Yes, I use a compression pedal and also dial in on board compression on my amp (when I am not doing a ampless gig) works great live
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Any others out there using more than one compressor?
- Thread starter Thumpin6string
- Start date
I run both an Aguilar TLC and the compressor in the Battalion (which is one knob, but I think is based on the Bass Preacher). They’re currently the last two in my chain. They’re both always on when I play fretless, but I (usually) bypass the Battalion’s EQ when I play fretted, so I’m only using the TLC. That is, unless I want overdrive, where I’ll turn off the TLC and use the one in the Battalion. Leaving the Aguilar on takes away too much of the dynamics. I really wish I could use the compressor on the Battalion when the EQ is bypassed, because everything (clean) sounds better with both on.
In one of those threads there a big todo that you can basically always get the same from one as from two. That might be true in practice if you don't have control over attack/release, but you can do some pretty whacky stuff with attack/release.
I like to use compressor attack on guitar to keep my amp mostly clean but with more bark on attacks. Set it fast, play with threshold and ratio until i get the cleanish tail i want, then increase the attack until I get the bark i want.
I like to use compressor attack on guitar to keep my amp mostly clean but with more bark on attacks. Set it fast, play with threshold and ratio until i get the cleanish tail i want, then increase the attack until I get the bark i want.
FullumMusic
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When I go direct into my DAW I run two compressor plugins. One very tastefully applied on my main channel, and some EQ. Then one slammed on a parallel channel, and ever so tastefully blended back into the main channel. Basically a simplified New York Bus. Sounds better than any amp sim I’ve tried. And because it's in the box, i can set up as many of these tracks as i want for different basses or different tones i'm going for.
Ughghgh I miss the Compressore.. what a great unit.
I like having two, one almost-always-on for the general yummy-tone settings, and one for a unifying squish going into octavers and such to make everything play nice and predictable.
I used to use the latter or even a third for peak limiting, but I found it to be a solution in search of a problem for the most part
Is this just a matter of adding gain back to a gain reduced/leveled signal? It reminds me of multiple eqs that boost what was cut earlier in the chain.
Same here. So, I went with the Cali Stacked, which is two comps in one reasonably small box.
Some caveats. First is that both are in the same box, so no option to run them in two different places in your chain. Also, both are Cali, so you can't do something like combine a fully transparent comp with a tone-shaping comp. (The Cali is fairly transparent, but does add some sparkle that I happen to love). Finally: no ratio controls, so no pure limiter... but if you use shortest attack time on the 2nd comp, it will mitigate (but not eliminate) peaks.
Despite the limitations (no pun intended) compared to two separate comps, the Stacked is really great, especially if you love the Cali FET vibe and don't want your signal to sound compressed. Only six knobs but one of them is a dry blend, so you get parallel along with serial which just adds to the transparency. Even using a completely wet signal, it's easy to set up amazingly smooth compression -- if you want that. It can also do squish if you like.
The Stacked is more expensive than the Compact Bass models, which aren't cheap either. But hey... quality is top notch.
P.S. I'm not trying to say that the Cali Stacked is the best solution for those looking for serial compression, but it is a convenient one, and doesn't seem to be getting a lot of attention.
I'm not sure what it does, but I can't get the same effect with just the Compressore, no matter how I adjust it. The onboard compressor has no adjustments, but as soon as I kick it in, the magic happens. Maybe a tech wizard like Agedhorse can chime in?Closest I ever got was running a comp into a tube amp running clean. I don’t run a comp anymore, though. I don’t suppose that counts, does it?
I have to ask, though…what does running two comps do that can’t be done with one?
A number of possibilities.
First: serial compression is incredibly common in the studio because multiple comps running at lower ratios sound more natural than a single comp run at a higher ratio (even if the effective ratios are equivalent), and that's why some gigging musicians do it.
As noted by others you can get scientific with this, e.g. using the second comp at higher threshold and higher ratio. But one introductory article I read said "just clone as many low ratio plugins as you need until you get the result you want".
Next, some use one compressor for gentle smoothing, and another at the end of the chain as pure limiter, to catch stray peaks (such as plugging in your bass at full volume).
There are also specialty uses: a general comp, then another to go along with a certain effect such as filter or octaver.
Yet another: many like to have a transparent comp at the beginning of the chain for general smoothing, and then a flavorful comp at the end of the chain for tone (tube compressors are popular at the end).
Side note: for rock I always use overdrive/distortion which adds inherent compression, but especially if I'm using tube-style overdrive I also like to add a compressor to simulate the response of a pushed speaker cabinet. With my old SVT rig, the magic happened when cranking it up: pushing the power tubes into clipping, but also pushing the limit of the 8x10 enclosure. (I never got to do that often enough, but I'd hate to think of what my hearing would be if I did...)
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I think I’ll just go through my Smothie into the Line 6 HD500X and assign a comp to each footswitch. I see your two and raise you eight!
There’s at least eight flavors in there.
I keep the smoothie up front, and add others down the line depending on what I’m after in combination with other fx.
A fast attack and slow release set on high gets a cool singing sustain.
With the on screen editor, it easy to play with dropping fx blocks anywhere in the chain, before or after the amp models.
I run the volume pedal at the end.
There’s at least eight flavors in there.
I keep the smoothie up front, and add others down the line depending on what I’m after in combination with other fx.
A fast attack and slow release set on high gets a cool singing sustain.
With the on screen editor, it easy to play with dropping fx blocks anywhere in the chain, before or after the amp models.
I run the volume pedal at the end.
I have a compressor at the start of my chain at 4:1 and then a limiting compressor with a relatively high threshold as the very last thing before my IR pedal. neither one is very dramatic but it knocks down spikes.
All this has got me thinking. Maybe put the MB Compressore in the effects loop? So, bass into HPF/LPF into amp with onboard comp engaged with the Compressore in the effects loop. I might have to experiment with that. Thought?
Okay as promised I would try this and report back. I ran into my Darkglass hyper luminal, and engaged the built in compressor on my Ampeg PF500. I didn't like it. I use harmonics in my playing and it squashed them. It also took away most of the dynamics in my playing. Portrait of Tracy sounded dead. Cool idea and may work for other genres, but not for solo and ensemble jazz. Thanks all, I had fun with it but not for me. BASS.
I use the cali76 as my always on dry blended compression. I use the hx stomp compressor within snapshots basically to avoid changing settings on the Cali. Like If I want brick wall compression for a section of a song but want the nice wet/dry blend for the rest of the song. If money and space wasn’t an issue I’d probably just add a second cali76 to the board and use a pedal switcher to have two cali76 pedals with 2 different settings available.
