Empress Compressor X Active Bass?

[kyral210]

Does anyone have experience with an active bass into an empress compressor? Does the volume input control still work ok?

 

[ahbass2500]

You can run hot signal into the Empress Bass Comp. I use G&Ls (MFD) and my non-G&Ls usually have a boost before the comp (so that I do not have to adjust the comp every time I switch basses). Hot input may make you set the things a little lower, but that is why the controls and metering are there.

 

[Fuzzbass]

Does anyone have experience with an active bass into an empress compressor? Does the volume input control still work ok?

My #1 bass is a hot active, so this is a big concern for me. I've run into a number of pedals, including compressors, that didn't handle high output well. However I'm happy to say that I completely agree with @ahadl2500 - the Empress handles high output just fine.

 

[Deleted member 409773]

All my basses are active and I don't have any problem with my Empress. And because I'm a slap guy, my settings are somehow extreme, but with parallel compression I bring the life back in my basses.

 

[Chris Chong]

For a similar compression (4~5dB reduction), My active basses (Sadowsky Metro Soapbar, Warwick Single Coils) requires a higher input, i.e. input knob at 1~2o'clock, compare to my passive basses (G&L L2500, Yamaha BB2025) which requires a lower input, i.e. input knob at 10~11 o'clock.

 

[ahbass2500]

For a similar compression (4~5dB reduction), My active basses (Sadowsky Metro Soapbar, Warwick Single Coils) requires a higher input, i.e. input knob at 1~2o'clock, compare to my passive basses (G&L L2500, Yamaha BB2025) which requires a lower input, i.e. input knob at 10~11 o'clock.

^This. I run a clean boost before the compressor to avoid moving the input knob when I swap basses. Turn it on for lower output basses (all 4 of my active ones and a few passive ones). I keep the boost off for G&L MFD basses.

People seem to think Active = High output. My experience is that this is not true unless you are running boost full out on your active bass (not the right way to do it IMO).

 

[Fuzzbass]

People seem to think Active = High output. My experience is that this is not true unless you are running boost full out on your active bass (not the right way to do it IMO).

Output of active vs. passive modes definitely depends on the bass. With many of my basses, output is about the same with no EQ boost in active mode. In other basses, I get boost from the onboard pre even with EQ flat.

Another factor outside of active/passive is pickups. The G&L 2500 has legendary status as a high output bass. It may just be due to high output pickups, but I've never owned one so I don't know. My Sadowsky P5 (avatar) has high output even in passive mode. P pickups are almost always hotter than J, but the Sadowsky is my hottest P-bass.

And I generally agree that large amounts of EQ boost is not good, but P-style basses are generally mid forward so for more modern tones with them I sometimes push bass and treble: the resulting mid scoop from the EQ flattens out the pickup's mids (more or less). Of course it depends; when I want vintage tones for vintage music I tend to leave EQ flat.

 

[scubaduba]

In general, there should be no issue with the Empress handling a hot signal input.