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does slow gear need a compressor?

Swift713

Swift713

Supporting Member
Dec 4, 2006
4,039
245
Florence, Ma
#1
For those who have experience with the Slow Gear or the Lazy Sprocket, do these pedals work significantly better after a compressor or doesn't it mater? I want to get a Lazy Sprocket to put in front of my multi-effects but I'm concerned that I may want a separate compressor in front of the Lazy Sprocket in which case maybe I should wait for the Attack Sustain :eek: Of course, I've been waiting for the Attack Sustain long enough to talk myself out of spending that much. They told me it would be available by now and it would be $279 I think :eek: whereas a pre-built Lazy Sprocket is $115 and is available now.
 
#2
A compressor may normalize your output level, so the envelope of the Lazy Sprocket would be all messed up. However, you may like it. Pickles (I think) was recently saying how he preferred a compressor before his envelope filter, so you should just try it out and let us know how it goes.
 
#3
Yeah, it's all in finding the amount of envelope range that works best for a given application. Not all basses/players put out the same dynamic range, so a compressor can be a plus or a minus when used in front of a dynamic effect, depending on you, your bass, and the range that would be the ideal input for that effect.
 
#4
Hmm, I do use compression before my envelope usually but what I was wondering was if a comp would improve the "tracking" of the Slow Gear/Lazy Sprocket. The "Slow Attack" on my previous multi really sucked for bass and it sounded like really bad tracking.
Thanks.
 
#8
yes. it sounds way better with the compression before it. i tried it out :) i have a boss gt6-b and when you go to the slow gear effect it turn on the compression automatically, if you turn it off it sounds bad
 
#12
I'm not Spanky, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

I loved my Slow Gear. It had its quirks, but I got a lot of mileage out of that box. When my old band broke up I sold it because I didn't think I'd join another band where I would find myself using it regularly. Now I'm in a band where we are starting to experiment more and more and I wish I had it back. Or at the very least that I hadn't sold it for $50 (I think) when I could get a ton more now.

As for needing a compressor, I never used one live. But take that with a grain of salt because I was often using some sort of a gain pedal at the same time.

I've been considering a Lazy Sprocket for some time now, but I am just resigned to waiting for the ASDR, whenever it comes out.
 
#13
TheBigO, you are full of fantastic quotes!

I never needed a compressor either. I never had a problem. I had sensitivity set pretty low so that it knew when I wanted the envelope to open up. I could actually play decently fast (not hella fast though) without any tracking problems. It wasn't really "polyphonic" though. If I played very cleanly, I could pull off double stops, but I don't think I could get much more out of it.

And I don't know how different the ASDR and Lazy Sprocket are from the SG-2, so I really don't think my experience can be used to compare. From what I hear, people have had really different experiences with their different pedals (particularly the Guyatone one), so you may just have to try it out yourself.

Good luck!
 
#14
Thanks guys. I've been gassing for the ASDR big time but I'm not exactly rolling in the dough. But then again I don't want to buy anything I'm not going to be totally happy with, but on the other hand, I don't want to pay nearly $300 for some fancy pedal that may not be that much better than something that costs less than half...blah blah blah :(
So when is that ASDR coming out? :D
 

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