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Does VTbass offer Compression?

Discussion in 'Effects [BG]' started by DosiYanarchy, Jan 13, 2009.

  1. Jan 13, 2009 #1
    DosiYanarchy

    DosiYanarchy

    Sep 26, 2007
    London, England
    hey, sorry to ask a question that may have been asked before, but I know the BDDI did offer some compression, but does the VTbass do the same? I'm currently running my effects into the VTbass and then into a BBE OptoStomp, however, I think id like a heavier level of compression from the optostomp but on higher settings my effects cause it to clip (especially my 105q wah)

    Signal chain is:

    Bass -> Tuner ->OC3 -> MicroPOG -> Analog Delay -> MXR Blowtorch -> Bass Micro Synth -> Green Stache -> 105q Wah -> VTBass -> optostomp

    as you can probably imagine, sometimes levels can get out of hand, especially with the blowtorch where the volume control is NEVER past half way, now i dont want to sacrifice the stability of volume that i have with the Optostomp at the end of my chain, but i can only run it with compression at about 11 o'clock before i get 'pops'
     
  2. Jan 13, 2009 #2
    bassman1185

    bassman1185

    Sep 30, 2000
    Des Moines, IA, USA
    The VT has some mild compression, similar to the BDDI, but there it's not a leveling compressor. I would think that engaging the pad on your optostomp would help, or if you keep the VT on all the time, you can set it to cut your volume a bit. If that really doesn't work, you might be better off investing in a good rackmount, line-level compressor.
     
  3. Jan 13, 2009 #3
    DosiYanarchy

    DosiYanarchy

    Sep 26, 2007
    London, England
    cool, yeah i just tried the BBE at the front of my chain, but to be honest, the compression it offers is so transparent, it doesnt really matter how high i set it, im not gonna get any extreme squish out of it. so i might put it back after the VT

    I have used the pad a few times, i wasnt sure if this was an input pad or -15db output pad (say if the compressed volume was driving a preamp too hard??)

    although i dont know if i was imagining it but my OC3 quite liked having the optostomp before it. so i could leave it at the front.

    Although i do have a gripe about the VTBass - im finding it quite noisy, a noticable amount of background hiss. Even if i have the optostomp on full, theres not much background noise, so i can only assume its the VTBass producing the hiss rather than amplifying noise in the chain, of course this is just a guess. But the hiss goes when the VTbass is off.
     
  4. Jan 13, 2009 #4
    bassman1185

    bassman1185

    Sep 30, 2000
    Des Moines, IA, USA
    I believe that just like any other distortion pedal, the VT will amplify hiss and noise from other pedals.

    Also, the pad on the optostomp is an input pad. An output pad would be somewhat pointless, because you can get the same thing by turning the volume down.
     
  5. Jan 13, 2009 #5
    dannybuoy

    dannybuoy

    Aug 3, 2005
    Earth
    Not many 9v pedal compressors react well to a super hot input signal. You could try a Maxon CP9-Pro which internally doubles to 18v or the Diamond which can run at up to 24v (I run mine at 18v). Both are expensive though, especially with the pound the way it is right now! Also, I get no noise from my VT unless I crank the gain to distortion levels. Have you tried running it from a battery? Maybe it's your power supply.
     
  6. Jan 13, 2009 #6
    CrackBass

    CrackBass

    Aug 10, 2004
    huntsville,AL
    as for the noise, mine is pretty quiet. however you are running two "preamps" back to back. any noise made by the vt will be amplified by the comp and vise-versa. then if you are running the signal into the front end of an amp the noise is amplified again. (third preamp) i'm just generalizing, so this may not apply to your specific situation, but anytime you stack gainstages like that you generally start to get noise no matter how good your equipment is. any little bit of rf or 60hz that gets in to your chain gets multiplied over and over. the same thing can happen with one preamp but usually it isn't as much of a problem as people don't usually crank the gain on any one gainstage. when you have two or three each tends to add alittle and before you know it lots of noise.
     
  7. Jan 13, 2009 #7
    DosiYanarchy

    DosiYanarchy

    Sep 26, 2007
    London, England
    hey cheers guys, well im really happy with the vtbass, its just that at unity volume and with only slight differences in tone (I set the VT up for just a little more mid and drive than my bypassed tone) theres quite a bit of hiss, I understand what you're all saying, and I think Dannybuoy mentioned the diamond compresser to me before in a different thread. I am happy with my setup, but was just kinda curious as to whether the VTbass would give enough compression for limiting (answer: no), and whether the noise with the VTbass was common.

    I've never used the VTwith a battery, but i did try it with its a dedicated wall wart as opposed to my cheap power supply, same thing happened tho.

    Still love my VTbass and wouldnt change it for the world ( well unless Ampeg made a pedal size SVT preamp with loadsa tubes, oh and running on 9v - cant see it happening, ever)
     
  8. Jan 13, 2009 #8
    sonic assassin

    sonic assassin

    Nov 8, 2008
    cincinnati
    as for the compression, any form of overdrive will cause compression. so.. yea.