sot: Compressors for metal?

[cincy]

anyone use a compressor in their setups and what are the benefits if so?

[Code-001]

Originally posted by cincy anyone use a compressor in their setups and what are the benefits if so?

 

 

The only real uses for a compressor are:

 

A. Clean tone

B. Lead tone

 

They're not great for rhythm. I use one for my clean tone personally.

[DirrtyCraig]

+1


If your going to get one though get a Keeley
http://robertkeeley.com

[cincy]

Originally posted by Code-001 The only real uses for a compressor are: A. Clean tone B. Lead tone They're not great for rhythm. I use one for my clean tone personally.

 

Hey thanks for the info, I seen one in a fellows rig and never seen him use it.

[Code-001]

Originally posted by cincy Hey thanks for the info, I seen one in a fellows rig and never seen him use it.

 

 

The thing is, metal tones are already heavily compressed. Adding more compression generally makes them really thin sounding. A lot use them as solo boosts for added sustain. Some use them in the clean tones to make them stand out more. Most country players use compressors in their clean tones if you need some examples. Petrucci almost always uses a compressor in his clean tone, IIRC.

[DeathMonkey]

I have an old Ibanez red comp that smokes for guitar, from country lead tones to heavy rock stuff - real unobtrusive, but has nice "cluck". That and my old Ibanez delay are my rockabilly pedal rig

[496dart]

a lot of compression will kill the low end for metal. i wouldnt use one-not needed.

[stringy]

Comps for high gain rhythm, especially staccato stop-n-go stuff, aren't very good.

The comp will grap the attack of your guitar and smoosh it down with the transients. So instead of a big thud when you palm mute a low E, you'll lose that attack, the initial pound from the speakers. That can be taken care of when you fiddle with your attack and release settings, but it isn't needed.

There is two parts to every note you pick on the guitar: attack and transients. Which I have pointed out on the pic below.



Starting from square one, the function of a compressor is to grab all the peaks in a wave form and limit them from going over a threshold. They have an attack setting, which is how fast the comp will react to the signal; how quickly it will grab the peak. They also have a release setting; how quickly the comp will let go of the peak.

When you pick a note on a guitar (clean, not high gain), it looks like the waveform I just posted. Now you can clearly see the sustain (transients) after the two first peaks, it's there but it isn't nearly as loud as the initial attack. Now if I wanted to get more sustain, I could yank that peak down to the level of the transients, and boost the volume. So effectively the attack and sustain would be the same volume. Well there ya' go, now you can turn up the volume a little to make up for the compressor and you instantly have more sustain. You're adding sustain by subtracting the attack and adding volume.

Now with high gain, there aren't very many clearly defined peaks, because overdriven guitar is already heavily compressed. So you want to keep what little dynamics you already have...don't use a compressor.

[Code-001]

Great post stringy!

[danbronson]

A friend of mine puts one in between his 50s reissue strat and his mesa just because the single coils have such low output...or maybe it's in the effects loop.

I'm not really a fan of compressors though. I like high ouput pickups and overdrives, lets me use my volume knob and pedal more effectively if I want to mess with the volume dynamics.

[godhacks]

compressor pretty much did nothing to my rig... maybe the engl has a lot of compression already?

[SteveVHT]

A comp can be good or bad depending how you use it...
Alot of people use much too extreme of a setting, which is not needed....
They will always work best for clean guitar and for singing leads. They do sound better when using less gain, just to give you an even sound.
A good comp like a Keeley or Tone Press can add life to any sound.
They don't work well with very heavy sounds, and can add noise if pushed too far.
The trick to a compressor is setting it so that it's almost not noticeable. You simply want the pedal to even everything out and add sustain. But soooooooo many people set them too high.
I always kept my Keeley knobs at about 12 O clock, maybe a little less, and utilized it for singing leads, and funk lines...
When you "squish" the sound too much, it can sound pretty bad....
Be subtle with a comp....
Steve