Someone earlier in the thread mentioned that compression is for engineers.... you're right! As a mixing/mastering engineer, I use compression only when and where it's absolutely necessary to improve a track - whether it's bass, guitar, saxophone, whatever. It's a problem solving tool in that context, but it can also be a sweetening tool.... getting things to sit JUST RIGHT in a mix without having to do much else.
In terms of using an outboard compressor when recording or playing live, I always use it LAST in my chain (if I'm using my pedalboard) as a 'catch all' to unify the different effects and their contribution to volume increases or decreases depending on what effects are used and when. I think of it as a 'bus compressor' before hitting my amp or interface. When I'm not using my pedalboard, it's rare that I use a compressor in my live rig. And, since I started using the SushiBox MORE on my pedalboard, I find that its natural tube compression character has eliminated the need for an additional compressor in any form in a lot of cases. I will only use a compressor FIRST if there's a specific issue I'm trying to sort out, or a character I need out of the bass before it hits anything else.
Compressors get maligned a lot because I think people assume it HAS to go in one place without experimenting.... and also without really exploring what the controls do and how they sound. It's why I love outboard compressors with full control sets like the MarkBass Compressore. You CAN set a compressor to just catch the most extreme transients/dynamics and leave the rest of the signal alone. But not all one-or-two-knob compressors give you that subtlety.
