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 n00b Compressor Question 
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Post n00b Compressor Question
Besides the folks you will say to "Practice with No effects" (which I do :) ) is there (ballpark) recommended Compressor settings to encompass Free Hands style playing if approaching The Stick as an extended-range Bass Instrument?


Fri Dec 09, 2016 11:02 am
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Post Re: n00b Compressor Question
On bass, Im a very transparent (almost flat EQ on amp, articulate playing techniques, fresh new roundwounds, etc) player, so my compressor settings are usually more in a Limiting role -- usually about 8:1 or 10:1 to take out transients and to keep my 'pops' in slap bass reigned in........Im discovering, that Im using harder compression on the bass-side with the Chapman Stick, about 4:1, to keep my tapping "attack" even without using a lot of physical driving force........is this what some of you do?


Sat Dec 10, 2016 9:58 am
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Post Re: n00b Compressor Question
<forehead smack> Pole Pieces!!! Darn it -- What a nice difference that made making adjustments... The Bass Strings (particularly when using the C, G, D, A strings for basslines) are now nice and even and even better with the Compressor


Im a very happy camper


Sat Dec 10, 2016 5:12 pm
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Post Re: n00b Compressor Question
I'm far from "a bass player" but have found my holy grail in little the Xotic SP compressor pedal. I have two of them and the on my melody side is set up with its dip switch to cut the lowest bass. This works as lovely "un-muddifyer" for the bass side, since the lowest bass side strings will not meet any masking interference in the summing for the amp.

A good thing with the Xotic SP is that it can be used for parallel compression; where it leaves slaps and transients untouched but just subtly lifts the following string timbre envelope tail. Although I use the PASV-4 pickups I run them at their thinnest setting - no lower mid boost - for optimal balancing in the compression attack envelope. A "vintage strat tone" is what guitar players call that approach but I'm not sure where that tone lives in the bass camp... Fender Precision? (definitely not Rickenbacker, rather the opposite)

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Sun Dec 11, 2016 3:27 am
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Post Re: n00b Compressor Question
Something that greatly impacts your compressor's performance is eq. if you put it before the compressor, you can drive the threshold on the compressor by boosting frequencies that are more present on strings you want to control more, but you may need to educe those frequencies after the compressor for tone reasons.

Some multi-effects allow you to have two eqs in the signal path.

In honor of Doctor Doolittle, I call this pushmi-pullyu compression...

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Sun Dec 11, 2016 6:32 am
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Post Re: n00b Compressor Question
Per Boysen wrote:
I'm far from "a bass player" but have found my holy grail in little the Xotic SP compressor pedal. I have two of them and the on my melody side is set up with its dip switch to cut the lowest bass. This works as lovely "un-muddifyer" for the bass side, since the lowest bass side strings will not meet any masking interference in the summing for the amp.

A good thing with the Xotic SP is that it can be used for parallel compression; where it leaves slaps and transients untouched but just subtly lifts the following string timbre envelope tail. Although I use the PASV-4 pickups I run them at their thinnest setting - no lower mid boost - for optimal balancing in the compression attack envelope. A "vintage strat tone" is what guitar players call that approach but I'm not sure where that tone lives in the bass camp... Fender Precision? (definitely not Rickenbacker, rather the opposite)


Thank you so much for the recommendation.....I will certainly look into this. After I read your post, I quickly researched it and it has very positive reviews....Ive used a DBX 163X almost my entire career on bass until the past year, in which I now use a DBX 163 emulation from a Zoom B3 processor.... I can already tell that I want something more flexible than the stock pickup in my '84: being able to thin the sound and raise volume for bottom certainly interests me, especially that all the reviews Ive read about the Xotic SP say that its ability is drastically effected by input.......my local brick-n-mortar store has a huge selection of pedals so Im planning to go there this afternoon to see if they have it....Thank you again


Mon Dec 12, 2016 7:37 am
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Post Re: n00b Compressor Question
greg wrote:
Something that greatly impacts your compressor's performance is eq. if you put it before the compressor, you can drive the threshold on the compressor by boosting frequencies that are more present on strings you want to control more, but you may need to educe those frequencies after the compressor for tone reasons.

Some multi-effects allow you to have two eqs in the signal path.

In honor of Doctor Doolittle, I call this pushmi-pullyu compression...


One of the first things I learned since getting my Stick is that "Its a Stick, not a bass" LOL and Im happy that I made this distinction early

On bass guitar, all my basses are active and I use a DBX 163 emulation from a Zoom B3 processor and I also use a Zoom B1on in conjunction with the B3 for parametric detailing, so - considering I am a "flat as possible" player - I have EQs everywhere. When I use them, I only do slight dips or pushes, usually never more than +/- 3db or occasionally a lil more than that for certain rooms that alwaays have either that pesky 125hz resonant or that 250hz rumble....When I play slap funk, I get that Marcus Miller sound (my mids arent as scooped), when I play fingers, I also get his defining roundwound tone...Ive also been playing for decades, so my finger, slap, and tap techniques are very articulate and precise (Im also a tone shaper: I use pickup selection and effects to dial in every type of voicing emulation as possible, from Modern round funk, to "Faux Fretless" Pino for songs like "New York Minute")..... and I usually prefer my Compressor last in the signal chain because I mostly use it in a Limiting fashion

but as I said earlier, I discovered that what works for bass guitar doesnt necessarily translate to Stick because The Stick has such a huge dynamic timbre palette: When I watch some of your videos (by the way, nice to meet you), you and Kevin Keith are able to dial in "Electric Bass" favored voicings when needed while Bob Culbertson and some of your other videos have much more "Acoustic Guitar" bass timbres favored voicings (some of Culbertsons sound like hes playing an extended range Taylor acoustic guitar, but his 2-handed Bass demo he has a very electric P-Bass voicing - conversely, Ive heard you pull off similar Acoustic Guitar bass on some of your stuff as well as the electric bass emulation, and Ive also heard you pull off some upright bass emulation that was dynamite ), which is a wide (!) timbre dynamic variation off of one instrument ..............When I have more history with The Stick, Im hoping to be able to capture both sides of that, like you do, to utilize when needed

I think this pickup in my '84 is the first thing that I want to change: Im already notching 125 hz and this is just playing through my practice amp (a powered monitor) and I havent even taken it live yet....If it was a bass, I would say that these pickup halves respond as if they are wired in Series instead of Parallel but its not a bass guitar so I dont know (lol)

With this said, I think Im going to try your Pre/Post "pushmi-pullyu" ( that could almost be the name of a Star Wars character!) idea but I want to try it with my Zoom B1on ( the one in my bass guitars pedal board) first -- I can setup a sandwich compressor patch with EQs bookending -- to see how that works for me before looking into replacing my pickup...If that works, and if I like the Xotic SP recommended above, I may have to start looking into a whole new pedal board for the Stick (which will make my wife cringe :D )


Mon Dec 12, 2016 8:15 am
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Post Re: n00b Compressor Question
klothos - hello. :)
I am a bassist and a double bassist - though that is on hold at the moment as I have recently got a railboard and my therapist will now be able to retire early.
Yes - compression..... Same as you for bass - for double bass - mainly arco - much, much less.
The SP is a GREAT little compressor. It's on my list too.
Another option: multiband compression?

That DBX 163X, plenty of love for that box in the bass world. And vocal...and acoustic... :)
Keep us informed with your experiments and results.

T

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Mon Dec 12, 2016 10:32 pm
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Post Re: n00b Compressor Question
^Hi Togril :) .... nice to meet you


Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:17 am
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Post Re: n00b Compressor Question
I liked the Zoom B1on so much that I bought another one just for the Stick..... :lol:

Trying the "pushme/pullyou" idea, I expanded on it.....basically a
"pushme - pullyou - reintegrate - polish" I made a patch of five effects:

7 band Bass EQ --->
dbx 163 (Compression 6:1) --->
Heaven (Eden amp sim....basically, another EQ but I like the preset shape so I doctored that)
Opt Comp (Aphex Punch Factory simulator used as Limiter) --->
Aural Exciter (polishing EQ although this one really time aligns and isnt a sim) ----->

.....yeah yeah, I know: too many EQs but, just like bass, Im a 'flat-as-possible' guy so the EQs are only minimally tailored............I'm very very happy with the result: i only know a few complete 'ensemble' songs on my Stick since getting it: "Tears In Heaven" by Clapton (I figured that one out myself and arranged it - pretty proud of me :D) , "Star of the County Down" I learned from a Culbertson vid, a few others - and they all sounded incredible....my playing sounds precise and articulate, all the notes very even: my technique sounds better, the compressors acting like a 'crutch'....probably not good overall for a n00b player like myself but its great for the ego and keeps me motivated :lol:

by the way, I use a stereo-mono plug on this '84 stick....i originally tried splitting signal with bass and melody on individual sends but this is the original pickup and i would get over-ring (not complete separation) and doing it this way also makes sense for me using it in the function band as an extended range bass instrument

as a side-note: One of the biggest things I have noticed is the drastic difference between the approach on the Stick as a full-range instrument versus its use as a split ensemble instrument versus its use as an extended-range bass instrument to the point where its almost three different instruments with three completely different sets of playing criteria....I want to start a thread about this to see if anybody does any one exclusively or as a specialization (for example, not to pigeon-hole either of these guys that I greatly admire and respect but both Tony Levin and Nick Beggs seem to focus more on the extended range bass aspect)......


Thu Dec 29, 2016 6:58 am
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