Compressor? Yea or Nay?

[Structo]

A few weeks ago I built a BYOC Five Knob Compressor which is essentially a Ross Gray Compressor clone with the added "attack" knob mod.

I've tried compressors before and hadn't found one I liked.
This one is different.

The way I have been using it is as a booster of sorts.
It has a volume knob that can go past unity to boost the volume.

So say for a rhythm part I just have the OD on the amp, when I need a bit more gain and volume I step on the compressor which provides a bit richer tone as well as more sustain.
I can then also step on the PAB switch for more of the same.

On clean mode, it also sounds pretty good for picked chords and strumming.

I'm still learning how to twist the knobs on it but for now it works pretty neat the way I am using it.

Anybody else use a compressor like this?

Seems that most guys, if they have a compressor they leave it on all the time.

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/5knobcompressor.html

[Cliff Schecht]

On my Express I really like a squishy compressor although I use it for the opposite of what you're doing. I set the amp up normally and use the compressor to cut enough volume to clean up the amp completely. When I click it on I can hit the strings as hard as I want and not even get hair if I have things set right.

For my new rig (clean amp and pedalboard) I use a compressor as a slight boost but never really to drive the distortion higher, its again usually to get an even clean or a slight boost for purdy cleans (fingerstyle, country and funk stuff).

FWIW I've been using an Orange Squeezer for many years. One knob (volume) and super squishy compression that fattens up the guitar nicely.

[NickC]

I love compressors. But it took me decades to understand them and adopt them in my rig.

My first exposure to a compressor pedal was at Manny's music in Manhattan circa around 1973. It was an MXR Dyna Comp, and frankly ..... I just didn't get it at the time. It didn't seem to do much. I ended up buying an MXR Blue Box that day instead.

Nowadays I use a Keeley 4-knob pedal, though I have many others, including: Tech21, Boss, and various dbx rack models.

Congrats on building your Ross-type compressor, that circuit has much well-deserved acclaim. Enjoy!

[vibratoking]

I enjoy the wide variety of opinions regarding guitar gear. I have owned compressors of MANY different types and varieties from rack mount to pedals. At first I disliked them, then I found ways to use them and experienced a phase where I started liking them. Only to come full circle and revert to disliking them again.

Compressors result in a sound that is just too processed for my taste. For guitar, they add a processed veil that I find annoying. Even when used very lightly it's still there. Compression can make things easier technique-wise and it can actually make your picking technique worse, IMO. I have discovered that I like dynamics and that I like to control dynamics on my own. There is a great book called "Mastering Audio: the art and the science" that has a section on compression. One of the great mixing gurus makes a statement that is loosely paraphrased by me as "I can beat the performance of any compressor by manually riding faders". It is so true. I feel I can beat the performance of a compressor on guitar through good technique. I have compared many compressed vs uncompressed tracks and I normally find I prefer the uncompressed version.

Of course, I may change my opinion yet again.

[ayan]

I use a compressor with the Strat only, and I set it to sound...like a compressor! Imagine the intro of "Hey Nineteen" by Steely Dan, which is actually one of the songs I use it on. I treat it as an effect, to get some sustain for " 'clean' Strat playing" (think a bit along Mark Knoppler lines), and to play some "pumping rhythm" in position 4 (middle + bridge)... I love it for that. Don't like the effect is has with humbuckers. I don't use it with the dirt channel either, since I think there is already quite a bit of compression going on with the D-style amps (non HRM at least) anyway.

Cheers,

Gil

A few weeks ago I built a BYOC Five Knob Compressor which is essentially a Ross Gray Compressor clone with the added "attack" knob mod.

I've tried compressors before and hadn't found one I liked.
This one is different.

The way I have been using it is as a booster of sorts.
It has a volume knob that can go past unity to boost the volume.

So say for a rhythm part I just have the OD on the amp, when I need a bit more gain and volume I step on the compressor which provides a bit richer tone as well as more sustain.
I can then also step on the PAB switch for more of the same.

On clean mode, it also sounds pretty good for picked chords and strumming.

I'm still learning how to twist the knobs on it but for now it works pretty neat the way I am using it.

Anybody else use a compressor like this?

Seems that most guys, if they have a compressor they leave it on all the time.

http://www.buildyourownclone.com/5knobcompressor.html

[Structo]

I love compressors. But it took me decades to understand them and adopt them in my rig.

Enjoy!

Yes, I think they are the most misunderstood effect made.

To me it is a pretty subtle effect unless you go overboard with the knobs, but some songs may benefit from that.

I'm just trying to figure out how to use it with my rig.

You guys are the best!

[stelligan]

I can echo Gil's preference for using compressors with Strats. I adore my Barber Tone Press that employs parallel compression. Still really snappy attack and the compression effect becomes apparent as the guitar sustains. On gigs with a Strat, it stays on all night....

[exocet]

Good to hear that you had success with the BYOC 5 Knob compressor - I've got one too......but it's still in it's component form some 12 months after buying the kit!!

Must get around to building it.

I was planning on using it for clean playing with a Strat so it sounds like I might have bought just the right box for doing this.

Do you find it to be quiet (hiss free) in operation?

[ER]

Lowell George ran two dynacomps with his strat and ODR. Good tone for clean slide, and a heavily used tool for funk guitar.

[LeftyStrat]

Yeah as a Strat player I have always had an affinity for them, but only when I could use them in parallel. Nice to the see this design uses that on the ratio control.

I hate having it squash the attack, but in parallel mode, the attack portion is dominated by the unprocessed signal, and the sustain portion is dominated by the compressor.

When I was a crazy-assed kid I actually had put an MXR Dynacomp in my guitar control cavity. The nice thing about the Dynacomp is increasing the sustain/compression control actually increases the volume, unlike a lot of compressors.

[talbany]

Don't really use them in my Dumble style amps.. But used a modified 1st generation Boss CS-1 hittin the front end of an old Blackface Bassman w/4X10 cab and Strat for yearrrsss!!!.. With the treble boost (neck Pup) on that compressor/sustainer and the BF Bassman got some pretty good SRV tones out of that rig..

Dang Tom I see you are closing in on 10,000 posts.. Somebody call Guiness!!


Tony

[stelligan]

Lowell George ran two dynacomps with his strat and ODR. Good tone for clean slide, and a heavily used tool for funk guitar.

Band I gigged with in the 70's & 80's covered a lot of Little Feat. Our guitarist played a DynaComp squished Tele into a Music Man 100 watt head and two 4x10 cabs. Here he is 30 plus years later. Same Tele and compressor into one of my dumble-like amps at a reunion BBQ at my place last summer. A few hogs cut here - apart from the one being ingested..........

Classic compressor/slide tones I think:
http://www.luckystiffs.net/JonesinMP3/FatManSat2011.mp3

[cbass]

Lowell George ran two dynacomps with his strat and ODR. Good tone for clean slide, and a heavily used tool for funk guitar.

I never knew Lowell was a dumble user.He sure did get some good tone.
I imagine he would've sounded good playing through about anything.

[Structo]

I noticed yesterday that I could sustain certain notes and with vibrato cause the note to go into it's harmonic.
Pretty cool.

I also had the reverb up which helped.

Maybe Tony's amp has more natural compression making it bloom.

[RevD]

Lowell George ran two dynacomps with his strat and ODR. Good tone for clean slide, and a heavily used tool for funk guitar.

Band I gigged with in the 70's & 80's covered a lot of Little Feat. Our guitarist played a DynaComp squished Tele into a Music Man 100 watt head and two 4x10 cabs. Here he is 30 plus years later. Same Tele and compressor into one of my dumble-like amps at a reunion BBQ at my place last summer. A few hogs cut here - apart from the one being ingested..........

Classic compressor/slide tones I think:
http://www.luckystiffs.net/JonesinMP3/FatManSat2011.mp3

Wow that was tight man. Don't think I've heard many try and cover that tune. Great Lowell tone, then again I always liked his Tele pickup in the strat. Nice cover for certain, liked the 'peanuts' lick in the middle too, pretty clever.

Regards,

Don