COMPRESSION IS BETTER THAN OVERDRIVE // BOSS CS-3 // REVIEW, DEMO, PLAY THROUGH // SJSS

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[@angusorvid8840]

You're totally spot on. Most of the time players need compression rather than yet more overdrive. Most amps have more than enough overdrive these days. Compression gives you the focus that you lose with your amps overdrive, or even overdrive pedals. I also love what compression does with cleans. I love how compression changes the feel as well, making it more responsive. The compressor sounds great with your amp. Great demo.

[@joelacina386]

Thanks for the info. Gonna try that soon! Love the color of that axe.

[@ctwarmuth]

super cool. can't wait to try this me self!

[@erichfrederick9229]

I play with that compressor on my pedalboard with my boss katana amp programmed with all my favorite pedals programmed in the amp, i use the metal zone pedal setting as my main distortion. Plus a crybaby wah. I play with same exact settings you do. I keep it on the whole time. It brings out more of my sounds and tightiens it up at the same time while giving a better tone. It also brings out my leads more. Plus i have a noise suppressor thats in the amp as well. The sustain gives a buzz the louder you with it. I have it set in the same position as you do so i don't get a buzz but get just the right amount of sustain. I keep it on for all channels. It's good for balancing and boosting at the same time. It's definitely worth it. It cleans the the whole board and amp the same time. Definitely worth it.

[@williamsimmons4678]

Thx bud i use a ce-3 but i like knowing more info !!!! I was a ds1 guy to !!

[@maekong2010]

Okay. I never thought of using my CS-3 as a substitute for an overdrive. I had planned to get the Boss BD-2, but you've given me something to think about and explore. Even if I still get the BD-2, I will have more OD options than I thought. For all that, you definitely earned a "like and subscribe." Thanks, younger brother.

[@SaxJockey]

I discovered this myself yesterday, so looked it up and found this vid. I have a CS-3 with the levels set just above unity for a little bit of compression/sustain/bloom. Recently bought a Tube Screamer Mini and was underwhelmed by it. The TS seems really thin compared to my OCD. I decided to increase the level on the CS-3...it helped boost and fill out the TS. Unlike the OCD that is a stand alone OD into a clean amp, the TS is meant to go into an amp breaking up (already cranked), so not very bedroom friendly. Using the CS-3 as a slight boost helps (better than increasing the drive/level on the TS which looses clarity).

[@ponzo1967]

I have to agree 💯 I've been using compressor as Boost/Overdrive since the 90's. Players argue with me about it but ive always liked the smooth distortion and sustain when I kick it on. It will condense the dynamics of your clean tone and great for that but I keep mine cranked for overdrive. I learned that by default when I didn't have an overdrive pedal.

[@TheChainsofAlice]

Nice video man! Was on the fence about a compressor....now i need one. Definitely subscribing \m/

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

\mm/

[@C-mereSSBU]

I just had the same revelation with my Dyna Comp. Glad to find some solidarity on this!

[@patrickian8843]

I picked up a boss cs3 (modded at Alchemy Audio) and uses the same settings although I roll the level back slightly, and I use a JHS AT+/andy timmons signature overdrive with it. I love this combination. I also have a neo-clone, an mxr carbon copy and a polara reverberation. It took a while but, for the most part, I’ve got it dialed in.

[@akalhalofi5280]

Finally a very good video showing the sound

[@misled1664]

Dude, thanks for making this. We have very similar tastes in music and I have the same cs-3 on my board. I was having issues having it on with my distortion but I obviously wasn't dialing it in right. Stoked to try your settings! btw loved the High on Fire reference 🔥

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

AHH FUG YEH BUD

[@jeremymiller6933]

Kinda late here, but new to the tube amp scene. I recently picked up a DSL40 amp, similar to the DSL100 you're using. I didn't have an overdrive pedal at first, but did have a CS-3 lying around that was given to me as a gift many years ago. I noticed the boost it would give, along with the EQ pedal I had. I quickly bought a SD-1 since they are so cheap and love it. I tried using them together and there can be a lot of feedback, even with a noise suppressor. After a few weeks of tweaking settings, etc., I have so far come to this conclusion for my sound, which is based on the No More Tears album: I use the SD-1 on the Clean, Crunch and OD1 channels. I use the CS-3 as a boost on the OD2 channel instead of the SD-1 as the gain levels on that channel are a bit overkill and the amp needs a little help keeping the EQ's shape (the EQ pedal is still doing a good job here, used in the efx loop). If I want to play a lead, I might kick on the CS-3 for it's duration. I can't stand the compression when playing clean as it clips my lower end a bit too much. This CS-3 pedal isn't the easiest to figure out at first and thanks for making this video to help my learning curve.

[@gotpockets]

Thanks! I've just made the jump from acoustic to electric and this whole world of pedals is intimidating at best lol

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

gotpockets Welcome to the electric club! Haha If you're ever looking for advice, just DM me!

[@gotpockets]

Sloppy Joe's Shred Shack you're awesome! Thanks!

[@jaychen2000metal]

Keeley compressor plus into east river od into isp decimator II noise gate

[@michaelcraig9449]

It is not intimidating. There is no contest. Just learn as you can, when you get to it. Just relax, play, learn, have fun. Learning is a life long thing, no worries.

[@1967RTMOPAR]

I had a 90s era Marshall Valvestate 15R practice amp with a Tokai Les Paul (80s) and it had no Sustaine and at bedroom level volume. Bought a CS 3 and put ever knob on Max and it sounded brilliant. This was 15 years ago , it was by chance I did it. I didn't even think of getting an overdrive pedal, I bought some that said sustaine on it and put everything to max 😁

[@tomflynn2912]

Wow, i never knew, thanks! Heard a Sabbath riff in there, cool!

[@speedhead]

nice review and cool riffs mayne

[@tallenosborne]

This is cool trick, thanks for the vid! But I think its worth mentioning that an overdrive does have its place too even if only using it as a boost. Simply having your signal go through the circuit offers something completely different than this can. But both pretty awesome 👌

[@erictait6322]

Well done man, I'm gonna research this further.

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

Thanks! Glad it inspired you!

[@preciseaudioblog]

Omg! Those amps are sweet! Can't believe you replaced them for the Helix. I think compressor is better for clean tones, but at the end it's something personal. Boss pedals rock. Cheers!

[@CharlesEBusa]

Cool video. I've been doing the same thing for a while now. I like to use a compressor instead of an OD, which I save for cleaner/edge-of-breakup tones. I didn't like the high sizzling tone I was getting when boosting an already crunchy sound for lead. I once tried the pedal that every guitarist should have but doesn't necessarily know what it does because it doesn't color your tone haha. I was like, "man, why didn't I try this like years ago?" I was basically able to keep the same tone and playing was also made easier. I also had an extra option: turning it off whenever I wanted to play with more dynamics. So it definitely was a cool thing to addition to my pedalboard. Cheers!

[@muleblues71]

Big fan of Matt Pike. Didn't know this. Great video, will try this.

[@guscurci]

Hahahahah, very good mate! We’re indeed all nerds! Well done. But along with the compressor you also did use a distortion (perhaps the amplifier one) in the very last riffs metal-style riffs, didn’t you?

[@TheDans7300]

Awesome I'm adding it to my board!!! I have one and never knew what the heck to do with it. I have a TS8 and an SD-1 I'll add it on before them or replace one with it.

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

Personally I would add it before. The reason being is because if you're playing a song that primarily is using only an overdrive, but you want to just kick that overdrive a little harder? You can do that And then if you want some insane feedback for whatever reason, kick the compressor and the overdrive on

[@TheDans7300]

@@SloppyJoes_ShredShack awesome I'll need to copy your settings 👍

[@yomomma9815]

I'm not sold on this theory but I like your playing style!

[@akouncreative5800]

I think for acoustic guitar a compressor/sustainer works very well. For electric guitar the overdrive is a more realistic switch in tone that makes playing sound aggressive.

[@nokomisnichols]

Excellent bro. I like what your doing with the compressor. Do you use a noise gate with the pedal?

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

When I made this video and had this particular rig yes

[@heggy_69]

i dont like compression on guitar but for bass it makes it infinitely better (from what i hear from my playing). i remember hearing something about pete townshend swapping the fuzz pedal he used to use as a boost for an mxr compressor in the 80s or 90s lol

[@patrickian8843]

By the way, I got the idea from you…we can learn something new everyday, if we pay attention. Thanks for a great video.

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

Love this dude!!!

[@desdenova1026]

Picked up a modded cs3 and the previous owner had the same settings.

[@THESONICSPEEDDEMON]

Dang I never knew a compressor can do that! The thing is that when I watch people review this pedal, the guitar sound still sounds really clean. Which knob did plays a huge role for this? Also what do you mean by coloring your sound?

[@williamsimmons4678]

Tipton used a lot of compression i heard and well...say no more listen to the leads on all guns blazing 😄👍😍

[@jefferyjoseph2870]

I'm sorry if I missed it, but did you say that you run 2 compressor pedals back to back or just use the one? I couldn't tell if you were switching 2 on or just showing the one with changes to the knobs.I love this idea by the way. Thank you for showing the versatile way to use this.

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

I was only using one pedal in the video. I made a reference to Matt Pike of Sleep/High On Fire. He has been known to stack compression pedals. Sorry for the confusion! Thank you for the kind words!

[@benmcnamara5572]

I've got one and want to use it as a lead pedal, what do you think?

[@guitariste47]

hi; great playing; from around 6:00 I hear some distortion, is that coming just from the compressor pedal, or you are using another pedal ?

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

That's the gain on my amp getting pushed by the compressor. The actual distortion you hear is the preamp tubes getting pushed.

[@geoffc376]

Damn... This kid is GOOD!

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

Thanks man!

[@SamuraiBud]

woo cool

[@ilovemurder8983]

Subbed!

[@unplayedpiano7039]

Guitar Sounds Gnarly Without It 2. Well Done.

[@SerMorell]

💗💗💗

[@brainwashrinserepeat]

Anyone use this pedal with a 100watt 6505+? Im thinking this pedal would tame this beast a bit, thoughts?

[@kenbash2951]

I'm surprised you haven't discovered the value of the sustain know yet?

[@fleshcanon]

Are you switching between channels/eq on the amp during the whole vid or was it only the cs3 that was being adjusted throughout

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

I was on the clean channel (on the edge of tube breakup) until about 6:20, going through various amounts of level on the CS-3. After that, I switched to the rhythm channel and did the same thing. The only thing being adjusted was the pedal.

[@leeanucha]

Totally agree but this is for those who have high-end amp.

[@markjones2349]

"High end" doesn't mean jack shit in 2020. I play a cheap Bugera 333XL and this still applies. Name tags don't mean a thing. Use your ears not your eyes.

[@clydeg4274]

you can do this with most boost pedals and eq pedals correct?? or am i missing something? i don't own a compression pedal (yet).

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

Correct. The point being is that overdrive and distortion pedals compress the sound but also add distortion. What if you want the signal to be compressed but with no distortion? That is where this idea steps in. A EQ pedal can boost the sound but it won't compress it. Using a compressor as a boost is the best of both worlds.

[@jaychen2000metal]

The east river Od is super transparent. It follows my keeley compressor plus

[@alphanumeric1529]

I find the East River is really veiled. It's distortion is flat and papery. Really didn't enjoy it. I bought it without ever playing it, figuring I'd find a place for it on either of a couple boards. Well, I found a place for it in a pile of half dead cables. Really disappointing. But the Soul Food definitely did find a place as an almost always on pedal. But I always hold out hope that I just didn't figure out the East River and pedals like it. Someday I'll wire it up and plug it in and give it another shot.

[@rosendosalvadormosquedatri4950]

@@alphanumeric1529 how it sounda the soul food?, how it takes an orange amp?, thanks man, sorry for my bad english

[@alphanumeric1529]

@@rosendosalvadormosquedatri4950 Sorry, haven't been checking my messages. I've never played through an Orange. I play through a Bugera 333. The "distortion" channels are way, WAY too distorted. I play everything through the clean channel. I play through on old Peavy Half Stack with 4 Sheifields from the 80's. So, I don't have any tube slight breakup on the clean channel. It is clean, clean, clean, because my amp is 120 watts. If it were a 20 watter, I could push the pretubes, and the powertubes, and get natural tube feathery edges on my notes. But no, I'm pure clean. So, I like the Soul Food, it does give that clean sound, like the sound of your guitar and amp, but with the right drive setting, you can get to that place, where when you're playing, each note is clean and clear, but when you play hard, and dig in, you'll get a little break up, you'll get that feathery edge on your hard notes. Also, the Soul Food has a good tone control on it. Everything for guitar nowadays is about heavy low end. That is not where the guitar is supposed to sit. That is where the bass, and kick sit. The guitar is a MID RANGE instrument. So, I find I need to take a LOT of bass out of my guitar tone, and the Soul Food's tone control is great for that. The Soul Food is almost always on, when I turn it off, my guitar gets really big and bassy, but again, that's not what the band mix needs. So, again, the Soul Food is almost always on. And I have a Way Huge Swollen Pickle mk2 after the Soul Food, and the Swollen Pickle really, really makes the guitar sound huge, too huge. So, I use the Soul Food to thin out my guitar, so when it hits the Swollen Pickle (which btw, is an AMAZING fuzz pedal - it has 7 knobs, 2 hidden, you can get SO MANY fuzz tones out of it - I hear a lot of hate for it online... the only thing that I can figure is that people don't know how to use it, like there are too many knobs, too many combinations... but if you just play with the knobs, you WILL get a huge range of FUZZ, this is my BEST pedal, by far, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!), again, I use the Soul Food to thin my guitar sound, so when it hits the Pickle, it gets big again. But if I didn't have the Soul Food, my guitar sound would get Way TOO Huge. I mean, a lot of people just noodle around by themselves, they don't play in a band, or play live. I suspect, you'd want a big huge sound, with plenty of low end, as you are only listening to the guitar, there is no bass or anything, so I guess that is why they add all this low end to everything guitar nowadays. But if you play in a band, you know you need to thin your guitar out, or you'll just get sonic mud, with the bass and guitar mushing together into inarticulate mush. I bought a cheap Danelectro 6 band eq pedal to better control the equalization of my guitar signal. But it added too much noise to my signal, and didn't sound right, I didn't like how the cuts sounded, and the boosts didn't sound right. So, I removed it from my board, and I found that just the tone control on the Soul Food did everything I needed. I also got the 6 band eq to try and remove a nasty 6khz zing noise made by my Zoom CDR-75 pedal, a digital pedal that draws a lot of current, and introduces a lot of noise into my power, even though I have an "Isolated" power supply. The first time my current band played live, when we sound checked at gig volume, my whole band had their fingers in their ears, and were like, "WHAT IS THAT NOISE!" The dirty power noise gets LOUD at gig volume. And it is a really piercing pitch too, nasty. Anyway, I don't have a lot of experience with a hundred different overdrives. I have about 4-5 fuzz pedals, a couple distortion pedals, a 3 or so overdrives... I've played a few overdrives a long time ago, can't recall. But the Soul Food is great, as far as I'm concerned. It is almost always on, as just a part of my basic guitar sound, and I've been using it for a dirtier tone lately. Rather than that light tube break up on hard notes, I've been using it with more drive, for an always slightly dirty tone, and when I dig in, and play hard, the Soul Food actually gets into distortion territory. Also, I figured something out about the East River pedal, that I'll post to the original comment that we're under here in this comment thread. I found a use for the East River!

[@rosendosalvadormosquedatri4950]

alpha numeric wow, thank you for the Answer man, i think im trying the soul food, thanks man

[@alphanumeric1529]

This is Alpha Numeric from I guess a year in the future. I used the East River pedal as an overdrive for one of my synths, and it sounded great, like totally usable, nothing like it sounded on my mexi strat. With my Strat, and Bugera 333 on the clean channel, which is crystal clear, impossible for me to get any kind of break up on that channel, as the amp would be SO LOUD passing helicopters would fall out of the sky. And I only use the clean channel of this amp, as the "overdrive" channel is way, way too distorted, and the "distortion" channel is even more distorted, just an inarticulate static basically, you can barely make out the pitch of a note played. Seriously. So, it is a one channel amp for me. And when I used the East River as an overdrive, I hated the sound. Usually I can get one or two usable sounds out of any pedal, but the East River always sounded bad. I could always hear my guitar signal, then a separate sound of the distortion, or overdrive, of the East River. Like there were two separate sounds, which is not good, or at least, it didn't sound good to me. A good overdrive, imo, should be part of your guitar sound, like it should be relatively transparent, meaning the sound of your guitar and amp come through, but when you dig in and play harder, you get some of that tube sound breakup, or feather edges, or fuzzy warmth on the harder notes. But that overdrive sound should be a part of the guitar sound, not like a separate sound that is next to your guitar sound. If any of that is making sense? So, the East River was off my board in favor of the Soul Food, which, imo, is an excellent overdrive. I use it lately for heavy overdrive, into light distortion, or even distortion distortion. But one day, I wanted a little hair on this synth sound I was recording, and I thought, lemme experiment with the East River... Really, I wanted to use the Soul Food, but it was velcro'ed to my board, and all plugged in and tight. So, I thought, lemme try the East River, and I expected to hear what I heard with my guitar, like I'd hear the synth sound, and then I'd hear another layer on top that was the distortion of the over drive, but they'd be separate. But I plugged it in, got the gain structure right, and whammo bammo, it sounded good! And there was only ONE sound, the synth sound, and when it got loud and resonant, the synth sound would overdrive just a bit, and get some hair on it. I was totally surprised. This was one of those situations where you expect failure, but surprisingly, it sounds good! So, I don't know... I've broken my pedal board down, and I only have 4 pedals on there now, my signal chain goes Mexi Strat -> Soul Food -> Swollen Pickle v2 -> Tc Electronic mini purple flanger (forget the name, I think the Vortex) -> Zoom CDR-75 -> Bugera 333 on the clean channel -> an old 80's Peavey 4x12 with Shefields. So, maybe I'll just pop the East River back over, and see if I was just tripping the 10 times I tried to get a usable sound out of the East River. I was totally stunned when I used it on synth. It was like when you think you're taking a sip of 7-up/Sprite, but it's really water, and you taste it, and there is this moment of what the heck, what is going on, I was expecting that 7-up taste, wtf is this water taste?? That's what happened with the East River and this synth. A moment of wth, this sounds good! And not bad, that I was expecting! So, I'll try it again on the guitar. I thought maybe it was an impedance issue or something, like my Strat has passive pickups, the synth has an output amp, so I'm sure they have a wildly different impedance, I don't know how impedance works/vs capacitance, vs resistance... the fundamentals of EE have eluded me all these years. But there was something very wrong about the passive guitar sound into the pedal, and something very right about the active synth sound into the pedal. So I'll try. My time is at a premium. I'll do it ASAP and hopefully report back to this comment, for whatever reason! The future!? By my ASAP takes a while. ALL THE BEST, AND GOD BLESS!

[@josequintero4331]

What would be your opinion on using this in a chain with an overdrive in front of a 6505?

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

I would recommend it. I like compression alot and I also love a 6505 that's being pushed by an overdrive. So personally, I would use the compressor to push the front end of the 6505 and then use the overdrive to add some extra gain/punch for solos!

[@josequintero4331]

@@SloppyJoes_ShredShack awesome thanks!!! Yeah just putting together a small compact chain to pack a punch going cs3 ,precision drive, and then a sonic stomp trying to achieve that epic level tone. 😂🤘😂🤘

[@TwistedMind86Chern]

I would turn the tone a little bit down. I m not a fun of high frequencies that's why im using a MojoMojo to get beefy guitar tone . Nice video with nice guitar riffs mate 👌

[@tonymediati8274]

First comment.........yippee !!!!

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

tony mediati LIFE GOAL ACHIEVED!

[@tonymediati8274]

Hahaha what a clown!

[@alphanumeric1529]

Okay, anyone have issues with the CS-3 being noisy? I've got it on my board, but man, it quintuples my noise floor with no added gain. I don't know if I have a bad pedal, bad power supply, or its just a noise as F pedal. I recall back in the day that generation of Boss's pedals had noisy buffers and just noisy circuits. I don't know. I find this unusable for the time being.

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

Do you have anything in your chain (pre-CS3) that could be noisey? Compressors will take a noisey component and make the noise quite a bit louder. As that is the nature of compression.

[@anathemadachgenoma9357]

@j s That's exactly what I do, I run the compresor, Overdrive and distortion through the loop of the ns-2. Btw, I did notice that turning the knob More than Is showed in the video, the hiss starts going up insanely

[@SaxJockey]

Sustain above 1 o'clock adds noise.

[@ranvickhadiaz4694]

Wait Rage and Wu in the same concert?! I'd love that poster!

[@deanmlshredder]

Nuttin da fuck wit

[@michaelcraig9449]

@@deanmlshredder Did you pass third grade?

[@deanmlshredder]

@@michaelcraig9449 lol? I didn't neever. Y du u ask! Or is it that you've never heard the song and didn't get the joke?

[@hydnars]

What's the riff you play at 5:04?

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

Something that I made up on the fly, homedizzle! Most of the riffs I play in the demos/review, that I do, are made up on the spot.

[@paulchapman7616]

Im a session guitar in Toronto Canada...for 30 years. I play country and the CS3 is the best comp ever.

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

It's very underrated!

[@LeviBulger]

Try a CS2. It does boost/OD better than any drive pedal made to specifically do that.

[@alphanumeric1529]

Yeah, just take out a loan first.

[@quebecbroil]

over 20years ago when i was a teen beginning at guitar, i bought ramdomly stompboxes to experiment sounds, a guy sold me a chorus ce2(wich i still have) and a compressor, having no clue what it was i engaged it and to my hears nothing happened, i got back to the guy who sold it to me to explain what it was, the only explaination i got is, ''it compress your notes'' went to the pawn shop i usually traded my pedals, asked 5$ for it and the guy at the counter refused, never tried a compresor after that and never met enyone using it, when i seen this video i rushed to my amp and tried the compressor on my me70 multi effects and love it. thanks, too bad i never knew how it work before

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

Hey hey!! Yeah dude, when used right? Compression is the COOLEST

[@wjdavey3]

👍🎶🎵🙏😎

[@miraclemaxicl]

Jeez man... I though you were gonna say: "Matt Pike and his woderfull band SLEEP"

[@SloppyJoes_ShredShack]

I mean, yeah. Lol. But I'm not sure if he does the compressor stacking on the old Sleep records. When the video was made I don't think that The Sciences was even out yet.

[@kylesyx8432]

Well, ...

[@LOSELOSE666]

Ну и рожа!!!