Distortion+Compressor???

D

Donici Mihail

Sep 25, 2020
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7
2,891
#1
Hey everyone.
As a metal bass player i always wanted to get an agressive sound,that clanky , heavy tone,perfect for death metal. Recently i got a modified Boss metalzone and it makes me sound like Doom music,i was happy for some time but then i found out what compressors can do. Turns out a good compressor could give me that tone i needed. So i was thinking,should i get a compressor pedal and use it together with my metalzone? I think it would add more attack and an interesting heavy sound would come out,but i might be wrong...
Please someone explain to me if somehow compression would help me get the tone that i wanted for so long, and if a cheap compression pedal would do a great job too (under 100 euro budget).
 
#3
I'd recommend - before you dive into adding a compressor - that you try some other products that a lot of metal bassists use to emphasize that CLANG you're looking for. Mainly, the SansAmp BDDI or other variation (Steve Harris & Dug Pinnick Fly Rig, YYZ pedal) or some of the Darkglass stuff like the ever-popular B7k amongst many others. In fact, the Darkglass
ALPHA·OMEGA ΦOTON or Aggressively Distorting Advanced Machine both look to be exactly geared for what you want (built-in comp, drive, blend, etc.). These aren't cheap $100 pedals, but would likely replace your metal zone and do a better job focusing on bass, specifically.

If you're into a relatively quick point-A-to-point-B solution, these would probably be it IMHO.
There are lots of ways to get there...some involve multiple pedals and a lot of trial and error...or...other digital pedals/multi-fx which may require a lot of rabbit-hole down time to program, rather than just twisting a handful of knobs.

BTW, some specs from you: bass, strings (flats or roundwound), pick or fingers, light or heavy touch, stage amp rig, etc.? The gear and your approach/technique are important to this equation.

YMMV, JMHO. Good luck!
 
#4
Honestly, I'd go try out some compressors and get a feel for what they actually do before looking for suggestions. The Metal Zone is going to compress your signal significantly anyway, and adding more compression might take you into "electric ham sandwich" territory.

So the answer is "yes, a compressor COULD help you, but maybe learn how they work firsthand".

As a cautionary tale, my guitarist has been complaining about excess noise in his signal chain. Spent $100 on an ISP Deci-Mate noise gate. Still couldn't get the noise out when the noise gate wasn't clamping down on the signal. Turned off his compressor by mistake and all the noise was gone. Then played the entire rehearsal and didn't miss the compressor at all. I expect it will be gone for next rehearsal, and the noise gate will follow soon thereafter.
 
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#5
A drive will introduce its own compression - actually a hard limiting which is the base of distortion. Adding a compressor into the equation will introduce a particular tonal flavor which could be to your liking or just redundant and possibly raising the noise. You should experiment and see how it goes for you. But adding a compressor and drive (front or after) is not mandatory and the difference could be marginal.

Some aim to “adding sustain” by summing the both but I consider that to be a misunderstanding of what the compressors do. A compressor cannot make a string vibrate longer but can make the signal below the threshold to be amplified by the makeup gain. Is that sustain? That is a rhetorical question :smug:
 
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#6
Billy Sheehan is a well know user of distortion and compression. For period of time he used Pearce preamps which had a ton of gain and a boost, and Ashley compressors to smooth out the distortion and add some makeup gain as well.

The EBS Billy Sheehan pedal is distortion and compressor pedal.
 
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#7
Compressors are also going to change your gain and input impedance going into the dirt. Ymmv as to whether that ends up being a positive thing for you. When I do this I almost always end up losing attack and adding an unpleasant fizziness to the dirt, but you might have better luck (or mebbe I'm doing it wrong).

I wanted to add some heavier compression and I'm having better luck doing it at the end of my chain so it lets my dirt pedals work the way they're supposed to. Gain structure is a personal thing tho, you know?
 
#8
Donici Mihail said:
Hey everyone.
As a metal bass player i always wanted to get an agressive sound,that clanky , heavy tone,perfect for death metal. Recently i got a modified Boss metalzone and it makes me sound like Doom music,i was happy for some time but then i found out what compressors can do. Turns out a good compressor could give me that tone i needed. So i was thinking,should i get a compressor pedal and use it together with my metalzone? I think it would add more attack and an interesting heavy sound would come out,but i might be wrong...
Please someone explain to me if somehow compression would help me get the tone that i wanted for so long, and if a cheap compression pedal would do a great job too (under 100 euro budget).
Click to expand...

Can you be more specific? I have been in the studio for multiple death metal albums and I can help you out. Think Suffocation, Cannibal, Necrophagist..etc.

Each band has their own thing, but honestly you can get an incredibly grindy sound by using a Tech21 Classic sans amp. For year, before this gear explosion, I knew producers who just used the Tech21 plugin and the tone was incredible.

Nowadays a lot of guys use dark glass pedals and it gets more complex since there is so much gear available and so guys experiment and try and make up their own thing.

But for a safe, inexpensive, but amazing tone I would suggest a Tech 21 classic. And then over time when you get some more $$ you could put a compressor in front of that. I would recommend an EBs multi comp, but there are a ton of options.
 
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