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Markbass Compressore Settings

L

lloydage

Guest
Nov 23, 2012
52
1
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#1
Hi

Ive just bought mine. I play a fender precision in an indie rock band (Muse, Suede, Mansun) and have a genz benz rig with Berg cabs.

Im just interested to know settings that have worked for you while I try to figure out the best settings for me.

Cheers
Lloyd
 
#3
I play an Epi TBird:

Gain & Volume: To taste. Gain should be set just about at the point where you signal just starts to get compressed but not be compressed all the time. Use the LED as reference.
Threshold: 9
Ratio: 9:30
Attack: 10
Release:2

I play indie rock too, but more American influenced.

Best thing to do is set everything at 12:00 and start experimenting from there. Also, trying different settings with the band.
 
#4
adece said:
Gain & Volume: To taste. Gain should be set just about at the point where you signal just starts to get compressed but not be compressed all the time. Use the LED as reference.
Click to expand...

What you're doing with the gain knob can also be accomplished with the threshold. :)

Suppose your LED isn't lighting up. This is because the signal you're giving the unit isn't crossing the threshold. So you can either raise the gain, OR lower the threshold to accomplish this.

So what's the difference? After experimenting, I found that the pedal is more transparent at lower gain settings, and starts to color the tone with a subtle warmth as the gain is turned up. Which, when you think about it, makes sense. It's kind of like the input gain on your amplifier.

As for the volume knob, that is used to balance the level of your signal so that you are at the same volume whether the pedal is engaged or not. Most effects pedals have a knob for this. :)
 
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#7
I use an active Bass into the Compressore and go straight into the mixing board at Church. That's right no amp, just monitor's and the house speakers. I found I get the most "natural" sound with the volume maxed and the gain on just enough to set the master volume. Then I set the threshold and ratio around 2:00 and 11:00 respectively to just get the light too come on during heavy thumping. But the secret I found in this pedal is have the ATTACK knob just about maxed and adjust everything else too taste. That way I get a nice natural sound with NO distortion.

When I first was doing the Church gig about 2 years ago I made myself use the MarkBass pedal so I would not distort and possibly blow the outdated speakers. The "safe" sound wasn't really that good but doable, but now from working with it I got it pretty good to matching the unaffected bypassed tone. Of course nothing's perfectly natural sounding with compresser's. But MarkBass has a nice pedal here.

I really like the Compressore now! I only shut it off when I'm doing heavy palm muting and trying to sound like a soft Upright Bass.
 
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#9
I change my settings depending on the song I play..

But roughly :

Gain: 10 o'clock
Threshold: 9 o'clock
Ratio: 1 o'clock
Attack: Between 8 and 12 o'clock
Release: Between 8 and 3 o'clock
Volume: varies to match bypass volume

The Gain will help you get longer sustains, if your release it set longer...
 
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#10
just picked one up....the price was too good to wait...still messing around with it. this guy is a beast. i love it!!! this my first experience with a compressor. and trying to find the right settings has become overwhelming.
I'm playing a J-bass w/ mostly pick. kinda jammy garage psychedelic folk.

any other settings recommendations? i know everyone has different ideas, sounds, likes, and fits. but just trying every suggested possibility.

thanks
 

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