Compressors: Who Uses One and What For?

Yargnad said:
I'm no expert, but could DC leakage have anything to do with that? I remember someone telling me about this happening to them once and I can't remember how they fixed it, but I think they mentioned DC leakage from the amp.
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Could be. Well, too late now as it's already in the post going to the next guy. I do have one of them left still though but that's a near mint one which I'm not gonna put on my board anyway...
 
aon said:
I just ordered a Wampler Mini Ego. For some reason my DOD FX80B started acting strange and turning on by itself occasionally when I switched on the LPB-1 that's after it in my signal chain. At first I thought I hit the pedal by accident but even with a foot of clearance around the boost pedal, it still happened. Supposedly the switch-on caused some sort of an electrical glitch that bounced on the switching circuitry in the FX-80B...

I use compressor with my clean tone for a couple of different reasons:
  • With a careful setting of the level / compression it's possible to both beef up the clean signal a bit and also prevent an amp that's mildly overdriven without the compressor engaded from distorting...
  • With compression after the echo, it's possible to control the echo dynamics with how loud you play. Play louder -> more compression -> echo becomes proportionally louder. This is very common around here because it's been popularized by the "rautalanka" guitar legend Esa Pulliainen (who says he got it from how studio compression was used on early Shadows albums). He's also the reason why I'm able to turn profit on each FX80B I buy. I've had 4 or something in the last year, the last one sold four double what I paid for it in about 5 minutes after posting the ad...
A lot of the OTA based compressors colour the tone a lot, the FX80-B has been good in that it's quite subtle. For example a Dyna Comp is fun for maybe 15 minutes but gets pretty tiring to listen to after a while. Hoping the Ego would be a reasonable alternative to the FX-80B with a smaller form factor and true bypass... Thing is I like some colour from the compressor, hence I haven't gone to using the optical ones yet.
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Interesting!!!!!
 
aon said:
I just ordered a Wampler Mini Ego. For some reason my DOD FX80B started acting strange and turning on by itself occasionally when I switched on the LPB-1 that's after it in my signal chain. At first I thought I hit the pedal by accident but even with a foot of clearance around the boost pedal, it still happened. Supposedly the switch-on caused some sort of an electrical glitch that bounced on the switching circuitry in the FX-80B...

I use compressor with my clean tone for a couple of different reasons:
  • With a careful setting of the level / compression it's possible to both beef up the clean signal a bit and also prevent an amp that's mildly overdriven without the compressor engaded from distorting...
  • With compression after the echo, it's possible to control the echo dynamics with how loud you play. Play louder -> more compression -> echo becomes proportionally louder. This is very common around here because it's been popularized by the "rautalanka" guitar legend Esa Pulliainen (who says he got it from how studio compression was used on early Shadows albums). He's also the reason why I'm able to turn profit on each FX80B I buy. I've had 4 or something in the last year, the last one sold four double what I paid for it in about 5 minutes after posting the ad...
A lot of the OTA based compressors colour the tone a lot, the FX80-B has been good in that it's quite subtle. For example a Dyna Comp is fun for maybe 15 minutes but gets pretty tiring to listen to after a while. Hoping the Ego would be a reasonable alternative to the FX-80B with a smaller form factor and true bypass... Thing is I like some colour from the compressor, hence I haven't gone to using the optical ones yet.
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Now using the compressor on clean tones is interesting. I will have to give that a try. I rarely play clean anyway. I can always add compression in my DAW, so it isn't terribly important to me from a recording aspect. I generally have enough sustain that I remind myself of Nigel Tufnel. I actually don't want any more.
 
Cadorman said:
Now using the compressor on clean tones is interesting. I will have to give that a try. I rarely play clean anyway. I can always add compression in my DAW, so it isn't terribly important to me from a recording aspect. I generally have enough sustain that I remind myself of Nigel Tufnel. I actually don't want any more.
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I couldn't go to bed with good conscience before I found the Paul Gilbert clip where he talks about using a compressor to clean up the signal. Man that guy sure goes through pedals, there's like a thousand variations of his pedalboard on youtube... Anyway here it is from 5:30 onwards:

 
Robert Herndon said:
At 11:39, Richie talks about how his chorus is on all the time.


Max Norman also said that George Lynch never turned off his chorus.

Both were big revelations for me...
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My chorus is on most of the time...not all but most. The phaser is set really whacky over the top and I use it for some specific things soloing so its rarely on. I've actually started using the GE-7 as a boost into dirty amp too - it's one the the best "overdrives" I have used in from of my Mark 5, at least on the red channel.

Richie is a monster.
 
One more thing that I didn't really think of before I spent the last two days playing without a compressor: when playing clean single-note melodies it will equalize the volume between the different strings and positions. So that for example playing the same A-minor melody from the first position utilizing the first few frets and open strings will not be drastically louder than the same melody from in the second position an octave higher with the same amount of pick attack.

Got the Mini Ego now, seems pretty nice and versatile.
 
so no right right all right all right -0-- yeah yeah --- i gots a compressor ....

I searched very very hard and did many many hours of research to find the right one -- I use it ............sparingly........for bass....and it was very very hard to find .........

-- I even did what I NEVER EVER NEVER do and paid FOOL retail ............................shortly after recieving this gem and tossing it in a drawer for 8-10 months and forgetting about it ..........I pulled it out a few months back and actually USED it .... and--- promptly -- BROKE IT ..........................................
a month or so later I got it to @CabanaBoy s lair of secrecy where it was made whole once again in exchange for some bits, parts-- tubes and trinkets ......and I think a soldering Iron (not the one you gave me Mark!) ..................and -- it now works wonderfully ......(or well I guess WTF do I know) ---and the object of compression depression ..............................
1621375973216.png

yeah ...... well there ya go 35.00 to the door NEW .......... (I broke the switch -----) .... THANKS @CabanaBoy !!!!!!

the mighty CS400 roars .... er compressess? or squashes? or sustains ..... FVCK I dont know what it does but I click the thing and thing does things and it ......sounds better so ..... there ..... ugh
 
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