I am running my rig and am looking to tighten up my tone a little, and a friend recomended using a compressor. I know there are a lot of schools of thought on this and I am interested in any opinions yay or nay on the use of compression, I am also interested in any thoughts of where to use it in my signal path IE: before the preamp, in the effects loop. I am currently running a Mesa Boogie 3 CH Dual Rectifier, into 2 Marshall 1960A's. I use a Voodoo Lab GCX switcher and ground control to handle all of my amp channel switching as well as running my effects in my loop (midiverb 4 & Boss PS-5) it also runs a loop in front of the amp with my Cry Baby and an MXR Phase 90 in it. Thanks in advance for your help and input.
John
I believe traditionally compression goes up front with distortion but there are no hard rules. I have an old Korg multi effects pedal that has knobs and lays everything out right in order. Compression, distortion/overdrive, EQ, chorus/flange, reverb/delay, noise supression. This is the chain I have seen recomended in many articles and manuals.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
my rig:
guitar, tubescreamer, compressor(MXR modded by analogman), volume pedal, delay, amp.
I don't have an FX loop. I compress, not always, for different reasons and results.
when I play country on my tele I compress. I like the eveness of all the strings, the pucka pucka sound, and it sounds right.
when playing rock with my strat I use the compressor sparingly, as my tubescreamer compresses. with the Mxr I get alot more overtones and sustain. I also can ride that edge of feedback for the crazy stuff.
when I play my lap steels, I don't compress. there is enough coming from my Fender Vibrolux Custom tube amp.
Yeah, usually you want compression before distortion and effects. I've used compressors before, I always put it right after the tuner.
Compressors have pros and cons. I really think compression is best used with clean tones like Country guitar. They do give your tone a brilliance that is very nice. They even up chords very nicely. The problem I've had with compression is that the ones I've used always affect your bass tones. With high compression your bass sounds like rubber bands. Sorry, but that is the only way I know how to describe it. They take the bite and edge out of your bass, kind of an unnatural sound to me. But many folks like this sound. At high compression you get a "click" type tone. A great example of this is the old Cars song Just What I Needed. Check out this video, that is high compression on the rhythm guitar, you can really hear the "click".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hwE0slNd3Y
As others said, you don't always need compression with distortion, you are getting it anyway through the distortion itself. But many Metal players use compression to get a very even volume. It is often difficult to get tapped notes to sound equal with picked notes for example. But with high compression everything sounds very even.
Another drawback to compression is that it takes the dynamics out of your playing. So if you are very expressive, you like to play soft as a whisper and then crank it out hard, you can't do that. When you pick softly the compressor boosts the volume, when you play hard it attenuates the signal. This is another thing I personally don't like too much.
I would say go down to your local music store and try one out for awhile and see how you like it. I am not a real big fan of compression, but many guitar players are.
As far as tightening up your tone, I would try a good EQ pedal. Properly adjusted it will take all the mud and boom out of your chords and tighten them up really good. I have found boosting 100 Hz gives you lots of low end, slightly cutting 200 Hz will take the mud out. In my experience 200 Hz is the frequency range that muddies your tone. So I cut this. I will very slightly cut 400 Hz as well. I boost the mids (800 Hz and 1.6 kHz) and leave the two highs, 3.2kHz and 6.4kHz about even. If you want to be heard well in a live situation you need to boost your Mids. Lots of folks love to scoop their Mids, this sounds fantastic at home alone, but in a band situation you will get buried by the bass. You will barely be able to hear your solo. So boost your Mids and cut your bass some. Let the bass player handle the low end. :D
The Danelecto Fish and Chips EQ is great. It is about 1/3 the price of "name" brands but works just as good. :wink:
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Addition to Wes' post: you can get multiband compressors, leaving frequency ranges of your choice clean. Furthermore, tube amps have a kind of natural compression. Those playing solidstate amps that do not compensate for this might find using a compressor giving a more usuable playing dynamic range. As a one-man-band I use compressors everywhere, the effect really changes with the location.
For example, by putting a compressor at the beginning of the chain not just the dynamic range but also the timbre range gets effected. Running a comp at the end will limit the dynamic range but leave the timbe range unchanged. Using multiple mild compressors at different locations will often give a better effect then one fat compressor at the beginning. Notice that compressors can do many things: most guitarists only use them in the front and leave the other uses to the producer/sound technician.
I have a cheap compression pedal I bought to fool around with. I don't use it cause I found I got all the compression I wanted from my Tube screamer and tube amp and mostly I didn't like the limiting of my dynamic range. Maybe I just don't know how to use it right but I guess it's just not my cup of tea.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
... Check out this video, ...
Wes, just have to say that I really appreciate how you always seem to be able to dig out a youtube video describing your point. Thanks!
lars
...only thing I know how to do is to keep on keepin' on...
LARS kolberg http://www.facebook.com/sangerersomfolk
I'm not a fan of compression ... but that clicking sound in Just What I Needed is entirely intentional and due to some serious palm muting. Compression may be bringing it out, but it is there with or without compression.
-=tension & release=-
Compression has its' place. It depends on what you're playing, music-wise. I have an MXR Dyna-Comp and I love it. I don't use it all the time or for everything though. Mostly I use it for clean solos, with the output level set just a bit hotter than the guitar straight-through. This gives me a bit of volume-boost and added sustain for clean solos.
I will also sometimes use it to get that violin-type singing sustain along with an OD pedal at lower amp volumes, with the compressor driving the OD pedal. I'll set the output of the compressor a good deal hotter than the straight signal to further overdrive the OD pedal. This is useful when stage volume must be limited in smaller venues.
Compression can also be useful when using a wah pedal (compressor after wah) to maintain a constant signal level as the wah is swept through its' range.
Using compression is an art, and takes some practice and fiddling to learn what settings work best with your guitar/amp/effects and style of playing. As with most effects, moderation is key. Too much and it sounds like crap, too little and you might as well not bother, and using it on everything kills dynamics.
My effects pedal lineup from guitar to amp goes:
Wah
Compressor
OD
Graphic EQ
Delay
Chorus
If I was using an amp with an effects loop, the delay and chorus would go there.
Hope that helps!
Cheers!
Strat
the problem with compression is that you can lose a lot of the subtle nuances in it, but that link I just gave you talks about ways to get around that... but yeah, there's an art to using it right....
blackdiamond13
Up The Irons!!
