Compression pedals and bass

[JakeK]

Last night, I went to a gig that my friend Dylan (who plays bass) was playing. He has a Fender Jaguar bass (along with a Fender Fretless Jazz Bass) with an Ibanez amp, and I asked him if he wanted to experiment with something. I said he should try compression with the bass, so he can get an extra "oomph" to his slap bass and more presense in the live mix. He told me he didn't know what could happen and I said, "Think the Sgt. Pepper sound" and he told me to bring it. I brought my Dano Surf and Turf and we hooked it all up. From that first note on, he was heard. He usually plays with a mix of bass and treble, so it worked well.

Compression and bass, something bass players rarely do...have you bass players tried it?

[sloop_john_b]

Compression and bass, something bass players rarely do...

Not true!

[blueflamerick]

Compression and bass, something bass players rarely do...

Not true at all!!!

I use it all the time. Sometimes an old brown Boss Bass Limiter, sometimes an Analogman Bi-Compressor.

[iamthebassman]

Compression and bass, something bass players rarely do...

Not true!

Correct, not true. While I don't have a compressor in my rig, the soundman has one in his rack dedicated to my channel. It's a must for what I do, speaking of "the Sgt. Pepper sound".

[JakeK]

Compression and bass, something bass players rarely do...

Not true!

I KNEW you guys would use compressors, I'm taking about bass players my age.

[iamthebassman]

Compression and bass, something bass players rarely do...

Not true!

I KNEW you guys would use compressors, I'm taking about bass players my age.

Oh, sorry. I shoulda read the part where you said "have you bass players my age tried it?"

[jps]

I KNEW you guys would use compressors, I'm taking about bass players my age.

In that case, you want decompression.

[weemac]

I don't use a compressor as such live but I use smaller amps than most would so the amp is working at a level where it compresses a bit by itself. Both my Fender and Roland bass amps seem to do this.
I don't like when compressors turn your sound inside out..
I do however use a old tubeworks valve overdrive as sort of a compressor in the studio. (only just overdriven)
and then use a 2 or 3 to 1 compression in the mix to fix any dodgy picking...
Eden.

[cheyenne]

Can you guys recommend some good stomp box examples?

[jps]

I like my Aphex Punch Factory as it is transparent and just smooooooooooooooths things out without getting too squishy sounding.

[whojamfan]

I like my Aphex Punch Factory as it is transparent and just smooooooooooooooths things out without getting too squishy sounding.

Do you use that in conjuction with your Tech 21 SVT pedal?

[jps]

I haven't yet but I can't see why it wouldn't work okay. I would put the compressor first in line before the VT pedal.

[johnallg]

I like my Aphex Punch Factory as it is transparent and just smooooooooooooooths things out without getting too squishy sounding.

+1 Jeff turned me on to the Aphex and I have been very happy with it - when you match levels with it in or out (true bypass) it is almost impossible to hear any tonal change. Works really nice. And as Jeff stated later, I too would put the compression first.

[86kubicki]

I've been a fan of the Diamond compressor for guitar, and they're close to releasing a bass-specific compressor. I'm definitely going to pick one up!
http://www.diamondpedals.com/products/b ... essor.html