Compressor for an Auto Wah?

gus1894 · #1 09-21-2009, 09:20 AM

So, is it an absolute necessity to have a Compressor before/after your Auto Wah/Filter?

Are some Auto Wahs more "plays nicely with others" and don't need a Compressor?

And if a Compressor is so neccesary with an Auto Wah, why hasn't anyone of these companies out there thought of building a compressor feature into their Auto Wah pedal??

RCCollins · #2 09-21-2009, 09:26 AM

i'm not sure why you'd want to compress your signal before a filter. Maybe to improve octave tracking (if that is integrated, as in a BSW or similar box), but it seems to me that compression could only make the envelope filter less dramatic sounding.

bassteban · #3 09-21-2009, 09:29 AM

IME, compression before any dynamics-based FX(envelope, tube emulation, etc)tends to ruin it, whereas comp after enevlope/auto-wah/dist is good for evening out volume spikes & drops.

gus1894 · #4 09-21-2009, 09:44 AM

That's what I mean, I am searching for a nice Auto Wah, I don't want to crowd my purposely miniaturized pedal board with a compressor. I just want to slap a wah in there from time to time. I like the Emma DiscumBOBulator b/c it seems to play nice with other pedals in a chain- but since I cannot find one to buy, I am now contemplating an EBS Bassiq.
But it's nice to hear the sentiment of not needing a compressor echoed

bassteban · #5 09-21-2009, 09:48 AM

While I'm definitely of the opinion you don't *need* comp, my point is that I've had better results placing it after envelopes, OD/distortion, etc. Often at the end of the chain. BTW, I run a touch of comp nearly all the time.

Kipaste · #6 09-21-2009, 09:53 AM

I don't get the point of having a compressor before an auto wah/envelope, but sometimes after is quite necessary. Some cheaper autowahs can dish out some truly horrible high end at incredible volumes so a peak type compressor can help tame that. But I'd probably rather go with an eq pedal with some highs cut for those cases. But a good compressor at the end of the chain usually doesn't hurt.

gus1894 · #7 09-21-2009, 10:02 AM

I think I am going to purchase my Auto Wah - probably an EBS Bassiq - use it at home and rehearsals for a few weeks. Let my experience with it in live settings dictate whether or not I need the compressor. I see some folks get great results from a comp - but I've always gone without - and have always been happier that way. Perhaps that's my reasoning for resisting the Compressor pedal addition too.

bassteban · #8 09-21-2009, 10:09 AM

Hey, one less thing to potentially go wrong live is definitely a good thing.

bongomania · #9 09-21-2009, 10:45 AM

I haven't tried the EBS yet, but I've owned two of the EMMAs and they don't need a compressor after. Their resonance is low, which means much less of a volume spike on each peak, compared to a highly resonant filter.

gus1894 · #10 09-21-2009, 10:53 AM

See that's what I mean - but of course - I have to find the Emma. Always go with your first impression, right?
So I've only listened to clips, read reviews, etc. Bongo: Your opinion of the Emma?

Jumbotron · #11 09-21-2009, 10:59 AM

I don't think you need to have a compressor for auto-wah, depending on settings, but I run one after mine to tame some spikes (I have it set up pretty aggressively quacky)--though it runs before the synth pedal for better tracking.

bongomania · #12 09-21-2009, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gus1894

See that's what I mean - but of course - I have to find the Emma. Always go with your first impression, right?
So I've only listened to clips, read reviews, etc. Bongo: Your opinion of the Emma?

It's great if you like a clean, easy-to-digest jazz-funk sound that plays easily and doesn't call too much attention to itself. If you're like me and worship the fat, dirty, OTT funk of Bootsy, it will never do.

gus1894 · #13 09-21-2009, 11:23 AM

And what do you use, Bongo?

bongomania · #14 09-21-2009, 12:18 PM

I use an old flat-avocado-green DOD FX25, in the loop of an Xotic X-Blender, followed by a limiter. I have a variety of different limiters I use, depending on the results I want. A search on "Bootsy" will turn up the usual other suspects: MuTron III, Maxon AF9, Q-Tron, Meatball, etc. But for me, the pedal combo I'm using has gotten me the most satisfactory results. In a perfect world I'd be using a crossover and running my highs and lows to separate filters, for closer-to-Bootsy results.

The fatter and wetter the filter, the harder it is to usefully/safely incorporate it into your rig, and the harder it is to play. You really have to work with it to get good results. That's one of the big reasons many people prefer the EMMA and other less-extreme filters.

Kipaste · #15 09-21-2009, 02:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gus1894

I think I am going to purchase my Auto Wah - probably an EBS Bassiq - use it at home and rehearsals for a few weeks. Let my experience with it in live settings dictate whether or not I need the compressor. I see some folks get great results from a comp - but I've always gone without - and have always been happier that way. Perhaps that's my reasoning for resisting the Compressor pedal addition too.

The Bassiq is pretty nice. I would like it to be a bit more over the top, if you know what I mean. Funk shouldn't be tame and musical, it should be fat and sweaty. Don't get me wrong, the ebs delivers but for me it's still missing some wackiness. Good sides are that it's an easy pedal to operate and dialing up useful sounds is way easier than with the classic mu-tron for example.

If you're looking for a compressor too, the ebs multicomp is a great pedal, I love it.

Now that I think of it, the biggest problem I have with most common envelope filters is that they often don't have a dry/wet blend knob. For example with slap bass, I really like just a hint of low pass filtered wah with the loudest pops to give it some color. It's possible to fiddle with the treshold but it's just not the same, so to me buying a pedal loop pedal (or what ever they are called) or using a blendable effects loop is really important. Or just a dual DI/splitter box or something.

And oh crap.. I just noticed bongomanias latest post..

So all this is reduced to just +1 for what he said..