Some players will focus on getting better AMP or drive pedal to improve their metal tone. However, a simple compressor pedal will greatly make your tone come out better when used correctly.
Using one of the best metal guitar compressor recommended here lets you tighten up what would have been a mushy tone and can provide you with more edge and definition.
They can also be used to make your lead playing ability better.
An awesome compressor that we didn’t cover today
A great compressor that we recommend is the HyperGravity Compressor by TC Electronic. Not only is it affordable but it gives you plenty of flexibility over the compression.
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Best Metal Guitar Compressor
If you don’t already own one of these compressor pedals, you might be surprised by how useful it can be to make your metal tone better.
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TC Electronic EQ Effects Pedal, 4.00 x 3.00 x 6.00 inches (960813001)
This compressor is so helpful, but it is not a plug and play and needs to be acquainted with Toneprint. But, it is simple to navigate. After a couple of days of use, here are my recommendations to get the best tone:
The Preset Settings (Spectra and Vintage)
First, the preset settings (spectra and vintage) sound well at first but become quite awful after some play, basically because of the huge amount of gain they come with.
It is therefore well worth getting into Toneprint and creating your own 3-band compression profile. Just a few minutes of tweaking will yield satisfying results.
TonePrint
You can begin by turning off the ‘autogain” function, responsible for background hiss plus the annoying latency response that a lot of Amazon reviewers complain about.
The Tonesprint settings can be tweaked by changing the curves on the graphics. Don’t forget to save your settings in Toneprint and also to your pedal.
Dry Signal
Ensure your dry signal stays on when “blend” is at zero (like the default Toneprint setting), something which turns counterproductive.
Instead of no volume at zero level and zero blend, set the “level” to go from unity (same volume as your dry sound) to a good amount of gain without excess – mine is set to go from 10db at zero to 30db at full volume.
This allows you to truly blend dry and compressed signals to your taste with the blend control, from fully dry to fully compressed. (not going crazy on the maximum gain will ensure that the Hypergravity does not throw off the settings on your other pedals, as some reviewers complain.)
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When switching between compression profiles, the pedal did crash and reset itself many times. But, it does not crash if you take the trouble to turn it off before going from one profile to the other and then turn it back on.
Compatibility
I would say it depends. Some distortions/overdrives don’t work well with it, some do and are enhanced by it.
Conclusion
If you do not enjoy app editing, then I advise you avoid this. You should get it if you don’t mind spending some time on your laptops to carve out a great compressed sound.
Thanks to its Toneprint editor, this pedal has amazing flexibility, and when set properly, few compressors can rival.
I could rate 5 stars for this best metal guitar compressor but I believe the manual could be more helpful.
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