I'm learning stuff I had no intention of ever learning. It's not like I'm actively attempting not to learn, I prefer to think of it as controlling my reality dude. You guys work well together. Great lesson!
I bought a compressor years ago for live gigs not even knowing what it was for. Was just told "hey go buy this". After watching, I was clearly using wrong.
I think we all do that with our first compressor. In my early years of playing electric and diving into the massive world of effects, I initially thought it cut the high and low frequencies, as explained by a 'friend' and was wondering why an EQ pedal even existed. Hated the sound and got rid of it because I used it incorrectly. Couple of years later after learning what they actually do, I love a good compressor pedal now.
I think you were confused about the attack and release buttons, the more counterclockwise (to the left)) the faster it works, the more clockwise(to the right) the slower it will work. Good video anyway.
Yeah the attack is sort of counter intuitive. With it set around 7pm the compressor engages quickly. A quick attacks dial the knob to the right, clockwise, it slows down. From 50 micro sends to 500 milliseconds Attack time increases, meaning it takes longer for it to engage.
When I play chords on my guitar, I find that it sometimes get a little icy-picky when I strum too hard, because of the thinner strings. Would a compressor do a good job leveling that out?
Sean Daniel Tried that already, didn't really help in that sense that I would like it to. Anyway, I'll try fiddling with my amps EQ and see what it does. Thanks for the quick reply Sean, you're always a huge help! :)
I'm sure this is not an original observation, but I love how sean sort of adds an additional syllable to the last word in each sentence...sure it's not deliberate..but I start to get fixated on it lol
Sean Daniel You rock (literally, too haha). I've learned a lot of theory from you that wasn't clicking for me from others. Much appreciated, man. Keep on keeping on:)
I just bought a compressor but I'm struggling trying to get a good sound out of it. It's one of those mini Xvive Lemon Squeezer things. Maybe there aren't enough settings for me to play with, but it's tough to get a natural compressed sound. Kinda put me off them..
I think "natural" is the operative word. Many compressors (and I think the Squeezer is one of them) hit the nail with quite a heavy hammer. If you want something with a more natural sound, you have to purchase a compressor designed with that quality in mind.
Yeah I thought as much. Snapped it up second hand at a very good price, but that's where the joy got left behind....I'll give it a proper go before I try something more expensive. Cheers!
Cost doesn't have to be the issue. Just as an example, I decided that among the variety of compressors aimed at retaining a more natural sounding tone the Diamond Compressor was my choice. At about $200 it's way over my budget. But Musician's Friend has a Mooer Yellow Comp which is a Diamond clone, for fifty bucks. That's the route I took.
Not technically. Attenuation is reducing a signal. So part of what a compressor does is 'attenuate' anything over a certain threshold. A standalone attenuator can serve a couple purposes: www.premierguitar.com/articles/Quiet_Please_Attenuators_and_Their_Many_Uses
Couple reasons. One is that is can add a good amount of sustain for certain parts, another is that is sends a cleaner signal into other effects pedals, and some people just like a smooth, even sound. But you definitely want to keep dynamics as part of you playing, so it's not like you have to use it all the time.
Sean Daniel Okay so is a compressor usually used with some type of added overdrive or distortion to exaggerate the sustain of your notes? I also assume people pair it with other pedals like boosts drives and delay since you say pedals take the compressed signal better
Yup, I wouldn't go so far to say that it's 'usually' used like that, but a lot of people like paring them. Country pickers specifically may use just compression alone.
Hey Sean, it's been a while since I commented or watched any of your videos. I've been busy these holidays but now I'm back on track. I'm glad to see you're still making successful clips man. I kept recommending you to my sister who is learning guitar, but so far no luck XD But I'll keep trying. As always man, you have a Like that goes with the Comment from yours truly! Keep it up! PS: My channel finally reached 300 Subs, YAY!
I spend thousands on these peddles, I look up and half the audience is walking out the door and the other half is putting earplugs in, I think I must be playing the wrong songs? I did add Napoleon XIV's They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! and got some good feedback on my twin but none from the audiance......
Video was pretty much unwatchable due to the poor camera placement and the dude's hand blocking everything he does. So while I'm sure there is some good info in there, it's presented very poorly and I learned nothing.
Glad you later mentioned that compression is helpful for acoustic guitar also, especially for finger picking.
Definitely does a good job of balancing it out.
I'm learning stuff I had no intention of ever learning. It's not like I'm actively attempting not to learn, I prefer to think of it as controlling my reality dude. You guys work well together. Great lesson!
Thanks so much! We've got some more stuff coming out!
Best explanation I’ve seen by far. Thank You!!!
Happy to help Daniel!
Great video and have enjoyed the whole series. I love the sound of the FATSO with all of my rigs and this is a great explanation for why.
I've heard awesome things about the FATSO!
Cool info. Thanks for sharing your ideas.
Always happy to!
Good job guys ! Beautiful guitar Sherwood Green ! That green looks like the famous British Racing Green.
My favorite color!
Great job guys! Compressors are one of the most difficult pedals for people to understand.
I'm definitely still learning about them!
I was just gifted one of these! Has changed my life lol!
no no no, if your guitar playing sucks you need a new guitar, everybody knows that
yea it's probably your tone wood making it sound bad
no, no, no, a more expensive guitar, something like a 1966 kay or harmony, that's the ticket.......
Oh definitely, you NEED it!
Anaël Gomes haha.. That's funny. I've just bought my twelfth guitar and my playing still sucks. How many does it take?.. 😂
I bought a compressor years ago for live gigs not even knowing what it was for. Was just told "hey go buy this". After watching, I was clearly using wrong.
But I bet it looked cool :)
I think we all do that with our first compressor. In my early years of playing electric and diving into the massive world of effects, I initially thought it cut the high and low frequencies, as explained by a 'friend' and was wondering why an EQ pedal even existed. Hated the sound and got rid of it because I used it incorrectly. Couple of years later after learning what they actually do, I love a good compressor pedal now.
I think you were confused about the attack and release buttons, the more counterclockwise (to the left)) the faster it works, the more clockwise(to the right) the slower it will work.
Good video anyway.
Yeah the attack is sort of counter intuitive. With it set around 7pm the compressor engages quickly. A quick attacks dial the knob to the right, clockwise, it slows down. From 50 micro sends to 500 milliseconds
Attack time increases, meaning it takes longer for it to engage.
Sean, listening to those maj7 chords, I believe that you can make super cool electric bossa nova songs. It will be dope if you agree.
I do agree! :)
When I play chords on my guitar, I find that it sometimes get a little icy-picky when I strum too hard, because of the thinner strings. Would a compressor do a good job leveling that out?
It may help a little, but I'd try rolling back your tone knob first and see if that helps.
Sean Daniel Tried that already, didn't really help in that sense that I would like it to. Anyway, I'll try fiddling with my amps EQ and see what it does. Thanks for the quick reply Sean, you're always a huge help! :)
Optical compressors are very cool.
Yeah I've got the newer Warm Audio WA2A and have been meaning on doing a demo.
Bondi Effects 2026. Brilliant comp.
Heard good things but never tried it!
I'm sure this is not an original observation, but I love how sean sort of adds an additional syllable to the last word in each sentence...sure it's not deliberate..but I start to get fixated on it lol
Guilty!
Sean Daniel You rock (literally, too haha). I've learned a lot of theory from you that wasn't clicking for me from others. Much appreciated, man. Keep on keeping on:)
I already bought a looper and a tremolo, you're ruining me Sean !
Thomas Clevers his next video will be , why you need to get rid of all your pedals.....😉
StichMethod Guitar lol...good one. 😂😂😂😂
My bad :)
I just bought a compressor but I'm struggling trying to get a good sound out of it. It's one of those mini Xvive Lemon Squeezer things. Maybe there aren't enough settings for me to play with, but it's tough to get a natural compressed sound. Kinda put me off them..
I've never gotten a chance to try that one sadly.
I think "natural" is the operative word. Many compressors (and I think the Squeezer is one of them) hit the nail with quite a heavy hammer. If you want something with a more natural sound, you have to purchase a compressor designed with that quality in mind.
Yeah I thought as much. Snapped it up second hand at a very good price, but that's where the joy got left behind....I'll give it a proper go before I try something more expensive. Cheers!
Cost doesn't have to be the issue. Just as an example, I decided that among the variety of compressors aimed at retaining a more natural sounding tone the Diamond Compressor was my choice. At about $200 it's way over my budget. But Musician's Friend has a Mooer Yellow Comp which is a Diamond clone, for fifty bucks. That's the route I took.
Ron Light yeah thanks! The Lemon Squeezer looks remarkably similar to the Yellow Comp.. 🍋
Can I use this to blow up balloons?
I'll have to e-mail Empress but I think so.
Is compressor same as attenuator?
Not technically. Attenuation is reducing a signal. So part of what a compressor does is 'attenuate' anything over a certain threshold. A standalone attenuator can serve a couple purposes: www.premierguitar.com/articles/Quiet_Please_Attenuators_and_Their_Many_Uses
Sean Daniel Thanks for the info!
So im confused 🤷♀️ Why would you want to even out your dynamics??
Couple reasons. One is that is can add a good amount of sustain for certain parts, another is that is sends a cleaner signal into other effects pedals, and some people just like a smooth, even sound. But you definitely want to keep dynamics as part of you playing, so it's not like you have to use it all the time.
Sean Daniel Okay so is a compressor usually used with some type of added overdrive or distortion to exaggerate the sustain of your notes? I also assume people pair it with other pedals like boosts drives and delay since you say pedals take the compressed signal better
Yup, I wouldn't go so far to say that it's 'usually' used like that, but a lot of people like paring them. Country pickers specifically may use just compression alone.
Hey Sean, it's been a while since I commented or watched any of your videos. I've been busy these holidays but now I'm back on track. I'm glad to see you're still making successful clips man. I kept recommending you to my sister who is learning guitar, but so far no luck XD But I'll keep trying.
As always man, you have a Like that goes with the Comment from yours truly! Keep it up!
PS: My channel finally reached 300 Subs, YAY!
So cool to hear Daniel! That's awesome on the 300, it took me forever to get there and eventually it blew up so keep going bud!
I spend thousands on these peddles, I look up and half the audience is walking out the door and the other half is putting earplugs in, I think I must be playing the wrong songs? I did add Napoleon XIV's They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! and got some good feedback on my twin but none from the audiance......
Haha, nothing pleases the crowd like the hits.
Must be my headphones, cause to my ears, this could not even be plugged in and would sound the same. I don't hear much of anything happening.
Yeah there wasn't a lot of playing on this one, it was more a demonstration on how to set it up correctly.
Im a serial plucker, compressors are my friend.
And this a great one.
Sure is. Love your videos by the way dude, keep up the good work!
whether you use one or not, that's fate, written billions of years ago, free will doesn't even enter into it.
Ok maybe you don't need a compressor.
Thas bs, forums can be a great way to learn about others rigs, which all helps including your video to choosing the right compressor
Video was pretty much unwatchable due to the poor camera placement and the dude's hand blocking everything he does. So while I'm sure there is some good info in there, it's presented very poorly and I learned nothing.
thanks for the feedback! I'll try and move the camera next time.