Al Krow

FWIW - I find the Zoom noise gate (ZNR) circuit is really excellent (I recommend detection set to GTRIN) and I use that as a standard final fx slot, going from guitar to speaker in the chain, on most of my B1-4 patches.

I think Teebs has finally come up with answer we've all been waiting for! OP said don't get something cheap (tick) I've been banging on about getting something that someone, anyone will actually notice (tick) Well here it is, and it's also Japanese designed like so many of the best pedals (tick): I hope no one can say that compression is just hot air after this?

That's very weird Woody - does sound like something peculiar to your unit. Dunno - could it possibly be a build up of some static that has now been discharged? If you listen very very carefully there is an "electronic noise sitting below the effect" which is just about discernible with some patches, which @ped pointed out a couple of years back but it's pretty subtle and nothing like the noise you're describing. Fingers crossed, it's hopefully now sorted.

My mini-pedal board has been pretty much unchanged for the past 10 months and I've enjoyed getting to grips with the fewer that were on it (four of which still feature below). With the recent addition of a couple of Boss pedals i.e. the OC-5 and RC-5 (still not caught up with @PatrickJ' Boss collection above after his new arrivals!), I've reverted to my larger Metro 24 powered by a HB Iso12 Pro underneath. To answer PJ's tongue-in-cheek Q in the above post, having reached the limit of my compression ability, I thought I'd give this line up a go without a dedicated comp. That's allowed me space to put the excellent Mosaic octave-up back on; the Thumpinator is also back in at the start of the signal chain to hpf out any low end "crud" and the Mastotron is there in place of my Red Ripper, partly because it sounds equally good and partly 'cos it takes less space! Tbf there are several comps and a limiter in the fx patches provided by versatile Zoom B1-4 multi fx sitting proudly at the heart of the board.

Are you telling porkies about your tech savviness Stew - I've heard rumours you've been casually messing with the 35 parameters underneath the Spectracomp's hood....😁 I've got the same looper on the Zoom B1-4 (and no secret I'm a huge fan of that multifx). The three key restrictions for me (as with the Helix loopers) are: just having one loop patch available, so I need to download to PC / over-write every time I want to record something fresh; limited overdubs; and 30s stereo / 60s mono recording time Obviously, if those limitations aren't an issue and you can do what you're wanting, then no point paying extra for a dedicated looper pedal!

Boss expands its Loop Station family with new RC-5 and RC-500 flagships | Guitar World I think these came out very shortly after you got your Ditto X2, which hopefully is doing everything you need from it? My little Lekato has done me proud - fantastic value, and very happy to recommend but as I mentioned in the post above I've been tempted by these two recent Boss offerings, which seem to be very well featured at their price points and the RC-5 seemed to be worth the £extra over e.g. the Nux Core Deluxe which was also on my shortlist e.g. the RC-5 gives 13 hours stereo at 32 bit recording and 99 loops vs Nux Core Delux 9 hrs / 24 bit / 99 loops and the drum options on the RC-5 also seem to be best in class for a loop pedal this size. I was initially leaning to the RC-500, but in the end went for the more compact RC-5 which is missing a few of the bells and whistles of the RC-500, but I suspect I probably wouldn't be putting these additional features (e.g. multiple drum kits) to a lot of use. The key thing that I did want from the RC-500 was the extra stomp switches - a single press to stop recording rather than double press is just something that feels more precise and comfortable for me, but I wasn't keen on the additional PB real estate that it would take up! The workaround has been to use a budget Mosky (momentary not latching) switch and connect via a TRS patch cable to the RC-5. Then the RC-5 switch and two additional stomps can each be very easily configured to do any one of multiple menu options. Just as a fyi, I've got mine set for (i) Record/Overdub/Play (ii) Stop Rec and (iii) Drums Start/Stop. All-in the cost was pretty close to the initial £150 budget in your OP for the RC-5, Mosky and TRS patch cable and I think it gets all your bonus points, too, in terms of battery power option, built in beats and true bypass 😊 Seems like you've had good experience with Boss loopers before, and the RC-5 is a refresh of their older RC-1 and RC-3 models.

You mean all the hours we've spent discussing the current NE2, PH, P35, 735A, 435, 235 and former 2025, 1025, 425, 615, 415, 2005, (and all their 4 string versions) plus some sexy MAs and you want a 605 NE1?! 😁

Fake news!

Fact: bass six string players typically have 6 fingers per hand

Does your 605 have the NE1 circuit also? Dunno if you have come across a 2005 also in your travels and been able to compare them? And I have no idea how they sound / play compared to the current line up, but I'm guessing more similarities than differences ie you know you're playing a Yammy BB!

Wonder who picked up that very tasty BB 604 NE1 that sold within 5 hours?!

Oh wise Underworld Jedi of the Dead. If we take the above two "concluding statement" posts together, dear chap, I think you've finally achieved your objective and brought balance back to The Compression Force. YF Dark(ish) Lord.

Absolutely brilliant concluding statement! But no disagreement from me: if the gear we play gives us joy, then what better reason is there to have it?

I've really liked your tone on the various clips you've posted over the years on BC and I'm also aware you've played to some very large audiences, certainly by most BC'ers standards. Do you not use a pedal board comp at all even for larger (non pub) gigs? Out of interest, are you using any other pedals or going straight into your amp / DI'ing straight into the PA? I know the OP had a bit of bee in his bonnet about us not using cheaper compressors, but the Spectracomp seems to be a big fav on BC and would certainly fall into the "budget" category; as with all things bass, it's not necessarily about paying top dollar but as @Baloney Balderdash rightly said it's about getting the most out of what we already have (and I'm certainly not excusing myself from that). I have to agree with you, though, some form of metering can be very useful.

#Me too 😁 And hats off to Andy for being a bit of a BC hero on this.

Yeah I'd not really come across the Boss BC-1X before either. It's not as "posh" as some of the others (e.g. Cali 76) or as simple to use as some of the "one-knobs" (e.g. Spectracomp) which seem to get more air time on this forum. A BC mate has recently got one and took the trouble to record and share a short clip a couple of days back. Got a thumbs up from two of us listening and a thumbs down from a third - which I guess just emphasises Kev's point about folk hearing things differently; a point which undoubtedly also extends to our audiences in terms of what they like or don't. But he's loving it and, frankly if it's working for him and making him feel happier about his sound, then fantastic. What more can any of us ask from our gear? Ooops...didn't you say something very similar about your own use of comps in one of your earlier posts in this thread? Best pass that Domestos...

Look forward to checking that out Ped. On the PG Review clip I posted above, this statement of his has gotta get some sort of prize? At 2.25 he says "the unique thing about this compressor pedal is that you can't get a bad compressor tone. Some of those compressors out there you can squash it completely gone" I think we're in agreement that he then proceeds to squash the life out of it at 7.29. The irony eh? Still, I guess he's only managed to influence 100,000 viewers so far...😂

Agreed with the end result. The comp settings he uses are at 6.29. These show release at a touch over 5/10 and ratio at 5/10 I guess that would equate to a compression ratio of 4:1 although there's nothing in the manual which discloses the max compression, so it's that's a bit of a guess (I've made an assumption of max comp around 20:1 which is not atypical). The release is at mid point so not overly fast, which I think is your key and important point regarding the transients (but again very little info in the manual about interaction between attack and release for this pedal).

A lot of truth in that Kev! And maybe why the topic remains so controversial? For example, I was having a listen to this generally decent gear review of the Boss BC1-X and he recommends a setting for live use (for all the reasons that others have given during the course of this thread) at 6.29+ onwards. He plays both without (7.17) and with the comp (7.29). It's really easy to hear the difference, but personally I so much prefer the uncompressed tone which let's the playing dynamics breathe. Maybe others prefer the compressed tone and maybe it's better in the mix, but the starting point is a singularly unattractive one tonally for me.

Duplicate post.

(I think you meant B3N at the end?) I still find that some of the individual patches on the B1-4 can be noisy, particularly the drives / fuzzes, which mirrors what happens with many dedicated dirt pedals. However the Zoom noise reduction circuit (ZNR) is really excellent (I recommend detection set to GTRIN) and I use that as a standard final fx slot, going from guitar to speaker in the chain, on most of my patches.

Pete it's a very fair riposte and I really also should have learned my lesson about getting drawn into compressor thread debates by now! And to rising to the bait from certain individuals on this forum, whom I've asked to steer clear (to little effect, excuse the pun), rather than taking Chris' wise advice to "ignore" them, which I shall endeavour to do so once again. I do hope some of us get a chance to come along to one of your gigs and to buy you a beer in the not too distant post-Covid future. And to the kind gent who seems to be stalking my band in order to provide comment on my playing style on a public forum, rather than sending his "constructive feedback" via PM, I promise to let you know in advance if I ever require such feedback again 😂 In the meantime, have a good rest of the weekend.

Pete - you certainly can and it won't be a patch on what you have done and I have a huge amount of respect for you and many others for your real world experience, although I appreciate it doesn't always show in the cut and thrust of some of our exchanges! So please rest assured, my comment wasn't directed at you in any shape or form; it was more at folk who do 2 or 3 gigs a year but are prepared to lecture the rest of us on how we should be playing live. That irks. Maybe it shouldn't. I typically averaged one or two paid gigs a fortnight pre-covid, with about half of them being at a distance where it wouldn't have been possible to get back to the ranch for spares. Here's Scott's advice on what he would recommend for the first five pedals on a pedal board (in addition to a tuner). In terms of his #1 and #2 I totally agree with him. Like you, a compressor doesn't appear to be on his list for someone starting out!

Not entirely convinced this is playing to your strengths?

The funniest is hearing from folk on BC who have comparatively little experience of playing live, lecturing others on what they should do when playing to a live audience and also what spares they need to be taking to gigs. Hilarious.