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Topic: What kind of compression pedal do you guys use? |
Scott DeCarlo
From:
Durham, North Carolina
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Posted 16 Jun 2014 7:17 pm |
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I'm running a Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone on my steel. I like the blend knob so that I can blend the clean and compressed signal as to not squash my steel sound too much.
I'm open to suggestions on another compression pedal. Do folks even use compression pedals with their steels? I'm new to the forum and have been playing the pedal steel guitar for about 2 years now. Thanks for the guidance. |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 16 Jun 2014 7:38 pm
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This is my personal opinion based on my own experimentation but I have found that just like capers in food whatever sounds good with a compression pedal will sound better without it.
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Bob |
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Stephen Cowell
From:
Round Rock, Texas, USA
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Posted 16 Jun 2014 9:19 pm
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I think a big part of the contemporary pedal steel sound is manual control of compression, i.e. the volume pedal. Having another compressor in-line would seem to be gilding the lily.
Now, I don't use a volume pedal (at least, not like that) so I like some compression. I practice with a Roland mini-amp (the Mobile Cube) and it's got a fair amount of compression when cranked up. A cranked tube amp has some compression also... that's about all I want, a small amount of compression. I'm playing straight steel, I should note.
_________________
New FB Page: Lap Steel Licks And Stuff: https://www.facebook.com/groups/195394851800329 |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 16 Jun 2014 10:35 pm
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Conventional guitarists use compression to increase sustain, but pedal steel players have the volume pedal thus do not need compression for that. Same thing with chorus, a steel guitar with a bit of delay and reverb has the chorus built into the left hand.
This being said, there are uses for these tools, but that's just what they are, tools, and it is good to have a reason to use them before deciding to do so.
Due to the needs of regular work in a variety of venues, I currently have a compressor/limiter in my rack, but it's a high-end studio unit used in the effects loop ahead of the effects unit, so that its its gain controls can be used to keep the front end of my amp where I want it, i.e. as hot as it can get without clipping. I'm basically using it as a sophisticated master volume controller, and rarely does it actually limit the signal, but it provides me the added advantage of really turning it up if necessary to solo over a loud band without fear of clipping the amp or blowing a speaker. I NEVER practice with it.
Others have told of using a comp box between the pickup and the volume pedal to help with consistency in their picking, but this approach comes with the great disadvantage of not allowing one to hear one's own actual noise, thus negating the effort to actually pick with accuracy and consistency.
However, unless you have a specific need or are trying to learn how a given tool works, if you want to be a pedal steel player, just stick with a good guitar and volume pedal, and plug them into a good amplifier with a decent reverb, and focus on learning what to do with the instrument. There will be plenty of time later to work in the toys.
Last edited by Dave Grafe on 17 Jun 2014 8:48 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Paul Sutherland
From:
Placerville, California
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Posted 16 Jun 2014 11:50 pm
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In my opinion, no steel player with only two years of playing time should be using a compressor. It will stunt your growth!!!
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It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. |
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Kevin Hatton
From:
Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 17 Jun 2014 6:02 am
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| Paul is right. Take the compression pedal off. Totally not needed. |
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chris ivey
From:
california (deceased)
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Posted 17 Jun 2014 9:17 am
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don't use one. don't want or need one.
however, buddy emmons has gotten specific tonal effects with one. but he knows what he's doing. |
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Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
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Posted 17 Jun 2014 9:26 am
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I agree with Keith and Paul.
Chris, see Dave's post.
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
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Scott DeCarlo
From:
Durham, North Carolina
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Posted 17 Jun 2014 10:29 am
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| Thank guys for all of your input!! It is much appreciated! I will be posting a few more posts this week so please feel free to comment. |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 17 Jun 2014 3:59 pm
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This kind:
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Jerry Jones
From:
Franklin, Tenn.
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Posted 17 Jun 2014 4:53 pm
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My compressor looks just like Brad's…. easy to operate - hard to master. 
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Jerry Jones |
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David Cook
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 18 Jun 2014 5:54 am
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| I use my Barber compressor with lap steel practice because I don't want to set up the volume pedal. You don't need it for pedal steel with the volume pedal. |
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Dick Wood
From:
Springtown Texas, USA
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Posted 18 Jun 2014 7:05 am
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Compression kills Expression.
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Cops aren't paid much so I steel at night. |
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Brad Sarno
From:
St. Louis, MO USA
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Posted 18 Jun 2014 9:05 am
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| Dick Wood wrote: |
| Compression kills Expression. |
Totally...
B |
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Micky Byrne
From:
United Kingdom (deceased)
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Posted 19 Jun 2014 11:38 am
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I'd never use a Compression pedal for a pedal steel. It "smoothes" all the playing, so you can't "Attack" a particular string to add dynamics to your performance. Using the volume pedal is another way to add dynamics to your playing. Reverse swells or "Gutting" as it's also known is good on big Jazzy chords, where you pick the chord, and Immediately "reverse" swell then swell back into the Chord. I learned this from a Hammond Organ player years ago.
Micky "scars" Byrne U.K. |
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Dave Hopping
From:
Aurora, Colorado
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Posted 19 Jun 2014 6:53 pm
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| I don't always bring my rack.When I do I use the Alesis 3630 in it.Don't want squash,but a little extra sustain is nice.When I don't bring the rack I just put a DD-5 in the F/X patch and the VP in the volume pedal patch. |
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John Billings
From:
Ohio, USA
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Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
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Posted 20 Jun 2014 12:02 pm
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| If you use a tube amp, you have compression enough right there. I don't and probably never will, so I use a Boss LMB-3 pre VP. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Gary Cosden
From:
Florida, USA
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Posted 21 Jun 2014 8:38 am
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| I will buck the trend here. I have been using a Markbass Compressore for the last year or so. It's unique in that it uses a tube for the actual compression and not for gain. I have used it mostly in front of my volume pedal and with a Fender Dual Showman head. I think that if a compressor is hampering your expression then you are probably not using it right. It's not for sustain or the squishy chicken-picked attack that 6 string players use them for as much as the subtle and hopefully seamless impact it can have on your tone which I might describe as "fattening", "thickening", or to some extent "evening". Do you need one? Of course not. It has less impact on your tone than a lot of effects or say a Black Box would but I would never universally disapprove just because someone might misguidedly try to smooth out their volume pedal technique with one or go for more sustain or whatever. YMMV. |
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Dave Grafe
From:
Hudson River Valley NY
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Posted 21 Jun 2014 9:47 am
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| Quote: |
| It has less impact on your tone than a lot of effects or say a Black Box would but I would never universally disapprove just because someone might misguidedly try to smooth out their volume pedal technique with one or go for more sustain or whatever. |
The problem with using a compressor as you are, Gary, is that a new player will not hear - and thus not learn to correct - the inconsistencies in their picking technique. Used in this fashion it cannot help but become a crutch which hinders (prevents) ever learning to do things correctly, and this is enough of a valid concern that you will see multiple experienced players right here saying to the OP "DON'T DO IT UNTIL YOU DON'T NEED IT!" and for good reason. |
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Peter den Hartogh
From:
Cape Town, South Africa
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Posted 22 Jun 2014 12:46 pm
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I have an Origin Slide Rig. Great sound!
This one has a foot switch so I can switch it OFF if needed. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2014 8:00 pm
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| Quote: |
| If you use a tube amp, you have compression enough right there. |
That's the money quote, right there. If you play through a tube amp, you're using a compressor. If you play through a tube, you're using a compressor. If you play through a speaker, you're using a compressor. If you play through a Peavey that says "DDT" anywhere near it, you're using a compressor. And many stages of solid-state gain, like preamp modules in the mixing board your sound goes through, will have some kind of compression or limiting effect. Knowing what you use, and specifically what degree of effect it's having at various volume levels and frequencies, is a helpful thing to know. Especially when trying to sound good.
Your own EARS are compressors, we'd all be deaf otherwise!  |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 24 Jun 2014 6:28 am
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| Quote: |
| In my opinion, no steel player with only two years of playing time should be using a compressor. It will stunt your growth!!! |
That's the other money quote... it took me a bit to get back to it. It's not really useful to just say “it's wrong!†There are a couple of things good steel guitarists do so often and well they're maybe not conscious of it, but they're things you might not learn just because a compressor is “doing it's job.†There happens to be great examples all in one place I just saw: the videos up about this new “Vintage Vibe†amp. In the first video, “Cowboy†Eddie Long is playing pretty hard, but with the volume pedal backed off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6AnwqI9_9c
He get's the clucky thing but not knocking your teeth back. He lets up a bit later, but it's the second video with Bob Hempker that has the exact opposite example. Starting about a minute in, he's playing towards the middle of the strings - where you don't have to pick hard to get volume - but he's still picking really soft, with the volume pedal opened up, to get that signature sweet steel sound. Like 1:15 in or so, he moves his right hand to the “12th fret†above the bar, just barely touching the strings and the sound - wow -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLyt6n6SEtk
Like I said, good steel players do this stuff so often it comes automatic - but it's not necessarily going to be that way, and you can see how having a compressor on all the time could be complicit in removing the thought leading to these.
I love electronics, I even specifically think certain things can make you a better player faster - take an ordinary delay pedal, use it to try to duplicate each lick exactly on different string groups, yikes  - but I even practice without a volume pedal sometimes, just to see what I can do with picks. I'm actually drifting the opposite way lately, into looper-electronic-mad-scientist stuff, but I still want to keep the window open. I'm not a big believer in "magic", great players got certain sounds in certain ways. |
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Daryl Thisdelle
From:
New Brunswick, Canada
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Posted 30 Jun 2014 4:12 pm Compression
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Compression is a funny thing. It is different for a lot of people. First a cheap compressor is not worth owning and a high quality compressor is worth its weight in gold. It's what you want to get out of using a compressor and what ya want it to do for you. I think one has to really know why they want the compressor and what is it going to do for them. What part of your playing needs a compressor. What is it you are trying to achieve.? One important thing here is what you have, is it a limiter or is it a compressor. Know the difference what they give you, two totally different results. It is only opinions given by others that usually don't mean to much as so many are like sheep, they just follow and repeat the nonsense of some one who sounds like they know something and usually do not have a clue. Use what ya want and if you like it play with it in your rack. Ya know a really good compressor does not let the hearing audience know one is even in the signal chain.
Daryl
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Williams 700 Keyless SD 12 String Universal Lacguer Body Wood Neck Alumitone Pick Up GD Walker Stereo Steel Amp Preamp Combo With 2x15 inch JBL Speakers In Tuned Cabinets, Hilton Digital Sustain Pedal, Telonics Volume Pedal. Steel Seat With Back Rest And Swivel And Adjustable Legs. George L Cables. BJS Bar. Nookies Thumb Pick National Finger Picks. Jagwires Petterson Strobo Plus HD Tuner |
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