# Guitar Compressor - Who Uses Them



## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Who has a compressor in the rig and why? I dabbled with them years ago, perhaps I was not using them properly, but I never really seen or heard the difference


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I use a two knob Keeley anytime I want a little extra sustain.

If you use a compressor for this purpose, you shouldn't hear a big difference in tone. The notes just sustain better and you can get harmonic feedback more easily.

Some people like to use them to squeeze the sound. Used like that, you can really feel and hear the difference.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I do. I have a Diamond Compressor on my board and I use it for my solos to even out the notes, that's what I primarily use it for.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I've had one since the late 70's and would never play without one.

But given the sub-forum that you've posted in, do you actually mean a compressor built into the amp itself? I know our bass player back in the late 70's had a Verlage amp, which had a compressor built in. Some of the Lab series amps from Gibson/Moog also had built-in compressors.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I use a Diamond on my big board.
On the band board, I ended up with a Mooer Yellow comp.,
I think that it's their take on the Diamond.

Both good comps.
I use them on all the time, they can be used as a master volume for the board,
or to go between HBs and single coils using the tone knob.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

________________


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## vadsy (Dec 2, 2010)

This is exactly how I feel and use a compressor, same one mentioned even, the Ego. I also have the Diamond on a secondary board and I really like it as well at times even though it has a different set of controls.



nkjanssen said:


> I've always loved the sound of compressors and hated the feel. Most of my favorite players use compressors, but I'd never really been able to bond. My compromise is to use a compressor with both a "blend" control and an "attack" control - a Wampler Ego. It allows me to be both very compressed and to retain some attack at the same time. I really only use it for more country-ish or songs, though.


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

mhammer said:


> I've had one since the late 70's and would never play without one.
> 
> But given the sub-forum that you've posted in, do you actually mean a compressor built into the amp itself? I know our bass player back in the late 70's had a Verlage amp, which had a compressor built in. Some of the Lab series amps from Gibson/Moog also had built-in compressors.


Actually, I meant to put this is the effects forum


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## marauder (Oct 19, 2009)

Can't say exactly why, but I only like compression on single coils, not so much on 'buckers...


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Appears to be several uses and also depends on what you are running through it


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

My sense is that compressors are one of the least well-understood pedals. I suspect one of the principle reasons is that, to the untrained ear, they don't sound all that much different from the bypassed sound unless one really cranks the compression, so that's what people do. Of course, at that point, people start to complain about how it sounds. It's a bit like diming all the sliders on an EQ and then griping that it just sounds louder and a bit more distorted, but not in a good way.

One of the biggest misunderstandings is that compressors are fundamentally "sustainer" pedals. They aren't. What they _are_ is contrast-reduction or dynamics-reduction pedals. That is, they reduce the difference in volume between hardest picking and softest strumming. Now, it just so happens that when a guitar does sustain for a long time, there is little contrast in the volume level at time A, B, C, so it certainly mimics a _bit_ of what happens with sustain. But the compressor in and of itself does not _produce_ sustain. Moreover, even if you had a guitar with "sustain for days", it would still have a nice pronounced pick attack before the notes rang on for a while, and because of how compressors work they would effectively remove that pick attack. Indeed, that's a big part of why so many 3rd generation compressor pedals, with 3-5 knobs are coming with a "blend" control. The compression circuit will remove the pick attack, so blending an unaffected signal with compression will allow the pick attack to be heard.

What gets called or labelled "Attack" on most compressors is nothing of the sort. It is a release, or recovery, control. When you pick hard, the gain is reduced, and as you stop picking, the gain comes back up again, to be reduced the next time you pick. The rate at which the gain "recovers" determines much of the feel. If the gain recovers very quickly, then it will be back up in time for the next note you pick. If it takes a while to recover, then it will still be at less than max if you start picking again very soon. Traditionally, some players loved the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer compressor, while others swore by the MXR Dynacomp. As it turns out, the Squeezer was set for a pretty fast gain recovery time, so it was great for fast chicken-pickin. In contrast, the Dynacomp (and Ross) were set at a much longer recovery time, with made them poorer at chicken-pickin, but great for holding big notes with finger vibrato on a Les Paul.

Since slower gain recovery made it harder to hear the initial pick attack of the next note, manufacturers labelled a variable recovery control as "Attack". Since the noticeability of the setting of such a control depends on how fast you're picking, it tends to mystify many players, because they find they often can't really hear what difference it makes. And, of course, giving it a rather misleading name doesn't really help matters (not that a more technical name, like "recovery time" would have necessarily helped to make it crystal clear!). But the basic functioning is this: if you intend to pick fast and want each picked note to be distinct, set it for shortest attack/recovery time. If you intend to use it as if it was a "sustainer", set it for longest attack/recovery time.

As a dynamics-reducing device, it can be used strategically to interact with other effects whose performance rests on dynamics. So, any pedal that distorts will require the input signal to be above some minimum threshold in order to produce clipping of the signal. In many instances, the intensity or tone of the clipping can be controlled by how hard one picks. Compressors can be used to both assure that the signal is always above some minimum requirement for clipping, or used to assure that it never goes beyond some level, or both. That is, compressors can be used to provide _consistency_ of clipping, by means of reducing the contrast or dynamics. Envelope-controlled filters (autowahs) also rely on signal dynamics to produce their effect. Compressors can be used to assure the likelihood of sweep, but also the width of the sweep. I've used them to produce a sort of subtly shifting or "wiggly" sweep on an autowah, by tweaking the amount of compression and the sensitivity of the autowah.

Since compressors adjust the gain in response to the dynamics of what you feed them, the more you restrict the dynamics of what you feed them, the less they do. So, feeding one's guitar into a fuzz or overdrive first will rob the signal of dynamics, resulting in much less audible action of the compressor...if any at all. Note as well, that almost all compressors will interpret silence as very soft playing that _desperately_ needs some help and gain to be heard. So, if you feed it a signal that has any audible hiss, once you stop picking, that hiss will be amplified. This is a common enough problem that there is an industry technical name for it: "breathing". It's called that because, as the gain recovers, the hiss gets amplified and becomes louder and louder, sounding like someone inhaling. So it is a recognized best-practice to feed compressors with the cleanest, most unaffected signal you're able to feed it; the reason why it is often shown/recommended as being the first pedal in one's chain. That doesn't mean it HAS to be there, though. Just be aware of what it might do, or perhaps not be able to do, if inserted in other points in the signal path.

Compressors are related to, but not the same as, limiters. Limiters are intended to eliminate peaks that might pop your voice coil, blow a fuse, exceed your broadcast transmitter's clean headroom, saturate your tape, blow an output transistor, etc. Normally, they do not amplify soft signals, but only restrict loud ones. They also tend to be different in the nature of the transformation imposed on those peaks. A compressor might reduce dynamics by imposing a 4:1 ratio such that a 4x change in the input produces only a 25% increase in output. So, it's allowed to get louder, just not as much. A limiter might impose a much much stricter ceiling, such that even substantial differences in the input signal result in only negligible change in output level, above some designated ceiling.


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## Judas68fr (Feb 5, 2013)

when I play single coil guitars my compressor is always on (XP Sp com), on a very light compression setting with the blend set to around noon and the volume around one o'clock (the idea is to get a bit more sustain and output volume).


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

i have one (got it from sulphur, big props for a sweet deal, all the way around) it's only for the strat, and then, only some of the time. i use to make all the sounds able to be heard the same amount. sorta. certain times you dont get the same...volume? from different strings, so i use the compressor so they all get heard the same amount


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

I've used a compressor for about 25 years. I've been using a 2 knob keely for about the last 5 years. For the last 2 or 3 years I utlilize the compressor very little due to the amps I've been using. The compressor was always so much better for me playing a country chickn pickn style through a fender twin. The lower powered amps that I've been using seem to compress naturally and I find the compressor pedals do more to take away from the tone than to add. My Keely still sits on the board but it really doesn't get used anymore. 
I'd really like to explore the effectrode tube compressor to see if there's something there to ignite my interest in compressors again. My gut says it probably won't make a difference so the likelihood that I'll spend $400+ on this pedal is very low. If I ever get a chance to snag a used one then that would be a different story.
Possibly a compressor with a blend know might work as well.


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

nkjanssen said:


> I've always loved the sound of compressors and hated the feel. Most of my favorite players use compressors, but I'd never really been able to bond. My compromise is to use a compressor with both a "blend" control and an "attack" control - a Wampler Ego. It allows me to be both very compressed and to retain some attack at the same time. I really only use it for more country-ish or songs, though.


Another in agreement. I gave mine up in the great purge of 2012 and will likely get another. The only thing I can add is that this pedal works great with distortion.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

I use a compressor some of the time. I used to use a Marshall Edward The Compressor, but since switching to a Boss ME-80 I'm just as happy and it's way more convenient and versatile without the clever name. It goes a long way to taming wayward Telecaster dynamics, though not much is required. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## sambonee (Dec 20, 2007)

I have a moratto custom dynacomp version 1. It works to smooth out and add some cream to your tone. It also acts as a volume maintainer when you turn down the guitar. So as I trn down the guitar , the drive cleans up but the volume drops hardly at all. Very useful. Kind of like the to bender of his that I have except for the drive of the tonebender.


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## closetmonster. (Nov 26, 2009)

I use compression at all times. It gives me a good 'bottom line' to stack my other pedals on top of. My notion is, that no matter what I put on top of it my notes will hold the same definition and the same overall feel. Also, having a built in buffer right at the start of my signal path can't be a bad thing.

I generally keep the ratio (labeled sustain) at about 9'oclock, release (labeled attack) at 11 and the output level I try and match with unity, or just a tad above.

I use an Ibanez CP10










Not pretty, but it does the job well.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I've worked my way through a lot of compressors, probably well over a dozen commercial and clones. My first was one of these, that I think I paid $25 for at Pongettis in Hamilton in 1978:







I used it in conjunction with one of these:







The Hotfoot would be connected to the volume pot on the compressor, such that I could use it as a volume pedal and booster.

I've made the EPFM I and EPFM II compressors from Craig Anderton, the Anderton/PAiA Dual Limiter, Orange Squeezer, Dynacomp, Ross, and currently have a couple of dbx units, an Alesis Nanocompressor, and an Ashley SC-50. 

One of my favourites is a compressor I sold earlier this year to another forum member, that was based on an SSM2166 chip. The chip was designed to be an all-in-one control strip for mics, and requires very few external components to make a very full-featured compressor/limiter/noise-reduction unit. You can read more about it here: http://www.analog.com/static/imported-files/data_sheets/SSM2166.pdf One of the really nice things about it is that it incorporates downward expansion, which kills any noise in a very unobtrusive way, eliminating any issues with "breathing". It's also very clean, has variable compression ratio, and lets you set where the compression and limiting kick in, as well as tinker with the attack and recovery rates. I think I still have one or two of those chips left. I need to make myself another one.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

I've got one that came with the korg pme 40x pedal board I acquired some time ago. Attack, sensitivity, and level. I like it. Makes my strat with singles sound nice and seems to improve pedal perfromance.


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## Ricktoberfest (Jun 22, 2014)

Another thing compressors are good for is bringing some harmonics and pinch harmonics out like you've never heard before! With a little distortion you can make your guitar sing. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## GuitarsCanada (Dec 30, 2005)

Ricktoberfest said:


> Another thing compressors are good for is bringing some harmonics and pinch harmonics out like you've never heard before! With a little distortion you can make your guitar sing.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I could dig it for that use right there


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

And that's where understanding their role as a dynamics-control device comes in handy. Set any clipping device after the compressor just right, set the amount of compression and output level just right, and the pinched signal stays "in the zone" for keeping those harmonics alive a little longer. In the absence of the compression, they would quickly drop below the threshold to be accentuated by the clipping pedal. But maintaining the level a little longer allows the clipping pedal to do what it does for a longer period of the note.


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## Diablo (Dec 20, 2007)

I usually just use mine for a little bit more sparkle in my clean sound.

I actually want as little compression as possible with my distorted sound for pinch harmonics. They seem to come out best for me with as much attack as possible, and I find a compressor muffles that a little.


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