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Dumb move

Spent

Spent

May 15, 2011
2,164
2,982
Upstate NY
waywardminds.band
#1
I've got four degrees, including one in mathematics and one in electrical engineering, as well as thirty post graduate credits, but as I tell my students, college doesn't make you smarter. Here's proof.

I just picked up a Wampler Ego Compressor after months of research (a la Bongo's site and TB forums). When I plug it into my practice rig, sansamp bddi, markbass CMD102P and my Spector Legend 4, it sounds horrible. I'm thinking I've got a bad one, but just in case, I switch the order of the sansamp and compressor and it sound better but still not great. The Wampler has a blend, awesome feature, and when I turn it down (less compressor) the sound is much better. I'm happy, but not thrilled, as the compressor only sounds good in a narrow range. I wake up this morning to an epiphany, there is another compressor in my signal chain. I had forgotten that I already run a compressor! Doh! Moral of the story (besides me doing dumb things) is that a compressor into a compressor really sounds pretty bad. The good news is that the Wampler is awesome!

Anybody else ever do anything dumb?
 
#6
25yrs computer service. I refuse to count the times that repair was delayed with head-scratching ... until I noticed the power cord laying on the bench.
or the 'missing' hard drive with no cable plugged in :/
 
#7
Actually, a standard way to use dual compressors is like this:
first compressor, higher ratio (say 4:1 or higher) fast attack, fast release, threshold set to just shave off the extreme peaks. Second compressor, set at a lower ratio (2:1), slow attack, slow release, threshold set for a minimal but more constant reduction.
The first compressor tames the peaks, allowing the second comp to smooth out the sound without as much of an apparent effect.

And yeah, I do dumb stuff all the time… like looking all over the house for the guitar strap I put over my shoulder and has been on me the whole time...
 
#8
Garyth said:
25yrs computer service. I refuse to count the times that repair was delayed with head-scratching ... until I noticed the power cord laying on the bench.
or the 'missing' hard drive with no cable plugged in :/
Click to expand...

I owned a computer store back in the 90's. We used to assemble high end machines/networks for small and medium sized businesses. I delivered and set up an entire system, pc, monitor, printer, scanner, etc. and...nothing. I messed around with it for about and hour, then ended up packing it all up and returning to the shop (I was so frustrated that I backed into a pole on my way out of there). Got it back to the shop, took the cover off and discovered that my partner had inadvertently switched the power supply from 110 to 220. The original IT Crowd.
 

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