Can a compressor work as a volume boost ?

[the low one]

I'm thinking of getting a stomp box compressor to clean up my passive fretless, the output of which is slightly lower than my fretted bass. Can I use compressor to also boost the volume of my fretless as well as applying a mild compression? Is that a bad idea? Will the boosted signal be over compressed? Will it add hiss ?

Or would a separate gain boost or eq pedal be a better bet for increasing the level ?

[rtslinger]

Yes

[rratajski]

I like that there are five questions and the first post was just "yes"...

Yes, from my experience w/ the Demeter Compulator, you can add compression and volume.
No, it's not a bad idea, depending on what comp you purchase.
The boosted signal is only "over-compressed" if you compress it more.
It will only add hiss if you have a crappy comp.

You're the only one who can answer if a separate gain boost or eq would be better for raising level. Personally, I would just get a comp to either leave on all the time or if you want a compressed/volume-boosted part, you can kick it on... Less space, less money. An eq is a waste, IMHO.

[waleross]

I have a Visual Volume Pedal which boosts the vol. , don't know about compression. It seems to give me more definition and volume control...check it out for yourself......

[Nic.]

When I was still using a compressor, I used it to set volume, and adjusted volume on my bass to adjust the amount of compression. Well that's a very rough description, but I hope that gives the rough idea...

[bongomania]

That's a good approach. Most pedal comps have two knobs: "comp" or "sustain", and "level". No matter what other knobs there may be, the level knob always controls a gain boost stage. So every pedal compressor is also a volume boost. The "comp/sustain" knob sometimes controls the level of your signal going into the compression circuit, but often you will need to use an external volume control (like the one on your bass) to make that adjustment for best response.