How important is a bass compressor pedal?

[ch willie]

I’m trying thinking of buying a Cali 76 bass compressor, but it’s a $300 pedal. Do you use a bass compressor? What are your thoughts?

[FrankJohnson]

I think it's easy to get caught up in all of that. I would say try one and see if it makes you more comfortable in your sound or playing. If you spend more time thinking about your sound or gear settings it is taking away from your playing. If it makes you feel better as you play it's a win. Just my thoughts.

[DanTheBluesMan]

i don't know how important it is to live playing but if you do any recording it would be a big help

[ch willie]

I only bring up the compressor because I've read on more than one site that for live sound, the effect a bass player most needs is a compressor. My problem is that the nearest store that carries a decent inventory is far away, and I don't get that way much. So I went ahead and bought a couple of pedals-a Boss Chorus and an Electro-Harmonix Bass Preacher Compression / Sustainer Pedal. If I don't like them, I'll resell them and consider myself educated.

I'm all about simplicity, simply plugging in and playing. My band is playing songs that could benefit from these pedals, if the pedals sound worth a shit. So I'm going to give them a try.

[Laker]

If you can find an old SGX Night Bass preamp you’ll have compression and just about any other effect you could ever use with bass. I had one of them back twenty years ago.http://artproaudio.com/product/sgx-n...cts-processor/

[ch willie]

I'd love to have one of those for recording. Live, I don't really care for rack gear.

[chuckocaster]

One of the best compressors I’ve found is the BBE OptoStomp, and it’s reasonably priced! I think I bought each of mine for $50 or so. It doesn’t change your tone and it’s pretty transparent and not too “squishy” like how a DynaComp is. It’s an optical compressor which is great for a subtle effect.

I think compression really helps in a live situation. But! I think a lot of guys don’t know how to use it properly, and not just musicians. There’s plenty of sound guys who don’t use it properly either. Easy does it! I’d suggest you find an OptoStomp and mess around with it. I use mine in conjunction with my SansAmp to mimic the response of a tube amp, as I mainly use SS amps. While they sound good I prefer the “feel” of a tube amp. Like any other piece of gear, it may or may not work for you. And if you spend more time fiddling around than playing? Don’t use it.

[ch willie]

Trust me, I'm the last guy to fiddle around with stuff. I actually hate using pedals or rack effects. But I'm going to make my pedal board for bass very lightly populated--tuner, compressor, and chorus. If they distract me in any way, I'll get rid of 'em.

[chuckocaster]

Right on man! There’s a lot of other comps out there, the ones with a clean blend are great for bass as you don’t lose the impact of the instrument. Thing is, most people don’t really understand how to properly use a compressor. When people say they don’t like compression, what they mean is they don’t like bad compression. I can guarantee you that every “great” sounding live concert you’ve been to, tge bass is being compressed. The trick is getting it in the sweet spot where you’re evening out without squashing it. I find the OptoStomp very forgiving and natural sounding without taking much work to get it sounding good. Bass is one of the most difficult instruments I’ve found to mix properly. It needs to sound big and fat while still cutting through the mix properly. But too much “cut” and it sounds thin... Best of luck to you buddy! And let me know if you want some help