From the tweakiest techniques to the biggest ideas, our experts work hard to constantly supply inSync with a steady stream of helpful, in-depth demos, reviews, how-tos, news, and interviews. Tone is often a high-end boost, which is needed to compensate for the fact that compressing the peaks in a signal can make it seem duller; the peaks give off a lot of high-end. By the same token, the Universal Audio 1176 LN, which as an FET compressor, is one of the most popular of all time for drums, electric guitar, bass and bus compression (two linked in stereo). Therefore, with more loud sounds being pushed down in volume, or compressed, the overall sound seems quieter and a volume control is needed to compensate. If your comp has a Blend control, try setting it above 50 percent. The net effect is evenness and sustain, as the attack of a note is softer and its decay is louder. True Bypass. With this in mind, compressor pedals need at least two controls to be effective. When it comes to setting your compressor pedal, the best thing to do is dial all of the knobs to “noon” (pointing straight up) – and then tweak the various settings to your liking. Generally, electric guitar sounds are pretty compressed. For my test signal chain, I used a Fender American Standard Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan Classic Stack pickups and a PRS S2 Singlecut for guitars, a Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb and a Mesa/Boogie Recto-Verb Twenty-Five for amps, a Radial Tonebone TriMode, Boss DS-1X, and Line 6 M9 for effects. The MXR Dyna Comp, the wildly popular compression pedal, has found its way into the rigs of guitarists as wide ranging as Joe Perry to Tim Mahoney to Johnny... What's the Difference Between Concert and Soprano Ukulele? Everything you love about Sweetwater in the palm of your hand. From the tweakiest techniques to the biggest ideas, our experts work hard to constantly supply inSync with a steady stream of helpful, in-depth demos, reviews, how-tos, news, and interviews. Miss the first installment of this series of articles? Just as with electric guitars, there are so many high quality compressor pedals on the market that it can be difficult to pick from among them. It also has two switchable channels with separate attack and sustain settings. Keeley Compressor Plus. There are a few compressors with deep features and extra effects built-in. This can be handy for getting more sustain for lead playing and backing off the volume … This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Many comps have more controls, including Attack, Tone, and Blend. Clean Sustained Lead. Compression performs better after any wah pedals, but try it both before and after a volume pedal. If you mainly want to use your compressor as a boost, turn the Compression knob down and the Level knob up. Blend allows the compressed signal to be blended with your original, uncompressed sound. Considering that the guitar is a plucked instrument with an inherently heavy attack and relatively sharp decay, compression can either enhance or radically alter the sound of a guitar. Put the Wampler Ego Compressor in your guitar's signal chain, and you'll tame your dynamics without sacrificing tone. For clarity, a compressor is a device that reduces the dynamic range of an audio signal; it makes the quiet sounds louder and the loud sounds quieter. If your pedal is labeled True Bypass, this means it does not contain a buffer to boost your overall sound. Always trust your ear as your best guide to good tone. The MXR Dyna Comp, the wildly popular compression pedal, has found its way into the rigs of... What's the Difference Between Concert and Soprano Ukulele? Phone Hours | Considering that the guitar is a plucked instrument with an inherently heavy attack and relatively sharp decay, compression can either enhance or radically alter the sound of a guitar. Adding a control for the input gain not only allows tailoring the compression to the amount of signal you’re feeding it, but it also gives more control over the amount of compression. With a three-decade career as a professional guitarist in Nashville, Tennessee, Sweetwater's Don Carr has a long list of album credits in multiple genres of music. Before the volume pedal, the volume will work just like normal and allow the compression to do its job unaffected, but placing it after a volume pedal, will allow the signal to be driven into the compressor’s threshold.