Does anyone use an EL-8 Distressor comp in their live rig?

[andrew]

I'm intrigued by the comments about the distressor being both a great comp and distortion unit. Does anyone use one of these in your live rig?

[bongomania]

Marcus Miller does. I would but (a) I sold mine to fund other compressor purchases, and (b) I would find its tone either "too subtle to be worth the trouble onstage" or "too grating to use all the time on all tunes". IOW the subtler sounds that are so awesome in a studio context would probably be lost on any listening audience in a club or larger venue; and by the time you cranked it up as a distortion it would be a commitment to that one gnarly tone all night. There are tons of interactive controls and no presets, so it would be difficult to change sounds mid-gig with any sort of confidence.

OTOH if you are in a circumstance where the audience can hear tonal details, or your ideal all-night tone happens to include the driven sound of the Distressor, or you can carry two different compressors to the gig, one for subtle and the other for obvious sounds, then it would be worth a go.

IMO of course, and it's so subjective that I wouldn't be the least bit bothered by anyone disagreeing.

[AndyLES]

They sound great but they're so friggin' expensive...

[markjazzbassist]

great units, love those things. empirical labs really knows how to make a versatile compressor.

BUT, why would you have a comp in the live realm? usually your FOH guy will take care of all the comps and gates and such and he should be carrying his own. i always let my FOH EQ and comp my tone, since after all, he's the one mixing it.

for the studio they are EXCELLENT units, but live I don't really see the use. unless your dynamics are just atrocious, but i'm guessing that's not your issue since you got an Aggie endorsement.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by markjazzbassist

great units, love those things. empirical labs really knows how to make a versatile compressor.

BUT, why would you have a comp in the live realm? usually your FOH guy will take care of all the comps and gates and such and he should be carrying his own. i always let my FOH EQ and comp my tone, since after all, he's the one mixing it.

for the studio they are EXCELLENT units, but live I don't really see the use. unless your dynamics are just atrocious, but i'm guessing that's not your issue since you got an Aggie endorsement.

Yeah, and Pete Wentz has a Fender endorsement Endorsements are nothing more than rewards for being popular and have no bearing on skill level. OTOH, that's not to say this gentleman is a lame player by any stretch of the imagination

Believe it or not, people who play very well and have great control of dynamics also like to use compressors live. Hardly a necessary item for the working bassist but I use one in my rig just to tame transients and peaks. Yeah, the FOH's compressor is usually better than mine, but I like using it so in my rig it stays.

[Joe P]

I have a custom modded compressor I call 'the Growler' to 'distress' my signal.

Wouldn't be without it! Like I've said before: if ya really think about it, this illusive and coveted bass tone property called 'growl' - it's "tuba tone"; if you want lots of true Electric Bass GROWL - the real-deal - then you want your bass to sound more like a (properly played) TUBA.

The active part of growl is a certain kind of intermodulation. Intermod is - to a great degree - what the 'distressed' kind of distortion is about.

"Compression distortion" is marvelous. The circuitry never saturates, never 'clips'. I believe that when you try to achieve 'growl' with clipping type overdrive, you're introducing artifacts into the intermod, which you don't get nearly as much of with.. uh: "distression".

Joe

[bongomania]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Yeah, and Pete Wentz has a Fender endorsement Endorsements are nothing more than rewards for being popular and have no bearing on skill level. OTOH, that's not to say this gentleman is a lame player by any stretch of the imagination

Believe it or not, people who play very well and have great control of dynamics also like to use compressors live. Hardly a necessary item for the working bassist but I use one in my rig just to tame transients and peaks. Yeah, the FOH's compressor is usually better than mine, but I like using it so in my rig it stays.

+1, also note the first reply- Marcus Miller uses a Distressor in his live rig. I think he may have an endorsement or two and he's admired for his high level of skill on the instrument.

IOW, as Jimmy said, there are other reasons for using a compressor besides "bad dynamic control". Tony Levin is another example. Sometimes the compression is a part of "your sound", not just a corrective tool.

[Mr. Pickles]

I was just thinking about this a few moments ago while sitting on the can reading the Sweetwater Select catalogue...

Now Bongo has to go all pragmatic on the thought and squash my deluded fantasy of thinking, "Wow. Wouldn't that be awesome?"

The "Nuke" setting is pretty neat, though.