In my years I’ve owned a HA5000 and LX8800 amp and I didn’t care for the compressor on either one of those. You could get to a just ok state with some dialing in. They tended to get too squishy too fast for my taste.
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Built-in / "One Knobby Jobby" Compressors...
- Thread starter Zooberwerx
- Start date
In my years I’ve owned a HA5000 and LX8800 amp and I didn’t care for the compressor on either one of those. You could get to a just ok state with some dialing in. They tended to get too squishy too fast for my taste.
Almost forgot....a handful of the Trace heads and fly-rig Transit B had dual band comps. I don't recall folks getting terribly excited about the feature or the dedicated pedal.
Riis
Riis
I agree with this. I just moved my MS-60B to the end of my chain on one of my boards to use specifically as a Comp and EQ patch, and sometimes noise gate if I am using a fuzz. I set the comp at 4:1 gain mid way, and wound the threshold down until I could hear it compressing and then lifted it up again to taste. Used level to set it at unity gain. Allowed me to move my Ag TLC comp to the front of the signal chain to use for other duties such as a boost, heavy comp for long sustained notes etc
Good luck Riis
- Feb 16, 2008
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not a fan of the one knob comp on the SGT-DI at all. i thought it was pretty good (and usable) on the SVT-Pro head.
the JHS Punchline's one knob sounds very good to me
the JHS Punchline's one knob sounds very good to me
I agree with this. I just moved my MS-60B to the end of my chain on one of my boards to use specifically as a Comp and EQ patch, and sometimes noise gate if I am using a fuzz. I set the comp at 4:1 gain mid way, and wound the threshold down until I could hear it compressing and then lifted it up again to taste. Used level to set it at unity gain. Allowed me to move my Ag TLC comp to the front of the signal chain to use for other duties such as a boost, heavy comp for long sustained notes etc
Good luck Riis
The dbx160 comp appears to be a more popular option...I use the same as the "threshold" works exactly as you've described...it's a B3n.
Frankly, I'm a little disappointed as I had high-hopes for some of the candidates. They seem to fall within two categories; "respectable" and "don't waste your time".
Riis
FWIW, this thread has a lot of praise for the compressor on the Reidmar: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/ebs-reidmar-750.1455155/
Given my limited sampling, the Reidmar is by far the best of the lot. It smacks strongly of the resident comp on the EBS MB3 and strongly suspect the platform is based on a MultiComp mode / voicing.
Riis
My Thrust compressor in my Tc BQ500 is useable and it gives a nice pop . I use it at 12 o'clock and I really like it . Other than that , I haven't found any other that sounds good. It's also supposed to be a MOSFET transistor
Knowing what I know about compression, having a compressor that doesn't allow me to adjust ratio, threshold, attack, release, and make-up gain as well as not giving me any metering to show gain reduction would be useless to me. I've always looked at compressor pedals as "compression as an effect" and not a seriously utility. To me that's for guitarists, not bassists
Okay, another contender!
Quite by accident: Sonicake Factory bass preamp…got it free. Better than the resident comp on the Tech 21 BFR.
Riis
When my bass teacher steered me toward a Navigator/D410XLT rig, he also told me to throw a dbx160A in the rack because, yes, great preamp, but you need knobs. Heck, the 160A almost doesn't have enough...
Only other "built-in" compressor I've used is the ZOIA module, but that is really only handy for the ease of side-chaining. I forget how many controls it has, but more than one.
As of lately i use SD Studio Comp I bought used and I freaking love it . It's my first comp at the north of 100 buck territory and. I felt the difference in less is more. With the others ( bass preacher, Scylla and some dynacomp I had ) you could really tell it's working, now it's subtle , even at high comp rate but you really feel it when you play in a band or when the practice, with the song in the mix . I LOVE the parallel thing , I can push it a bit more and boost mids on my clean signal and boom .
I dont use it though when i have a lot of hair on my tone ( i use 2notes Lebass for preamp and overdrive/ distortion, love that thing to death too) and then I use the Thrust, it makes the whole thing better and it moves my speaker differently and It gives a nice percussiveness to my tone .
I hated the one I had. Every Tone Print I tried had some sort of noise anomaly. Unusable! My experience with TC products have been less than desirable as a whole. Just make a standard bass compressor for x's sake! SMDH! Stop with the Tone Print crap!
I own the BBE BMax and I like the compressor on that. Haven't used that (rack) rig in years though.
Sorry, doesn't qualify...too many knobs. For that fact, the precedent SD DoubleBack was a bongo "best buy" many moons ago. I still have one on my board.
The graphics on this have some serious “school picture day backdrops” vibes.
Yeah, it's obnoxious, huge, heavy...easily doubles as a weapon as the name implies.
Riis
This, to me, is the perfect example of why compressor recommendations need a lot of detail as to what you are looking for as far as what the compressor is going to do for you. I used an Aguilar TLC for quite a while and it’s similar to your description of the SD: so transparent to the point of not noticing it except for what it does in a mix.
Eventually, I realized that’s not what I want in a compressor, or more accurately, not all I want in a compressor. I also want it to sweeten my tone.
Obviously, slap players have other sets of priorities that they look for as well.
In a lot of ways it’s like asking about dirt pedals: it’s still ultimately just as subjective, but I think we have a more developed vocabulary for it.
This is interesting: I used a BBE383 for a long time and the compressor on it was so bad that I spent decades thinking that I didn’t like compression. Then I added a TC Electronic M300 to my rack and was so gobsmacked the first time I played around with the compressor that it upended my entire worldview on it.
Interesting. I haven't had any of those issues with mine. I've even used it as a di to record and it had been quiet and quite useful. I also have a tc spark on my board that also gets quite a bit of use.
This was my first compressor. Haven’t used it in a while, but I still have it. Probably one of the first to have blend control, and the EQ filter switch for the dry signal is interesting. A little noisy at higher ratios, though ….
Don't sell it. The newer Studio Bass is pretty much a re-packaged DoubleBack. The "Sustain" will add noise if kicked above 12:30...it's even addressed in original review. Big visible knobs and they don't move with minimal provocation. IIRC, most of the material touts the DB as a GUITAR comp.
We're a little off-topic (single knob, built-ins) but it's also fun to re-visit some of the older technology!
Riis
