multi-effects, I don't know why, but as soon as I plugged into the Big Crush, I was completely amazed. I did have to re-adjust my amp settings, which took forever, but once I did I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This pedal is completely transparent, when it comes to tone, and the sustain it adds can go on forever and a day. The level range is wide, and unlike some pedals, does not thin the tone at all as you turn the level up, even at max. If you like warm tone through your amp, it will stay warm with this pedal, so on and so forth. What I loved the most is the "growl" I was able to obtain. I know that's what happens when you compress your sounds but, I've never experienced it this pleasing and warm. I keep my amp dialed in on the clean channel and with just this pedal, it gives me that Brad Paisley type clean tone that can be described as having just a little hair on it. That same "growl" can be found on my distorted tone as well, giving me chunky lows and beautifully pleasing highs, not ear piercing. Hell, depending on how much distortion you're into, you don't even need a distortion set-up at all. Just turn the sustain up to find a good, warm and dirty overdrive sound similar to AC/DC or any 70's style distortion sound. This thing is everything I always wanted out of a compressor, transparent, "growly", and easy on the wallet. If your into playing New Country sounds, Southern Rock, Rock, and Blues, this pedal is just great. I bought mine new off eBay for one hell of a deal, but right now they're on sale at Musicians Friend for $50 bucks. I don't think anyone can beat it, and for me my search is over. Good Job Rocktron.

Haven't gigged it yet but it seems to be built pretty good and seems durable.

Haven't had to deal with yet.

Overall this thing can't be beat. It does exactly what a compressor is supposed to do and what they're not supposed to do, JUNK YOUR TONE. The control and range of adjustment is great and wide. If you can't find your settings and the sound you want out of this thing then you should probably check your amp and think about changing it. For tube amps this thing is a blessing.

Very easy to use. Battery replacement is nice and easy.

This pedal gives the illusion of sounding better than it is. When its on it sounds good, it just wasn't quite the right sound i was looking for. but when its off its a tone killer but not in a very obvious way so when you turn it on it seems like it improves your tone quite a bit but really its just restoring the tone you had before.

the switch seems kind of cheap, everything else seems solid.

its sounds decent when its on. robs tone when its off. im not sure if its possible to modify this pedal and give it true bypass, im not satisfied enough to put the time into attepmting to modify it and i dont want to spend the money on a looper

so yeah i read all of the review in here and must also add that i like the effect. the knobs does what they supposed to. level is for voulme, sustain is for sustain. and mostly the hard part. the ATTACK. for those ppl that dont or cat hear difference is,

switch to your clean channel on the bridge PU mode then pick single notes on a chord shape. start on the SLOW attack setting then work urself up. ull notice that the more to the right (FAST) on the attack the more compressed and softer smoother the ATTACK of the pick/click on the strings. if u put it on completely slow, ull notice that the attack of ur pick sounds as if ur on bypass mode on the pedal but this time, since ur in play mode of the pedal, u also get the interaction of the level and the sustain effect.

alla in all, not as noisy as most compressors that iv tried (not that i havent tried many either to get a hold of the particular pedal).

problem is. for what im going for now. i really dont like any effects on my clean sound other than a chorus effect and a liitle reverb. same goes for the disto channael. RAW is what i like. period.

anyone has the a alney VC-30? no? get it. its very very clean amp. i just cant figure what the folks are talkin bout the oiverdrive is weak. baby, turn that volume up and introduce POWER TUBE saturation and then listen again. ud be amaze that not only does the vc-30 has that "enough" overdrive" not disto drive, it is also FAT and BIG. put a zoom HL-01 hyper lead on the clean channel. and ****. it sounds so close to my marshall 1987x on the "before clipping" of the plexis volume and knob with the zoom pedal.

amyways. im ranking this compressor on teh behalf that it does work as advertise. sounds good with minimal noise. problem is. i just dont like compressors in my chain. maybe its temporary:)

Easy to use, plug in and set the level(total volume of output), attack(how fast the effect kicks in), and sustain (how much of effect you want) knobs. The manual doesn't tell you much more than this, other than to put the compressor first in chain of effects.

hmm, as there is no category for "annoying design flaws", I'll combine them in this section. First the good: The tone of the compression with the pedal on is actually pretty good if you could get rid of the unwanted noises. It does what it is supposed to, makes the softer sounds louder and louder sounds softer and you'll get a more uniform sound. Makes hammer ons/tapping sound louder, and makes leads sound smoother through my peavey 5150 half stack. You can make your notes sustain a long time. I got this pedal mainly to turn it on during solos and use it for a little boost in volume as well as making leads sound smoother/sustain longer/have louder hammer-ons. The amount of background noise made by the pedal increases as you turn up the sustain knob or the level knob but it is pretty tolerable if used in moderation and if you use a good clean power source. Initially, I had a lot of extra noise/hum when having it on using a 9volt AC adapter. When using a 9volt battery there was much less noise. I later put an isobar surge suppressor/100db electrical noise filter before the adapter, and the electrical hum went away.
Now for the bad: it has been totally useless for what I wanted to do with it. When the pedal is on, I can hear a couple of local radio stations through my amp, which does not go away no matter where I move the pedal to in the room. The radio stations get louder with turning the level or sustain knobs up. This hasn't happened to me with any of my other pedals(metal zone, chorus, wah pedal) in the same location with the same guitar and amp. When using a 9v battery, for some reason the radio stations are even louder than when using the adapter. When the pedal is off, there is considerable loss of gain in the guitar signal. The peavey 5150 has two input jacks, the first is high gain and the second is 1/2 the gain of the first. When plugging in the guitar to the high gain input with the pedal off(using short cords), it sounds like the guitar is plugged into the low gain jack. This loss in gain makes playing with the pedal off(in my case for the rhythms) sound thinner and less ballsy, and pretty much destroys any prospect of using it in a gig only for solos. If you don't need a lot of big crunch and play clean this may not be a problem for you.

Seems sturdy enough, but pretty much useless for gigs for reasons above.

Have not needed to use customer support.

I play thrash metal, extreme metal, melodic death metal. I have not used any other brand compressors before.
In summary, acceptable noise from pedal circuit itself with a good power source, tone is pretty good when ON but pedal has lots of gain loss in signal when OFF, and pedal acts as a really annoying radio. I plan to take it apart and find some way to shield the electronics better. If I can get rid of the interference, then it would make a decent compressor for home use with it left ON all the time, but still unappealing for gigs unless you want to leave it ON all the time for the gig too. If it did not pick up radio station, and if the signal kept more of its gain with the pedal off, I would give it a 9.

Very easy. 3 knobs. The ranges for the settings are wide and useful, but also quite forgiving.

Very little noise and quite warm sounding. I use it to add some sustain for my distorted playing and fatten my clean sound. Definitely a fat sounding unit.

Very solid. Never had any issues.

NA

Solid and priced right. It does a great job and doesn't overwhelm your guitar's tone like the MXR.

Three knobs: Level, Attack and Sustain. How hard can it be? although a settings/presets in the manual would help.
Battery replacement is very easy and don't require screws

I'm using a Les paul standard => Rocktron Big Crush =>Boss SD-1 (Moded) => Amt Extreme III => Visual Sound H2o => Dunlop Crybaby 535Q => Vox Pathfinder 15R (will be replaced to VOX AC-30).
The Rocktron Big Crush sounds really warm when tuned right
The Big Crush gets a little noisy when all knobs are on max. but thats mean can be pushed to the end, But when all knobs are on 12:00 you'll get a very punchy sound.
I tune this to
Level : 9:00- 12:00
Sustain : 12:00
Attack 9:00

The Big Crush is not True-Bypass but his influence on the clean sound is very minor.

Seems Really solid I would defently use it on a gig without a backup

Never dealt with them

I play (and hear) most styles of music (Jazz to Metal). in clean sound The Big Crush is warm and in Dist he's very dominant and warm. Necceary in all pedalboards. Would buy another one if something will happen to this bad ass pedal.
The blue led is AWSOME!

Very easy I guess, exept for the attack knob, I don't get it, I can't hear any diference in sound, can't it be that it's not working? apart from that, perfect

when I bought this pedal I thought I was getting a very good deal, then I realised it was the normal price. but i'm glad that happen because I really like this device. I play with a strat and turning the sustain knob I can get a very good sustain, and what I wanted: a nice feedback that I thought I would never have with my amplifier. It??s good to work with the clean sound but I use it more with the overdrive.

it looks very reliable

I play all styles
I've been playing for 15 years
I would probably buy it again
helps a lot
I guess they know what they are doing in China...

very easy to use, and you can really hear the difference the attack and sustain knobs make as you turn them to experiment with different settings. Usually, compressors can be very difficult to use, so i'm giving this one a 10.

sounds great. i had been happy with my MXR dyncomp, but just tried out this box on a whim because someone was selling in mint condition for really really cheap. i was really surprised at the fat warm tone. this makes the dynacomp seem really cold and sterile. doesn't add any noise except at extreme settings (which is normal for a compressor)

seems solid enough... but somehow i'm still wary of rocktron's reputation in this area... i will have to use this for a few years to really be able to say.

n/a.

best compressor in this price range. awesome gain boost without added noise. does what it should with flying colors. i'm giving it a 10 (for the price range).

Three knobs - easy enough. A few sample settings in the manual would have been helpful, though in the end your settings will be based on your own ears. The manual does say to experiment!

AMAZING. I previously had a Line 6 Constrictor pedal, which I thought was good but I didn't like the preset "attack" settings. The Big Crush is MUCH better to my ears. Very transparent, whereas the Constrictor had a notable change in tone.

I'm using it with a Tech21 Trademark 30 amp, which already does a good job of emulating tube compression, but the Big Crush takes it to a new level. With sustain at 12:00 and the attack knob at 8:00 ("fast"), I can get that classic Byrds / early-Who compressed Rickenbacker tone from my Ibanez Artcore now!

It does get a little noisy with sustain past the 2:00 level, but that's pushing it anyway. Even then, it's quieter than the Constrictor was - and that had a built-in noise gate!

Haven't had it long enough to know.

Don't know - hope to never need to call on them. Rocktron is owned by GHS, who make great strings!

There may be better compressors, but this is one of the best at this price range. The only ones I'd compare it to are the MXR Dynacomp / Supercomp. The Big Crush received the Guitar One magazine "1" award in December 2004, with good reason! Here's a quote from that review:

"The Big Crush is one of the finest compressors I have found in pedal form. It added vitrually no noise to my sound. (Of course, any compressor will bring up the noise inherent in your other gear). If you desire, the Level control offers enough overall gain to drive the preamp into distortion. The Attack knob worked extremely well, allowing the guitar attack to come through at slower settings, while providing plenty of "squash" at faster settings. The Sustain worked as advertised, keeping the level up and bringing out the richness of modulation effects like vibrato and chorusing. Best of all, unlike some pedal compressors, the Big Crush doesn't suck all the tone out of your guitar."

'Nuff said!

Three knobs, level, attack and sustain. Doesn't come easier then this

I bought this pedal in the hope of getting more sustain of my ibanez GRX but it didn't realy do mouch to the sound in a sustain kind of way, instead it REALY sweetend my sound. I run it through a Marshall DFX30 (great prctice amp by the way)and now io can realy get a sweet sound from the distortion. the sound used to be very cold, but when i plugged in the Big Crush it realy gave me that warm sweet sound of a tube amp.

When i use it without distortion, it enhances my sustain a littele bit, but again the main differance is in the warmth

Built like a tank. i bought it a month ago and it's still using the same batteries it came with, and that's after 2 gigs!!!! when i read reviews on other pedals (Boss, Digitech ect.) they all say they eat batteris like hell, but the light on mine is still shining strong

Has a stron blue led showing that it's active, wich is great if you are giging someplace dark

Never ha to deal with them, and hopefulle never will

It will probably give better sustain to a better guitar, but it realy sweetens your guitar and takes the edge of cheap distortions.

if it got lost, i would probably by a new one

I think this pedal is bst for rock, progressive rock, blues...doesn?t realy do mouch if you play heavy metal (wich my band does), but i use it for everything

Three controls, call em what you will, they give nice simple control over the sound. Manual? We don't need no stinkin' manual. The sound is excellent. I am not an expert on compression by any means, but this box makes my entire setup sound better.

This pedal is used by iteself between an American Standard Strat with Texas Specials, and a Peavey Classic 30 with a set of tubes from Eurotubes.

I don't find the box to be noisy until the sustain knob is cranked all the way, but that's not necessary for me to get a good tone. And for most folks in a band even all the way might be ok. The level knob barely comes off the peg when it sounds right to me.

Cranked all the way is WAY too much. I never really liked the Texas Specials until I had the combo of the new tubes and the Big Crush. On the right settings this thing is a ten for me. (As I said I am not a compression expert, I just like how this pedal bablances out the levels of my lousy playing!

My Strat has never sounded better. I can't live without it, even after a relatively short time with it.

I had my pedal for two days and the stomp switch went south. But, there is major good news here, in the customer support section. So good in fact that I cannot give a bad grade here. After all, noone bats a thousand.

As I just said, two days and the swich broke....

and a quick email to ROCKTRON, and a QUICK response from ROCKTRON, and an exchange of purchase data, and bingo! New box in the mail.

One week later, I am back in business. I consider this to be service above and beyond the call of duty. You can be sure I will look to ROCKTRON first for other effects due to the willingness to make sure the product is supported. 11+

I play a variety of clean sounds through the Peavey and the Big Crush is a definite plus. And I think that for the price it has to be one of the rare great deals in guitar gear.

I have played since 1967, and have never improved. But I love the fun of a nice sounding guitar, and the "aliveness" that the Big Crush adds is well worth the money. I'd buy it again in a flash, and it is the only stomp box in my collection that is ALWAYS in line now.

I wish there was a way to evaluate some of the other well regarded compressors; Keeley, CompROSSer, etc., but I can't really justify their prices compared to my level of playing. If you are in my situation where money is tight and you want to try a compressor, I can't see any way to beat this little gem.

It doesn't sound like you've made any compromise at all. Other compressors may do neat things, but I don't see how they can what this one does any better.

sounds more like a sustainer, hard to get a '80 pop sound(only as attack knob is set to the max. wich sound it more noisy ), getting overdrive if you hit it hard , when stepping on my bad horsie (in front ) it will drive even harder it is almost a overdrive pedal, very nice. Hard to get clean sounds, maybe because i use a telecaster with S.D jazzneck & S.D.Hot tele pickups. giving a 8 because of the missing '80 sound and a compressor is not for overdrive( but I like it)

no problem i don't like the leds it shines to bride , it is made in China but looks like a Volvo

I play every thing, had a boss compressor/sounds but it sucks, a tech 21 comtortion very stupid don't buy it, it has a noisereduction that you can't switch off it works only if there is a signal ,if there is no signal the noise reduction switch of giving a irritating ploppy sounds, it really sucks, the build in overdrive doesn't clean up nicely , the next one i try was a mxr but to my ears it had to much boost, the best one i had was the compressor build in the Korg Pandora
px-1 but can't use that on stage, play almost 20 years.

Simple, easy, but like any other new toy you're going to have to play with this a bit to find what you like. Manual is adequate. LED is very bright blue when unit is active, so there's no mistaking when it's on.

Rocktron recommends this first in your chain, that's where I put it and it works fine there. Quiet and quite transparent. Lots of gain if you want it, the attack control is effective, and it sure does
sustain without the noisy roll-off. I use a volume pedal right before the amp, more as an expression pedal, it works very well with the compressor. I can get feedback at low volume levels from a single-coil without using any distortion. I wanted good sustain with a clean guitar and it'll do it. I leave it active all the time, I find no reason to bypass it.

Too early to say, but from the exterior it's well designed and executed. I haven't looked inside. Easy-access battery cover on the bottom. Unit manufactured in China.

Don't know, but at least they offer an address, phone number and website. Apparently Rocktron is a division of GHS based in Michigan.

It's difficult to improve on the comments left by the gentleman below, to whom I say THANK YOU! I have four other compressors which I don't use because they just don't sound that good. This one works. Don't screw around with Ebay, just buy a new one from a retailer with a decent return policy and if you don't like it you can return it. You'll probably save money in the long run. I'm keeping mine.

Very User Friendly, Easy as fallin off a log. Only has 3 SELF explainatory Knobs THAT DO WHAT THEIR NAME SAYS.

Manual is short but adequate given the simplicity of the pedal.

Manual does NOT have suggested settings/presets. Dont really need them anyway.

Does not really matter what "your setup" is. Guitar and Ampl; how hard is that?

I did notice it's a tad noisey at "extreme" settings when using a single coil guitar. (yeah and what stock single coil p-up isnt a tad noisy)

Volume, attack rate and "sustain" DEFINATELY do their thang and affect the sound.

NO problem to get this box to DO EXACTLY WHAT ROCKTRON ADVERTISES IT WILL DO ON THEIR WEBSITE.

New in my arsenal so cant answer on the dependability yet.

It's built with extruded aluminum (whatever that is) but seems sturdy enought.

Havent dealt with RockTron (yet)

Chicken pickin, blues , metal etc....I can NOT see anywere this couldnt have the potential of being a welcome and valuable addition.

Ive started playing just a couple days after the Lord created Dirt.

Love ease of use, PERFORMS AS ADVERTISED, BIG bang for buck factor.

Dont hate nuttin about it (yet) Favorite feature is WHOLE PEDAL.

Compared to some other name brands including SuperComp. I chose this one because of price and advertisement description.

TONS MORE SUSTAIN,MORE APPARENT LOUDNESS, EVEN OUT STRING VOLUMES ACROSS ALL 6 STINGS. What more could you ask for from a Compressor pedal for $59 bucks?

Try one in your local gheetar shop. You may be WELL PLEASED like I was. But, opinions are like anal orafices EVERYBODY'S GOT ONE.