Why do you use compression pedals?

[String Tree]

Another chunk of compressor information

I WISH I still had my ROSS!

 

[String Tree]

Is it about the sound and how it makes you play? What would be some bands or sounds that you would go for using a compression pedal ?

Back in my Lounge Lizard Years, we had to keep the Volume down.
I used my Compressor to add sustain during my Solo's.
Almost Feedback.

 

[bendercaster]

I felt the same way, but I feel like when I'm trying to jangley type stuff, that the notes sound kind of plinky instead of popping out like they do on records I enjoy.

I use stomp box compression pretty much exclusively as a way to get that tight, jangly sound live. Check out a Diamond style comp. Donner makes an inexpensive one. It's low noise and has simple, intuitive controls.

Edit to add: I'm not sure about any specific songs or album to point you to, but I know Johnny Marr uses one.

 

[macanoodough]

Is it about the sound and how it makes you play? What would be some bands or sounds that you would go for using a compression pedal ?

I kept hearing about how good theyw ere to tighten up your tone, but I never thought they sounded good. Then I saw them talking about it on That Pedal Show. They explained what it did and how to set them, and I immediately took that info and tried again using the parameters they explained, and bingo. As long as you know where to set the threshold for you tone, it just crispens it up a bit. I stack a few gains and it seems to work well for that. I turn it on & off and while playing and it's the same tone that just gets a bit more clarity when on.

 

[ahiddentableau]

Players who don't need Use Cases #1 and #2 tend to be the guys who prefer amp breakup and get the same result from the amp distorting. They come on forums and talk about how much compressors suck and wonder why anyone buys them.

I don't know about the forum complaining bit, but I think this is a great observation. A ton of players set up their rigs to get a pile of compression from their amp. It's a big part of what guitar players talk about when we talk about "tube amp tone". Lots of amplified guitar tones are highly compressed to start with. So, sure, those guys have no use for a comp pedal for those sounds, but that doesn't tell us much of anything about what a pedal comp is or isn't good for.

 

[Wyzsard]

Is it about the sound and how it makes you play? What would be some bands or sounds that you would go for using a compression pedal ?

Punch, plain and simple. ( My bass )

Info galore

Compressor and Audio Gear FAQ

www.ovnilab.com

 

[Twang-ineer]

So I may have over answered the question... but here goes.

I am a bass player firstly. Second and engineer and third a guitar player.

EQ and compression are how I get "my" sound. Both effects are just there to polish the sound of the playing, not to change the tone per se. On a pedal board, at the minimum, I tend to use one at the very start of the chain, and one after the preamp stage.

So what is it good for...
At the start of the path it acts as a buffer right away. I like a super simple compressor here, just to knock off the rough edges and make the OD more consistent in its application.

After the gain (dirt)stages - no matter if that is OD pedals or the preamp/IR - I like the compressor to take the already smoothed out signal and get it so it will sit just where I want it in terms of dynamic contrast in the room/mix. The dynamics and feel are still there, but the "plosives" or transients are tamed. A multiband compressor here can be a real nice thing. Some shelving EQ right before the comp then off to the power amp or FOH.

Some players have such good technique that this is not a thing that would be helpful, but to me this is very helpful.

Also worth noting, on a pedalboard or at my desk (where the pedals are built in with the mixer and rack effects), once I set the compressors up they are pretty much set and forget, except I use the output level knob of the start of chain compressor to vary how hard I hit the first OD pedal.

At my desk, no matter if I am playing warm clean jazz, sparkling single coil funk or down tuned metal riffing, I keep the IR and the end of chain compression set the same.

I get very solid results and I have the much coveted "bedroom volume tube amp" sound, at a volume that I can talk to the dog over. Since it is now in the world of nearfields, I can also get tube amp loud, real quick, And I can get this rig to sound enough like an in room amp, that I can A/B them and have a hard time telling the difference. Mind you, all the EQ and the IR are dialed in to sound like a sealed 1x12 V30 that I used in the room, between the monitors, and being fed from the amps that I was setting up for. So same physical space, same amp (in real time) same signal etc.

All of these results are thanks to the magic of compressors, IR and and EQ. And a lot of time, money and effort.

And yes, digital compressors are great, I just like knobs, and I try to keep the ADA conversions to a minimum.

So at my desk, here is the signal chain -
Guitar - GX100 input (DSP blocks here for Limiting/EQ/OD etc) loop out - Bogner pedals - Wessex/Harlow (comp pedal)/Burnley/Blue/Red - analog effects switcher with three amps each on a loop- DV Mark 60 CMT/HK Tubemeister/ Mooer X2 (or ToneX Pedal) these feed into a 5 knob Avallon pedal compressor (also allows me to see output level to the DSP)- then - GX100 Loop input (DSP blocks here for adding the IR, noise suppressor, then delay and reverb effects) Shelving EQ and master room compensation EQ) the GX-100 output to .... an analog mixer, out of that to an ART rackmount limiter then into the monitors. Yes, immediately before the monitors, set and forget for room volume control, and the pretty lights.

And yes, digital compressors are great, I just like knobs, and I try to keep the ADA conversions to a minimum.

So when I see folks grumbling about bedroom volume tube amps, all I can say is the results I wanted took more effort just turning my HK Tubemeister down to one watt, sitting it on a 1x12 and throwing a TS9 in front of it all.

TBH... soon all this will happen in the ToneX, I'm just not there yet.

 

[loudboy]

I was always under the impression that Andy Summers (Police), Adrian Belew (solo, Talking Heads, Bowie, Zappa), and others used an MXR Dynacomp in the 70s and 80s ... even on the albums

Also, the guy in The Fixx.

Textbook DynaComp here:



I use an Xotic SP on Lo, always on, first in my chain. No squish, you really can't hear it working until you shut it off. It is great for smoothing out clean chords, and gives solo lines a great boost in sustain at any volume. Just makes it easier to play.

 

[Lies&Distortion]

I’ve been using a Carlin compressor that I built during Covid times. Mild, slightly gritty. Gives a little sustain & tube feel to my Pathfinder. So does about any OD pedal
I like it, but it’s nothing special, just a project I had a little fun doing.

 

[archtop_fjk]

Another big Dynacomp user in the 80s was U2’s the Edge.

 

[Trenchant63]

I felt the same way, but I feel like when I'm trying to jangley type stuff, that the notes sound kind of plinky instead of popping out like they do on records I enjoy.

I’m not criticizing anyone using compression btw. If it works for you then it’s great. I just couldn’t make it work for me.

 

[SixStringSlinger]

I use my compressor less for utility (leveling out volume, increasing sustain) and more as an effect (which, of course, comes from those previously mentioned things that it does). My main inspiration/point of reference there is John Frusicante from Red Hot Chili Peppers. A lot of his clean tones have a compression to them that makes his parts sound like they have a certain "oomph" behind them while still sounding clean and pretty.

I realize most, if not all, of that compression comes from the recording process rather than a pedal. But I have a pedalboard and I'm trying to recreate those tones while playing, so.

I use a Keeley 4-knob compressor, which is first in my chain after my dirt/drive/fuzz pedals (which do their own sort of compression).

 

[Fiesta Red]

A Boss CS-3 populated my pedalboard briefly, and it was 100% for the sustain.

It messed up some of our earliest recordings and was sold shortly afterwards.

 

[getbent]

 

[Jakedog]

I understand why guitarists use them but can’t stand them due to the counterintuitive volume response to a picked note (e.g. soft picking gets amped and hard picking limited). I want the note to be exactly the volume I want when I strum or pick according to the force I apply. If I want smooth and even, then I should play it that way. Sustain? I should own a guitar with good sustain, etc. I’ve tried cheap and boutique comp pedals and hated playing though them. It wouldn’t bother me to have a recording compressed or even through a PA but not between the guitar and amp. I say this knowing that many players use them and sound great in fact.

It’s an effect. Like anything else. I’m huge on right hand dynamics. I rely on them like crazy. The comp for me is not used as anything other than a sound effect. I use it when I want a specific sound that can’t be achieved without a comp. The squish and additional sustain are things you can manipulate like gain and feedback. It’s just a different style of playing.

Lots of players like to crank amps and use the guitar knobs for dynamics. They like their amps to sag, flatten out, compress, etc.

I hate that. I find it unusable. I like enough headroom that my right hand dynamics are pretty much unlimited so that I can run the guitar wide open at all times and have everything from whisper quiet to window breaking with my right hand. I then use my board if I want overdrive, additional boost, compression, or whatever.

For me a comp allows me to get the effect with clean tones and edge of breakup tones, not just when the amp is at its outer limits.

 

[schmee]

Using a compressor is a fine line. I used to use one constantly. An MXR. Then I got a wireless rig and found out how bad it sounded out 30 feet away. Note definition gone, saggy. It sounded great right in front of the amp, but that's not what other's are hearing. Sold it and only have one now to use for slide and very moderately compressed.

One thing I think matters is; are you a bridge pickup player or a neck pickup player? Taming a sparkely bridge pickup with a compressor works well without mushing the sound too much. (The country sound like Brad Paisley Tele play being may be an example.) The neck pickup OTOH just gets worse with compression than the already apparent mushy tone you can get from the neck position.
That Knopfler compressed sound is often just from using the 2 or 4 position on the Strat switching. Maybe he has a compressor in there also, I dont know.

 

[getbent]

Using a compressor is a fine line. I used to use one constantly. An MXR. Then I got a wireless rig and found out how bad it sounded out 30 feet away. Note definition gone, saggy. It sounded great right in front of the amp, but that's not what other's are hearing. Sold it and only have one now to use for slide and very moderately compressed.

One thing I think matters is; are you a bridge pickup player or a neck pickup player? Taming a sparkely bridge pickup with a compressor works well without mushing the sound too much. (The country sound like Brad Paisley Tele play being may be an example.) The neck pickup OTOH just gets worse with compression than the already apparent mushy tone you can get from the neck position.
That Knopfler compressed sound is often just from using the 2 or 4 position on the Strat switching. Maybe he has a compressor in there also, I dont know.

The thing I learned from Mark Knopfler is that using your bare fingers can give you the compressed sound.

I moved away from a pick about 12 years ago or so and more than a dozen times I've had people come up looking for my compressor to find no compressor.

 

[schmee]

The thing I learned from Mark Knopfler is that using your bare fingers can give you the compressed sound.

I moved away from a pick about 12 years ago or so and more than a dozen times I've had people come up looking for my compressor to find no compressor.

No doubt .....the finger tips get that sound too.

 

[separateness]

On my bass it trims loud notes and levels up soft hits.
On my guitar it boosts sustain and attack.

FWIW if you didn’t already know this, you’ve never heard a song on the radio, home audio, phone, or live at a serious venue that wasn’t compressed.

Unless it was recorded before the early 60s. According to some old timers (eg Bob Ohlsson over at gearspace forum) compression was only used as a safety limiter up to the early 60s and often not at all. For my money the best sounding recordings ever made were made in that very era.

 

[watercaster]

I use a compressor by HBE. Home Brew Electronics. I have only four pedals on my board but this one gets the most use.