Grem,
 
Saw your post. When they let me loose work mode would be glad to share some deep dark secrets about the glories of using upstream compression.
 
John

Friends,
 
Got to break this into parts, but promised Lord Shiva to share trade secrets of upstream compression.
 
Always use compression first as an effect and have to deal with the problems and compromises inflicted by this approach, which is diametric opposite of modern digital layout. Life in the fast lane today generally has compression last. Individual layout likely an artifact of when you imprinted your habits. Before digital, was a bit hard to plug your floor box comp after the speaker output. If you used a comp, it was first out of technical necessity.
 
Did hardware back in the days of the venerable Gray Ross. Still got one of these things retired behind a glass case and worth about a thousand dollars now. Has a cult following and not hard to understand why.
 
There’s the option of doing a hardware pedal before going into your preamp.
 
I got 3 hardware floor boxes currently. Well selected IMHO.
 
If you ain’t got a Gray Ross, there are several clones that have improved tolerances and quality of the components. For about $250, best contender out there with some extra knobs is the Keeley 4 knob compressor. Some random links for these:
 
https://robertkeeley.com/products/compressor/4-knob-compressor/
 
Ross beat out the MXR unit of the time, but MXR recently came out with their Custom Comp. Has a couple faders inside the case that can be adjusted to a specific guitar. Too bad these aren’t on the front as knobs. Very low chugging effect as the circuit kicks in. Wipes out the classic MXR.
 
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/mxr-custom-shop-csp202-custom-comp-compressor-guitar-effects-pedal
 
Then a cheap comp everybody who is cool loves to hate, the Boss CS-3. Chugging response and considered noisy, but the coloration is excellent:
 
http://www.bossus.com/gear/productdetails.php?ProductId=148
 
These things bring the celestial bells of Allah to a guitar if used right, but noise is a curse, especially if you are playing live. How to deal with the noise, major issue. Got some more thoughts.
 
Anyone with a recommendation of a floor box compressor that can do better than these, please comment. Worth to me a 120 mile pilgrimage to Guitar Center to check out your advice.
 
John
 

I have this one...it does ok...

http://www.guitarcenter.c...;kwid=productads-plaid^43607301884-sku^101822963@ADL4GC-adType^PLA-device^c-adid^27124301682

Larry,
 
Might have to do the drive. I chose the Ross over the MXR at the time but noted they claim improvements over their classic version and the addition of an attack control. Any idea if this is a significant upgrade over the Dynacomp? The upgrade they did on the Custom Comp resulted in a major improvement.
 
John

I'm quite happy with mine...and all of the reviews are pretty outstanding.
I think it's far better then they Dyna Comp...but that's just me...

It seems to do the job quite well IMO...I've had it for a while and use it every live gig...

The convertible knobs are a nice touch...but I don't give a **** about knobs...
it's the sound I care about...

Larry,
 
Thanks for the reference. Will definitely be trying this out.
 
John

 
Some more subjective compressor trivia...
 
The curse of compression is noise as the input signal fades. There are subtle differences in the type of noise you have to struggle against if a comp is used first or last in a chain. IMHO comp at the end lets more garbage from the chain through even if this is the modern default approach. Comp on the front end just has to deal with the pickup and whatever fields are being picked up in the background. If you can clean up and sustain the sound up front, the output will be a lot cleaner.
 
Here's where art, experimentation is needed. One can work out a good compromise in a stable studio environment, but live work in different hum/inductance environments makes it harder to get some magic formula. Playing live, turn at a different angle against the lights or speaker, move a few feet away and everything is a mess.
 
I've found if only for me, in a stable studio, placing a noise gate after the comp and before anything else downstream works about the best. There are free gates. One link to some of them:
 
http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2012/01/17/bpb-freeware-studio-best-free-noise-gate-vstau-plugins/
 
I mostly use Nomad's Liquid Gate if there is not an adequate gate in a suite (Amp 3, Guitar Rig, Headcase, etc)
 
http://www.nomadfactory.com/products/liquid_II/
 
The gates in the major commercial suites are good. The gates in Headcase and it seems Revalver can be played almost like an attack filter allowing some really good semblances of hi volume tube amp response. Revalver has sch-1b but it is "The Gatekeeper" that has the swell characteristic. Actually glad I went with the $29 special.
 
I've got these nice floor stomps but rarely use them even live. My live setup anymore is a bastardized mexican strat going into a Presonus USB 2 box and a laptop. My American strat is mothballed away downstairs somewhere because it don't compare with the mexi monster. Laptop goes into...(don't laugh...)... a right and left stack of two Fender 212r's on either side for 400 watts stereo.
 
Internal vst comp into a noise gate into whatever else in the rampage.
 
Choice is out there vst of doing a multi band comp or a single band comp. I found that using a single band comp followed by a parametric eq is far easier to handle and defines what gets fed into the fuzz box.
 
If the comp is pressed to max compression, there may still be a makeup issue, so IF this is a factor, a good clean preamp may be needed to up the comp signal enough to drive a distortion unit.
 
Means in the most complex scenario using only vst's...
 
Compressor or limiter > noise gate > parametric eq > transparent preamp if needed. Then into the overdrive or effect of choice.
 
Probably common knowledge that if an overdrive clipping unit of any kind is involved, the noise will be harder to tame versus getting the pre processed comp signal fed into a simple flanger or the like.
 
Got to get the beer out of the freezer before the bottles explode again but have a couple favorite units anyone interested can try. Also some new radical technology or maybe new application of old technology that may be a holy grail of noise reduction if it works as good as advertised.
 
Best,
John

Has anyone ever tried building your own effects?
 
Check out Build Your Own Clone. These effects are based on the Ross and other sought after effects.
 
 http://buildyourownclone.com/
 
 

Yeah, good point Mosvalve,
 
Can't code anything too complex here, so at the mercy of the programmer geeks in that realm, like 99.999% of us. If we can't get proficient as C++ gurus, can strive for hands on abilities to compensate for the receding island we have some control over.
 
Of the opinion that every guitar banger needs to have at least soldering and assembly skills together, and a vegetable level understanding of passive circuits, magnet field basics so you can fix or modify your axe. There kits are a good way to develop some of the tech skills.
 
This is a win over dumping a hundred dollars on a box someone else wired because we are forced to progress in our own technical skills and have a useful end product after a few burned fingers and overshoot pools of solder. We grow in Grace by struggling against the elements and are better off for it.
 
John

I think it's important to have a clue of how things work. I'm assuming most guitar players know how to change their strings and tune their guitar setup and intonate, install pickups and do mods on their guitars. Why not know a little of the electronic workings of stomp effects? I've built a couple of effects from BYOC and it's fun. These kits have step by step instructions so it's easy and you gain a little knowledge. It might even save you a few bucks.
Here are the two I built.