Hey all!
I'm a gigging bassist and have never owned a compressor pedal before but do think I could benefit from having one. My sound is overall warm, round and vintage like (both with my j and p basses, pick and finger style no slaps).
I will be using the pedal for live applications only, and what I want to achieve from having it is:
1) obviously to compress and even out the single substantially
2) fatten the tone and retain (if not even enhance) the low/ low mid register
3) add punch and "whoompf" to the sound
4) preferably have some "mojo" and add a slight unique character, as I really enjoy effects with their own distinct qualities
I am pretty lost in all the different brands and their aggressive marketing. My local music stores have a surprisingly limited selection of bass compressor pedals (tried the TLC and darkglass pedals... they were not to my liking)
I would really like to hear some of your suggestions/ insights/ expertise/ opinion!
Thanks a bunch
P
A compressor can be used to protect the speakers in a PA system or to fatten your sound and extend your sustain. Protecting the PA system is pretty straight forward and has little to do with improving your sound.
Fattening your sound and extending your sustain are absolutely what compressors are good at. Making your bass sound punchy...not so much. A compressor fills out your sound and gives you better sustain specifically by compressing the peaks that give you punch.
The whole idea of using a compressor is to take the extra energy from momentary spikes and convert it to sustain. Basically it steals energy from the peaks and changes it into sustain. When you see a compressor ratio setting of 8:1, that means it takes an 8db increase in the sound level to actually raise the output level by 1 db. 4:1 is fairly common, but 8:1 is not really unusual.
If you really turn the ratio way up and you play a note, it will sound like an organ note, meaning the note sounds the same as long as you hold it. A compressor can really make you sound fat but the higher the ratio setting, the fewer dynamics you'll have throughout the note.
Check out the bass on the Time after Time video below. There is virtually no attack on the notes and the notes go on forever. By comparison the bass drum has a very percussive attack. It actually works very well on this song but the bass on this is about as far away from punchy as you can get.
Studio quality compressors will have adjustments for threshold (what energy level activates it), ratio (how much more signal it takes to raise the actual level by 1 db), attack (how quickly the compression takes latches on once it reaches the threshold), and decay (how long that compression lasts after dropping below your threshold setting). Also there is often a Hard Knee/soft knee switch too. Hard knee is an immediate clamping when it hits the threshold and attack settings. Soft Knee eases into that clampdown a bit more. Soft knee is good for most music, but hard knee really helps when playing percussive styles such as slap.
Many of the stompboxes you'll see will only have a couple of controls and based on how you set those they automatically apply some logic to control the rest. In the case of those two controls they are usually the threshold and ratio and it extrapolates what it thinks you need from that. when looking at compressors with just 2 controls, I would definitely try them out or at least listen to some video demos of them.
In the case of filling out your sound and still wanting to be "punchy", if you have a compressor with attack on it, you "might" be able to do that. Choosing soft knee and slowing down the attack will give a fraction of a second for an initial attack to sound before it's compressed. It will be a fine line, but you might be able to get it a short lived but punchy attack that way and still get that full sounding sustain that compressors are known for. But normally a compressor compresses your peaks and those peaks are what give you punch and dynamics.
I just think a compressor is probably the wrong tool for you to get some punch with. You really need the right EQ settings (so you don't get lost in the mix) and strong attack to get punch.
