MXR Dyna Comp - any good?

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 11:35 am

When an old singer from my band left to go travelling he left me with his MXR Dyna Comp which has been in my drawer for a couple of years and I kind of forgot about it. I've been thinking about experimenting with a compressor and remembered that I had it. What are people's views on this pedal? I've heard that people don't like them as they're not as good as the old MXR ones, but i've also heard that they can be modded to old specs.

Does anyone have any views on this pedal or indeed know anything about the mod which can be done?

Johno · Post by **Johno** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 11:49 am

Have you plugged it in yet?

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:14 pm

Not recently, I just thought i'd ask what other people thought about it as i'm always interested in hearing about other people's experiences with gear. Maybe I should've had a go with it first to see if I like it before I posted this topic, but you know what it's like - you're at work, a bit bored, so you post stuff on shortscale to pass the time.

Johno · Post by **Johno** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:22 pm

johnnyseven wrote:Not recently, I just thought i'd ask what other people thought about it as i'm always interested in hearing about other people's experiences with gear. Maybe I should've had a go with it first to see if I like it before I posted this topic, but you know what it's like - you're at work, a bit bored, so you post stuff on shortscale to pass the time.

Only too well. All i know of the dyna comp is what i've read. I do have a comp pedal myself, a vestax one which also has tone controls, whether thats a bonus or not i'm unsure. Its a good pedal but given its age is quite hissy so sort of defeats the object unfortunatly... I'd be interested to hear how you get on with the MXR as have been considering one myself, although the Marshall ED-1 has a good rep , tone controls & is cheaper.

Also off topic, when i was trying to put the SS gig together i checked out your band, I've met your singer Nick. He came out to audition for my band, we thought he was good but just a different style to what we were looking for. Is his girlfirend in Tiny Tigers? One of Timhulios old band mates played with an early incarnation of them.......that's the incestious London music scene for you!

George · Post by **George** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:29 pm

Compression is awesome if you've got an overly touch sensitive tube amp or are feeling lazy with dynamics. Dynacomps give an awesome swirly squashed sound though aren't the cleanest comps as a result. Try it with a Telecaster, it'll be great.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:29 pm

I'll let you know about the Dyna-Comp when i've given it a go!

You're right about Nick's (now ex) girlfriend, she is in Tiny Tigers - that's a bit of a strange coincidence, but I guess when you've got a load of musicians from one area posting on a forum it's going to happen.

kingoftherodeo · Post by **kingoftherodeo** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 5:14 pm

I've also been looking at an MXR DynaComp, and an MXR Mini amp. Dyna Comps are great pedals.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 5:31 pm

Johno wrote:I do have a comp pedal myself, a vestax one which also has tone controls, whether thats a bonus or not i'm unsure. Its a good pedal but given its age is quite hissy so sort of defeats the object unfortunately...

this one? very cool if it is. i love old vestax stuff. sucks that it hisses, but...

Johno · Post by **Johno** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 8:36 am

Yep, that's the boy.

Post by **Mike** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 8:38 am

Vestax/Vesta Fire pedals are KOOOOOOL.

The Dyna Comp is also ace, I demo'd Euan's before he gave it Fran I believe. I'm not a comp guy but that's a tasty pedal.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 8:43 am

I'm gonna pull the Dyna Comp out of the drawer tonight and give it a blast with my rig, i'm hoping to smooth out my sound just a touch and remove a bit of top end - i'm hoping the Dyna Comp will help me do this, i've tried EQ pedals and they just seem to muddy up the tone.

Post by **Mike** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 8:48 am

It will, it's a warm pedal. I made an A/B demo against the Behringer copy (which is very toppy in comparison) on youtube a while back when I was borrowing the pedal.

Post by **Doog** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:26 am

johnnyseven wrote: i'm hoping to smooth out my sound just a touch and remove a bit of top end

If the compressor doesn't quite smooth things off sufficiently and you're looking to save money and pedalboard power, you could always look at making a passive tone control such as the Stupidly Wonderful Tone Control:

[youtube][/youtube]
Not my demo but sorry for the irritating playing all the same

Similar space technology has helped me tame my nasty Wolf Computer fuzz and Marshall Valvestate amp, making them both infinitely more usable and pleasant sounding.

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:41 am

I previously thought about building a passive tone control (as a seperate box) to reduce the treble in the output of two distortion pedals I have that have no tone control, and to be honest these ar ethe only pedals I have in my set up that i'm trying to tame. However I just don't have the knowledge, expertise or time to do this. If anyone on here any of these traits and wouldn't mind helping me out i'd really appreciate it, i'd obviously cover costs of components and pay for your time.

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:50 am

Individually, I really like the sound of the dynacomp. In a band situation, however, the thing just got lost. I did use a Supercomp for quite a while as an overdrive. Sonded kool.

None of the pedalols on my board have a tone control (except the behringer reverb - why would this have a tone control anyway?) I don't feel I'm missing out.

Johno · Post by **Johno** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:51 am

johnnyseven wrote:I previously thought about building a passive tone control (as a seperate box) to reduce the treble in the output of two distortion pedals I have that have no tone control, and to be honest these ar ethe only pedals I have in my set up that i'm trying to tame. However I just don't have the knowledge, expertise or time to do this. If anyone on here any of these traits and wouldn't mind helping me out i'd really appreciate it, i'd obviously cover costs of components and pay for your time.

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Post by **Doog** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:27 am

johnnyseven wrote:I previously thought about building a passive tone control (as a seperate box) to reduce the treble in the output of two distortion pedals I have that have no tone control, and to be honest these ar ethe only pedals I have in my set up that i'm trying to tame. However I just don't have the knowledge, expertise or time to do this. If anyone on here any of these traits and wouldn't mind helping me out i'd really appreciate it, i'd obviously cover costs of components and pay for your time.

To save on drilling and effecting the resale value, you could always just get a little trimpot tone control installed into each pedal that you set once and then forget about.

Given the very small weight of trimpots and the stiffness of solidcore wire, it could just be floating about in there with no problems, it's what I did inside my old RAT.

What pedals are they, incidentally?

johnnyseven · Post by **johnnyseven** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:50 am

I don't want to upset Tim but they're Fredric Effects pedals - a Harmonic Percolator and a Utility Percolator. I love the sound of them but they could just do with a tiny bit of a reduction in the treble frequencies when I use my Jazzmaster, however with my HH Jazzmaster they sound absolutely awesome. I am really fussy about my guitar tone by the way, a normal person probably wouldn't notice or mind.

timhulio · Post by **timhulio** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:56 am

Doesn't bother me, I just build em. Doog's idea of chucking something like this with a trimpot inside the pedals is a good idea:
http://www.muzique.com/lab/swtc.htm

You will loose some of the pedals oomph though.

Post by **Mike** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:57 am

Tim's pedals suck!