Things to look for when trying out compressors

['59]

I'm looking to acquire a compressor. On paper, the JHS Pulp n Peel and the Wampler mini ego look pretty good based upon the reviews of others, but I would much prefer to be able to judge each one in person with my own ears and fingers.

What should I be looking for when testing a compressor and what's the most effective way to dial in tones for testing purposes. On paper at least I would want something fairly subtle when it's on, but easy to notice when it's missing if that makes sense

 

['59]

The Orange Kongpressor is also well on my radar

 

[ErikH]

The Keeley Compressor Plus. Blend control. Best compressor I’ve ever used. My playing dynamics are still there. Try one.

 

[Mincer]

I love compressors with a blend knob, especially if you like a little compression on all the time.

 

[GuitarStv]

I really like to have a blend knob. You can turn it all the way off (full compression) if you want heavy effecty squash, but most of the time I want just subtle compression and the blend knob really helps to nail it.

 

[Aceman]

Well, the first thing I look for is a reason why I think I need a compressor. So what's yours?

FYI - this will make a BIG difference in what you look at. What instrument is it for? What style of music? What pickups? What style of playing?

Or we can just throw out features and random boxes.

 

['59]

Well, the first thing I look for is a reason why I think I need a compressor. So what's yours?

FYI - this will make a BIG difference in what you look at. What instrument is it for? What style of music? What pickups? What style of playing?

Or we can just throw out features and random boxes.

Guitar, bass, and keys are my instruments, in that order. I mostly do bluegrass type country, funk, reggae, and softer rock. I drive a Santa Cruz pickup made last year and a GMC Sierra from 2001, and my playing can best be described as sloppy, but consistent.

 

[beaubrummels]

I always look for compressors where I can control the threshold, attack, ratio and make-up gain. Then I can use it for anything. If I can at least get 3 out of 4 of those, I can still make it work.

Like so:

 

[ehdwuld]

threshold and attack as separate knobs
blend or level is cool

my current one has a tone knob as well
which is as interesting as it is uncommon

 

[ErikH]

Sustain, Blend, Level, Tone. The switch between single-coil and humbucker is nice. I leave it on Humbucker since that's what I have in majority of my guitars. Unity is about 1 o'clock on the level knob. I've tried plenty of compressors and Keeley's are the only ones I get a long with. I also have an old 3-knob from him. Also a great compressor. Has level, attack and sustain. No blend control.

 

[Aceman]

See now...when you say Bluegrass, Country, and Funk/Reggae...I'd say just get this. You want even sound with maybe a little pluck/cluck in what you are playing. Been done with one of these for decades on many many albums:




My current go-to for "Everything" compression is this. Now the Blend and tone and attack/sustain will let you dial in a lot more and go for more transparency etc. But that isn't really what your music is about. I have come to appreciate the blend knob, but if I have attack/sustain/tone, I don't need it.

 

['59]

A friend at work let me borrow have a junky ibanez cpl that has the controls attack, threshold, and level. How do I get it setup knob-wise?

 

[beaubrummels]

A friend at work let me borrow have a junky ibanez cpl that has the controls attack, threshold, and level. How do I get it setup knob-wise?

I don't have that particular pedal, but theoretically it should work like this:
Attack - less attack will let more of the initial spike or pluck of the string come through, more attack will squish right away and take away dyanamics
Threshold - is the level at which the compressor starts working. Low threshold will squish everything you do, high threshold will only soften the peaks that are sticking out and make it even.
Level - is to make up the volume level when the compressor is working. What you do is play with the compressor on and off and adjust the level so the output is the same whether the pedal is on or off.

 

[ehdwuld]

is there a difference between level and blend
I assumed they were the same function

 

['59]

I don't have that particular pedal, but theoretically it should work like this:
Attack - less attack will let more of the initial spike or pluck of the string come through, more attack will squish right away and take away dyanamics
Threshold - is the level at which the compressor starts working. Low threshold will squish everything you do, high threshold will only soften the peaks that are sticking out and make it even.
Level - is to make up the volume level when the compressor is working. What you do is play with the compressor on and off and adjust the level so the output is the same whether the pedal is on or off.

I found a manual that seems to agree with this, albeit for the CP9 instead of the CPL. It looks like turning Attack to the right and Threshold to the left is minimum compression. and Attack to the left and Threshold to the right is maximum squash.

I can't tell too much of a difference with the attack on either side, regardless of threshold level.

How do I dial it in? It seems like all the advice I can find says that if you can tell it's working you've set it to squashy. Well then how would I tell if it's set too subtle?

 

[ErikH]

is there a difference between level and blend
I assumed they were the same function

Level is just that, the level of the compression. Blend works by combining the compression with the dry signal. It really helps to get some compression but maintaining the dynamics and touch sensitivity of your playing.

 

[Mincer]

Level is just that, the level of the compression. Blend works by combining the compression with the dry signal. It really helps to get some compression but maintaining the dynamics and touch sensitivity of your playing.

Yeah, this would be my description. Every compressor has a level control (make up gain), but blend knobs aren't as common.

 

[ehdwuld]

I figured it was like level on a reverb pedal
my bad

 

[ErikH]

I figured it was like level on a reverb pedal
my bad

If the level on a reverb pedal works by how much reverb is added to the dry signal, and there is a totally dry signal with the level all the way down, that is essentially a blend. Same function that the blend control on a compressor does.

 

[Aceman]

I would like to point out, that compressors are notoriously "varied" in how the knobs work, and are labeled. Make NO assumptions.

The attack knob could be more or less time until onset on any given compressor...read the manual for your compressor.