You don't need to use channel two, as your bass runs in mono.
All the 'stereo link' does is copy the settings from channel one to channel two, ignoring channel two's knobs. This is so you can set up a compressor on a stereo source more quickly.
You can use channel one of the compressor on it's own with no problems; the sound won't change if you press the stereo link button as nothing's plugged into channel two.
If you run the system as you are doing so, you don't need a preamp.