The keeley 4 knobs are hit and miss....i had an older 4 knob that i couldnt play without....i bought another one a few years later and it sounded and reacted totally different....and the 2nd one also had a very noticable volume drop....almost hard to play WITH it now. Same exact pedals from the same era yet totally different sounding with the same guitar and rig. Saving up now for an analogman bicomprosser....probably something i should have just bought from the get go.
@MITCHYMITCH555 Hi . I realize that your Comment is 2 years old but maybe you'll see this . Last year I bought the 4 Knob Compressor . But it's the Model with 2 Controls inside the Pedal . I'm not impressed with this Pedal in the least . So as soon as I decide which one , I'm going to order one of the Wampler Compressors . Do you guys have any solid advice for me ? I hope you're all doing well and staying safe . 🎸
Personally I love my Full size wampler ego comp. I have the mini but you lose 2 of the knobs which I do like using. The Cory Wong sig was fun to play with at a store but I haven’t owned it.
@@MITCHYMITCH555 Thanks Mitch . I appreciate your response and advice . That is one of the Comps I am looking at . Ya' know , Keeley has a big name and rep in the Gear world so I can't figure out why this Comp Pedal I bought sucks so much . I've gone through every Video on RUclips trying to get tips and tricks to make it sounds better but I guess it's just crap . I'm quite sure I'm going to get the one you suggested . Again , thank you . I hope you're doing well . 🎸
1) What gets labelled as "Attack" on a great many compressor pedals is generally not an attack adjustment, per se, but rather a recovery-time adjustment. That is, it does not alter how quickly compression kicks in, but rather how quickly it shuts off. When the time it takes for the gain to be restored is *longer* , after pulling it down in response to picking, one tends to miss the bright pick attack of the next note picked. Shortening the recovery time makes the pick attack of subsequent notes easier to hear, which is why it tended to be labelled as "Attack". Here's the thing, though: if you pick quickly, you can easily hear what changes to "Attack" time do. But if you pick slowly, you'll be twiddling the knob wondering if it does anything at all. The effect of that control depends on your "inter-strum interval":, so bear that in mind. As an aside, folks who study and dissect compressors will describe what gets called "breathing". If recovery time is slow, one can hear the gradual increase in hiss as the gain increases and is applied to whatever noise is in the input signal. It tends to sound like someone taking a long inhale - hence "breathing". It is MOST obvious (and annoying) if the compressor is preceded by a high-gain device. 2) I find one of the best and most helpful uses of a compressor is to maintain volume level when you're strumming and singing at the same time, or simply backing up a singer. Paying attention to what you're playing, and how loud you're playing it, can sometimes require more concentration than you have available. Compressors let you focus on one thing and not have to worry or think too hard about the other. You can flail away and not have to worry about accidentally drowning out anyone, including yourself. 3) RE: Noise. Compression serves not only to pull back on gain of peaks, but also apply gain to quieter signals. I can't think of a single analog compressor under a few thousand dollars, and able to fit on a pedalboard, that can tell the difference between a vibrating string slowly decaying, and incoming hiss/noise/hum. As far as the compressor is concerned, that soft signal (i.e., noise) is in *desperate* need of help, so it boosts it. *ALWAYS* make sure that no matter where you stick a compressor in your signal path, you feed it the quietest most noise-free signal you can. 4) RE: Before vs after. Yes, compression ahead of a dirt pedal *will* produce a more consistent dirt-tone since the compression is maintaining the signal at a constant level, relative to the clipping threshold. BUT, all dirt pedals *will* reduce the dynamics of the signal at least a little bit. So feeding a dirt pedal to a compressor will monkey with what the compressor is able to detect. Any before-vs-after comparison will depend on how much you squish with the compressor, how much distortion/clipping one aims for with the dirt pedal, and how hot the output signal is from either the compressor or dirt pedal. That said, as noted earlier, if you feed a compressor with a cranked dirt pedal, the dirt pedal's noise is going to introduce *heavy* "breathing" during your non-strumming moments, so be careful. That doesn't mean you *shouldn't* stick compression after dirt. You just need to manage noise levels sensibly.
@@wampler_pedals Thanks, Brian. I'm just glad you didn't say "That's gold, Jerry! GOLD!", like Steve Banya. One of these days, someone, whether yourself, Andy Martin, Rhett Shul, or Josh Scott, is going to have to post a top-ten-most-misunderstood pedals video. Compression is certainly in there, as are noise gates, "exciters", some 4-knob modulation pedals, some octave-up and octave-down units, and many others. Not everything is as straightforward to beginning electric guitarists as a 3-knob fuzz.
@@giantessmaria Thanks. Brian always starts the ball rolling in the right direction. Makes it easy to fill in the gaps, and saves him the trouble of making hour-long videos! Personally, I don't think many understand or appreciate that compression IS the sound of rock. Keep in mind that, traditionally/historically, limiting and compression were needed to avoid saturating the tape that music was being recorded to, to permit fitting more music on a vinyl side, and to allow broadcast transmitters to send out as undistorted a signal as possible to listeners. At every step along the way, some degree of dynamics-reduction was being imposed on rock, making compression the "normative" sound of rock - what we hear and *like* about the music we like. Later digital technology allowed for much greater dynamics, without sacrificing sound quality, but we still associate a degree of "sponginess" with how rock guitar is *supposed* to sound. Why else do you think Tube Screamers and tube amps are as popular and standard as they are? They just sound "right" to our ears, partly *because* of the way they tinker with dynamics. So optimal use of compressor pedals is, to my mind, an important part of being a skillful rock guitar player (as is how to identify when appropriate compression is being achieved by other means).
I love this channel. 🍀tell you what; between you and Josh, you've given me a greater confidence in my own ears and opinions. I've taken quite a lot of crap over the years from my purist friends; yet, brilliantly, you guys back up my own takes, as well as enrich them. Few among RUclips channels actually GIVE my playing something. Blessings and best regards from the UK 🍀
A compressor set below unity gain and placed before a crunchy amp-style overdrive pedal can give you a sound of that amp-like pedal that's clean but still "louder" than the clean you'd get by turning the guitar volume knob down. So, say, a Vox-like overdrive can turn into a nice clean Vox tone by using a compressor as an "underdrive" pedal in front.
Subtle compression is a great always-on effect to tame single coils. You keep the snap with less harshness and the sustain sounds fuller. Fairly fast attack, moderate ratio and slow release.
A blend knob on a pedal compressor is absolutely brilliant. I have mostly limited experience with pedal compressors other than a Dyna Comp. I'm definitely going to have to go test drive an Ego though ASAP! Thanks!
Great lesson, Mr. Wampler. I discovered this year (when started to use analogic pedals) that a compressor can save our sound (adding volume mainly) when we want use the splitted humbuckers. It's a must have/know pedal.
I really like to keep a compressor on all the time, really subtle, to round off the edges of the sound. Also it gives a very nice percussive pop to the tone, and just helps all around with the consistency of the sound.
Same here. I think keeping one on all the time is a really good idea . Most recorded albums have a lot of compression added either pre or post production so players need to keep that in mind. A lot of records where I heard acoustic guitar really popping and sounding bright and full of sustain was very hard to match and for years I didn’t realize compression was added to that sound to make the finger picking or strumming pop out much more than it would without any compression. So, if they use them on almost every album made, it’s probably important yo keep it on a pedal board to get a more polished sound. A clean blend is great but even without one it’s not hard to adjust it to taste. One thing I always notice is they tend to boost the level a lot and that’s the first thing you’ll hear when turning the pedal on from off. I think compression is key and I wish I knew about it 15 years ago as far as pedals go.
@@jordandangelo180 you’re right. It’s a tool, and an important one. Knowing when and where, and how to apply it is key. You mentioned the level and that’s one of the things I like about keeping one on: the thinner strings sound fuller, closer to the thicker ones, making the sound more balanced. I don’t get to play super loud, or own a cool tube amp, so natural compression is not achievable for me. I get around using effects pedals and it just makes it fun for me. At the end of the day it helps me get a sound and feel I like, and I enjoy playing because of it.
Likewise.. I set mine at a point where you don't notice it's on.. but do notice when you turn it off. It's just enough to improve string & picking balance slightly, without affecting intentional dynamics
Angus uses a wireless that compresses his signal slightly . I agree I like em , depends on what I'm playing . If I'm going for allot of dynamics ? I leave it off .off course now , I honestly forgot about this , that blend knob ... I'll be messing with that later .
Here's the thing people: The big shiny button on the top is more than a "take a break" button. If you are playing your rhythm parts with the compressor and you get to a part you need uncompressed tone, simply step on it and you have all your dynamics and uncompressed sound you can handle. When you're done with your solo or flashy part, simply turn it back on, step back like Malcolm Young would do and continue the song. I know that's extra work, but for the love of Pete it's not that bad. Case in point: I watched Eddie showing us his new 5150 IIIs and he was playing the opening riff of Unchained. He would step on the phaser when he wanted that sound, then turn it off for a few seconds, turn it back on , then off....he was actually USING the effect like an instrument by itself. In the first 8 bars he must have turned it off and on half a dozen times. You can do the same thing. On when you want compression, off when you don't. I know that sounds overly simple and it is, but the complaining by some about a great piece of gear is dumbfounding.
so, use the compressor as a volume control during the rhythm parts so the audience can hear the rest of the band over you and then take it off when you solo? BRILLIANT! Kind of like use compression in mixing. Squash down the stuff that's less important so the singer or whomever can shine through.
@@Ottophil Dude I was probably high af when I wrote that. At the time is seemed like a good topic to delve into. Now, I don't know what the fuck I was talking about. There's a lesson to all of you. Don't comment while high.
I use an orange squeeze style compressor/boost in my effects loop last in the chain. It really does more than an EQ pedal can, basically acts like a psuedo attenuation by boosting the signal and allowing me to turn down my amp's volume to more appropriate levels without losing clarity.
I only own 3 pedals, the Faux Tape Echo Delay, Ethereal Delay and Reverb, and the Ego Compressor. I only bought the Ego Compressor because I understood it levels out the highs and lows perhaps caused by possible imperfections in my style of playing. I do not even own a single overdrive or distortion pedal!!! Why is it "EVERY" video you do is tailored to only Overdrive pedals. Could you please do at least "ONE" to do with Faux Tape Echo Delay or Ethereal Delay and Reverb "with" the Ego Compressor Pedal?? Or did I waste the $$$$ I spent on the Ego because I'm not sure how to use it or am using it "wrong???" Thank you for this video. I am just having problems relating everything with overdrive / distortion when I don't ever use it, and right now, have zero desire to have anything to do with overdrive / distortion. The sound I want is clean with Reverb and Delay, obviously by my choice of pedals (and amp, Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120). (I stared playing in 1962, and therefore, I'm not interested in trying to play whatever is the latest, greatest, state of the art overdrive / distortion trend. I only play Strats and a couple of Les Pauls, do not even own a Tele, if that has anything impact on any advice anyone may attempt to give me. Thank you for humoring me.)
I play Strats most of the time and I have a compressor on most of the time (now it's the very Ego in the video). In the 80s it was a Boss CS-2, early 90s a Rockman Sustainor, After that some comp in the Korg A3 rack multieffect and these days, the Ego. Plenty of recorded compressed Strat tones out there :)
I play primarily humbucker guitars through a Marshall. I recently tried the Keeley compressor pedal in my set-up but couldn't dial in a tone that I liked. I even tried my strat through it without luck. To be honest, I'm still interested in the Ego but I wish these videos would show more diverse set-ups than just a Tele through a clean amp.
I use one with humbuckers to great effect. Adds nice sustain for solos and clarity to finger picking. I think the brightness of a Tele makes it more obvious for videos. Or maybe it's the association with country playing. Whatever the case, definitely still works with humbuckers.
About 2 years ago I hit on the combination of: drives -> noise gate -> compressor -> delays -> reverb. Compressor stays on all the time. Since I hit on this order I have not had to change it.
I add in a drive after the comp (both set a bit more subtle than you would without the other) and 2 types of delays (analog with mod on 1/4, digital dotted eighth after) and I’m right there with you
Great examples, Brian! I have a Diamond and a Mooer Yellow Comp; the Mooer stays on the board before my drives because of the real estate it affords me. The compressor is honestly my tonal secret weapon; always on. Cheers!
Compression also happens in tube amps and mixing consoles so sometimes I don't really need my Ego Squasher. However if YOU can't hear what they do, you should double-down put the rest of your gear on Reverb.
Listen & Learn all u …..up digital 2”x3” minded Millennials out there. Just makes me aggravated & sad ; why for the art of music sake, not everybody talks/explain those issues like him . 👏🏻🍺😎
@Jay Crow Are you ok buddy? Need some time off the internet? I think you need to think more about your behaviour and less about what Mr Wampler does with his time :)
I leave mine on all the time but only for this new band I’m in. I’m backing up an acoustic player and I have to set my big 100 watt amp ,with two tubes removed and in lower mode, extremely low. Safe to say there is always a lot of headroom and even set low I have to play fairly soft. So in my case the compressor allows me to play better as I can express a little more without becoming too loud. The sustain also helps a lot with the slow long notes I’m playing.
Such a great video, Brian! Been a huge fan since the early podcast days with Travis. You seem to be one of the only people on RUclips that's able to explain and demonstrate these types of concepts and practices in such a way that most people can really understand. I love your videos and always have! Bravo!
I always enjoy recording through my fuzz pedals. The heavy distortion effectively compresses the signal naturally. Which is why people who play clean probably like comps more than people who play really dirty.
My ears can’t take it anymore. Compressor is off the board. Not every song w/ guitar tone has to be “Get Lucky” or “Chattahoochee”. The kids use way too much compression and Idk about everyone else but all that 1-6k being boosted into the stratosphere kills my ears
I think it would be awsome if you could make your own twist on a 90s country based compressor. Add like a gain feature. Like the old brent mason stuff. I love wampler stuff they sound awsome. So I know you could nail a pedal like I mentioned
Great explanation Brian...it still remains one of the most mysterious pedals to me, but this helped a lot! Great tone you've got there too, by the way!
I have my compressor after my drive pedals and before modulation effects and it stays on. For me, its the best of both worlds. If I need more drive on some notes, I play harder to push the particular overdrive pedal I've selected for more breakup. And I don't have to worry about getting too loud because the compressor limits the volume spikes without impacting drive. I use the Keeley Compressor Plus.
Thanks for this helpful video! Don't know if I'm alone on this, but I am trying to put together a straight to the front ampless board with the Cory Wong compressor as the DI. Seems logical, since it will be after delay and reverb, to just use the boost function and only turn the compression on when the verb and delay are off. What I'm driving at here: a video focusing on different DI solutions would be very cool.
Compression can be hard to understand, but once you do, you realize how important it is to guitar tone. I love my Ego compressor btw, such a great pedal.
Wow ., Brian , I was going to ask if you’re left handed until you started doing chicken pickin You may evolve like Jeff bBeck did where he slowly but surely evolved away from a pick / plectrum… Anyway thanks for another informative video Ps.. then you played some killer riffs with the pick after I wrote my first remark
Recording quality level compressors are occasionally hard to hear because they're so subtle. Guitar compressor pedals are easy to hear. If you can't hear the difference you might want to consider another hobby.
Except for limited situations (sustain, finger & chicken-picking) my ears like compressors more when the little blue light is off - wonder why that is? I listened intently - and I'm trying to love em, i really am.....
Wow thank you for clearing up a couple of confusions on compression. Some great examples of how it works and why. Dude! some really nice pickin. Good right hand making those tele strings snap and pop. Cool guitar. I never considered that often recorded guitars that have some compression, get compressed again during mixing but I am sure that's the case. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I see you, Mr Wampler - you act like you're barely aware of Pink Floyd when Richard mentions them on the podcast, but here you are wearing a Dark Side of the Moon t-shirt!
I’ve never liked a strong compression on drive tones; there’s something harsh about the sound that hurts my ears. Maybe it’s a specific frequency being enhanced that I don’t like. I far prefer it after gain but then I wonder what’s the point? For me, compression in clean is ok, but I don’t like it much for gain sounds.
Nah. I prefer a Bass Limiter. I tried the boss compression sustainer but I prefer the bass limiter. It's ok if you want to sound like a angry bee in a jar. Haha 😊
Hah! Turns out I completely misinterpreted the direction of the Attack and Blend knobs. I would expect them to work the other way around. Checking the manual now, the Blend knob direction is explained, but not the Attack knob... Thanks for clearing it up in this video!
Thank you, Mr. Wampler, for this video. For years I didn't use a compressor pedal, but I recently purchased your Ego pedal and your Tumnus Deluxe overdrive, and I love them both! I placed the Ego right before the Tumnus on my board, and both pedals seem to work great together in that order.
i introduced compression to a mate who plays acoustic guitar. he was so blown away how a subtle compression of his guitar made it feel more controlled and easier to just play and sing at the same time. It's my favorite effect especially on clean guitar. blend knobs make it easy to add as much subtilty as desired, very console oriented used by audio engineers, especially live performance.
I got myself a Wampler Ego specifically to use with acoustic live (mainly solo). Still getting my head around it, any tips or pointers to acoustic specific guides would be appreciated!
@@notmyname3681 sorry, just saw message. hopefully you came to the realization that used subtly is best. mix a little compression wet/dry knob, to lift the low notes up a touch but retain natural sound. too much can squish everything you play and kill dynamics. also can give a pumping sound to notes. or try slow attack, fast release.
Been watching a lot of your videos. Appreciate all your effort in explaining things. You might consider using more "industry standard" terms when it comes to compression. Downward compression reduces the volume of loud sounds above a certain threshold. Upward compression increases the volume of quiet sounds below a certain threshold. The louder sounds above the threshold remain unaffected. At 3:21 you say "It's compressing down and it's also compressing up." I know you know that's not what's happening, but it's perhaps less clear to say it that way. 5:10 you mention upward compression. That's also not really happening at all here. I don't have an Ego pedal, but from the demo I can tell it sounds very good. I recently got a Cali76 Stacked pedal, which is excellent! All compression pedals need a indication of gain reduction. The Cali76 uses a single LED and that is works well. The absolute gain reduction values in decebels are not really important. Again - I appreciate you, Brian!
I built myself a 70s Dyna clone back in 2010. Since then I’ve gotten an optical compressor the DOD 280 and like that much better - not as noisy and it’s smoother sustain. It also seems more compatible to my DOD 250 grey spec pedals.
I love a compressor after a 'cleaned up with volume knob' fuzz pedal. Your playing Dynamics instead of making the guitar louder or quieter, make it fuzzier or cleaner. Awesome times!
My favorite way of using a compressor pedal is going into a crunch drive setting on my tube amp. By adjusting it just right you can go from just soft clipping the attack of the notes to soft clipping more of the sustained notes as well. Sort of an edge to the whole tone instead of just the harder attacked notes. This was done a lot in recordings in the late 80s and 90s. It’s a great way to add a little edge to the guitar without it being fully into distortion.
Many 80's metal guys not shredders did that a Crunchy Marshall dirtier than Malcolm Young but less than EVH , but set compressor ratio up a bit and have a slightly louder Out Put level, to give boost a bit more gain volume to the amp and clip the amp that little bit more. Saw dozens play that way.
These feel less like "mistakes" and more just not understanding all the wonderful things a compressor can do. I really liked the section about using sustain and attack, looking forward to twiddling the knobs on my Ego this afternoon! Thanks!
Unless the lack of understanding comes from a lack of effort in understanding the tool (as it often happens with fuzzes and filters, leading to people possibly even dismissing the tool without realising what it has to offer), then I'd argue it's a time - and tone - wasting mistake. :)
I have a Keeley four-knob at the start of the chain when I'm doing quieter, cleaner stuff. Volume at parity, sustain at 3 o'clock and blend at 50%. It lends more sustain, evens out the excesses and sounds really good, which helps me loosen up and play better. In the raucous, sonically anarchic context of our band, I often don't bother with compression but enjoy the chaos instead. By the way, miss the goats.
Born in another millennium and die hard analog player, the only reason I’m here is to watch & learn from people who really know their stuff 😘great job sir🥂
i don't know why comp pedals have to be so confusing, just make what it is a hardware compressor give it threshold, attack release ratio knee gain it's not like it's copyrighted ,nowadays is so hard to find a comp pedal that actually tells you what it does (i come from a audio background and comp pedal never work like a compressor to me at least)
I can understand. Basically companies are building products designed with the end consumer in mind. In the case of guitar compressors most consumers are not coming from a technical audio background.
To me compressor is a feel thing, not a hear thing. It was so difficult to compare compressors on sound clips before owning one and fiddling with it. And even then it was like "what, I don't hear anything" until I started to listen to the right thing and play correctly to it.
It takes some getting used but when you dial one in, its there forever. There are multiple uses for a compressor, I use it as a boost and as "talent" pedal. I own a few different kinds and they all have something great and not so great about them. I mainly use an old Keeley dimed if I use one of my old Fenders (twin or Super) and when I need a boost or evening out. I also use it if Im using single coils to fill out the in between notes Im doing a tricky rhythm that use single notes, its really helpful evening the notes out so there are not quiet and louder notes which will sounds horrible and you sound like a beginner. iIt makes a great clean boost that I really like. You have to pick the right one for the amp and style you use or it's useless. Marshalls and higher gain amps I use either a good ol' Boss CS-3, MXR Super Comp or the sleeper Marshall "Ed The Compressor". Keeley's always work better with cleaner amps but don't do much of anything in front of an old JMP, and the others sound great on all but take some playing around with. JangleBox is also a really cool compressor.
the compressor b4 or after will depend on the guitar, the od or drive, the amp, speakers....really even the full pedal board... in this demo, with this gtr, amp and od, and compressors being identical in all ways: B4 had much more uniformity, but extreme highs and lows chopped....the perceive volume and bass was the uniformity and low mids...very American sounding like a Bogner or Mesa Boogie sound. The comp after had more lows and highs and since the drive was outputting mostly distorted mids -those mids got ramped down with almost a noisy scooped sound, with lightly distorted lows and highs sounding sparkly but thin. That is just THIS Case... After could be improved and so could before, ultimately a smart musician tests both in a DAW with a scratch track and applies the typical but often necessary high pass eq filters and other eq, tape saturation etc to see with guitar signal path IS right for the song's mix ( sounds biggest - the right frequencies of mids, low mids, lows but doesnt muddy up or compete with bass gtr with keeping the air ( right highs : no shrillness). I would opt before with set up, lowering lows on amp first seeing if amp highs sound more airy or the drive pedal, and or starting on the drive pedal and compensating with amp eq to fiine tune. great demo Brian!
Hey Craig, been a giant fan and longtime user...I'd love to see your thoughts and some kind of demo video on the use of compressors with plugged in acoustic guitar. Some years back, something like 2011, a friend of mine was playing a guitar I was quite familiar with (a Taylor 414, and I had worked in a guitar shop for a couple of years and had played and heard many), but it just sounded bigger and more thick than any I had heard before. An Ego was sitting on his board and I immediately got one, and since then I've played easily 1500 or more gigs, all with one in the signal path. I think it is a massively overlooked part of good acoustic tone if you play plugged in and it has made a very noticeable difference for me, over a long period of time. Parallel compression is so massive in terms of making an acoustic guitar sound big, and my 2 Egos (one got stolen! jerks) have been a desert island pedal for me. Your Cory Wong one (which I believe is a modified version of the Ego if memory serves?) looks amazing and the inclusion of an XLR out is really cool. Anyway keep it up, you're a beauty
I contracted an unusual compression fetish years ago. I've owned literally dozens, brand and circuit types. The Dyna Comp is STILL my absolute favorite. The first time I plugged a Strat into it with a clean amp, it was love. If you use compression a lot you'll need a second compressor because the features people want: transparency, headroom, retaining dynamics, not chopping your treble off, etc: the Dyna Comp is terrible for. I like the blend control, but found that having them doesn't necessarily crucial. I owned an old 2 knob Keeley years ago, and replaced it with the 4 knob a year or so after it came out. I bought the Compressor Plus and sold my 4 knob, only to send the Plus back when buy another used 4 knob. I just didn't think it was nearly as good as the 4 knob, it seemed to thin my tone out and were too bright, even with the tone control.
Hi , completely unrelated question. But Is it possible to change the impedance of an amp. Background I have a kustom kba10x practice bass amp. A friend has a c10t 150 celestial speaker 10" 150w 8ohm. But the amp is only 4 ohm. How can this be changed to be more suitable for the speaker Thanks in advance
As far as I'm aware, compressors don't actually compress upward. As you compress peaks downward, you increase the output, a.k.a. make-up gain, to maintain similar volume which has the effect of making the quiet parts louder.
I love compressors, I currently use 2 on my board, one is always on (Donner LAX Comp/Pre-Wah) and the other is after my gain acting as a clean boost but it's the sustain that makes me love having it there. You are doing yourself an injustice not giving compression a try.
Hi, Mr Wampler! Why did you change the interface on the newer pedals? Mine is an old sparkle blue ......... (wich is the most beautiful one.......) Probably a stupid question........ But. As I`m a nerd. Why........?
Well. Blend top left.on/off diode middle Attack top right. Lower row. Volume.Tone.Sustain. In Jack on right side/out on left. White printing. Think I got it about 2012/2015. Maybe earlier. Big components inside. Deep blue sparkle and white lettering. Got it for country pickin’ like Brent Mason and Johnny Hiland. Served me well even if I never will play in the same game as those guys………….. Says handmade in America. Very nice pedal……!
Oh, gotcha. Different layout. Through hole parts are being faded out so we can’t buy them in quantity anymore. Knobs are in different place because better noise specs. Logo changed for two reasons: legally it’s not handmade, because all components for anything electrical come from china, plus the simplified logo looks better.
I told Robert Keeley that I didn’t like his 4-knob at gearfest…. and he told me there was a simple answer: it’s because I was wrong.
The keeley 4 knobs are hit and miss....i had an older 4 knob that i couldnt play without....i bought another one a few years later and it sounded and reacted totally different....and the 2nd one also had a very noticable volume drop....almost hard to play WITH it now. Same exact pedals from the same era yet totally different sounding with the same guitar and rig. Saving up now for an analogman bicomprosser....probably something i should have just bought from the get go.
@MITCHYMITCH555
Hi . I realize that your Comment is 2 years old but maybe you'll see this .
Last year I bought the 4 Knob Compressor . But it's the Model with 2 Controls inside the Pedal . I'm not impressed with this Pedal in the least . So as soon as I decide which one , I'm going to order one of the Wampler Compressors .
Do you guys have any solid advice for me ?
I hope you're all doing well and staying safe . 🎸
Personally I love my Full size wampler ego comp. I have the mini but you lose 2 of the knobs which I do like using. The Cory Wong sig was fun to play with at a store but I haven’t owned it.
@@MITCHYMITCH555
Thanks Mitch . I appreciate your response and advice . That is one of the Comps I am looking at . Ya' know , Keeley has a big name and rep in the Gear world so I can't figure out why this Comp Pedal I bought sucks so much . I've gone through every Video on RUclips trying to get tips and tricks to make it sounds better but I guess it's just crap .
I'm quite sure I'm going to get the one you suggested .
Again , thank you . I hope you're doing well . 🎸
1) What gets labelled as "Attack" on a great many compressor pedals is generally not an attack adjustment, per se, but rather a recovery-time adjustment. That is, it does not alter how quickly compression kicks in, but rather how quickly it shuts off. When the time it takes for the gain to be restored is *longer* , after pulling it down in response to picking, one tends to miss the bright pick attack of the next note picked. Shortening the recovery time makes the pick attack of subsequent notes easier to hear, which is why it tended to be labelled as "Attack". Here's the thing, though: if you pick quickly, you can easily hear what changes to "Attack" time do. But if you pick slowly, you'll be twiddling the knob wondering if it does anything at all. The effect of that control depends on your "inter-strum interval":, so bear that in mind.
As an aside, folks who study and dissect compressors will describe what gets called "breathing". If recovery time is slow, one can hear the gradual increase in hiss as the gain increases and is applied to whatever noise is in the input signal. It tends to sound like someone taking a long inhale - hence "breathing". It is MOST obvious (and annoying) if the compressor is preceded by a high-gain device.
2) I find one of the best and most helpful uses of a compressor is to maintain volume level when you're strumming and singing at the same time, or simply backing up a singer. Paying attention to what you're playing, and how loud you're playing it, can sometimes require more concentration than you have available. Compressors let you focus on one thing and not have to worry or think too hard about the other. You can flail away and not have to worry about accidentally drowning out anyone, including yourself.
3) RE: Noise. Compression serves not only to pull back on gain of peaks, but also apply gain to quieter signals. I can't think of a single analog compressor under a few thousand dollars, and able to fit on a pedalboard, that can tell the difference between a vibrating string slowly decaying, and incoming hiss/noise/hum. As far as the compressor is concerned, that soft signal (i.e., noise) is in *desperate* need of help, so it boosts it. *ALWAYS* make sure that no matter where you stick a compressor in your signal path, you feed it the quietest most noise-free signal you can.
4) RE: Before vs after. Yes, compression ahead of a dirt pedal *will* produce a more consistent dirt-tone since the compression is maintaining the signal at a constant level, relative to the clipping threshold. BUT, all dirt pedals *will* reduce the dynamics of the signal at least a little bit. So feeding a dirt pedal to a compressor will monkey with what the compressor is able to detect. Any before-vs-after comparison will depend on how much you squish with the compressor, how much distortion/clipping one aims for with the dirt pedal, and how hot the output signal is from either the compressor or dirt pedal.
That said, as noted earlier, if you feed a compressor with a cranked dirt pedal, the dirt pedal's noise is going to introduce *heavy* "breathing" during your non-strumming moments, so be careful. That doesn't mean you *shouldn't* stick compression after dirt. You just need to manage noise levels sensibly.
Pure gold, good sir!
@@wampler_pedals Thanks, Brian. I'm just glad you didn't say "That's gold, Jerry! GOLD!", like Steve Banya.
One of these days, someone, whether yourself, Andy Martin, Rhett Shul, or Josh Scott, is going to have to post a top-ten-most-misunderstood pedals video. Compression is certainly in there, as are noise gates, "exciters", some 4-knob modulation pedals, some octave-up and octave-down units, and many others. Not everything is as straightforward to beginning electric guitarists as a 3-knob fuzz.
thanks man, wonderfully comprehensive explanation!
@@giantessmaria Thanks. Brian always starts the ball rolling in the right direction. Makes it easy to fill in the gaps, and saves him the trouble of making hour-long videos! Personally, I don't think many understand or appreciate that compression IS the sound of rock. Keep in mind that, traditionally/historically, limiting and compression were needed to avoid saturating the tape that music was being recorded to, to permit fitting more music on a vinyl side, and to allow broadcast transmitters to send out as undistorted a signal as possible to listeners. At every step along the way, some degree of dynamics-reduction was being imposed on rock, making compression the "normative" sound of rock - what we hear and *like* about the music we like. Later digital technology allowed for much greater dynamics, without sacrificing sound quality, but we still associate a degree of "sponginess" with how rock guitar is *supposed* to sound. Why else do you think Tube Screamers and tube amps are as popular and standard as they are? They just sound "right" to our ears, partly *because* of the way they tinker with dynamics. So optimal use of compressor pedals is, to my mind, an important part of being a skillful rock guitar player (as is how to identify when appropriate compression is being achieved by other means).
Comment of the month right here! ♥️
I love this channel.
🍀tell you what; between you and Josh, you've given me a greater confidence in my own ears and opinions.
I've taken quite a lot of crap over the years from my purist friends; yet, brilliantly, you guys back up my own takes, as well as enrich them.
Few among RUclips channels actually GIVE my playing something.
Blessings and best regards from the UK 🍀
A compressor set below unity gain and placed before a crunchy amp-style overdrive pedal can give you a sound of that amp-like pedal that's clean but still "louder" than the clean you'd get by turning the guitar volume knob down. So, say, a Vox-like overdrive can turn into a nice clean Vox tone by using a compressor as an "underdrive" pedal in front.
I do that except I roll back the volume as I use the compressor to make overdriven sounds sing
Hi! Compressor novice here. Does this also work with a Vox amp that tends to break up early, like an AC-15?
@@meadish Yes, the same principle should work.
Subtle compression is a great always-on effect to tame single coils. You keep the snap with less harshness and the sustain sounds fuller. Fairly fast attack, moderate ratio and slow release.
Put a fuzz in front. Better
A blend knob on a pedal compressor is absolutely brilliant. I have mostly limited experience with pedal compressors other than a Dyna Comp. I'm definitely going to have to go test drive an Ego though ASAP!
Thanks!
Great lesson, Mr. Wampler. I discovered this year (when started to use analogic pedals) that a compressor can save our sound (adding volume mainly) when we want use the splitted humbuckers. It's a must have/know pedal.
I really like to keep a compressor on all the time, really subtle, to round off the edges of the sound. Also it gives a very nice percussive pop to the tone, and just helps all around with the consistency of the sound.
I play power metal and use one exactly the same way, just to smooth the dynamic range slightly and give it a little thrust to your sustain.
Same here. I think keeping one on all the time is a really good idea . Most recorded albums have a lot of compression added either pre or post production so players need to keep that in mind. A lot of records where I heard acoustic guitar really popping and sounding bright and full of sustain was very hard to match and for years I didn’t realize compression was added to that sound to make the finger picking or strumming pop out much more than it would without any compression. So, if they use them on almost every album made, it’s probably important yo keep it on a pedal board to get a more polished sound. A clean blend is great but even without one it’s not hard to adjust it to taste. One thing I always notice is they tend to boost the level a lot and that’s the first thing you’ll hear when turning the pedal on from off. I think compression is key and I wish I knew about it 15 years ago as far as pedals go.
@@jordandangelo180 you’re right. It’s a tool, and an important one. Knowing when and where, and how to apply it is key. You mentioned the level and that’s one of the things I like about keeping one on: the thinner strings sound fuller, closer to the thicker ones, making the sound more balanced. I don’t get to play super loud, or own a cool tube amp, so natural compression is not achievable for me. I get around using effects pedals and it just makes it fun for me.
At the end of the day it helps me get a sound and feel I like, and I enjoy playing because of it.
Likewise.. I set mine at a point where you don't notice it's on.. but do notice when you turn it off. It's just enough to improve string & picking balance slightly, without affecting intentional dynamics
Angus uses a wireless that compresses his signal slightly . I agree I like em , depends on what I'm playing . If I'm going for allot of dynamics ? I leave it off .off course now , I honestly forgot about this , that blend knob ... I'll be messing with that later .
Here's the thing people: The big shiny button on the top is more than a "take a break" button. If you are playing your rhythm parts with the compressor and you get to a part you need uncompressed tone, simply step on it and you have all your dynamics and uncompressed sound you can handle. When you're done with your solo or flashy part, simply turn it back on, step back like Malcolm Young would do and continue the song. I know that's extra work, but for the love of Pete it's not that bad. Case in point: I watched Eddie showing us his new 5150 IIIs and he was playing the opening riff of Unchained. He would step on the phaser when he wanted that sound, then turn it off for a few seconds, turn it back on , then off....he was actually USING the effect like an instrument by itself. In the first 8 bars he must have turned it off and on half a dozen times. You can do the same thing. On when you want compression, off when you don't. I know that sounds overly simple and it is, but the complaining by some about a great piece of gear is dumbfounding.
so, use the compressor as a volume control during the rhythm parts so the audience can hear the rest of the band over you and then take it off when you solo? BRILLIANT! Kind of like use compression in mixing. Squash down the stuff that's less important so the singer or whomever can shine through.
You just went on a rant to tell people how to turn a pedal off? What is your problem? You think people don’t turn their effects off enough?
@@Ottophil Dude I was probably high af when I wrote that. At the time is seemed like a good topic to delve into. Now, I don't know what the fuck I was talking about. There's a lesson to all of you. Don't comment while high.
By the way, unchained uses a flanger
I've been years watching tutorials regarding correct compression and this one is the best hands down.
Love the Pink Floyd shirt brian
I use an orange squeeze style compressor/boost in my effects loop last in the chain. It really does more than an EQ pedal can, basically acts like a psuedo attenuation by boosting the signal and allowing me to turn down my amp's volume to more appropriate levels without losing clarity.
What is doing the MXR reverb in the thumbnail?
I only own 3 pedals, the Faux Tape Echo Delay, Ethereal Delay and Reverb, and the Ego Compressor. I only bought the Ego Compressor because I understood it levels out the highs and lows perhaps caused by possible imperfections in my style of playing. I do not even own a single overdrive or distortion pedal!!! Why is it "EVERY" video you do is tailored to only Overdrive pedals. Could you please do at least "ONE" to do with Faux Tape Echo Delay or Ethereal Delay and Reverb "with" the Ego Compressor Pedal?? Or did I waste the $$$$ I spent on the Ego because I'm not sure how to use it or am using it "wrong???" Thank you for this video. I am just having problems relating everything with overdrive / distortion when I don't ever use it, and right now, have zero desire to have anything to do with overdrive / distortion. The sound I want is clean with Reverb and Delay, obviously by my choice of pedals (and amp, Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120). (I stared playing in 1962, and therefore, I'm not interested in trying to play whatever is the latest, greatest, state of the art overdrive / distortion trend. I only play Strats and a couple of Les Pauls, do not even own a Tele, if that has anything impact on any advice anyone may attempt to give me. Thank you for humoring me.)
To much ego.
Love your Chicken Pickin' !
I'm pretty sure compressors only work with a telecaster. I've never seen any other guitar used to demonstrate how one works anyways.
I play Strats most of the time and I have a compressor on most of the time (now it's the very Ego in the video). In the 80s it was a Boss CS-2, early 90s a Rockman Sustainor, After that some comp in the Korg A3 rack multieffect and these days, the Ego. Plenty of recorded compressed Strat tones out there :)
I play primarily humbucker guitars through a Marshall. I recently tried the Keeley compressor pedal in my set-up but couldn't dial in a tone that I liked. I even tried my strat through it without luck. To be honest, I'm still interested in the Ego but I wish these videos would show more diverse set-ups than just a Tele through a clean amp.
I use one with humbuckers to great effect. Adds nice sustain for solos and clarity to finger picking.
I think the brightness of a Tele makes it more obvious for videos. Or maybe it's the association with country playing. Whatever the case, definitely still works with humbuckers.
STRAT always on .COMPRESSOR always on .
@@azabul If you're playing through a distorted amp, you'll notice the compressor a lot less. Distortion itself is compressing.
About 2 years ago I hit on the combination of: drives -> noise gate -> compressor -> delays -> reverb. Compressor stays on all the time. Since I hit on this order I have not had to change it.
I add in a drive after the comp (both set a bit more subtle than you would without the other) and 2 types of delays (analog with mod on 1/4, digital dotted eighth after) and I’m right there with you
I will definitely have to try this! I started building but first pedalboard in early 2021, do I still have a lot to learn.
Great examples, Brian!
I have a Diamond and a Mooer Yellow Comp; the Mooer stays on the board before my drives because of the real estate it affords me. The compressor is honestly my tonal secret weapon; always on.
Cheers!
Compressor is the most bs effect of all time. you literally can’t even tell what it does. The only mistake is buying a compressor pedal
Compression also happens in tube amps and mixing consoles so sometimes I don't really need my Ego Squasher.
However if YOU can't hear what they do, you should double-down put the rest of your gear on Reverb.
Was this paid information or was it Comp’ed?
I can’t “sustain” this line of questioning ☺️😛 🥁
Sorry Brian, I didn’t need such hard kneed attack.
Listen & Learn all u …..up digital 2”x3” minded Millennials out there. Just makes me aggravated & sad ; why for the art of music sake, not everybody talks/explain those issues like him . 👏🏻🍺😎
No.
What's the closest to the old grey Ross compressor?
Can you do an episode about compression settings for different effects or sounds (chicken picking, David Gilmoure, funk rythmn guitar etc).
@Jay Crow Are you ok buddy? Need some time off the internet? I think you need to think more about your behaviour and less about what Mr Wampler does with his time :)
👍
@Jay Crow why are you here if you have nothing left to learn?
@@ia3630 LMAO! 🤘😁🤘
I leave mine on all the time but only for this new band I’m in. I’m backing up an acoustic player and I have to set my big 100 watt amp ,with two tubes removed and in lower mode, extremely low. Safe to say there is always a lot of headroom and even set low I have to play fairly soft. So in my case the compressor allows me to play better as I can express a little more without becoming too loud. The sustain also helps a lot with the slow long notes I’m playing.
A compressor pedal should ALWAYS go somewhere between the guitar and the speaker of the amp.
Hey Brian, I love the Ego. It's been on my main board for about 4 years. To me, it really accentuates my overall sound and tone.
Such a great video, Brian! Been a huge fan since the early podcast days with Travis. You seem to be one of the only people on RUclips that's able to explain and demonstrate these types of concepts and practices in such a way that most people can really understand. I love your videos and always have! Bravo!
I always enjoy recording through my fuzz pedals. The heavy distortion effectively compresses the signal naturally. Which is why people who play clean probably like comps more than people who play really dirty.
in audio engineer perspective, compressor is an essential tools
My ears can’t take it anymore. Compressor is off the board. Not every song w/ guitar tone has to be “Get Lucky” or “Chattahoochee”. The kids use way too much compression and Idk about everyone else but all that 1-6k being boosted into the stratosphere kills my ears
I think it would be awsome if you could make your own twist on a 90s country based compressor. Add like a gain feature. Like the old brent mason stuff. I love wampler stuff they sound awsome. So I know you could nail a pedal like I mentioned
If you're using a reverb pedal (a la the thumbnail) as a compressor, you're DEFINITELY doing it wrong.
Great explanation Brian...it still remains one of the most mysterious pedals to me, but this helped a lot! Great tone you've got there too, by the way!
I have my compressor after my drive pedals and before modulation effects and it stays on.
For me, its the best of both worlds. If I need more drive on some notes, I play harder to push the particular overdrive pedal I've selected for more breakup.
And I don't have to worry about getting too loud because the compressor limits the volume spikes without impacting drive.
I use the Keeley Compressor Plus.
Thanks for this helpful video! Don't know if I'm alone on this, but I am trying to put together a straight to the front ampless board with the Cory Wong compressor as the DI. Seems logical, since it will be after delay and reverb, to just use the boost function and only turn the compression on when the verb and delay are off. What I'm driving at here: a video focusing on different DI solutions would be very cool.
Compression can be hard to understand, but once you do, you realize how important it is to guitar tone. I love my Ego compressor btw, such a great pedal.
Old dyna comp with my strats and teles. No compressor with my humbucker guitars for me.
If you CAN'T hear anything, you're doing it wrong! AKA: User error!
Wow ., Brian , I was going to ask if you’re left handed until you started doing chicken pickin
You may evolve like Jeff bBeck did where he slowly but surely evolved away from a pick / plectrum…
Anyway thanks for another informative video
Ps.. then you played some killer riffs with the pick after I wrote my first remark
Recording quality level compressors are occasionally hard to hear because they're so subtle. Guitar compressor pedals are easy to hear. If you can't hear the difference you might want to consider another hobby.
Except for limited situations (sustain, finger & chicken-picking) my ears like compressors more when the little blue light is off - wonder why that is? I listened intently - and I'm trying to love em, i really am.....
Wow thank you for clearing up a couple of confusions on compression. Some great examples of how it works and why. Dude! some really nice pickin. Good right hand making those tele strings snap and pop. Cool guitar. I never considered that often recorded guitars that have some compression, get compressed again during mixing but I am sure that's the case. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I see you, Mr Wampler - you act like you're barely aware of Pink Floyd when Richard mentions them on the podcast, but here you are wearing a Dark Side of the Moon t-shirt!
I’ve never liked a strong compression on drive tones; there’s something harsh about the sound that hurts my ears. Maybe it’s a specific frequency being enhanced that I don’t like. I far prefer it after gain but then I wonder what’s the point? For me, compression in clean is ok, but I don’t like it much for gain sounds.
Can you do a video about the $12 compressor I got off of Amazon because compressors are boring? (Maybe I'm kidding?)
why not make video content about making mini guitar amps, such as marhll mg10 and fender r15,,??
Doctors HATE this this one trick!!!!
Nah. I prefer a Bass Limiter. I tried the boss compression sustainer but I prefer the bass limiter. It's ok if you want to sound like a angry bee in a jar. Haha 😊
Hah! Turns out I completely misinterpreted the direction of the Attack and Blend knobs. I would expect them to work the other way around. Checking the manual now, the Blend knob direction is explained, but not the Attack knob...
Thanks for clearing it up in this video!
What's the oscilloscope app you've used here? Ableton or something like that?
Thank you, Mr. Wampler, for this video. For years I didn't use a compressor pedal, but I recently purchased your Ego pedal and your Tumnus Deluxe overdrive, and I love them both! I placed the Ego right before the Tumnus on my board, and both pedals seem to work great together in that order.
The Ego is the best pedal I ever bought.
yeah, SURE it is. YOU hear it doing all that great stuff. To me, not so much, sounds like a waste of money...
i introduced compression to a mate who plays acoustic guitar. he was so blown away how a subtle compression of his guitar made it feel more controlled and easier to just play and sing at the same time. It's my favorite effect especially on clean guitar. blend knobs make it easy to add as much subtilty as desired, very console oriented used by audio engineers, especially live performance.
I got myself a Wampler Ego specifically to use with acoustic live (mainly solo). Still getting my head around it, any tips or pointers to acoustic specific guides would be appreciated!
I use a keeley 4 knob and its magic with the acoustic when i turn it on lol
@@notmyname3681 sorry, just saw message. hopefully you came to the realization that used subtly is best. mix a little compression wet/dry knob, to lift the low notes up a touch but retain natural sound. too much can squish everything you play and kill dynamics. also can give a pumping sound to notes. or try slow attack, fast release.
Been watching a lot of your videos. Appreciate all your effort in explaining things. You might consider using more "industry standard" terms when it comes to compression. Downward compression reduces the volume of loud sounds above a certain threshold. Upward compression increases the volume of quiet sounds below a certain threshold. The louder sounds above the threshold remain unaffected. At 3:21 you say "It's compressing down and it's also compressing up." I know you know that's not what's happening, but it's perhaps less clear to say it that way. 5:10 you mention upward compression. That's also not really happening at all here. I don't have an Ego pedal, but from the demo I can tell it sounds very good. I recently got a Cali76 Stacked pedal, which is excellent! All compression pedals need a indication of gain reduction. The Cali76 uses a single LED and that is works well. The absolute gain reduction values in decebels are not really important.
Again - I appreciate you, Brian!
Great video I especially liked the guy losing his 💩 over the noise issue lmfao
my first compressor pedal i gave away thinking that it doesnt works...
i put compressor before gain. when enggage harddrive the volume is getting up and down. why?
I still have my ego compressor from 2015. It is always on.
I built myself a 70s Dyna clone back in 2010. Since then I’ve gotten an optical compressor the DOD 280 and like that much better - not as noisy and it’s smoother sustain. It also seems more compatible to my DOD 250 grey spec pedals.
I love a compressor after a 'cleaned up with volume knob' fuzz pedal.
Your playing Dynamics instead of making the guitar louder or quieter, make it fuzzier or cleaner.
Awesome times!
👍
My favorite way of using a compressor pedal is going into a crunch drive setting on my tube amp. By adjusting it just right you can go from just soft clipping the attack of the notes to soft clipping more of the sustained notes as well. Sort of an edge to the whole tone instead of just the harder attacked notes. This was done a lot in recordings in the late 80s and 90s. It’s a great way to add a little edge to the guitar without it being fully into distortion.
Many 80's metal guys not shredders did that a Crunchy Marshall dirtier than Malcolm Young but less than EVH , but set compressor ratio up a bit and have a slightly louder Out Put level, to give boost a bit more gain volume to the amp and clip the amp that little bit more.
Saw dozens play that way.
These feel less like "mistakes" and more just not understanding all the wonderful things a compressor can do. I really liked the section about using sustain and attack, looking forward to twiddling the knobs on my Ego this afternoon! Thanks!
Unless the lack of understanding comes from a lack of effort in understanding the tool (as it often happens with fuzzes and filters, leading to people possibly even dismissing the tool without realising what it has to offer), then I'd argue it's a time - and tone - wasting mistake. :)
Attack should be FASTER as you turn it UP. Guitar pedal people always do things backwards.
It can be confusing for those used to studio work. But alas, the customer is always right, and data indicates on pedals it should be the other way 🤷
Where can i find a Wampler sticker for My plextortion pedal. The bottom one
I used to make these mistakes. Then, I sold my compressor.
Yo dawg I heard you liked compressors so I ran your compressor into a compressor and in your effects loop I put a compressor
I have a Keeley four-knob at the start of the chain when I'm doing quieter, cleaner stuff. Volume at parity, sustain at 3 o'clock and blend at 50%. It lends more sustain, evens out the excesses and sounds really good, which helps me loosen up and play better. In the raucous, sonically anarchic context of our band, I often don't bother with compression but enjoy the chaos instead. By the way, miss the goats.
I have a compressor on all the time I have ever since I bought one in 1976
Brian Wampler is the Tony Hawk of guitar tech. #ChangeMyMind
😂
Born in another millennium and die hard analog player, the only reason I’m here is to watch & learn from people who really know their stuff 😘great job sir🥂
I just like that you are wearing a Floyd shirt.
my question is simple could i put compression within the loop of a noise gate?
My @EHX Bass preacher is a turd. It acts as a mute button. 😆
The Warden Optical Compressor is the best!
Why did you put the MXR Reverb in the screenshot?
I haven't even watched the video yet but I'm just going to go ahead and say yes.
You really levelled up your playing lately, man. Great vid.
i don't know why comp pedals have to be so confusing, just make what it is a hardware compressor give it threshold, attack release ratio knee gain it's not like it's copyrighted ,nowadays is so hard to find a comp pedal that actually tells you what it does (i come from a audio background and comp pedal never work like a compressor to me at least)
I can understand. Basically companies are building products designed with the end consumer in mind. In the case of guitar compressors most consumers are not coming from a technical audio background.
The safest thing to do is to buy two, one before and one after!
Sounded way better without the pedal junk.
Dude with the man bun is just having the worst day
regarding another effetcs, specially for octavers. How should I use the compressor, after or before the octaver?
I probably would use it before clean octaves, after for something like Octavia style pedals
I see you Brian with that spicy chicken pickin lick okay 👀
To me compressor is a feel thing, not a hear thing. It was so difficult to compare compressors on sound clips before owning one and fiddling with it. And even then it was like "what, I don't hear anything" until I started to listen to the right thing and play correctly to it.
Was going to comment the same. For me it is very much a feel thing and less-so a sound thing. Just tightens things up a bit and gives more control.
We need a compressor with noise gate built in
It takes some getting used but when you dial one in, its there forever. There are multiple uses for a compressor, I use it as a boost and as "talent" pedal. I own a few different kinds and they all have something great and not so great about them. I mainly use an old Keeley dimed if I use one of my old Fenders (twin or Super) and when I need a boost or evening out. I also use it if Im using single coils to fill out the in between notes Im doing a tricky rhythm that use single notes, its really helpful evening the notes out so there are not quiet and louder notes which will sounds horrible and you sound like a beginner. iIt makes a great clean boost that I really like. You have to pick the right one for the amp and style you use or it's useless. Marshalls and higher gain amps I use either a good ol' Boss CS-3, MXR Super Comp or the sleeper Marshall "Ed The Compressor". Keeley's always work better with cleaner amps but don't do much of anything in front of an old JMP, and the others sound great on all but take some playing around with. JangleBox is also a really cool compressor.
What do you mean by “talent” pedal?
I’m interested.
the compressor b4 or after will depend on the guitar, the od or drive, the amp, speakers....really even the full pedal board... in this demo, with this gtr, amp and od, and compressors being identical in all ways: B4 had much more uniformity, but extreme highs and lows chopped....the perceive volume and bass was the uniformity and low mids...very American sounding like a Bogner or Mesa Boogie sound. The comp after had more lows and highs and since the drive was outputting mostly distorted mids -those mids got ramped down with almost a noisy scooped sound, with lightly distorted lows and highs sounding sparkly but thin. That is just THIS Case... After could be improved and so could before, ultimately a smart musician tests both in a DAW with a scratch track and applies the typical but often necessary high pass eq filters and other eq, tape saturation etc to see with guitar signal path IS right for the song's mix ( sounds biggest - the right frequencies of mids, low mids, lows but doesnt muddy up or compete with bass gtr with keeping the air ( right highs : no shrillness). I would opt before with set up, lowering lows on amp first seeing if amp highs sound more airy or the drive pedal, and or starting on the drive pedal and compensating with amp eq to fiine tune. great demo Brian!
Hey Craig, been a giant fan and longtime user...I'd love to see your thoughts and some kind of demo video on the use of compressors with plugged in acoustic guitar. Some years back, something like 2011, a friend of mine was playing a guitar I was quite familiar with (a Taylor 414, and I had worked in a guitar shop for a couple of years and had played and heard many), but it just sounded bigger and more thick than any I had heard before. An Ego was sitting on his board and I immediately got one, and since then I've played easily 1500 or more gigs, all with one in the signal path. I think it is a massively overlooked part of good acoustic tone if you play plugged in and it has made a very noticeable difference for me, over a long period of time. Parallel compression is so massive in terms of making an acoustic guitar sound big, and my 2 Egos (one got stolen! jerks) have been a desert island pedal for me. Your Cory Wong one (which I believe is a modified version of the Ego if memory serves?) looks amazing and the inclusion of an XLR out is really cool. Anyway keep it up, you're a beauty
Never do I hear any differences when the pedal is on or off in the video. Must be my laptop speakers??
Yeah, you definitely should listen through at least earbuds. Laptop speakers won’t convey enough audio detail for these sorts of things.
I contracted an unusual compression fetish years ago. I've owned literally dozens, brand and circuit types. The Dyna Comp is STILL my absolute favorite. The first time I plugged a Strat into it with a clean amp, it was love. If you use compression a lot you'll need a second compressor because the features people want: transparency, headroom, retaining dynamics, not chopping your treble off, etc: the Dyna Comp is terrible for.
I like the blend control, but found that having them doesn't necessarily crucial. I owned an old 2 knob Keeley years ago, and replaced it with the 4 knob a year or so after it came out. I bought the Compressor Plus and sold my 4 knob, only to send the Plus back when buy another used 4 knob. I just didn't think it was nearly as good as the 4 knob, it seemed to thin my tone out and were too bright, even with the tone control.
2 compressors at the same time? So, which one first?
If it squashes too much Just turn the level up
Hi , completely unrelated question. But
Is it possible to change the impedance of an amp.
Background I have a kustom kba10x practice bass amp.
A friend has a c10t 150 celestial speaker 10" 150w 8ohm.
But the amp is only 4 ohm.
How can this be changed to be more suitable for the speaker
Thanks in advance
As far as I'm aware, compressors don't actually compress upward. As you compress peaks downward, you increase the output, a.k.a. make-up gain, to maintain similar volume which has the effect of making the quiet parts louder.
Go watch anything that Jamie West-Oram plays with the Fixx, there's a lesson in hard compression for you.
I love compressors, I currently use 2 on my board, one is always on (Donner LAX Comp/Pre-Wah) and the other is after my gain acting as a clean boost but it's the sustain that makes me love having it there. You are doing yourself an injustice not giving compression a try.
Hi, Mr Wampler!
Why did you change the interface on the newer pedals?
Mine is an old sparkle blue .........
(wich is the most beautiful one.......)
Probably a stupid question........
But.
As I`m a nerd.
Why........?
Which pedal are you referring to? Some of our new pedals do have quite a bit of sparkle, like the Mofetta and the ego76
Well.
Blend top left.on/off diode middle Attack top right.
Lower row.
Volume.Tone.Sustain.
In Jack on right side/out on left.
White printing.
Think I got it about 2012/2015.
Maybe earlier.
Big components inside.
Deep blue sparkle and white lettering.
Got it for country pickin’ like Brent Mason and Johnny Hiland.
Served me well even if I never will play in the same game as those guys…………..
Says handmade in America.
Very nice pedal……!
Oh, gotcha. Different layout. Through hole parts are being faded out so we can’t buy them in quantity anymore. Knobs are in different place because better noise specs. Logo changed for two reasons: legally it’s not handmade, because all components for anything electrical come from china, plus the simplified logo looks better.
Thanks Mr Wampler!
It will stay on my board and be used a lot……!
👍
Most compressor pedals are not doing downward AND upward compression. It jut sounds like that because of the makeup gain.