Not another compressor thread!!? Yep. Sorry.

[Funky Dunky]

Okay, my mate is a guitarist but has landed a sweet gig playing bass in a function band. They only gig once or twice a month, but he's come to realise that he needs a compression pedal, and has asked me the following question:

"Do I have to buy a bass-specific compressor, or will one for guitar do?"

I answered (with admittedly extremely limited knowledge) that, as far as I'm led to believe, he MIGHT be okay with a guitar compressor IF the bass he is using is passive. I explained that it's not ideal as the bass has a far greater output than a guitar, and he ideally would have a bass compressor to handle this, but tbh I do not have the experience to say for sure. I reckoned an active bass would be too powerful for a guitar compressor to handle correctly.

He countered that his bandmate advised him that compression is compression, and told him any compression pedal will do the job, even one for vocals. This doesn't make sense to me, but I'm too inexperienced to put forward a solid argument other than "common sense tells me that must be illogical".

He also asked me if active basses "need" compression more than passives, or if they benefit more from compression.

Can anyone set the record straight please?

Edited December 21, 2016 by Funky Dunky

[fretmeister]

Many Ross based compressors (usually guitar ones) have low end roll off. Sometimes that is useful. Sometimes not. I prefer to do that with my EQ.

I'd get a bass one - with a clean blend on it (sometimes called "New York" or "Parallel") so a bit of the uncompressed signal can be mixed in. That feature is more common on dedicated bass compressors.

Empress Compressor
Darkglass Super Symmetry
EQD The Warden

plenty more too.

The compressor bible is here: ovnilab.com

The reviewer is a bassist and all reviews with bass in mind.

[pete.young]

Why does he need a compression pedal - what problem is he trying to solve?

A studio compressor will handle guitar, bass, vocals or anything else, so in that sense the bandmate is right. You can't say whether a guitar pedal will work or not. It might be fine, terrible, or have no noticeable effect. Suck it and see if it, er, sucks.

Active vs Passive doesn't make a difference, and its not always true to say that basses have a higher output than a guitar - I have an electric with 18V EMGs which puts out a huge signal.

[bazzbass]

oi vay that's what the world needs, ANOTHER guitarist stealing a bassist's gig .

So, I bet he plays with a pick like it's a guitar, he can't stop all the resonating notes and ringing open strings coz he can't palm mute and doesn't know why we use one finger on a fret to be able to finger mute the notes either.

report him to the bass police so a proper bassist can get the gig

seriously I'm sick of guitarists getting our gigs coz BLs think they'll be better.

[cheddatom]

sounds like his bandmate has told him he needs a compressor. Maybe he doesn't have enough dynamic control and the bandmate thinks this will solve the problem? If so they're mistaken IMO

Still, I really like to use a limiter, always on, just before my amp in the chain, to squash any extra big spikes. I also use another compressor earlier in the chain to give extra punch, but that wouldn't be always on, just for the odd section

[mcnach]

whether you need a bass dedicated compressor or not has nothing to do with active vs passive or the output level. And let's forget that wrong notion that active = higher output than passive, for it's just not true.

the output of a bass is different from a guitar in terms of frequency content, and sometimes the higher bass content can drive a compressor to tame the output across the board which may be what you're after or not. Some work really well, so why not. But a multiband compressor is often nicer on bass as it allows different levels of compression on different frequency bands. The MXR M87 is pretty cool and transparent and doesn't cost the Moon.

But first I'd just use whatever I have near, and see if the result is acceptable. Also... I'd question whether a compressor is needed at all. Maybe he thinks he needs one before having tried, just assuming it would be needed.

[mcnach]

[quote name='bazztard' timestamp='1482388412' post='3200057']
So, I bet he plays with a pick like it's a guitar, he can't stop all the resonating notes and ringing open strings coz he can't palm mute and doesn't know why we use one finger on a fret to be able to finger mute the notes either.
[/quote]


if there's one things guitarsts can do while using a pick is palm muting!