Boss CS-3

[180gROC]

I stumbled upon one and have been using it for a couple days. I'm not sure I love it, I don't think I hate it. Was wondering if anyone had opinions about it or any 'tried and true' setups for it.

[Pwozzie]

Originally Posted by 180gROC

I stumbled upon one and have been using it for a couple days. I'm not sure I love it, I don't think I hate it. Was wondering if anyone had opinions about it or any 'tried and true' setups for it.

I'm very new to compressors. I just bought the MXR super comp (m132), and still getting used to it

[180gROC]

Ok maybe I'll be less specific.

What do you use a compressor pedal for?

I've heard it mentioned, recently, that along with an eq pedal, a compressor is a musician's best friend. I use compressor plug ins after the fact in Pro Tools, but don't really know what I'm supposed to be accomplishing with the pedal I have recently acquired.

It seems like it either just boosts the signal a little, or cuts it a little. Is it as simple as that?

[Pwozzie]

Originally Posted by 180gROC

Ok maybe I'll be less specific.

What do you use a compressor pedal for?

I've heard it mentioned, recently, that along with an eq pedal, a compressor is a musician's best friend. I use compressor plug ins after the fact in Pro Tools, but don't really know what I'm supposed to be accomplishing with the pedal I have recently acquired.

It seems like it either just boosts the signal a little, or cuts it a little. Is it as simple as that?

So far, after playing around with it on both clean and distorted signals, it seems like it's use is for volume control and sustain extension. To me, if I use my amp's clean channel with let's say my chorus, delay and phaser, and then kick the comp on, it sounds cleaner.. I guess the compressor takes all these signals and regulates the attack and volume (which you then can turn up or down on your amp). It's really confusing to explain and I'm probably wrong lol

All in all, compressor + fuzz pedal = crap.. with any weird effects on the clean channel = sounds good.

[LoKi]

I use my compressor after my wah pedal to give a really even wah sound without making the heel or toe louder than one another.

Otherwise, you'd want your compressor to be the first pedal in your chain normally. It can be neat after a distortion box, for that really thick squished sound, but it also amplifies the 'white noise'.

A compressor is a dynamics based effect. If you play soft on your guitar, those soft notes are very quiet, and not always audible. A compressor will increase the volume of softer playing so the dynamic is a little different... Playing sounds and feels softer, but is still the same volume.

You don't want to over compress a direct guitar signal or else you can lose all dynamics. Some guys like Steve Vai like this super compressed sound.. Listen to Tender Surrender and hear Steve's crazy compression. Its more obvious on the clean stuff but that song is super dynamic and the compressor breathes life into the entire thing.

[180gROC]

That clears a few things up...

Thanks!

[LoKi]

Also a compressor can be used as a bit of a clean boost, if it has a level control.

I set my compressor pretty hot *level control max* so that quiet or soft passages are still loud, and I set the ratio so that my louder stuff isn't overly 'squished' and it just evens things out. I only notice the actual compression of the louder stuff when I really bang on the strings hard. Nice well rounded tone, with added sustain... Not that my Paul's really need added sustain, but you can never have too much!

I use a BBE Opto Stomp and it is a super nice sounding compressor, with true bypass and a really organic feel. It does everything I need it to do, except for that mega compressed 'chicken pickin' or crazy squished metal sounds... which I don't need... So I guess it does everything for me.

[LoKi]

Here is a good description of what a Compressor does... I found this on the Guitar Gearheads site.

"The compressor in general is probably one of the most misunderstood effects; therefore, most of the time this effect is used improperly. The reason it is not understood is that a good compressor is very transparent; meaning that when used correctly you don’t even know it is working. So that begs the question, why would you want a transparent effect? The answer lies in the nature of the sound improvement that a compressor delivers. The overall goal of a compressor is simply to reduce the dynamic range between the softest and loudest parts of an audio signal (i.e., reduce that amount of variation in overall gain). When you use a compressor, it has the general effect of “evening up” the overall sound.

A much simplified case in point for a typical guitar is the difference in audio strength between the lower 3 bass strings on an electric guitar and the upper 3 treble strings. Typically the lower strings have much greater mass and, therefore, much greater gain relative to the thinner unwound strings. Basically a compressor works to even out the relative gain among all these potential problems producing a sound that is more fluid, more articulate – with better overall sustain and clarity."

[180gROC]

I think it's a keeper. Once I understood what I was trying to accomplish with it.

First thing I tried was in front of the wah, like you said. Solved a long time problem. There's times when I want my wah to peg my needles and there's times when I don't, it's nice to be able to choose.

Still playing with the clean sounds, and trying to dial in different things. I really appreciate you input!!!

[180gROC]

Ok... so... I got it. Big thanks to you, Loki!

And my, how helpful it is! It was like a mini-epiphany...