Benefits of Comperssion/Sustain pedals?
 

Just a question for those who use or have used compression/sustain pedals with their acoustics. I value you opinions of the benefits or drawbacks to tone. I'm not one to use a ton of effects. I have a Boss CH-1 that I use very sparingly and I add a touch of reverb on occasion.

I am considering adding a Boss CS-3 compression/sustain pedal. I've been reading up and most reviews and reports are from electric players. I know that some of you fellow acoustic players have them. Is it something to use sparingly like reverb and chorus? Does it make a big enough improvement to use all the time? It is something that is even necessary?

Your opinons and reports are solicited and greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Nelson

For Acoustic?
 

The acoustic guitar has a VERY wide dynamic range, so in live situations, I always compress it when I'm doing sound. How much you compress depends on the situation.

Tonight I'm doing a very loud rock band with an acoustic/keyboard player. I will have a very hard limit ("it gets THIS loud and no louder!") on the acoustic and a medium threshold at which the boost kicks in (so the lower-volume passages are still audible over the wall of noise). This allows him to find his place in the mix, and allows me to protect my investment in speakers.

When it's just a solo artist or a duo, there's less need for "cut" because the guitar is the only instrument, and you usually want to feature the voice anyway. In those situations, I'll often use the compressor more as a limiter with the boost component threshold set low (i.e., it has to be very quiet for it to kick in) and the limiter function set medium-high and gentle to tame the harsh transients but keep the guitar sounding natural.

If you're using a pedal, without really knowing which one you're using or which setting you're using it in, my best generic advice would be to turn it on and leave it on, with low to moderate settings on all knobs. Think of it as part of your amplification chain rather than your effects chain, because unless you're using it as an effect, it really is part of the amplification component of your signal.

I don't know if that helps, but if you can give us a bit more information, I'm sure we can be more helpful.

Joe

Like most folks here I play both electric and acoustic. One of my main pedals is a Marshall "Edward the Compressor". I mostly use it with my electrics, but I sometimes use it with my acoustics. When I use it with my acoustics, of course the most typical use is to crank up the sustain, but it is also great for making your overall tone sound cleaner by knocking off the highest and lowest peaks in your signal, or also by dialing it down to get that choppy effect that works really well for some tunes. I bought the Marshall rather than the more commonly seen Boss because the Marshall is built more like a tank than the Boss. The Marshall has a very heavy duty all metal construction so you can stomp on it to your heart's content without having to worry about breaking it, and it has the feature where you can cut it out of the circuit without getting any signal degradation.

The best thing to do is to take your guitar(s) to a store where you can try out some compression pedals and at a time of the day when you can hear yourself and the idiots are not trying to blow out the windows with their bad renditions of Stairway. Decide for yourself whether you would like one in your set up. I would recommend that you stick to the better quality ones, though. Cheap pedals sound like cheap pedals and they don't last long. On the other hand the ultra expensive boutique ones are not worth all the extra money unless you are a major recording studio buying one for professional recording purposes.

If you decide to dive in, you have the pennies, and can find one, may I suggest you try out the Barber Tone Press? I'm trying not to suggest anything too, hmmm, "booteeeqwa", but this is a unique and very nice sounding unit in the world of compressors. Compressors work by setting a threshold and controlling the volume of everything that goes above that threshold. The more it exceeds the threshold, the more it is affected. What is the loudest part of a guitar signal? The attack. As a result, it is effected the most with a typical guitar ccompressor, and ends up sounding pretty funky sometimes.

The Tone Press deals with this by allowing you to blend the compressed signal with the clean signal. By doing this, you can have a relatively unaffected attack plus the benefits of the compressor. I tried one and liked how it sounded very much. It's built heavily and uses good components. You can look HERE for more details. Most people carry it for $139.99 or you can order it from the maker online. I'm dropping hints for my birthday.

Bob

I have a Presonus bluemax in my rack beside my Acousti-Q preamp. It's in the preamp loop. I will usually use a moderately light preset compression on the guitar in live settings. When I record finger style playing, I use a little heavier compression. It cleans up the slop some.

I suggest trying some out...for a long time, before you spend the money on a compressor. Some guitar players CAN and DO get by without compression...if you like to use "dynamics" with your playing, I suggest staying off the compressor. If you're more of a lead player who wants more sustain (and who doesn't want that?;) just kidding!:D ) then try out some compressors.

Personally, I use a simple MXR Dynacomp...more as a booster than anything else.