Whirlwind Bass OC is another good one to consider if you can't tweak the Spectracomp to your liking. It's simple to use and sounds fantastic. Used one in classifieds now for about $150...
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Compressor that just compresses?
- Thread starter John Stephen
- Start date
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Before you replace it, try the Spectracomp's Nathan East ("Captain East") toneprint, and keep the knob at less than 50%. This has been my colorless live setup for a couple of months now, and I'm really happy with it.
Thanks Geddyclaypool, I will give the Captain East thing a try if I can. I tried to download one tone print so far but nothing happened, at least it doesn’t sound any different from the default setting. Anyhoo I will keep trying for awhile.
Dramatwist, if TC doesn’t work out to my liking, the MXR sounds good, per several recommendations here.
Dramatwist, if TC doesn’t work out to my liking, the MXR sounds good, per several recommendations here.
You should hear some static-y noise, and if the toneprint transfer is successful, the Spectracomp should flash green a few times.
The Spectracomp isn't adding any noise or hiss. It's doing exactly what it's supposed to. The point of a compressor is to even out any signal that is sent to it. Stuff that is overly loud will be toned down and stuff that's in the background will be brought forward. What it sounds like is that you have it turned up too high. Compression for the most part should be used sparingly. Use just enough to even out your dynamics. If you've got the knob past 12:00 then it's too high. When I use my Spectracomp I keep it around 10:00 or 11:00.
I have it at about 10:30. Haven't had it past that level at all. So something is causing the hiss. Anyway, as stated earlier, I'll keep futzing around with it and see if I can something good out of it.
Geddy, thanks I will keep trying on the downloads.
Thanks to all for the advice, explanations, etc. Will definitely report back.
I currently have a Diamond Bass comp and a Empress. Any compressor with a tone knob or EQ of any kind will manipulate your basses overall sound, I use the Dimond just for that. The Empress is very, as I see the word thrown around, "transparent", as it does change the dynamic of your playing without touching the "color, warmth or tone". There is so many out there, sounds like you want one that doesn't change your tone but also is simple? The Keely bassist,
Broughton's Apex, M87, the spectracomp, are pretty straight forward. I do notice most of the pedals with lesser adjustments are more on the colorful side, and the more transparent ones have threshold, attack, release, blend, ratio, input/output level, many adjustments. But there is a few that break that trend. Don't be afraid of rack models as well, some of the older DBX ones modded correctly can be very nice. Look up the DBX 163x or "a", there are some companies that mod them, refurbish it basically with nicer signal paths and transformers, they sound like some of these +250$ pedals easily. Just be prepared to run through a few finding what suits you. I've been through several and honestly at the end of the day don't use one, its nice being able to control your intensity and attack with your finger tips, but compressors do have their time and place, I find them very important for cutting through live performances.
The EBS compressor does it. it's so transparent you might wonder if it's working - but play hard, record it and look at your output, it's doing it's thing. And it can have a bit of an audible tone if you want it to, but it's certainly one of the most transparent magical bass compressors in existence.... not to mention simple to dump into your chain without issues - you could buy it, throw it in your chain at a gig at start of chain, and not even worry about it..... (although that would be dumb to do LoL without learning how to use it best...)
It’s easier than you think it is. Check out a YouTube video or two. And download the app.
I downloaded to check it out and unfortunately all the TonePrints have funny little names instead of just telling you what they do.
straight up the middle could be a good one given that it says it compresses equally
straight up the middle could be a good one given that it says it compresses equally
if you have an iPhone it’s actually dead easy. You download the app, pick a TonePrint, hold the phone’s speaker against your bass pickup (solo one if you have two pickups), play the toneprint and a flashing light will indicate it’s loaded. Again check out a few videos - it’s much more easier than you think.
When you say "solo one if you have two pickups," you mean I should turn one pickup completely off, and load it onto the other pickup?
Yeah that’s right. I just took a peak at the toneprint app and when you go to beam something, it gives you a whole tutorial.
The Spectracomp original Tone Print can also be edited on the Editor on PC (or Mac), you can change the parameters to create something you like, so it is pretty flexible but you need to take the time to play with the settings.
Known issue with the toneprints on the Spectracomp that use GAIN MAKEUP. They'll add hiss to the sound. When I owned the SpectraComp this drove me crazy until I used the editor to start tweaking things. Once I disengaged the auto gain makeup parameter, things got a lot quieter, and I was pretty blown away by the pedal.
The Spectracomp is no joke. It's an incredibly full-featured, programmable, advanced compressor. Tweaking it is not for compressor newbies, and I'd suggest you roam the TonePrints to see if you find something more to your liking. So, just a heads-up. Don't give up on the pedal yet.
Hi guys, Im a newbie and new to pedals. I also wanted a comp that did just that, ended up with the TC.
Im fairly good at computers, but unfortunately TC arent very good at instructions. I linked up to my PC with Windows 10 and struggled. Eventually I guessed that the instruction for updating the firm might work. So unplug everything, hold down the switch until the light goes green, then plug (usb) into the pc.
I found that the editor would then see the pedal and download a template from the web.
FWIW I’ve yet to find a compressor that “just” anything.
Each one does its thing a little differently than the others.
Each one does its thing a little differently than the others.
