BOSS CS-3 Compression Sustainer Pedal Review by Sweetwater 

Hahahahahaha man you nailed it. Epic 👍🏻👍🏻

Pretty obvious, right?

This video is not that great lol

😂😂😂😂😂

Email me those notes.

We appreciate the great feedback, MetalMan73100! Thanks for checking our videos out!

MetalMan73100 But what if one wanted to know the in-depth details? Then one would be greatly appreciative? If one is unhappy then one can skip to the end. Demonstrating the nuances can cover a magnitude of wondrous delights. Patience is a virtue.

Personally I think the guy has no idea what the usual compressor controls mean... which is not ok if youre demoing a product... But still the sound quality is really good and you can listen to the pedal, thats more important than knowledge I guess...

LMAO 😂😂🤣

@@andresgagge6977HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LAUGHING FACE EMOJIS 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂 VERY MUCH FUNNY MAKE BIG LAUGH JUICY CHUCKLE CHUCKLE

to be fair.....look how he's dressed.

Your definition of attack is correct, however, in the case of this pedal it is used differently and quite strangely to be honest. I've owned a cs3 for years now and still cant fully figure out what it means. The owner's manual says the knob affects how much "punch" you feel (as if getting your tone "attackier"), but as far as i know it does not affect the time it takes for the compression to kick in. Its rather a macro of some sort that compresses more as you go clockwise rather than affect the attack time (at least thats my perception). Also you define the sustain knob as if it had a release function in proper compression but it does not. It literally sustains notes for a long long time (i dont know how that works either). I am a bass player and have found this pedal to be quite great for clean, fingerstyle guitar but quite disappointing for bass. Maybe the problem's my rig but it feels like it eats up tone, low freqs get muffled

Thanks lol I've owned one of these for 30+ yrs ,..never really used it ...just pulled it out and decided to figure out wtf it does ha... your post was more Info than the vid.

Appreciate the info!

Thanks.

don't need one, it speaks for itself

Captain obvious award

The" it is what it is award".

The typical lazy college professor award

Captain obvious award

What type of mod

+Phlop Alopagus And to simplify that even more, attack alludes to how quickly compression engages (kicks in.) A quick attack time will "limit" as it were the initial transient level of what ever instrument is going through the compressor. A slower attack allows more initial transients to go through.

The Hater Slayer Are you sure cause I thought attack gave you that (to catch a predator) tone. Who knew :)

Well this is misleading too. The level control is the output level. Sustain controls the amount of compression, probably through raising the level before the compression happens in the circuit.

"Level is obviously level" LOL

Phlop Alopagus Agree. «Attack is the sound of the attack.»That was epic 😂😂😂😂

I've got one and I dig it...

Neck pickup Overdrive stacked on less distortion Reverb Dial everything to 7 on amp

PCMESS, for the "Can't Stop" sound, the compressor is keeping the volume of the note's initial attack in-check without altering the tone much otherwise. Sounds like Frusciante's attack is pretty hard but all of the notes, even the sustained ones, stay level in volume. Put the comp early in the signal chain, preferably right out of the guitar, and get your sound with the comp bypassed. When you engage it, start with the Sustain control about as low as you can get it and use the Volume to bring it up to unity gain. Keep turning up the Sustain and bringing down the Volume little-by-little until you find the sweet spot. This will be different depending on the player, guitar, pickups, etc. The Attack will probably be most-of-the-way up and the Tone somewhere in the middle. Experiment with different comps, they all sound and react uniquely. If you want to get really tweaky, here's a link to Part 1 of a 4-part series I wrote about how to get the most from your compressor. www.sweetwater.com/insync/how-to-get-the-most-from-your-compressor-pedal-part-1/ Hope this helps, have fun! Cheers, Don Carr

Hey Kevin Wright! Give us a call at (800) 222-4700 or email us at sales@sweetwater.com. One of our sales engineers will gladly look into this for you!

MICHAEL DAVIS- yes, technically the Boss CS-3 will work with a high-impedance microphone. However, since it's voiced and designed for guitar, it wouldn't be my first choice...from a sonic perspective. Just sayin'! :-) Thanks, Don Carr

TheseusTitan Stratocaster. No doubt. Only good bridge single coil is a P90.

sensitivity means attack

This is helpful -- do you have any reference or source on this? Anywhere to read/learn more? I'm finding some pretty huge debates online about how this thing actually works, and I find the official manual to be a little ambiguous. ty

@@charlesgallant I don’t remember how I figured this out, but I had the pedal for a few years and (like you) I was trying to research it online. However, some compressors have a ‘blend knob’ which makes a world of difference. This one does not and I would not recommend it. I may have reached my conclusion after watching some videos about compression on the JHS channel. If you haven’t seen those I highly recommend them.

Hi, Smitty. It would work great. A Big Muff has a lot of sustain to it already, but the compressor would increase that even more. Thanks for your interest! Charlie Davis, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1320

Maybe you’re looking for a noise suppressor?

By now you likely know but to best summarize a compressor,...When you are using cleaner tones with less over-drive, distortion or gain or light distortion, light gain or light overdrive,..you will lose a lot of sustain. In order to keep this type of tone and increase sustain a compressor is used. Clean boosters also do this. Having said that, everything will color the tone to some degree, even if it is subtle. To answer you question, it is a significant amount.

Get a compressor. They help make biiiig dirty pedals more moderate, and the boost the sound of clean effects like delays and choruses. They help cap everything off, and mold the shape of your sound better. They give it definition and make your sound seem professional

Thanks

Yes. Put it before the fuzz to tighten up the effect, Make things less muddy. Put it after the fuzz to use it as a sort of volume control/sound check, to maintain the fuzz.

Depends totally on the sound of the attack.

Sustain is bad m'kay!

MXR is noisy and a tone sucker

Hi, Mhabs! Appreciate you getting in contact. Yes, you can run the CS-3 compressor in front of or in the loop of the GX5. Same with any other pedal in your collection. That’s a very common option for guitarists. Please contact us direct with other questions as you have them! Robert Williams, Senior Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 2371, robert_williams@sweetwater.com

Thanks for your question, Ray. Hope you and yours are well and safe. I suggest experimenting with the pedal position to see what you prefer. Depending on how you set your compressor, you could limit the dynamic range or set the output for a boost. Either of those will affect the other effects. There is no right or wrong, only what sounds good to you. I'd go after the drop and before the wah, since that tames the output of the pitch change and allows the filter of the wah to run free. YMMV. Robert Williams, Senior Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 2371, robert_williams@sweetwater.com

Martin Ferreira-simply put, "Attack" controls how quickly the compression happens to the signal. A higher Attack setting compresses the input signal quicker. This is why it can sound snappier, especially at higher compression settings. I wrote a 2-part article on guitar compressors that may answer questions you have. I linked it to an earlier comment. At the risk of being redundant, here it is again: www.sweetwater.com/insync/how-to-get-the-most-from-your-compressor-pedal-part-1/

Martin Ferreira-Thanks for your question, BTW! Hope this helps. Don Carr

great. thanks for the clarification. I have had this pedal for years without knowing exactly how to use it correctly.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA LAUGHING FACE EMOJIS 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂 VERY MUCH FUNNY MAKE BIG LAUGH JUICY CHUCKLE CHUCKLE

I think it's supposed to emulate the sustain pedals on a piano.

You should donate the to my "l Like Free Stuff" foundation.

Welp. At least your kids are set for college.

Joseph Liptak good lord

What do you mean you think you have an addiction. Da nile is not just a river in Egypt dude

Jesus

You don't always necessarily need a bass specific compression pedal, but I don't mind recommending them. Check out some of these options that I've personally tried and really like on bass: www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/KCompPlusSW--keeley-compressor-plus-sweetwater-ltd-4-knob-compressor-pedal www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/BassComp--mxr-m87-bass-compressor-pedal www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Cali76CmpBass--origin-effects-cali76-compact-bass-compressor-pedal www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HyperLuminal--darkglass-hyper-luminal-bass-compressor-pedal Thanks for the interest! Kevin Spunde, Sweetwater Sales Engineer, (800) 222-4700 ext. 1732, Kevin_Spunde@Sweetwater.com

Yep noisy as hell..they should sell this paired with a noisegate

I would put this right at the start! Or in the off chance you have any overly sensitive fuzz or distortion pedals, right after them, but before everything else. It's kind of a sculpting tool in my opinion.

Yup. Before light drive pedals and clean effects, but I'm running mine after my DOD Grunge to help check the sound and maintain a good tone. The DOD Grunge can get wicked out of control real quick, and I'm stacking it with the Boss Blues Driver as well

Hi +Ralph Menezes. Absolutely, it's a very versatile pedal that could certainly work in a bass setup. Thanks for watching!