YET ANOTHER thread about compressors (please don't hurt me)

No, the crowd is not going to notice compressors. They dont notice playing Stingray with your fingers or a Squier with a pic. Comp is for you, to make playing experience different.

 

I have two separate amp rigs with a comp pedal in front of each head as pretty much an always-on (specs in my profile); I can easily hear a difference with the comp(s) off or on, but it's subtle'ish. Could I get away with not having a comp? Yes. Would I now remove it/them from my signal chain? Not unless there was a GOOD reason to.

- EDIT - In the off-chance that no one else has pointed you there, Bongo's comp reviews are a wealth of info on pretty much every comp pedal available to date.

 

Crowd does not know the difference between you playing a Stingray and the other guy on the Strat. They're just "guitars".

Don't sweat the compressor.

 

I can't stand compression. Just the feeling of playing the bass with it. One of my favorite parts of playing bass is digging in and fingering it really hard (whoops) and being able to hear that difference in sound. To me, it seems sort of like a mistake corrector, and nothing more. If you slip and play too softly, it'll fix it for you and if you play too loud, it'll fix it. Don't get me wrong, I don't look down or think any less of anyone who uses one at all (I'm a mediocre player at best anyway) but I don't see any reason to use one unless you have a problem with that. As far as if the audience will hear it, they wouldn't notice a difference if you don't slip up with dynamics.

Anyway, I'd go for another effect. overdrive/fuzz/distortion, wah, delay, reverb, etc.

 

I agree that the effect could possibly be less noticable in a live situation; my comments are based on studio'ish recordings and not live.

It may be good to mention that different comps have different intents, anything from subtle tone-shaping to full-on limiting. Again, Bongo goes into details like these in his reviews.

 

IMO, if you're using compression to fix technique then you're using it wrong. For me, compression is an effect that I barely notice is on but miss it as soon as it's turned off. It's hard to explain but it just adds a certain beefiness to the tone but I still feel like I have full dynamic control.

 

Save the comp for later in life when you know you need one.

I second the amp suggestion, but also think that if you are itching for fx, start with a good pre-amp pedal with some dirt. Aguilar Tonehammer, tech 21 and similar come to mind. You will be able to coax a little compression from those pedals as well as an EQ shift or drive push to add to your amp - the one you have now or the one later. A good amp is key before any pedals.

 

^This.

A good, fairly transparent compressor can make you sound better, but it will not fix your mistakes. A compressor with enough squeeze to "fix" bad right hand technique will probably not make anyone sound better...

A little compression somewhere before the preamp makes your attacks fatter, your sustain sweeter, your hair longer and your wife nicer. Trust me.

 

As much as I'd love to sell another Smoothie, I totally agree that your money is better spent on a good big amp instead. Both you, the audience, and the rest of the band will unquestionably notice if you have a bigger, better amp.

 

Thank you for the link to Bongo's comp reviews, i have been searching for a review list like this for quite some time!

 

Be sure to check the rest of his pages there (links above your post/in his sig)...he knows what he's talking about, to put it mildly.

 

These two posts for the win...but no, the audience can't tell, most of them would call us one of the guitar players anyway