Two Compressors?

JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
I've had an ongoing love affair with compression for a while and frequently stack two comps when playing guitar. With bass though it didn't seem such a good idea; so many comps make the bass dull and take away the natural harmonics and delicate fingering tones. Recently though I've tried stacking a couple and came across a duo that work really well - The Maxon Tube Comp is a wonderful comp for bass, it doesn't remove any low end, in fact it enhances and boosts the low end. I tried putting a variety of comps in front of it but the one that excells is another Maxon, the CP9Pro+. Stacking the two together (they both are VCO types) gives the attack a kick drum feel - a real percussive thud. The trick seems to be to set the first comp's output high, so that it hits the second hard with the attack set fast.


Anyone using two compressors with bass, if so which ones?
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Comments

  • FunkfingersFunkfingers Frets: 14320
    JezWynd said:
    so many comps make the bass dull and take away the natural harmonics and delicate fingering tones.
    That is because the compression circuit responds proportionally to the strongest signal - usually, the bottom string.

    Multi-band compressors treat the different frequency bands separately, preserving the overall level balance across all of the strings. This may be what your dual Maxon pedal rig is doing.

    My amplifier has the tc electronic Spectracomp built into it. That is what I use.
    Be seeing you.
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  • JezWyndJezWynd Frets: 6021
    JezWynd said:
    so many comps make the bass dull and take away the natural harmonics and delicate fingering tones.
    That is because the compression circuit responds proportionally to the strongest signal - usually, the bottom string.

    Multi-band compressors treat the different frequency bands separately, preserving the overall level balance across all of the strings. This may be what your dual Maxon pedal rig is doing.

    My amplifier has the tc electronic Spectracomp built into it. That is what I use.
    The only multi-band I've tried is the new digital Boss and while it was very efficient, I found it a bit characterless. I got the impression is was designed with slap style in mind - great for levelling everything out.

    As I understand it, the two Maxon's use identical compression circuits with the valve model simply having a valve in the gain stage. From what I've read the valve gain comes before the compression stage but it doesn't affect the compression which I find strange. It's a cool effect, like having a perfectly synced kick drum.
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