Pedal Compressors - how and when do you use them?

[Mark Wein]

I have a Keeley compressor that I love but its not fully integrated into my sound. I typically use it for clean solos and not rhythm guitar parts and I rarely remember to use it....how about you guys?

[Prages]

I've never owned a pedal compressor, which is weird because I use compression on everything when I record.

[White Gold]

http://www.theguitarfiles.com/guitarfile115.html

[Denverdave]

I tend to use it for my clean rhythm playing in the band to help the parts pop a bit more. Though in the new band incarnation I am hoping to pick up a couple of guitar solos - so I will probably just use it as a volume boost for solos.

I know some players who have good pedals (like a Keeley or an Analogman) who leave them on 100% of the time. They usually just have a subtle bit of compression on and make it part of their sound.

[Mark Wein]

http://www.theguitarfiles.com/guitarfile115.html


sooo.....now I know that you understand how Google works.

My question was something of a conversation starter, and not a cry for help cop0 ;):p

[Mark Wein]

I tend to use it for my clean rhythm playing in the band to help the parts pop a bit more. Though in the new band incarnation I am hoping to pick up a couple of guitar solos - so I will probably just use it as a volume boost for solos.

I know some players who have good pedals (like a Keeley or an Analogman) who leave them on 100% of the time. They usually just have a subtle bit of compression on and make it part of their sound.


I think it has to do more with the style of music that you play.

Pedal compression and the kind of compression that you use for recording are really two different animals. I think that instead of just being "compression" like we would put on a recorded guitar track to help it sit in the mix more the pedal compression (especially pedals like the Ross-style or MXR Dynacomp) works almost like a driver as well as a compressor.

The "compressed funky guitar" thing I almost never do...I try to get the evenness of the compressor from my right hand attack. I guess I use it more like a Country guitarist would...sometimes I'll use it for slide guitar as well to fatten up the sound and give me a little more sustain to play around with.

At least thats how I view it in my rig. idn_smilie

[Mark Wein]

http://www.theguitarfiles.com/guitarfile115.html

Actually thats a nice little read. It seems like they are talking more about rack mount or recording style compressors than the pedal kind, though....

[telecaster911]

For playing cleanish stuff, I leave mine on all the time. It's usually a quieter gig and it makes up for the sound bloom that you may lose at lower volumes. Anything loud, heavy distorted, etc etc, I don't use it at all. There is enough natural tube compression at that point. Oh yea, it's a barber tone press.

[jaxn slim]

I use an Analogman BiComp which has both a Ross clone and an Orange Squeezer clone built into it. When I play country, I use the OS one pretty much all the time. It squishes the guitar nicely and also gives a bit of color that I really like. The Ross side is much more transparent (more like a Keeley), but I hardly use it.

[Mark Wein]

I use an Analogman BiComp which has both a Ross clone and an Orange Squeezer clone built into it. When I play country, I use the OS one pretty much all the time. It squishes the guitar nicely and also gives a bit of color that I really like. The Ross side is much more transparent (more like a Keeley), but I hardly use it.

I had an Analogman CompRosser (the BiComp was SERIOUSLY backordered at that point in time) and it was pretty cool but the compression seemed too "pumpy" for me...I would love to try the Orange Squeezer one, though.

[Mark Wein]

oh yeah....Hi Jaxn!

[Dann]

I've never tried one ever... :(

I know what they do though, and I use onboard compressors on adobe when im recording
pretty much as an after effect