I prefer the basic MXR octave pedal to the Deluxe. As for compression, it really depends what you want it to do. Are you looking to control dynamics, fatten up your sound or effect other pedals in the chain, or a bit of everything?
I went from a Trace SMX head to a Genz Benz Streamliner which gives a (to my ears) a nice, fat, rounded sound. Also has some nice gain available if you drive the preamp tube.
Headlined a local music festival. Played an hour long set up til 10.30 curfew. Went down very well. Lots of people wanting cards etc and booked straight away to headline next year. Only bad bit was moths. They had a big lighting rig which attracted swarms of the damn things. Singer swallowed one, I got one in my eye and down my shirt while the drummer was trying to swat as many as he could.
Festival gig near St Ives in Cambridgeshire. Large marquee with a stage each end and alternating bands. We went on 2nd to last and had a blast. Immediately got asked to headline it next year so must have done something right. Good crowd who were well up for a boogie and a singalong. Good times.
I try to be solid and tasteful. I know people don't really want to hear bass solos so I don't do them. A very occasional touch of slap is plenty but keeping the tempo is my main focus. When the band get introduced I'm described as being 'in the engine room' which is exactly where I want to be.
I've got the predecessor to this in the form of the TechSoundsystems 2x12 with tweeter and wouldn't swap it for anything. Absolute monster of a cab that handles anything you throw at it. If this is in any way comparable to mine it's a steal
I enjoyed it. As much to do with seeing thousands of people having a great time in spite of everything that is going on. and the atrocious conditions there.
Recently acquired mine from Ryan Cowell and used it first time live over the weekend. I use a modest amount of drive to add a bit of breakup and the Tritonlab did it perfectly. There is masses more gain available for those that want it and the sound is warm and 'tubey'. To clear up one point, the pedal runs from a standard 9v Boss type supply and the internals boost it up to 33v. The other thing I noticed is that I'm having a few buzz issues with my pedal board (probably power supply related) and the Tritonlab cleaned this up almost completely which was a rather nice bonus.
You can have a lot of fun with a Zoom B3 either using the generic synth patches or making your own synth sounds combining drive, fuzz, octave and envelope filters in any order.
Andy Fraser - Early Free stuff caught my imagination.
Lee Sklar - the all round professional.
Juan Nelson - Funk and Groove personified.
Bob Babbitt - Overshadowed by Jameson but every bit as influential.
Michelle N'degeOcello - Fabulous.
P.S. Bobby Vega - Coolest dude out there.
Guitars can be sensitive to heat and often won't stay in tune when a room warms up. A spare guitar which is 'in tune' at the start of a gig will more often than not need re-tuning when the ambient temperature warms up in my experience.