Eric... ( Compressors )

[snufeldin]

Eric,

Before in an email to me you said that I could get a good compressor to get the sustain Greg Howe gets. What do you think of the Boss compressor?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=021207104630063184161199489842/search/g=guitar/s=effects/detail/base_id/35136

[EricV]

I think it´d be a good choice, you certainly can´t go wrong with it IMHO... a lot of the Boss-pedals are really good, and those pedals or 19"-compressors ( and I mean 19"-compressors, not compressors in multi effects ) sure do sound better than most of the compressors integrated into multi effects...

So you should definitely check that one out. Here are some user reviews, maybe that´ll help...

http://www.harmony-central.com/Effects/Data/Boss/CS_3_Compressor_Sustainer-01.html

Eric

[snufeldin]

thanks,

what's an equalizer, some guy mentioned it was essential on the site with reviews?

[EricV]

An equalizer... well, it´s a device to adjust the audio signal.
You have an EQ on pretty much every audio- recording and playback-device... a basic one would be one to adjust the parameters bass, mids and treble, like on a stereo system.
There´s an EQ-section on your amp, too ( Bass, Mid, Treble, maybe Presence ). There also are mose sophisticated EQ´s, especially in studios or at live-shows, graphic eq´s with a bunch of controls to adjust the sound.
I guess the person who wrote the review you´re referring to was talking about an EQ-pedal, which also is available from Boss...
Click HERE (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=021207104630063184161199489842/search/g=home/detail/base_id/35138)

This was just a very rough description of EQs... the topic is pretty huge and there are many different types of EQs etc.
Hope this helps
Eric

[snufeldin]

once again thanks,

do you have any other suggestions or recomendations for compression pedals that I can look into?

[EricV]

Sure...

If you wanna look at some 19"-stuff ( it´s not as expensive as ya think, the Alesis one only comes in at about $99 )... check out dbx ( those guys are popular for their compressors ), Behringer, Alesis, ART Levelar Tube Compressor...
More pedals: Alesis Nanocomp ( actually it´s a rackunit, but it´s not 19" ), Carl Martin Compressor...
Check for reviews at Harmony Central or use Google to find reviews and specs, and try to find what´s best for you...
Just one word of advice... I think it´d be best to check for a single compressor unit. There are bunches of multi effects with integrated compressors, but I never heard a really good compressor in one of those... just my opinion though
Eric

[EricV]

If I remember right I used that one once (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid=021207104630063184161199489842/search/g=home/detail/base_id/60530) in the studio, and it sounded pretty good as far as I remember
Eric

[snufeldin]

thanks,

random question: have you ever used an ebow? and do you like it?

[snufeldin]

woah,

I just looked at some of the dbx compressors and they have so much stuff on them. I want to know what the difference between: Channel Compressor, Dual Compressor/Limiter/Gate, Compressor/Limiter/Gate, and Compressor/Limiter/Gate are. Plus, how does say... the boss pedal or one you said you used in the studio compare to these. THese look like they allow much more control over your sound. I'm overwhelmed.

[snufeldin]

Eric,

I've looked at reviews of all of these and they are all mixed reviews. I don't know how to decide... I'm gonna try to go to the store to look at some of these and if you could tell me some key elements to look for in the pedal I'd appreciate it.

thankyou

[snufeldin]

one more thing (sorry about all the questions) in a review it said that it gave you the 'Nashville sound.' Now does mean the typical country twang? because I do not care for that sound(put nicely). THis was under the link to the compressor you used before. Also how big of a difference will I be able to tell between the Carlin Martin one and the Boss one? (or any of them for that matter)

[szulc]

Doesn't this thread need to be moved to the Gear thread?

I think you should make yourself familiar with what a piece of equipment does before you decide you NEED one.

There are two main classes of effects:
1. Level Based Effects
Limiter, Noise Gate, Compressor, Wah, Filters, EQ, tremelo
2. Time Based Effects
Echo, Delay, Doubling, Flanging, Chorus, Reverb, vibratto
an Argument could be made as to where the phasor fits into this, but it does actually use a small delay to acheive the effect.
Even pitch transposers and harmonizers are time based effects.

In general you use time based effect to create the illusion of 'space', Phasors, Pitch transpoers and harmonizers are the exception to this rule.

Level based effects are used mostly to bring out certain parts or bring down other parts. A compressor allows you to set a gain ratio and a threshhold level this take whatever signal you have and if it is smaller than the threshold it amplifies it. If it is bigger it reduces it toward the threshold by the ratio.
EQ is basically gain controls for narrow frequency ranges, graphic being usually in octave or third occtave increments and parametric being totally adjustable to be able to remove nasty peaks or make up for holes left in your system due to things like your crossover system on your main PA array.
Limiters clamp anything grater than the threshold and do nothing below the threshold.

A flanger is an attempt to recreate the sound of running two tape decks playing the same material and varying one of the units speed slightly. It sounds like making a shh sound while steping towards and away from a wall. Usually has the width, delay, speed and regeneration controls.

A Chorus is similar to flanging except there is no regeneration signal.

A phasor is identical to chorus except the delay signal is very small usually less than 1 wavelength.

A wah is nothing more than a narrow bandpass filter with a high q and an adjustable (by your foot) center frequency.

Since this really doesn't fit into the other catagories, Distortion.
This is an attempt to recreate the sound of vacuum tubes in overdrive.

[snufeldin]

First of all I when I posted this I just clicked on the post thread button on the main page so I'm sorry about that szulc. What's a "gain ratio" and a "threshhold level"?
How do you know all of this stuff too?

[snufeldin]

Oh and by the way i don't know why you said "I think you should make yourself familiar with what a piece of equipment does before you decide you NEED one." First of all what am I doing now... asking about how it works, second I guess I took somebody's word for it when they said that it increases sustain. So szulc maybe you shouldn't be such a jerk.

[szulc]

If you want to be professional you are going to study the tools of the trade.
I started playing guitar at 11 years old then I became interested in electronics as a result of my interest in electric guitar. I played music while I went to school to get an electrical engineering degree. Most of the effects use techincal names for the controls because that is the most concise method of communicating the idea. While I was in college I modified tube amps for me and others (because back then the mesa boogie was the only channel switching amp around and they were expensive, and I was a poor starving musician/student). I had to learn about audio to be able to help run the sound (or teach the sound man how to), to be able to maintain our gear, to make sure I didn't get electrocuted when I sang and played. Gain is a measure of amplificaion a Gain of 1 means the output = the input (Or Unity Gain) a gain of 2 means output is twice the voltage as the input.
Threshold is a point at which something changes in the case of a limiter it means never let the signal be more than this threshold, in the case of a compressor it means amplify anything below(smaller) than this threshold. These are all interms of a voltage level. So technically a threshold is a voltage level at which your effect does somthing either above or below.
Ratio is the same meaning it has in your math class.

No need to get personal here. I am merely offering advice to help you make a more educated decision before making a purchase.

Not everyone is here asking these questions, those people who buy the latest toy becasue so and so said it does "blah blah" should try to do as you are and become educated. I'll forgive you for misinterperting my comment.

[snufeldin]

I'm very sorry it was a misinterpretation. I hope I didn't come off as saying I needed one. In fact I'll probably not get one for quite awhile because of the money issue. Thank you for all your suggestions and wealth of knowledge. If I may ask what compression pedal do you recommend (and which controls (threshhold, ratio, attack, release, or peak level) do you think are most important?)

Thankyou and I'm very sorry,
hopefully no hard feelings
Snufeldin

[szulc]

In general, I am not a big fan of any floor effects, my experiance is they are cheaply made and noisy. If I were to buy a compressor It would be one that fits in a 19" rack, and likely be a stand alone unit with the exception that it might also have a limiter. I don't use any effects between my guitar and amp.
Again I suggest you take your guitar and go play through one at your local music store to see if you can find one that is right for you.
Compressors generally have Threshold, Gain and Ratio, it is a bonus to have attack and release time controls.

You have to play with one to hear what it does and with several to decide which one to buy or if you just don't need one.

If you are playing through some kind of distortiion box you are already going to get some level of compression with that unit.
Sustain has usually more to do with your hands and guitar and amp than it does with a compressor. For me, clean sparkling clean is the only time I use a compressor, because it lengthens the lifetime of a clean single coil strat sound. When I am playing distorted I never use one, because my amp generates enough compression when it is in distortion mode.

[EricV]

Hi Snufeldin,

regarding your question about the Ebow, yes, I did use one for a little while.
The original demo of "Canyon Of Spirits" had one on it... I played the notes of the intro with it.
I didn´t get into it too much though, never tried all those tricks and techniques they describe on their site, I just used it to play those few notes.
It´s a cool little effect, but I wouldn´t use it live, and it eats batteries like crazy.
Maybe one day I´ll check out one of those Sustainer-pickups, I heard those are cool too, but they require a lot of changes on a guitar...

Warm regards
Eric

PS: as you might have noticed already, we moved it to the Gear-Forum and slightly edited the title so people would get a better idea of what it is about...