Smooth compression

[Kelvinator]

I've been getting away from my Boss GT6B in favor of my old pedalboard. The GT6 has served me well, but lately I've used the old analog stuff at rehearsal with another band (so I don't have to carry much stuff) and really prefer it. I don't use a lot of effects; the board has an Ernie Ball Volume pedal, Eden WTDI preamp, Boss OC-2, and a Boss TU-2 tuner. The only things I miss about the GT6 are compression and a touch of delay or reverb. The Eden preamp has a one-knob compressor, but it's not great - it either does very little or squashes everything.

 

After a bit of research, and listening to a bunch of youtube demos, I bought a Pigtronics Philosopher's Tone. Man is it sweet! It's actually a guitar pedal, but it has more control than their bass compressor. I emailed Pigtronix last Saturday about using it for bass, and customer service replied on Sunday saying it works great for bass, and boy does it! It can be very smooth and almost transparent, or you can get sustain for days (without sqaushing). What I really like is that you can hammer a low note and it won't kill everything else - it levels everything beautifully.

 

I highly recommend this pedal!http://www.pigtronix...losophers-tone/

 

Here's a Billy Sheehan demo. Man - he plays more notes in this demo than I do in a night!

[Bassilisk]

Man, that Sheehan guy's nuts. The only thing that slowed him down was tapping and not by much at that. Tough to really hear the "demo' part when you're like an explosion that keeps going off....

 

Anyway, I've gone back and forth so many times with compression over the years that I'm not anxious to get into it anymore. I've had some pretty decent units, from 2 knob boxes to full parameter ones including some built into amps, read the literature and tried them out numerous ways. I'd fall in love with it on one gig and 2 gigs later found myself turning it down more and more until I felt I didn't have enough to matter, and off they went. I like the wide open unfettered sound and find adding a little foam under the strings (only on certain basses though) is enough "compression" for me.

 

It's been that way with effects in general. I do like a nice chorus, but I find it's not always easy to get it nice and clean in the mix and maintain solid definition. So, rather than go through hoops getting my gear to accommodate it, I just use some at home when I'm fooling around.

 

I'm glad to hear you found something that really works for you. With the market as saturated as it is it isn't easy (or inexpensive) to hit upon something that really works, especially out in the world. Everything sounds good in the store (if you can find what you're looking for) and asking will always get you a "oh yeah, it really works great".

 

Enjoy the new toy!

[Kelvinator]

Enjoy the new toy!

 

Thanks. I've used it at 3 gigs so far and it's great. Very transparent. I've been setting the sustain and blend @ about 12:00, the treble between 1:00 & 2:00, and the "grit" off. It actually improves the tone, and (at these settings) evens everything out very nicely - without interfering with dynamics. I've been getting lazy and haven't lugged the Traynor to any gigs lately, but I did miss the crunch of the tube amp. The pigtronics gives me that natural sounding compression with the Markbass head, and I can get it without having to crank the amp or carry a 75 lb head around! Love it.