Hey folks, I would like to get your insight and thought about using a compressor to enhance your clean tone. I’m trying to achieve the parallel compression, studio compression. The compression that you don’t really notice it’s there.
How do you guys set your compressor ?
What are you aiming for ?
I’m not talking about the Squeezy comp ala MXR DynaComp.
Talking about the parallel comp with lower mix. That fattens up your tone and doesn’t get in the way.
At the moment I’m mostly using the Legendary 87 (1176) and VCA type compressor in the QC.
I love the VCA Comp, inserted after the cab block, for clean rhythm tones. It’s very transparent and won’t muddy the low-end when you dig in. I run the ratio at 4, attack at 28ms, release at 78ms and threashold to taste (depending on the signal feeding into it). I run the mix at 70%-80% which allows your pick attack to come through without doing parallel compression. I also like the Legendary 87 (after the cab) for edge-of-breakup lead tones. I wouldn’t say this gives me an “amp in the room” tone but more of a “well produced” tone that sits well in a live or recorded mix. Hope this helps.
I’ve also put them after wet fx where it can glue the mix and extend the trails a bit, but that’s more of an effect than a transparent compression and best to use on parallel signals
Hey Bluesman, glad to hear that you’re getting closer to what you want. Running the comp before the amp is a very useful but different sound. I like to run my clean tones with enough gain so that when I pick or strum harder, the tone grows a little “fur” on it. It’s hard to get that with compression before the amp. That said, you could also try a mild comp before the amp and another after. The only rule is, there are no rules. Xush’s suggestion is another example of that. Obviously, the settings I suggested are just a starting point and should be tweaked to your signal chain, playing style and ears.
Xush’s suggestion is another example of that. Obviously, the settings I suggested are just a starting point and should be tweaked to your signal chain, playing style and ears.