TBH, I"m not sure I realy undersatnd the point of a compressor.
I use it after the fact in recording to level out the tracks
i.e. I had a spike on this cuz i hit the guitar harder than other times...use compressor to even it out
or yelled louder here than other times, ...use compressor to even it out
that's all I use it for, I don't use it prior to recording, i.e. it's not in my signal chain
am I doing this wrong?
For me, it's the first effect I want. If I had to have only thing, it would be compression.
I use it for both clean and dirty sounds.
With a clean sound and a dynamic, "bitey" guitar like a Telecaster, I turn up loud enough so that playing with a normal attack is heard clearly. The problem is that now if I hit it hard, it's ear-splitting. The compressor tames that and gives it a really nice punchy sound without biting peoples' ears off.
A lot of guys these days deliberately don't set up their amps with a lot of headroom. When they hit it hard, it breaks up rather than gets louder. That in itself is a type of compression. For me, I usually want it clean all the way up as hard as I can hit it and I really, really like the punchy "squashed" effect a compressor gives when I'm doing aggressive fingerpicking. It also helps a clean sound to sing with more consistent level and sustain.
With a distorted sound, a compressor lets me get more harmonics and sustain with less distortion. The tone sounds cleaner but it responds as if the gain is cranked.
I've used a simple Maxon 2-knob compressor for years now. I just love the way it sounds and it continues to hold up. It's the oldest thing on my board, in fact. There are undoubtedly compressors with a lot more options but I don't need that much -- just one good sound.
Still, you said best....
