Compressor/gate settings

[philipharris]

I'm new to these bits of kit and like a lot of newbies to compression/gate ettings I find it had to hear the difference at anything other than gross settings. Any recommendations? It's a Dbx 266xl.

[jps]

Do you have the manual for it? If so, there may be some suggested starting points for various instruments/drums/vocals, etc.; give those a try at first. Compressors are one of those kinds of devices that you will benefit from experimenting, you won't damage anything, except perhaps, the sound of your guitar, but that is not permanent.

In general, compressors should not necessarily have a "sound" unless you use extreme settings, with the usual YMMV.

[08 Ric 4003]

I mess with mine all the time. I have an MXR Dyna Comp. Sometimes I have the sensetivity low and sometimes I dime it. When you first start playing with it it may sound like it mutes the sound. My Fender single coil guitars it does nothing for, but humbuckers and my Jazz and Ric it changes the sound.

[robj]

My two cents; you'll need to experiment to find what works for your playing technique, how you attack the strings, how cleanly you articulate the notes, etc. You may find a preset or two that might get you in the ball park but I think it's better to understand what the controls do and go from there. When I use a compressor I don't want to hear it really but want enough be able to notice when the compressor is turned off. Of course you may prefer to use the compressor as an effect as opposed to using it to even things out a bit.

[FretlessOnly]

I always have a compressor in my rack (either a dbx 166xl or an Alesis 3630), but I don't consider compression to be an "effect" for bass. To me, it is a signal shaping tool only - there is no tone alteration, just a slight squashing of signal spikes to even out the levels when need be. So, I always set my compression ratios fairly low; no more than 4:1 and usually no more than ~2:1.

I often don't need the gate at all, but when I do use mine on the dxb, I set the ratio low enough that the red bars fill in slowly. In other words, the gate closes slowly and only starts to close when noise/hiss is coming through. This way, you avoid truncating that lovely sustain.

[iamthebassman]

I leave compression to our soundman.

[stevebasshead]

There's a hugely useful website dedicated to compressors for bassists which, as well as tons of reviews, also has a very well written guide to how compressors work. I don't think we're allowed to post direct links to other websites but if you google for OVNILAB you'll find it. Highly recommended reading.

[bassduke49]

I think you can link to other websites, but not chat groups/forums.