Boss Compression Sustainer CS-3
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The CS-3 compresses high-input signals while boosting low-input signals, giving you smooth sustain without degrading the quality of the original sound. A range of effects from gentle compression to squeezed sounds is possible.
Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price: $135.50
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User Reviews of the Boss Compression Sustainer CS-3
- Submitted by Jon from Huntsville, AL (496 points) on Dec 7, 2009
- A really nice, useful pedal, but not essential. Try it out in a feedback loop, you may be surprised. I think it cleans up "muddy" signals nicely. The way I look at it when using it in a FB loop is, it's essentially like a mini mixer channel in that it adds a volume boost and some EQ to feedback loops, which can go a long way in adding more variety/"oomph" to a signal. Recommended if you can find it really cheap.
- Good Points: Very good for simply boosting contact mics and too-quiet fuzz pedals and performing other Compressor-y duties. Quite good for changing the character of various glitchy fuzz and octave pedals inside a feedback loop, thanks largely to the Tone knob, which can also work as a sort of manual filter sweep. The Attack knob is also interesting. With the right setup, it will allow for short volume swells. Boss construction.
- Bad Points: None really... It's a pretty basic compressor, I suppose, and only the second I've ever used. It does what I need it to and more, so I can't complain... I can't really comment on the "tone" or anything.
- Price Paid: US$36.00
- Purchased At: Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro
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- Submitted by tapesss from Brooksville, FL (344 points) on May 6, 2006
- Hmm...well, i don't see this being too useful for full on harsh noise. It just doesn't lend itself well to the cause. It can react pretty interestingly towards staccato signals, and it can boost your signal, and the EQ is nice. This would probably be suited more towards ambient-type stuff than harsh stuff. maybe worth a look, but dont shell out a lot on it unless you try it first.
- Good Points: bit of boost, solid construction, nice EQ.
- Bad Points: not really a candidate for full on harshness
- Price Paid: US$0.00
- Purchased At: borrowed
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- Submitted by Benjamin from Winston Salem, NC (4 points) on Dec 24, 2004
- It's kinda dry toast as far as compression goes. Not as warm as some of the other comps I've used, but pretty neat for boost.
- Good Points: It does the job. Gives you a good amount of boost (not so much that you should get exited about, though)
- Bad Points: It needs more warmth
- Price Paid: US$100.00
- Purchased At: Jacksons
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- Submitted by h from Norman, OK (22 points) on Dec 17, 2004
- like most boss pedals, it does what it claims to do. the controls are useful but could be less clumsy. a ratio and threshold knob would be nice, rather than just attack, sustain, and an unnecessary tone knob. when placed directly after my small stone in a feedback loop, the attack knob seems to sort of "arpeggiate" the phasing. used before my Doctor Q, it allows to set a trigger level so that you get a consistent sweep.
- Good Points: volume boost/cut. attack knob reacts interestingly in a loop with a phaser. works well before an envelope for noise, after an envelope in most other settings, does what it does well. boss casing. boss footswitch.
- Bad Points: my ideal compressor would have much more intuitive controls, ie. threshold, ratio, ADSR, but i suppose that would all entail a high price. tone knob could have been something more useful.
- Price Paid: US$70.00
- Purchased At: guitar center, dallas
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- Submitted by Paul Joseph from Quezon City (4 points) on Jul 31, 2004
- i got from a friend and its a very good pedal for noise back when i still play guitar, I used to chain it with a locally made distortion and a Taiwanese-made Flanger and I had a lot of random and uncontrolled feedback that I would play throughout a song. Now I play bass and still use it to compress sound and still I'm happy with it...
- Good Points: Long feedbacks, made to last, compression of unwanted noise, chain and user friendly...imagine if you use it with delay, pitch-shifters ,reverbs, cloners or octave divider...hmm?
- Bad Points: random feedback (some would consider this good), sometimes my bass would sound "heirlipped" or "muffled" if I "tame" it to much using it.
- Price Paid: US$0.00
- Purchased At: borrowed from a friend
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- Submitted by Jason from Chapel Hill, NC (44 points) on Jan 22, 2004
- This is a decent compression. It's good for turning things into pure sounds when they'd usually be more choppy sounding. With a guitar you can make very ambient music by turning the sustain all the way up and attack all the way down. For more harsh sounds it is usefull but not essential by any stretch. It's good if you want to use lots of distortion, it helps save some tones that are often trashed. In most set-ups I've used the volume drops unless I have the level all the way up, which is kind of a drag because the level adds some shitty, bottoming out distortion sometimes. The tone knob is very useful on this one, doing basically what any distortion's tone knob does. This is a very useful pedal for noise, again, not essential, but worth your time.
- Good Points: solid construction, variations available via the attack/sustain relationship.
- Bad Points: compression squishes your tone and allows for less dynamic variation, but you don't have to leave it on the whole time you know...
- Price Paid: US$35.00
- Purchased At: ebay
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- Submitted by Will from Raleigh, NC (34 points) on Jun 17, 2002
- It was cool but I never got much use out of it so I sold it. Sounds good, helps get feedback from guitars.
- Good Points: Sounds good. Cheap.
- Bad Points: Boss is evil.
- Price Paid: US$70.00
- Purchased At:
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- Submitted by matt from Billings, MT (126 points) on Feb 9, 2002
- i just have gotten into compression pedals. i really didn't know to much about them. i figured if you compressed your sound in noise you would end up ruining the sound by killing some of the sound. i was wrong. i tried this pedal and it changed my opinion on compressors. this pedal does some great things. the tone knob allows you to change the tone of the output, giving it a overall change in the sound. it also allows you to change sustain level and attack. i run the frostwave spacebeam thru it. the pedal make the spacebeam sound insane. when you turn all the knobs to the max it takes the spacebeam to new levels. i've gotten it to scream like masonna. for a good compressor get this one.
- Good Points: good compression. good sustain. i noticed it brings out tones and sounds you can't get without it.
- Bad Points: i would personally like more drastic change with the tone knob, but other than that no bad points
- Price Paid: US$135.00
- Purchased At: hansen's music
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