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Topic: Is it OK to use a bass compressor for steel? |
Gary Meyer
From:
Sacramento, California, USA
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Posted 24 Apr 2007 3:51 pm |
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I had an older DOD bass compressor laying around and used it the other day. It seemed to work well. Since it is a bass compressor,(1)would a guitar compressor sound better? (2)will it damage the compressor to run steel thru it ?
Thanks from Sacramento |
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Jonathan Cullifer
From:
Gallatin, TN
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Posted 24 Apr 2007 7:24 pm
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| A compressor shouldn't alter or be affected by the tone of whatever is going through it. Basses have fairly high frequency overtones, so I doubt there's anything special about a bass compressor, which only modifies the dynamics (volume) of the signal. A lot of guys on the forum use bass preamps on their steels with great results. |
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Mike Maddux
From:
Cerritos, CA
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 12:39 am
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I imagine on the C6 neck it would be especially usefull for not getting muddy on those low notes.
I have experimented with countless different instruments into countless different effects that were not meant for that instrument. Never a problem, just use common sense and dont boost those levels too high.
_________________
President - Southern Californa Steel Guitar Association
Regular Rig: Twin Reverb, Sho-Bud LDG |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 1:15 am
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If it works well, it is well... I sincerely doubt you could break it, if it's not distorting fire away! The biggest issue would be that low notes use up more sonic energy than high notes, so rackmount studio compressors often have ways to keep a loud, low note from causing overcompression of simultaneous higher notes. Based on that, I'd guess that a bass compressor might even work better for steel than an average stompbox guitar-voiced unit. Again, if it sounds good trust your ears - if/when multiple groupies creep the stage every night saying "I'd like you a lot better with a different compressor" rethink your approach.
P.S. (I LOVE those old DOD compressors, FX80-B's I think they are. $25 on Ebay and they beat the stuffing out of Dynacomps & Boss CS-1's - DOD stuff just sounds good, their graphic EQ's are great too.) |
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Dave Diehl
From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 3:34 am
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| Yea I believe they would work fine. What I've been experiencing is that some compressors require a 4dBu input and with the -10dBv of the guitar, there is not enough power to drive the compressor clean resulting in a muddy tone. You can try to boost the signal out of the guitar before it goes in but everytime you add something in the line you increase the chances of noise and hum. |
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Jonathan Cullifer
From:
Gallatin, TN
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 8:08 am
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| Good point Dave; if it's a rack mount or other line level compressor, put it in the pre EQ effects loop if you have one. Lot less noise that way. |
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Dave Diehl
From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
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Posted 25 Apr 2007 8:38 am
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| Jon, I tried a dbx 160A Compressor which is a +4dBu input single channel compressor in my system where I was trying to come directly out of the guitar into the Compressor, then to the Revelation Pre Amp, then to the pedal using the pedal out/in line then onto the Power Amp. I tried an Ebtech Line Leveler which is suppose to boost the signal from -10dBv to +4dBu but didn't have a lot of luck with it. Are you aware of an alternative solution to drive this compressor correctly? |
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