compressor

[hartke20g]

i didn't want to post this in the beginner section since i need a little more input than what that section offers. anyway, i recently bought a rig that i can actually blow from pushing it too hard (slapping, picking hard, etc) and i thought "most bassists that slap and tap have compressors so they dont blow their amp and get equal volume, right?". so i was wondering, for those of you with a compressor, what model do you have and what model(s) would you suggest. i don't want to spend over $100 US on it and i've been looking at the digitech xbs bass squeeze compressor, the rocktron big crush compressor, and the mxr line of compressors.

have at it:chug:

[LewsTherin]

Honestly, Id look into the DBX 166xl. Its over your limit, sure, but ime, rackmount >>>>>> pedal when it comes to compressors.

Imo, digitech pedals suck as it is anyway, and most pedal-format compressors skimp out on important features for the sake of saving space.

Also, MXR compressors aren't really designed for compression so much as they are for enhancing sustain.

[hartke20g]

^^^ my main problem with rackmounted ones are that, well, i don't exactly have a rack to put them on. my 'rig' is an ashdown combo, not a head+cab type of rig. (if rackmount has nothing to do with what i just said, that's my bad. i know nothing about anything that goes on top of an amp (other than heads and power amps).

[LewsTherin]

^^^ my main problem with rackmounted ones are that, well, i don't exactly have a rack to put them on. my 'rig' is an ashdown combo, not a head+cab type of rig. (if rackmount has nothing to do with what i just said, that's my bad. i know nothing about anything that goes on top of an amp (other than heads and power amps).


its pretty easy to have one single peice of rackmount equipment. just toss it on top of your combo. you could even put velcro on the top of the amp and bottom of the compressor and make it stick.

[hartke20g]

would the dbx 266 xl be good for keeping my volume at around the same level when slapping, popping, and tapping? that's mainly what i need to know since i don't quite get all this decibel and gate stuff.:confused:

[LewsTherin]

would the dbx 266 xl be good for keeping my volume at around the same level when slapping, popping, and tapping? that's mainly what i need to know since i don't quite get all this decibel and gate stuff.:confused:


yes.


the gate is a noise gate. that helps cut out hum/bg noise when youre not playing.


the rest of the controls tweak the compression, ie how much compression, when it kicks in, etc.