I like to use them with a slight amount of compression and the sustain turned way high at the front of my board. It really pushes the signal of the guitar through my rig and just keeps it tight as well as boosted.
Hi , @Stratafied -Buddy 1 cool use for a compressor is to help string volume be even for arpeggio passages.
I use compression extensively it’s def a must for me It is true it’s probably the most misunderstood effect pedal But for most songs with the proper settings it’s really awesome there are a few good YouTube tutorials on how to use it why to use it and when and where Stone
If you play with a distortion pedal in front of the comp, it'll tame the grind and give you a nice smooth drive. Gilmour does this a lot to get some of his sounds.
I was never into compressors til I found the right one. Get yourself a Wampler Ego. Just leave it on. I got the mini. Its always on. I love it.
I bought a boss compressor in high school and used it but I never knew what it really did. I still dont. Edit: I bought that pedal because I'd read that its a necessary pedal to own. That was back when I just blindly followed what I read on the internet. Ended up selling it after a year or two
I don't know. I've never used one. Guy I played a lot with would use one sometimes, but to be perfectly honest, I couldn't tell the difference. It may be that compression has been added to something that I've recorded, but those kinds of decisions were not mine to make.
I used to use one live as a Solo volume boost and they can also be used to get a really Funk-Guitar sound. They can enhance over-drive sounds and get more amp sustain. At higher volumes pickups need to be good wax dipped to prevent the wrong kind of feedback from sympathetic vibrations of parts I recently put a cheap Fleor Alnico 5 Humbucker on one of my HSS Strats and did a quick demo using really heavy compression just for fun, https://app.box.com/s/49pqms2dvbidrcsqwqdq63tcao0jgbbp .
Very useful for country and funk, where you need consistent sounding, low dynamic music. But personally, not a fan. Makes my whole rig louder, (not because a compression pedal is inherently noisy, which is a common misconception that certain compressors are noisy.) I just don´t find it very practical, as I play with enough gain in order to compress my signal enough.
I noticed that it really just increased my volume too. I was playing death metal at the time. Probably didnt work well with scooped mids.
If you like the Comfortably Numb or Another Brick In The Wall solos by Gilmour, part of the attach and sustain comes from a compression pedal.
I’ve got the full size Wampler Ego; it’s an awesome compression pedal. You can dial in anywhere from subtle to full on. The blend feature is the key to retaining dynamics, while gaining the effects of compression.
I'm not really a compressor type guy either, but I do use one on occasion. I use one when I'm playing a gig with a rockabilly band. I need a clean sound, but I also need my notes to cut for a solo. The compressor pedal is a life saver on this type of gig. It stays on the entire set. I also have occasionally used it when recording a clean guitar. It makes the guitar .... shine? ..... pop out? A really tight sound like you'd hear on a Nashville guitar part. It's an effect. When used with skill, it can make a good part great. For every other situation I come across in my guitar universe, there's no compressor pedal involved.
If you walk into a recording/mastering studio, there are two effects you will find more than any other: The compressor/limiter, and the EQ. Both are subtle effects necessary to tweak sounds throughout the mix. As such, they are not things guitarists tend to want to play with. It doesn't do "wow!" things like ODs, Distortions, flangers, chorus, delays, wahs, whammys.... etc etc etc. Compressors work on the dynamic range. Compresses it... boosting softer notes to make them louder. How harsh the compression is set depends on how this kicks in... ie: is everything low boosted up to the same level, or it is applied more subtly to preserve some of the dynamics. Professional compressors have a huge number of knobs to dial this in exactly. Limiting works on the other end: Reduce loud notes down to a max threshold so it doesn't overload other parts of the signal chain. Compressors aren't the only things that compress. Valves compress... so if you are going into a valve pre-amp stage before the rest of the signal chain, you already have this. Part of the tube-screamer-before-distortion chain is to boost the signal into the second stage, but there's also a compression aspect to that. Some digital signal processors (especially older ones) will compress as part of their A->D conversion. Live... if you are playing with a huge amount of dynamics, a compressor will help ensure the softer parts aren't lost in the mix while preserving some/most of the subtly in the playing. It will give sustain to notes as it balances out the natural decay... the David Gilmour reference above. If you are playing high-gain with everything at 11... then that sustain effect is delivered from other parts of the signal chain. Compression will also boost your noise.. so you need to set the lower threshold up right. A compressor used properly will make more difference to your sound than a particular chip in a Tube-screamer, but guess which ones forums spend time arguing over. Do you need one? Depends if it solves a problem you have or not.
