I use the Wampler Ego compressor. It has a Blend control between compressed and uncompressed sound. On initial pick attack you cannot tell the difference between it being on or off, but as the note decays you can tell because (depending on your settings) it will sustain much longer than without while not changing your tone. So I leave it on almost all the time. I used to despise compressors on guitars, but not with the Ego.
Am I just not a compressor guy?
- Thread starter andy474x
- Start date
That axiom on Robert Keeley's page seems to work well in general, but especially for comp placement:
+Which - wah
+Chain - comp
+Of - OD, boost, and dirt
+Effects - EQ
*Pedals - pitch shift/tremolo/whammy
*Makes - modulation
*Life - level/gate/volume/limiter
*Easier? - echo/delay/reverb
+Straight in
*Looped in
Having the comp before the dirt really cuts the hiss down, and running an OD or boost right after the comp really seems to amplify the sustain.
I really like the Way Huge Saffron Squeeze, it's Ross-based, can go a lot more subtle than a Dyna Comp, and like most of Jorge Tripp's stuff, it has extra knobs to tweak around with for those rare occasions that I have enough free time to get bored.
+Which - wah
+Chain - comp
+Of - OD, boost, and dirt
+Effects - EQ
*Pedals - pitch shift/tremolo/whammy
*Makes - modulation
*Life - level/gate/volume/limiter
*Easier? - echo/delay/reverb
+Straight in
*Looped in
Having the comp before the dirt really cuts the hiss down, and running an OD or boost right after the comp really seems to amplify the sustain.
I really like the Way Huge Saffron Squeeze, it's Ross-based, can go a lot more subtle than a Dyna Comp, and like most of Jorge Tripp's stuff, it has extra knobs to tweak around with for those rare occasions that I have enough free time to get bored.
CVS
Not so new member
Ok - Two weeks ago I was barely using my compressor. Then I saw Paul Jackson Jr play live last weekend, and I could swear he was using just a bit of compression on his JA 15 and it sounded great. Now I am using some compression (surprise, surprise)
Like it's been said before, different types of compressors can sound drastically different. The MXR and Ross type compressors tend to color the sound more, they can be very noticeable. If that's what you're going for it's great. Trey Anastasio, for example, uses a Ross compressor to get "his sound." If you want maximum squish for Nashville Chicken pickin', then a dynacomp works pretty great. The Keeley's and Barber's are great because they can do that stuff, where you're using the pedal to color your sound, or they can be clean and transparent (so much so that you'll catch yourself saying "is this thing on?"). My favorite so far is the Strymon OB1. It's a super clean, studio quality compressor that doubles as a great clean boost. I know a lot of gear snobs turn their nose up at the Boss CS3 but, guys like Brent Mason used Boss Compressors extensively. If it's good enough for them.....
WeFixFlats
Respect The Clave
This video popped up on my twitter feed from Guitar Sanctuary featuring Andy Timmons demonstrating his signature Carl Martin compressor. Though this product is way out of my budget, I found it interesting how he describes what he's going for with the dual settings, where one side is a 'boost', which is exactly what I use mine for and the other the more 'traditional classic' setting. Not only that, he plays some killer riffage for examples.
Enjoy~!
Enjoy~!
Dusty Chalk
alberngruppenführer
I just realized I don't have any compressors. I need to fix that. Making note of the Wampler Ego, but I like opto-compressors, so will probably get the Carl Martin. Or something. Maybe the (EHX) Black Finger (tube) and/or White Finger (optical).
That said, it sounds like something funky was going on with your pick attack. I've had something similar, and what was happening is that there wasn't any headroom, so instead of compressing, it was distorting. Certainly fine when I wanted to add punch, but sounds like you didn't, so I think you made the right choice, but just wanted to warn you, in case you ran into the same thing again with another compressor. Les' comment about context is very important, you really have to watch what the compressed signal does to levels, especially amplifying the noise going into the compressor, and what the elevated signal might do to the amp (drive it into distortion when you wanted a clean signal).
That said, it sounds like something funky was going on with your pick attack. I've had something similar, and what was happening is that there wasn't any headroom, so instead of compressing, it was distorting. Certainly fine when I wanted to add punch, but sounds like you didn't, so I think you made the right choice, but just wanted to warn you, in case you ran into the same thing again with another compressor. Les' comment about context is very important, you really have to watch what the compressed signal does to levels, especially amplifying the noise going into the compressor, and what the elevated signal might do to the amp (drive it into distortion when you wanted a clean signal).
Man, what a great player, great tone, beautiful compressor. I loved watching this just for the playing, but the compressor sounds great, especially with his Lone Star. I have a Lone Star in addition to my PRS amps, and I think it benefits from the compression I have, too.
