Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
What's your favorite Compressor Pedal...
- Thread starter Bassworship1
- Start date
I have the Boss LM-2B on my small board. I use it for clean limiting and it does a great job. It's always on.
I like the Keeley Bassist a lot as well.
I like the Keeley Bassist a lot as well.
+1 on the Compressore, my only beef is the amount of space it takes, and that it runs on 12V, but Cioks has come to the rescue.
I went with the Aguilar TLC. I didn't A/B it against a bunch of pedals. I knew I liked their stuff and gave it a shot. To my ears it doesn't take away from the tone of my bass, and I can dial in just enough, or way too much, and everything in between.
Ditto that, compressors are foolproof. I've been a compressor pedal junkie since the very first one, the 18v Maestro Sustainer. Back then (very early 70's) feeding two 9v's a a pop was a real pain, and I was jazzed bigtime when MXR came out with the Dyna-Comp. Still battery only of course, but the simple two-knob operation was perfect - that pedal was the key to the best guitar sound I ever got.
I've had many since and rarely noticed much difference in tone or performance. Currently I have dinky Guyatone pressor in my bass board, and also keep a MIJ Ibanez Tube King pressor around for fun and an extra tube pre.
Must have these days: some form of clean/effect blend control or switch - the Guyatone only has a preset level blend switch, but it works fine for me.
Both my active basses seem to compress on their own, and also with the extra gain they have, never turn on a squeezer when using them.
I've had many since and rarely noticed much difference in tone or performance. Currently I have dinky Guyatone pressor in my bass board, and also keep a MIJ Ibanez Tube King pressor around for fun and an extra tube pre.
Must have these days: some form of clean/effect blend control or switch - the Guyatone only has a preset level blend switch, but it works fine for me.
Both my active basses seem to compress on their own, and also with the extra gain they have, never turn on a squeezer when using them.
Joe Meek FloorQ and FEA OptiFet. Owned both for years, use both on the regular.
... Oh, and the Fairfield accountant if it could do parallel compression.
... Oh, and the Fairfield accountant if it could do parallel compression.
I had to take it apart to better secure the grounding ring on the footswitch, which while loose was causing some static, but having done so I've been rocking my Markbass Compressore for like 6 years. Finding a power brick that supported 12v 600mA was costly though.
FEA Opti-Fet. Has all the options you need to tailor the sound as you please.
Yes it is a little large, but I keep mine on my amp along with my Fdeck HPF and both are always on. The Cioks is interesting, but too rich for my blood.
D
M87 for live. I don't need anything more coloful live, the audience won't hear the difference anyway. The M87 does the job and does it well.
In the studio I usually split the signal DI/amp... and often still use a slight touch of the M87 on the DI signal, just to bring the dynamics more in line with the miked amp signal. The amp is usually a tube amp that's pushed pretty hard so I leave the amp signal path un-compressed until post-micpre. The heavy lifting will be done by rackmounted gear, normally the classic 1176 > LA2A. More specifically a Purple MC77 into a boutique quality point to point wired LA2A clone with UTC transformer+NOS tubes. No pedal I've hear comes even close to that combo, regardless of what the marketing says.
The Purple MC77 is a strange one... I prefer a "real" 1176 for almost anything EXCEPT bass. But for bass the MC77 is absolutely outstanding! Combine with a good LA2A for some smoothness and I'm in compressor heaven!
(Oh, and I personally don't think the currently available LA2A/1176 clones from Klark/Behringer, Warm, etc. sound ANTHING like the real deal. They do COMPRESS very similarly to the vintage units but they don't SOUND like them, if you know what I mean...)
In the studio I usually split the signal DI/amp... and often still use a slight touch of the M87 on the DI signal, just to bring the dynamics more in line with the miked amp signal. The amp is usually a tube amp that's pushed pretty hard so I leave the amp signal path un-compressed until post-micpre. The heavy lifting will be done by rackmounted gear, normally the classic 1176 > LA2A. More specifically a Purple MC77 into a boutique quality point to point wired LA2A clone with UTC transformer+NOS tubes. No pedal I've hear comes even close to that combo, regardless of what the marketing says.
The Purple MC77 is a strange one... I prefer a "real" 1176 for almost anything EXCEPT bass. But for bass the MC77 is absolutely outstanding! Combine with a good LA2A for some smoothness and I'm in compressor heaven!
(Oh, and I personally don't think the currently available LA2A/1176 clones from Klark/Behringer, Warm, etc. sound ANTHING like the real deal. They do COMPRESS very similarly to the vintage units but they don't SOUND like them, if you know what I mean...)
So far, my trusty old BBE OptoStomp (v1) has served me well for the last 8 or 9 years, but it's a very subtle compressor. Which is nice in itself, but I feel kind of limited by its simple two-pot interface. Currently eyeing the Markbass Compressore...
Just picked up a DOD MilkBox on CL for $50. It was almost NIB, never used. Sounds great bypassed and engaged.
Had a BBE Opto Stomp, 1st run blue LED when they first came out. That was good too.
Had a BBE Opto Stomp, 1st run blue LED when they first came out. That was good too.
I have 2 pedalboards. One simpler bare-bones one for punk/death metal (tuner, comp, drive, wireless) and one for more experimental progressive stuff (comp, drive, octaver, chorus, tremolo, looper).
The simple one has the DG Hyperluminal, big one uses the EBS MultiComp. Very happy with both of them, I like the variety. EBS has 3 settings and is simple, DG is super customisable via USB.
The simple one has the DG Hyperluminal, big one uses the EBS MultiComp. Very happy with both of them, I like the variety. EBS has 3 settings and is simple, DG is super customisable via USB.
