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Compressor help.

E

eholland

Oct 11, 2014
32
2
59
#1
I play at a music theatre and do about 250 shows a year there. I run direct and use IEM (Westones). I play a 75 RI Fender jazz most of the time going thru a Sadowsky preamp on the floor. I also run thru a DBX 160x compressor located at the board. I just bought a MXR compressor. I love how it makes my bass sound here at home. I have not taken it to the theatre yet. Is it weird to run this compressor along with the DBX 160x? Will the 160x somehow over ride the MXR. I have a great house tone but I kinda play timid because the mix is so trebly I hear alot of string noise and movement. Also playing slap its really bright and loud and makes it hard to play the way I want to. The sound man said if he changes the tone it will change the house tone. However I do have my own eq attached to my independant mix. I have problably got off on 2 separate issues.
Thanks For your help.
Eddie
 
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#2
eholland said:
I also run thru a DBX 160x compressor located at the board. I just bought a MXR compressor. I love how it makes my bass sound here at home. I have not taken it to the theatre yet. Is it weird to run this compressor along with the DBX 160x?
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kinda, yeah.

you shouldn't need both, and if the MXR sounds good to you and you can control it from up where you are, you might as well leave the 160x at home. the soundguy would probably appreciate not having to mess with patching it into his system, and i wouldn't be surprised if half the time he just bypasses it once you walk away from his board.
 
#5
eholland said:
hes actually the one that insist we run it.
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a soundguy who cares :crying:

so you're not hearing the compressed version through your mix? maybe you could try getting that back in your ears.

alternately, how about sending him the same thing you always do so he can use the 160x on it properly, then using your comp pedal just for your own independent mix?

if you have a soundcheck opportunity you could try using your comp pedal and sending him the result, and if he's happy with it then hey, one less thing for him to worry about.

a real DBX 160>just about any pedal compressor, though.
 
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#6
I hooked it up yesterday at rehearsal for the first time. The guitar player soon was complimenting my tone. And he didn't realize I had added the MXR. A sub sound man was running sound yesterday for rehearsal. Main sound man said he will see if the 160x is actually doing anything now and take it out of the loop if its not . Marcus Miller actually recommended the 160x to me. about 5 years ago. But now I see he uses the MXR. I just feel the MXR did something cool to my tone .
 
#7
To me YMMV most compressor pedals are to get a certain tone and most rack compressors perform a very different function especially the 160x. The 160x is not going to make a big thick warm mushy bass tone it's going to actually level the DB's with as little affect on tone as possible (though it does affect the tone). The MXR is going to give you that fat thick squashed sound. As for as Marcus Miller goes he changes compressors as often as someone writes a check. Not saying that is a bad thing (he has to make a living) but I would never use something based on what someone else uses. IMO the 60x is the better unit but you know how opinions go.

I would get the MXR into your Amp loop (if your using one) and keep the 160x in the FOH.
 
#10
It just makes my loud notes quieter so that there's more volume uniformity across notes and techniques.

Upon reflection: it is just a matter of what you mean by "fattening" and "tone." If I play one note with compression and the same note without it, there wouldn't be any appreciable difference. Just a little, around the attack and release. Maybe it'd get more sustain. But it doesn't affect what I call my "tone," it does nothing for my sonic profile. There's no change in frequency, no EQ change, no added grit or new harmonics.

It becomes apparent when I play a whole lot of notes. One bass line might have big honking notes in it--either because that's the response of my particular instrument or maybe it's my technique--and other notes which are not as loud. But with my compressor on, that is lessened. Notes are more or less the same volume as I play.
 
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