Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

[Young Angus]

Where is a good place to put a compressor in the chain...and why?

[wickenspoet]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

The compressor is usually second in the guitar pedal chain after wah pedals. Compressors are amplifiers; that means they can increase the content of whatever is before them in the signal path. If they are placed after noisy things like overdrives, they will add even more noise. Plus, a compressor placed before an overdrive can fatten up the distortion by increasing the signal going into the overdrive pedal. Many players use compressors just to compensate for the low output of single coil pickups.


Taken from:

http://www.bossus.com/bugonline/how_to.asp?art=order

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

And some are more slow and saggy than others...put it first or after a wahbah as said above!

[More-Gear-Than-Skill]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

or experiment, and settle where you like it most....Music is ART after all!

[scottish]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

i have a ross clone that i built and its actually the last thing in my chain, mostly because i like the way it sounds there and it really isnt too noisy at all and partly because i havent replaced the volume pedal that i broke ages ago, lol

[drpietrzak]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

It varies on use. If you want a "steady" signal hitting the disotortion pedal use it before. If you want dynamics when you hit the distortion pedal use it afterwards. Keeley has a nice discussion of it.

http://www.robertkeeley.com/faq.php#Effect%20Order

[Gamera]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

Whenever I have similar ?s I look at multi-effects units. Do a Google search for a Boss ME-50 or similar. The way it's laid out you can see the logical order of effects. In the case of the ME-50 it's EQ --> Compression --> Noise Gate --> Reverb --> Overdrive/Distortion --> Modulation effects --> Delay.

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

What if you are like me, and put you OD before whah? and what do you do to get the increased sustain from a compressor with out it giving that "choke the tone" that is often associated with a comp.

[Philcguitars]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

I got into effects as a result of listening to Gilmour's stuff, and always put them first in my chain.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

Mine is first in the chain, and always on
And is a rehoused one as well.

[Young Angus]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

Thanks guys, great stuff as always!

[lex666]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

I use mine in front of my amp (I use amp distortion) so my chain goes:

Wah > eq > noise gate > compression > delay > amp

I have tremolo and flange in the loop of the Boss noise gate.

[Amateur]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

A compressor usually compresses the strong signals and amplifies the weak signals. If you have some subtle unwanted sound in the signal chain, the compressor may make it so loud that it becomes annoying. That's the reason I always put it ahead of everything.

[baritone]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

Compressor before distortion, and reverb after distortion. Noise suppressor usually between distortion and reverb.

[GuitarStv]

Re: Compressor...before or after a distortion pedal?

I like a compressor after my wah and distortion. When you have a compressor before distortion you get (almost) exactly the same amount of gain every time you hit the strings. When you put the compressor after your distortion you get different amounts of gain (depending on your pick attack) but you also can get a similar volume between chords and notes.