Boss CS3 Compression Sustainer Review

Boss CS3 Compression Sustainer Review - Guitar Compressor

I've used the Boss CS3 Compression Sustainer pedal for several years now. In fact, I used to leave this pedal turned on almost 100% of the time when I played mostly lead guitar in my last band. It evened out my sound, made single note runs sound a little cleaner, and did add a small but measurable amount of sustain to my notes.

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With that being said, I recently sold this pedal (after making the above video review) because I wasn't using it anymore in my new band. In this new band, I'm playing more rhythm guitar -- and even on the single note runs, I'm really liking having no compression, because I have better control over the dynamics of my sound. I can pick softly and get a certain quality out of my amp, whereas I can pick louder to drive my tubes harder. Especially now that I'm playing through a tube amp, it's nice to have this dynamic control. Besides, tubes (especially the EL34's in my amp) provide a certain amount of compression of their own when they're being driven hard due to changes in voltage and current (when I pick harder/stronger).

Finally, while I did enjoy using this CS3 for a long time, I have to admit that it was sucking some of my tone. I believe this is partly because it was a buffered (not true-bypass) pedal, and partly just because it's a run-of-the-mill cheap compression pedal. For those who really must have a compression pedal, I'd recommend looking at higher quality, boutique compressors. These may offer the dynamic control and sustain benefits without so much of the tone suck.

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