I've been playing guitar and bass for over thirty years. Recorded some and played in bands off and on.
I gave up on playing guitar in public a long time ago as I found it much easier to join/form bands as a bassist. I was a pick only kind of guy up until about ten years and have been using pick or fingers since.
The problem I have is volume differences between the two, as I seem to play harder using fingers than a plectrum. I've tried playing closer to the bridge as that doesn't seem to be as loud, but it's not easy to remember all the time.
I used a compressor years ago to even out volume on different strings when I played a shitty plywood P-bass, but never sure if it actually worked or not (I was drunk or stoned half the time in those days).
I've been thinking about using pedal(s) to help sort the problem. What is the thoughts of the forum? I have a compressor made by Locobox from 1980s with Level and Sensitivity controls and a Belcat Vintage Compressor with Attack, Sustain and Level.
Or is a Limiter a better idea?
Comments
I use a Boss BC-1X. It's awesome (so good I sold my Cali76 and others) but it's quite an expensive pedal.
Try the ones you have.
The main problem with compressors is that different companies name the knobs a bit differently. Sometimes Sustain is the Ratio of the compression and sometimes it is the Threshold when compression starts. On some pedals with a Threshold control it might be named Input instead.
Attack is usually the time for when it kicks in. Level is often the make up gain boost to get a compressed signal back up to a level you want.
It's all very annoying until you get used to what a particular pedal does.
A brilliant resource: http://www.ovnilab.com/faq.shtml
It's not updated with new stuff anymore but it's full of reviews and a "How to Use" a compressor and what settings type thing.
Definitely worth your time having a look.
https://soundcertified.com/speaker-ohms-calculator/
But don’t let it become a crutch, it’s better to learn how to control the dynamics naturally with your fingers. That’s not a put-down, it took me a while too.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I use a Cali76 Bass. I set the both the input/threshold at 1pm and don't even trigger it half the time when fingerpicking, and use the HPF to reduce the compression on the lowest notes as well. In that setup it's just a mild "make sound better" device except when I'm really digging in with a pick, at which point it just levels everything out nicely so I'm not blowing people's heads off.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I'd have thought if you put a compressor across everything you'd get massively different amounts of squish?
I used to give myself blisters playing on compressors, because I would instinctively try to restore the dynamics that the compressor squashed.
I now use an old Seymour Duncan double back, which blends in the dry signal. Very pleased with it. The modern equivalent is the Studio Bass, I think.
In your case an active pre will allow you to use the volume to set overall output between pick and fingers, then use a compressor to make it sound fatter.
This logic is opposite to recorded bass which is compressed to fuck.
Used it at a gig for the first time in ages and my Sound City amp sounded fantastic (more punch than I remember). It was on a bigger stage than we might nor!ally perform so I turned the volume up a bit more than usual. Pity about the bum notes though, a combination of forgetting where I was in a few songs now and then and not having a rock solid mix in my in-ears).
The TC Spectra Comp is also a good one and you'll miss it when it's not on
All these modes sound great for different things and the led lights up more intensely depending on the gain reduction amount helping you dial in the amount of comp.
I'm sure the spectra could sound good with tweaking but the one knob thing really limits it's usability at a gig situation.
PA Hire and Event Management
I use a MXR dyna comp (now modelled in my helix) always on set with everything just above 12 o clock. It adds tightness and punch as well as taming digging in too hard.