good simple compressor?

[quadrogong]

I'm looking for a simple compressor, something easy to use on the fly, set it and go,
without too many parameters to mess with..

Like the old peavey & carvin combos used to have..
something effective that won't detract from my signal chain's fidelity terribly..
not terribly picky, but I do like a "pure" sounding signal,and anything between the bass and amp seems to mess with my sound quality.


I have an effects loop in my LMII,
do the 'effects' jacks in the back of amps usually
work more efficiently with a rack unit?
(rather than a stomp box) or is there no difference?
thanx!

[gillento]

EBS MultiComp
Demter Compulator (just go easy on the Compression pot)

[bongomania]

Yep, the EBS and the Demeter are the best "very easy to use" ones. Generally speaking you'll want to put a pedal inline between bass and amp, rather than in the loop, because often the loop will be at a much hotter level than many pedals can handle, resulting in distortion. There are many technical exceptions, but that's the easy rule of thumb.

[OshKoshJoash]

or if you want to spend less than the EBS or the Demeter, the BBE Opto Stomp!!

[PauperBoy]

Ditto on the EBS, its a nice unit.

As far as pedal placement, a sage sound engineer told me a hunnert years ago, "dirt in front of the preamp, color after it". LOL translated... distortion pedals before the input, and phasers, modelers, echo, etc in the fx loop. Works for me.

[bongomania]

...Except that there's no logical reason for that arrangement. If it works for you, great, there's nothing wrong with using what works. But again, there's no sense or basis to support it otherwise.

[ljazz]

Gotta dole out some more luv for the EBS MultiComp. Very simple to use, and in tube sim, it sounds absolutely fantastic! It sounds less fabulous through the fx loop (both through the head, or my bassbone) than what it does from the bass to the head (or from the bassbone to the head).

Definitely worth every penny.

Ljazz

[Mytola]

More love for the MultiComp here. It's an awesome pedal, as is the rest of the EBS line of pedals.

[rosstanium]

The Demeter Compulator is tits.

[quadrogong]

THANK U!
love this forum!
you guys have helped me infinitely, appreciate the advice..

sounds like the EBS is the one to try.
I love very little compression, a tad. my old cheapo carvin amp's compression used to work great,
back in the early 90's..very subtle,and easy to use.

too many parameters gets me batty, i like simplicity..

[EricF]

Originally Posted by rosstanium

The Demeter Compulator is tits.

I haven't found any of those on my Compulator, but I'll keep looking. It is a great sounding compressor, regardless of anatomical features.

[rosstanium]

nice.

[rrr_o_bbb]

Originally Posted by quadrogong

...
sounds like the EBS is the one to try.

Get yourself to a store and try a few out with your own bass. I experienced noise problems from the EBS in a studio setting, but had no noise with the demeter. The EBS has some internal tweak knobs that I did try twiddling with to no avail. There's lots o' love for the multicomp around these parts, but I have also heard of encounters similar to mine, so I simply recommend getting to a store and trying your own bass with a few. good luck,

[iScott]

Very cool. Thanks for this info. Looking for a decent compressor myself.
Cheers, duders.

[homsar]

Originally Posted by OshKoshJoash

or if you want to spend less than the EBS or the Demeter, the BBE Opto Stomp!!

+1 on the OptoStomp as a "high value" compressor (I got mine used for $45). Simple and effective with a pure tone.

[derelicte]

Originally Posted by quadrogong

too many parameters gets me batty, i like simplicity..

your profile pic says otherwise.

[4Mal]

+ 1 on the compulator. I found the Multicomp a little muffled sounding in comparison. The Multicomp wasn't horrible - just not quite in the Demeter's league. This could also be due to sample sizes of 1 - might be that I have a greatexample of the Demeter and had a poor example of the MC ...

As long as you want a very little compression. The Punch Factory is good. Quite transparent. It is not capable of squash under any circumstances I was able to muster. The DI is a nice addition. I dropped a couple of tracks using it in a pinch and it came through great.

[niftydog]

I like the idea of the MultiComp, but found it lacking in 'effect' for my tastes. (I like heavy compression ala Tony Levin.) The only setting I liked was the tube sim mode with the compression almost maxed out.

So, I went for the BBE Opto Stomp which has a fairly similar sound to the mode described above, but is much, much cheaper! In fact, I'm thinking about getting a second one!

[Nikoubis]

+1 for the Optostomp.

I A/B/C'd () the Multicomp, the Punch Factory and the Optostomp about a week ago. For my needs, which are not unlike the OP's, the BBE pwned the Aphex and sounded "cleaner" than most of the modes on the EBS (that might have to do with the rather hot output of my G&L, which I felt the BBE handled best). I'm getting the Optostomp on Monday, hopefully.

[affro]

yeah, EBS!
I use bass>EBS comp>LMII