Compressor pedal

[Smiles]

Hi folks would really appreciate your views if you have any experience with this 

I’ve been reading up a lot recently about compressors as I may be changing to a new head soon possibly a Markbass Vintage 1000 if I like it 

my current head is a Ashdown ABM 600 evo iv which I’ve always like but want a lighter head to lug around and especially as the Ashdown is flight cased which adds to the weight .

The Markbass doesn’t have a compressor so looking into getting a good pedal , the two so far that have caught my attention is the Keeley bassist and the MXR m87 , both have generally good reviews plus in my budget but the top end 

has anyone had experience with either of these or others you would recommend , I’m looking to have it as a on all the time pedal , I use the ABM compressor and my basic reasons for wanting compression is to tighten up the bottom end and to enable my rig to perform at higher volume ( if needed ) without peaks crapping my speakers out 

thanks guys 

stuart 

[ezbass]

I have and like the M87. Pretty much transparent to my ears. Can be subtle or aggressive (proper limiting, not that I use it for that) and has that visual feedback via the LEDs, which I find useful/informative.

[Smiles]

Thanks ezbass appreciate that , yep I thought the visual guide of how much compression your adding on the MXR was a useful addition 

best regards 

Stuart 

[ezbass]

17 minutes ago, Smiles said:

Thanks ezbass appreciate that , yep I thought the visual guide of how much compression your adding on the MXR was a useful addition 

best regards 

Stuart 

 

There are a number of pedals that have a visual feedback, the Boss BC 1X has very similar LEDs to the MXR, for instance.

[itu]

Everything is here:

 

http://www.ovnilab.com/

[Smiles]

Thanks itu that’s a very useful site 👍

stuart 

[krispn]

DG Hyper Luminal is a great pedal too but you’ll get numerous recommendations and be down the rabbit hole for ages 😀

[Bigwan]

What's your budget? 

[Boodang]

Ah, the compressor pedal rabbit hole! The thing to ask yourself,  do you want a reasonably transparent compressor or one that colours your sound? 

A good place to start is the tc electronic Spectracomp, as A. It's v cheap s/h & B. The toneprints mean it's not a 1 trick pony, it'll do everything from subtle transparent to 3 band full on colourisation.

[Lozz196]

I’ve had both, the Keeley was easier to set up to an incompetent like myself, the MXR more fiddly but also able to do a lot more I would think. But in terms of sound both were very good. For a set & forget pedal to tame peaks & even things out the Keeley is difficult to beat.

[Smiles]

Thanks Lozz appreciate that 

stuart 

[Smiles]

8 hours ago, Boodang said:

Ah, the compressor pedal rabbit hole! The thing to ask yourself,  do you want a reasonably transparent compressor or one that colours your sound? 

A good place to start is the tc electronic Spectracomp, as A. It's v cheap s/h & B. The toneprints mean it's not a 1 trick pony, it'll do everything from subtle transparent to 3 band full on colourisation.

Thanks Boodang yep that rabbit hole of looking at 10.000 reviews and getting completely bamboozled by the whole thing , yep I’ve heard the tc spectracomp is good but  I’m not really one for computer downloads so put off with all the downloadable tone prints really , I simply need to try a few out so just seeing what pedals seem popular as on all the time compressors and that are pretty simple to dial in 

Thanks again 

Stu 

[Smiles]

13 hours ago, Bigwan said:

What's your budget? 

Around £180ish max 

stu 

[Smiles]

13 hours ago, krispn said:

DG Hyper Luminal is a great pedal too but you’ll get numerous recommendations and be down the rabbit hole for ages 😀

Thanks Krispin yep I’m down that hole 😄

[MartinB]

Very happy with my Keeley Bassist - it's pretty much idiot-proof.
Worth noting that the Keeley GC-2 is almost identical to the Bassist, and the MXR M76 Studio Compressor is identical to the M87 - sometimes you can find these a bit cheaper

[Smiles]

57 minutes ago, MartinB said:

Very happy with my Keeley Bassist - it's pretty much idiot-proof.
Worth noting that the Keeley GC-2 is almost identical to the Bassist, and the MXR M76 Studio Compressor is identical to the M87 - sometimes you can find these a bit cheaper

Thanks Martin that’s useful info 👍I’m hoping to try both the Keeley and the MXR out this weekend , both are very popular compressors and have really good reviews 

best regards 

Stu 

[Bunion]

1 hour ago, Smiles said:

Around £180ish max 

stu 

You say that nowwwww…

 

you’ll end up with an empress, Cali76 or a Fea opti fet 🤣😂

[ped]

Just now, Bunion said:

You say that nowwwww…

 

you’ll end up with an empress, Cali76 or a Fea opti fet 🤣😂

 

I had both of those and preferred the M87. It's quieter and does limiting better IMO. 

 

I'd recommend the M87 generally as a good starting point to learn about the sort of things the controls do and how they interact, especially useful are the LEDs... Then you can think about the kind of limiter you might want to look at next. Until you end up with a Cali76 or Optician's-fet lol

[Boodang]

9 hours ago, Smiles said:

Thanks Boodang yep that rabbit hole of looking at 10.000 reviews and getting completely bamboozled by the whole thing , yep I’ve heard the tc spectracomp is good but  I’m not really one for computer downloads so put off with all the downloadable tone prints really , I simply need to try a few out so just seeing what pedals seem popular as on all the time compressors and that are pretty simple to dial in 

Thanks again 

Stu 

Yep, know what you mean by the download thing, it's the reason I can't get on with the latest source audio pedals. TC though do a thing where the toneprints can be downloaded by making your phone make noises like an old modem which you then hold over the pickups. Like magic the pedal gets the preset... no idea how it works but ridiculously simply. But get that it's not for everyone. 

One compressor that hasn't been mentioned yet, and one of my favs, is the Aguilar TLC. You can set the attack time and comp ratio which I find it quite useful. It needs tweeking a bit more than some other pedals to get your settings but as a result it's a bit more flexible. 

Anyway good luck at the weekend, you can't go wrong with the pedals that have mentioned so far.

[krispn]

There’s an Aguilar DB599 for £99 and a spectracomp for less on the for sale ad’s right now which are both decent options. The 599 maybe a little more intuitive as a play and play pedal. 
 

You’ll find most folk on bc take a pint on pedals here knowing they can reload and take a chance on an unknown purchase as they can easily flip it. For many of us it’s one of the best features - access to used gear which is decent quality and good resale opportunities. And the banter of course. 

[fretmeister]

I’ve had:

 

Empress

Cali76

Darkglass Super Symmetry 

MXR87

Keeley 4 knob

Keeley Compressor Pro

Marshall ED1.

 

Now I use the newish Boss BC-1X.

It’s brilliant. Very simple to use and just works without any faff.

[garyt]

Why do compressors bring up so many different opinions?

I have a DG Hyper Luminal, and I absolutely love it, but I’m sure I’d feel the same with any high end compressor once used to it.  
I only bought the HL to upgrade from a Boss LMB-3, but the things that stand out for me on the HL are the Blend control, the ability to tweak in the DG suite, particularly being able to have your low frequencies uncompressed, having 3 distinct compressors available, and it’s one of those compressors that doesn’t get you lost in the mix. Great pedal. 

[Smiles]

16 hours ago, Boodang said:

Yep, know what you mean by the download thing, it's the reason I can't get on with the latest source audio pedals. TC though do a thing where the toneprints can be downloaded by making your phone make noises like an old modem which you then hold over the pickups. Like magic the pedal gets the preset... no idea how it works but ridiculously simply. But get that it's not for everyone. 

One compressor that hasn't been mentioned yet, and one of my favs, is the Aguilar TLC. You can set the attack time and comp ratio which I find it quite useful. It needs tweeking a bit more than some other pedals to get your settings but as a result it's a bit more flexible. 

Anyway good luck at the weekend, you can't go wrong with the pedals that have mentioned so far.

Thanks Boodang really appreciate all your info , the tc does sound interesting I may be wise not to write that off , I did notice Guy Pratt has one on his pedal board so it’s clearly a pedal to look into a bit more 

best regards 

Stuart 

[Smiles]

8 hours ago, fretmeister said:

I’ve had:

 

Empress

Cali76

Darkglass Super Symmetry 

MXR87

Keeley 4 knob

Keeley Compressor Pro

Marshall ED1.

 

Now I use the newish Boss BC-1X.

It’s brilliant. Very simple to use and just works without any faff.

Thanks fretmeister crikey you’ve pretty much had them all , what’s different about the Boss pedal .. sound .. ease of use ?

best regards 

stu

[Smiles]

6 minutes ago, garyt said:

Why do compressors bring up so many different opinions?

I have a DG Hyper Luminal, and I absolutely love it, but I’m sure I’d feel the same with any high end compressor once used to it.  
I only bought the HL to upgrade from a Boss LMB-3, but the things that stand out for me on the HL are the Blend control, the ability to tweak in the DG suite, particularly being able to have your low frequencies uncompressed, having 3 distinct compressors available, and it’s one of those compressors that doesn’t get you lost in the mix. Great pedal. 

Thanks garyt sounds like a pedal to look into , I like a lot of low end in my sound I play in a Ska / Reggae band so I’m thinking i would want the low end compressed a bit to allow me to increase volume without farting out the speakers , we’re a 9 piece band and there’s always a lot of sound on stage and often pretty loud so the whole reason for me looking into good compressors is to keep my sound tight and controlled when I have to pick the volume up a bit 

stu