LeftyBassist.com

What comps (be they pedal or rackmount) have you guys used in your live rigs and what have you liked/disliked?

Hi Andrew,
Here is mine:



Excuse me for the big picture!!

I use it in my rig with my Avalon U5
In October i will start again playing in a band,so i will have to buy a new rig,i think i will try to pick up an Eden one
What i like in this Comp/Leveler is that it is very easy to use,and give you a quick result without having of searching your sound with a lot of buttons !!!
What i dislike : it's price !!!!!!!!!

André

The EBS MultiComp is a KILLER pedal compressor. Yo can do anything with this pedal and it's true bypass. I use this thing live and home. No coloration added to your tone. It has a feature called MB (Multiband) that allows you to adjust the amount of threshold compression per frequency (hi/low). The trimmers can be adjusted under the bottom plate on the circuit board. I like more low string compression and less on the highs. It works wonderfully.

I give it my seal of approval! Another killer compressor is the DBX 160A (1 space rack version). I own one of these but mainly use the EBS for everything including studio work.

Check the reviews:
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/revi ... iComp/10/1

The Avalon's are great compressors also. It all in how much you want to spend and what you are trying to achieve out of the compressor without coloring your tone.

Wow, I haven't been on in a while...

I'm actually not using a compressor at the moment. My previous comp of choice was an EBS Multicomp in Multiband mode. Really good, really quiet, and really clean.

I'm eyeing a DBX 160A at the moment, but I'm not sure if I really want to get another compressor for live use. Studio use, of course, is another matter.

I'm using the on board compressor in my Eden Navigator, and it's very transparent, though admittedly it's not the most versatile compressor out there. Still, I think the less noodling with compression parameters the better.

I also play rhythm guitar and wanted a compressor for my occasional guitar gigs. I had an old Boss CS-3 lying around that I bought years ago and hated back when I was ignorant of such things. It's a pretty lousy compressor, IMO, HOWEVER, I read about a guy named Monte Allums who sells mod kits for various pedals and ordered his Opto-Mod kit for the CS-3. Long story short, the mod improved the compressor dramatically, and it sounds great on my bass as well. I highly recommend his mod kits for the soldering savvy and for anyone who wants to breathe new life into their junky pedals:

http://www.monteallums.com/

Wow, I just sold my ART Levelar yesterday! I bought and compared a Compulator, MultiComp, Boss LMB-3 and the ART. Soundwise, the Levelar won (IMO) but I was looking for a battery powered unit with a foot switch so I kept the LMB-3. I know that seems weird but I really thought the Boss sounded better and was more versatile than the Demeter and the EBS. YMMV

Alan

Yeah, I've done that twice now, selling a Levelar for a battery powered box. First time I got the Tech 21 Bass Compactor, which I liked fine, and the second time I got a Trace Dual Comp, which was also fine, but I found myself using a wal-wart anyway, so I just went back to the ART.

Gawd, the BOSS CS-3.. I used those for years in low compression mode (Billy Sheehan Style compression). It will cover up any fast playing mistake and color your sound tremendously. There are several mod companies and guys out there doing the mods. This is a good thing. I guess the BOSS boxes are fairly simple to mod and can still be made true bypass. CS3 was noisy, wasn't it?

Yes, pre-modified the CS-3s are very noisy, and they'll squash your tone regardless of how little you use. But after the Opto-mod, the box is dead quiet, and the Attack and Threshold knobs actually work from minimal to max. It's a very transparent little box now, and the nice thing about it is you can get a used one dirt cheap and with the mod you can have an excellent inexpensive comp for under $50.

Thanks for the info, man. If the EBS MultiComp was not in existence, I would definitely do that mod.. and your comment on the Eden Navigator, yes that is one great sounding compressor. I was told that was based on the DBX compressor and they might have licensed the part to Eden. I could be wrong but that's what I heard. That's one fine preamp.

Is anyone here familiar with the Retrospec Squeezebox?

Hey Andre, how much do those compressors cost? That's the kind of comp I like, very simple.

Here in France it is arround 1500 Euros!!! oucht !!!!A lot of people are using it more in Studio than on Stage but,it is an amazing piece of gear(for me); you have to go on Universal audio site to see how works this gear,it's unbelievable to hear that sound can be managed by the light!

Greeting André!!!

*mod edited to cover my own stupidity.

Andrew,
Why do you say that i'm stupid?? ,it doesn't appears that You have edited My Post !!!!!

Honestly no problem at all it is just for the joke i couldn't resist

Greetings

A.

D'oh! Guess I should have clarified that I was the mod in question and it was my stupidity, not Andre's.

The Carl Martin Compressor has been in my board for a few years -for my ears, I AB'd it with the EBS and I liked the CM better (but no multiband comp option, which is a nice feature on the EBS)- really nice and clean and natural sounding compression with no coloring - and no walwart - great box. For studio, I combine that with a Avalon u5 -

+1 on the Carl Martin. An excellent compressor.

Is the Carl Martin transparent, or does it have a tone?