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MXR M87 compared to Seymour Studio Bass

WannaThump

WannaThump

Mar 14, 2022
10
3
#1
Howdy all,
Coming back to playing bass after many years of steel guitar. After 2 necks, 20 strings, 8 pedals and 4 knee levers, it’s wonderful and refreshing to play one note at a time.
Got a 4 string Ibanez short scale with upgraded Seymour Duncan pick ups, flat wounds, plugged into a Rumble 40 in small venues around town.
I play country with a pic, and looking into purchasing my first compressor pedal. Trying to get that thick thump. I know a lot depends on raw technique. Been reading reviews on MXR M87 and Seymour Studio Bass. Would love to hear opinions on both, or maybe I should be considering something else.
Thanks in advance!
 
#2
Of the two, the MXR was my choice. Has all the controls you want, metres to see what is happening and is closer to the 1176 style. If I had to buy again today though it would be the Empress Effects Bass Compressor for the same reasons as the MXR plus a wider range on the attack/release times.
 
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#7
WannaThump said:
Ok, I’m convinced. Out of the box, what settings would you suggest?
Click to expand...

I think that with a comp, more than with most other pedals, it takes a while to toy around with the settings to find the one that sticks.
So everything at noon is a good starting point. Set the input to where you want to have it.
Some people want compression all the time, so they set it rather high. Some people want some dynamics so it's middle of the road and some want only peak limiting so it's rather low.

The output is self explanatory - set it to unity, to boost, or to reduce gain as you see fit.

Once that is done, toy around with the rest. I found that comps are not intuitive at all. So it is a great help to have something with a good meter where you can actually see what happens - and the empress is among the best here. Some trial and error with all the other knobs. Start with the mix at 100% wet, so you can better hear what happens, but once you've tweaked everything else a bit, see what happens when you mix dry signal to the comp. Very fast attack can sound unnatural. Very slow release can mean the comp is still clamping down on your signal when you don't want it to - this depends on taste and play style.
 
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#8
WannaThump said:
Howdy all,
Coming back to playing bass after many years of steel guitar. After 2 necks, 20 strings, 8 pedals and 4 knee levers, it’s wonderful and refreshing to play one note at a time.
Got a 4 string Ibanez short scale with upgraded Seymour Duncan pick ups, flat wounds, plugged into a Rumble 40 in small venues around town.
I play country with a pic, and looking into purchasing my first compressor pedal. Trying to get that thick thump. I know a lot depends on raw technique. Been reading reviews on MXR M87 and Seymour Studio Bass. Would love to hear opinions on both, or maybe I should be considering something else.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

I would not spend ONE CENT on a compressor before I had upgraded to a better amp. "Thick thump" in that amp is not happening, period. I see no apparent pedal+amp combination for live use, where the Rumble 40 is holding its own.
So, a small but louder/better amp nullifies the need for compression to carry any sound. A more powerful dynamic amp will also allow you to play without a crutch, so you develop your own dynamics. ".
The opposite is also true; all nuances and refinement from a compressor might as well be lost by that bottleneck of an amp, which is very compromised in frequency range (up and down), in dynamics and distortion and muddiness.
My advice would be to spend the pedal money on a better amp, and you might even get one with a built in compressor at no or minimal extra cost.
 
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#9
AlexanderB said:
I would not spend ONE CENT on a compressor before I had upgraded to a better amp. "Thick thump" in that amp is not happening, period. I see no apparent pedal+amp combination for live use, where the Rumble 40 is holding its own.
So, a small but louder/better amp nullifies the need for compression to carry any sound. A more powerful dynamic amp will also allow you to play without a crutch, so you develop your own dynamics. ".
The opposite is also true; all nuances and refinement from a compressor might as well be lost by that bottleneck of an amp, which is very compromised in frequency range (up and down), in dynamics and distortion and muddiness.
My advice would be to spend the pedal money on a better amp, and you might even get one with a built in compressor at no or minimal extra cost.
Click to expand...
Well I’ve certainly thought about that. The attraction to the Rumble 40 was the reviews for small venues/restaurants and the lightweight of 18lbs. I needed something very portable, cause I’m old :-/. Any suggestions for a replacement?
 
#10
WannaThump said:
Well I’ve certainly thought about that. The attraction to the Rumble 40 was the reviews for small venues/restaurants and the lightweight of 18lbs. I needed something very portable, cause I’m old :-/. Any suggestions for a replacement?
Click to expand...
I think the Rumble series, especially the smaller ones, are interesting and have their place, but not the 40 model on stage. To me, there is a bit of Fender DNA / heritage in Rumble 100, and it is still light.
However, there are louder/cleare/richer sounding amps in the same size and weight, and not hugely more expensive.
You might find a uded Markbass CMP121 or tc electronics as interesting alternatives. GK MB110 or Hartke kickback combos might be available as well. EBS Classic 120 is heavier, but capable and "allround".
Good luck!
 
#11
AlexanderB said:
I think the Rumble series, especially the smaller ones, are interesting and have their place, but not the 40 model on stage. To me, there is a bit of Fender DNA / heritage in Rumble 100, and it is still light.
However, there are louder/cleare/richer sounding amps in the same size and weight, and not hugely more expensive.
You might find a uded Markbass CMP121 or tc electronics as interesting alternatives. GK MB110 or Hartke kickback combos might be available as well. EBS Classic 120 is heavier, but capable and "allround".
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks, I’ll start to shop around.
 
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#13
They are both great compressors imo. I personally own and use the SD Studio Bass Comp and find it a tad easier to tweak to my liking than the MXR. The MXR has been the tried and true compressor forever for a lot of musicians and also has that light up gain reduction meter reading as someone posted above which is a nice feature.
 
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