Do you use a compressor live? Which one ? Why?

[thesandman]

I think I said it all up top. I'm thinking about getting an Analogman compressor to even out my sound. Would appreciate some insight from those that use a compressor live.

I'm in a cover band that plays bars, weddings, parties, etc. I play Fender bases through an SVT and a Bergantino NV610. Thanks for your help!

[deekay911]

I use a Presonus ACP-22 rack unit, always. It does a great job of keeping things tight.

[uaudio]

You'll find a lot of people swear by the Demeter COMP-1. Me included.

I used to use a Keeley, which is a Ross clone like the Analogman. It sustained for days, but rolls off a lot of low end which became a problem with my American Deluxe J five stringer. If you search for the "compressor megathread" you'll see an impressive list of reviews by Bongomania.

[Jorgemele894]

Originally Posted by thesandman

I think I said it all up top. I'm thinking about getting an Analogman compressor to even out my sound. Would appreciate some insight from those that use a compressor live.

I'm in a cover band that plays bars, weddings, parties, etc. I play Fender bases through an SVT and a Bergantino NV610. Thanks for your help!

Do you use a compressor live?
Yes, I use two.

Which one(s)?
Aphex 661 (rack) and Humprey Modified Boss CS-3 (pedal)

Why?
I use the 661 to tame peaks and dynamics (I compress the signal slightly). I use the modified CS-3 with some effects to control their dynamics and add boost.

[Swimming Bird]

I also use two -- a BBE Opto Stomp and a BYOC Armstrong Twin. The BBE is smooth and very transparent. Basically it's one of those magic 'makes you sound better' box.

The A-Twin doesn't have enough enough headroom for bass, so it also acts as a dirt box.

As to 'why', there is a laundry list: compressors even out your dynamics (as much as you need), they generally improve your tone, can add some dirt (depending on the comp) and I also use one of them to de-gate my MXR Blue Box. In terms of dynamics, they can also squash out unwanted artifacts such as digital noise from a digital pitch shifter.