Best Compressor For My Application

[40Hz]

I’ve been through a few compressors and I’ve chosen the Keeley Bassist. $80 is a steal!

The Keeley Bassist is my go-to compressor, and $80 is a great price. I think it will do exactly what you want.

Having said that, $80 is a hell of a price for as well regarded a compressor as the Keeley. You may want to try that while you have the opportunity to do it that cheaply.

$80 for a Keeley Bassist is an amazing deal. I paid $169 for mine on an introductory “special price.”

One good thing about the Keeley if you’re new to compressors. It automates the attack/release, which is something a lot of people get wrong when they first start out twidding knobs. So it’s almost (not totally but almost) impossible to find a setting that’ll make you sound bad with the Bassist. It’s very forgiving in that regard. So it’s an ideal “first compressor” IMO. A simple easy to use highly transparent compressor that actually sounds good while quietly sweeping up junk in the background. What’s not to like?

FWIW I actually think the Bassist was a major factor in the broader acceptance of compression in the bass community over the last three or four years. It opened a lot of players eyes and ears to what these little boxes could do for your sound without the noise and heavy squashing many players (who had only heard things like the old DynaComp) were familiar with.

The only thing to be aware of is that compressors can be addictive. First you want a transparent VCA type for peak limiting. So you buy a Bassist. Then you want to try one with a little mojo going for it. So you get a Smoothie. Then you hear a fretless player using an old BOSS CS-2. So you buy one to use with your fretless. And you and your bandmates love that. Then you hear about tube compressors…and optical compressors…and multi-band compressors…and side chain…something called “bloom”…and “transformer based”…

From there it’s only one short step to addiction.

Next thing you know you own six or seven. And you really like all of them. But (as the promiscuous are wont to do) you like each for entirely different reasons. And you can’t bring yourself to part with any of them as your collection grows and your bank account withers away, and your pet goldfish goes hungry.

Don’t laugh lady! It can happen to your kids too.

 

[el murdoque]

I've been reading this off and on for about a month, but still am lost in the wilderness as to what I want/need.

I actually bought a comp a while back and just confirmed with Ovnilab that it was a 'good' one.
Naive as I was I thought a good comp is a good comp. I realized that comps are doing a lot of different jobs and that you need the right tool for the right job. I sold off that one back then and went on without or with the compression from our FOH mixer.

What I'm trying to say is: Start. It does not matter where, just make a shortlist of pedals that might suit you and start hunting for a good price, preferably second hand so you can sell them off without too much of a loss if it's not a match.

You need to play with a compressor in order to learn what you want from it.

 

[40Hz]

What I'm trying to say is: Start. It does not matter where, just make a shortlist of pedals that might suit you and start hunting for a good price, preferably second hand so you can sell them off without too much of a loss if it's not a match.

You need to play with a compressor in order to learn what you want from it.

This is one of the most valuable pieces of advice I’ve read in a long time.

Hands on is everything. You won’t really know until you try something (and not just compressors) yourself. And starting - as in just starting- with virtually anything is better than sitting on the fence and over thinking it.

Because sooner or later you have to stop researching and start cruising on your own vibes.

And, as @el murdoque so wisely noted, if you get the wrong compressor, they’re fairly easy to unload before you move on to your next candidate now that you’re that much smarter about these things.

 

[el murdoque]

And, as @el murdoque so wisely noted, if you get the wrong compressor, they’re fairly easy to unload before you move on to your next candidate now that you’re that much smarter about these things.

Haha, I actually made a nice profit hunting for several pedals by combing the used markets, making lowball offers late in the month when cash is short and then putting the stuff I did not like online with nicely made pictures, a polished enclosure and a polished pricetag when the paychecks were sent out.
Once you start looking for certain pedals you get a feeling for the prices and when you stumble across something that's too cheap you just buy it and resell it at the normal going rate ... or keep it. That was how I got my Strymon Blue Sky.

 

[JRA]

the Keeley Bassist. $80 is a steal!

Keeley Bassist is my go-to compressor, and $80 is a great price

each compressor pedal has its own perks-quirks. almost all of the rack units are "universal" in terms of what you'd expect from a compressor/limiter.

no compressor does "tone shaping" per se --- it's not what they are for. an EQ will get different tones and a compressor will affect the tones you choose.

good luck compressing and tone chasing!

 

[Lovep]

Define breaking the bank.

$80 for a Keeley seems like a worthwhile shot. I haven't played one, but like what I've read.

By "founding the edge off" do you mean the transients and dynamics, the tone, or both? The Smoothie is nice for several applications, but I wouldn't use it for a metal project, It felt too subdued for my industrial tastes. I couldn't get it to have any teeth at all. If you want to round off the tone of an overly bright rig, it's worth considering. If you want a brighter sheen to the tone, I'd look elsewhere, if I were doing this.

I've been pretty happy with the Seymour Duncan Studio Bass. I went through several compressors, and found it the right blend of compression and tone, for my needs. I wasn't looking for much tone "sauce" enhancement, but more transparent performance. The Duncan delivers that. The controls are easy, with a decent range of adjustment. The feature that wins me over is the "Blend" switch, allowing you to select a dry blend with full-range, lows only, or mids only. I find that helpful when searching for different sounds. I do wish it had a meter on it, to observe the amount of compression triggered, but that is not a feature. Pricing on the used (and even new) ones is pretty reasonable. Not $80, but not far away.

The Darkglass Hyper Luminal looks nice. The price is high. They have some bugs they are working out with certain power supplies not being compatible (a very small number of the supplies have issues delivering enough juice). The mA draw is around 250-300, IIRC. Make sure you have a supply with enough mA on tap, if you go with DG. I haven't heard the Bus or FET settings in person. The Sim (Super Symmetry) is going to be dark/warm sounding. I wouldn't use it for your application, having owned a Super Symmetry, unless you have an overly bright rig. However, the other settings seem to have nice potential. I'm considering checking one out.

I've had good luck with a Diamond. Again, not a cheap option (might break your bank, but might not). It has a distinctive polished vibe to it (smooth and glassy). I ran one with a Mesa M6, and was satisfied.

I'd rank your option and my suggestions:
1 - Keeley - Good reputation at a hard to beat price
2 - Duncan - It works (for me), it doesn't alter your tone as much as some pedals. Decent range of adjustments and a unique blend control. The price is nice.
3 - Darkglass - If you can afford it, it seems like a winner. It's new, so used ones are not plentiful.
4 - Diamond - Nice, but not cost effective, and a limited range of adjustments. Nice if you like what it does.
5 - Smoothie - Nice compressor, but too polite for metal (unless you were looking for a softer/darker Doom type sound), and not cheap enough to make it a budget friendly option.

I like your rankings. I have heard very good things about the Duncan.

In terms of the Darkglass, I wouldn't be so quick to jump on this one just yet. It has a variety of options, but I would rather have a pedal that does one sound really well, instead of three sounds that are really sub-optimal (i.e., the DG Hyper Luminal, in my opinion). I owned the Hyper Luminal for a couple of weeks and I didn't really like the sound (compared to the Keeley). I kept thinking to myself, "I want to like this pedal...Its so sexy." At the end of the day, it was just a bit too much for my needs. The Keeley has a solid sound with very low noise. If mine breaks, I'm buying another...no question.

 

[40Hz]

I like your rankings. I have heard very good things about the Duncan.

In terms of the Darkglass, I wouldn't be so quick to jump on this one just yet. It has a variety of options, but I would rather have a pedal that does one sound really well, instead of three sounds that are really sub-optimal (i.e., the DG Hyper Luminal, in my opinion). I owned the Hyper Luminal for a couple of weeks and I didn't really like the sound (compared to the Keeley). I kept thinking to myself, "I want to like this pedal...Its so sexy." At the end of the day, it was just a bit too much for my needs. The Keeley has a solid sound with very low noise. If mine breaks, I'm buying another...no question.

I’ll second the above.

I have compressors that sound great with certain basses or styles of playing. Or that do interesting sonic tricks. But the two I keep coming back to for everyday use are the Bassist for transparent and the Smoothie for a little color - or “smoove” as my guitarist SO calls it. They’re my sonic equivalent of comfort food.

Can I do everything I want with those two? Nope. That’s why I own a handful of others - with more on my “to buy” list. But I’m still betting the Keeley and Smoothie are going to remain my gotos. They get the job done for me more often than not.

YMMV.

 

[monsterthompson]

I like your rankings. I have heard very good things about the Duncan.

In terms of the Darkglass, I wouldn't be so quick to jump on this one just yet. It has a variety of options, but I would rather have a pedal that does one sound really well, instead of three sounds that are really sub-optimal (i.e., the DG Hyper Luminal, in my opinion). I owned the Hyper Luminal for a couple of weeks and I didn't really like the sound (compared to the Keeley). I kept thinking to myself, "I want to like this pedal...Its so sexy." At the end of the day, it was just a bit too much for my needs. The Keeley has a solid sound with very low noise. If mine breaks, I'm buying another...no question.

Darkglass feedback appreciated. I like the features and described tones, but have no experience with one. I wasn't a fan of the Sym as a comp (but it had a nice vintage voice to it). I could see that box not working for me. I've had a very up-and-down relationship with DG products. There are elemenets I like, but they aren't always the right fit for me (The 900 head was pretty hard to beat though).

 

[Destroyer661]

First off thank you to all the responses and advise. I've had a crazy few days and finally decided that the $80 Keeley is a no brainer, so my buddy is delivering to me at work tonight. If I like it great, if not I can always move one. I figured I've got to start somewhere and the Keeley seems to be a very solid starting place. Maybe even exactly what I'm looking for. I'll plug in on Thursday and find out being as my rig is in my guitarist's house for rehearsal.

 

[StayLow]

OP, do you play finger-style or pick?

Luckily you only have one guitarist to cut through, still for heavy/fast music you need definition which means not cutting your highs and letting your initial attack ring clear.

I play in some heavy bands and recommend the Duncan for this.

Does the Keeley you're considering look like the current models? The original ones from way back rolled off the lows below "A", and that'll be particularly problematic if you're tuning down as a lot of heavier bands do.


If it's a newer model, you can easily recoup your $80+ in resale if you don't dig it.

Consider a BOSS LMB-3 as those can be had at decent prices and the Enhance allows for a bit of tone shaping and present highs.

The newer BOSS BC-1x is excellent and easy to use, with sweet clear highs that seem boosted or enhanced just a tad, but will probably cost a lot more.

The MXR is an excellent choice too. Compare it to the Keeley in the store, nice and loud, paying close attention to highs/definition.

If you want tone shaping get a Tech-21 VT Bass. If you want compression, be aware that most said to "phatten" your tone are also attenuating your highs and that's not gonna help you in a busy death-metal mix.

Post clips of your band? Sounds like it'd be a fun listen.

 

[monsterthompson]

The MXR is an excellent choice too. Compare it to the Keeley in the store, nice and loud, paying close attention to highs/definition.

Ooh, I meant to include the MXR in my earlier post. No experience with it, but it has a solid reputation. Well worth considering for transparent dynamics control.

 

[Destroyer661]

OP, do you play finger-style or pick?

Luckily you only have one guitarist to cut through, still for heavy/fast music you need definition which means not cutting your highs and letting your initial attack ring clear.

I play in some heavy bands and recommend the Duncan for this.

Does the Keeley you're considering look like the current models? The original ones from way back rolled off the lows below "A", and that'll be particularly problematic if you're tuning down as a lot of heavier bands do.


If it's a newer model, you can easily recoup your $80+ in resale if you don't dig it.

Consider a BOSS LMB-3 as those can be had at decent prices and the Enhance allows for a bit of tone shaping and present highs.

The newer BOSS BC-1x is excellent and easy to use, with sweet clear highs that seem boosted or enhanced just a tad, but will probably cost a lot more.

The MXR is an excellent choice too. Compare it to the Keeley in the store, nice and loud, paying close attention to highs/definition.

If you want tone shaping get a Tech-21 VT Bass. If you want compression, be aware that most said to "phatten" your tone are also attenuating your highs and that's not gonna help you in a busy death-metal mix.

Post clips of your band? Sounds like it'd be a fun listen.[/QUOTE

I play with a pick for the most part, I mean sometimes you drop it and have to just keep on playing without it. I definitely prefer having one though.

The pedal is newer, he just got a full on bass rig and decided it's not for him haha.

As for recordings of the band we're going into the studio next month and I'll certainly post a link once we're done. It's not very fast it's just really heavy, we have huge sludge influences as well. We're done trying to make it big we just want to play nasty music and have a fun time doing it.

 

[Lovep]

Darkglass feedback appreciated. I like the features and described tones, but have no experience with one. I wasn't a fan of the Sym as a comp (but it had a nice vintage voice to it). I could see that box not working for me. I've had a very up-and-down relationship with DG products. There are elemenets I like, but they aren't always the right fit for me (The 900 head was pretty hard to beat though).

Yeah, I have the 900 head and I love it! I also have the Alpha Omega Ultra that I really like as a preamp pedal...not so much for the OD.

 

[Aidenn7]

Buddy you are going to be buried for a while. Pick one set forget and play.. Simpler is better those ones I suggest.. Will do the trick.. If you think you a notice Keeley. If you intermediate smoothie. If you want more control Fealabs. The origin is cool just not my taste.. I been stuck on fealabs their stuff is my secret sauce.. just enjoy the music.. Pick, set, and forget