Do I Need a Compressor Pedal?
Do I Need a Compressor Pedal?
I get this question a lot. Compression is often misunderstood. It’s too easy to set a compressor incorrectly and get frustrated with it. It’s also an effect that’s usually felt more than it is heard. But set it right, and it’s an immensely useful tool for any guitarist or bassist.
The obvious answer is: you don’t need a compressor pedal, or any other pedal for that matter. But, that’s not fun. Guitar pedals are music making tools, so what we really need to decide is how useful of a tool a compressor pedal is.
First of all, what does a compressor pedal do?
A compressor pedal is a dynamic circuit that in the simplest of forms, does two things.
- It compresses loud peaks in your playing.
- It increases the loudness of the softer parts of your playing.
When you put those two functions together you end up with a more even sound wave devoid of really high peaks and less dynamic range in the quieter parts of your playing. This yields a more even, or compressed, sound wave that tends to not be overbearingly loud but it does overall sound louder.
There are a number of finer settings that one has to be aware of when setting a compressor pedal. These include things like attack, release, ratio and mix (or the amount of dry signal allowed through). However, these finer settings go beyond the scope of this story, so those will be left at that.
Compressor pedals are equally useful for guitar or bass. However, it’s typical to see a guitar rig without one, but a bass pedalboard almost always has a compressor. This doesn’t mean that a compressor pedal is more useful for bass than guitar. What it means is that most bass players are not as heavy on effects as guitarists are. When given the usual minimalist nature of bass rigs, compressor pedals are usually meat and potatoes when it comes to bass… therefore, you’ll see one on most bass pedalboards.
But do I need one?
Here’s one way I like to look at it. On a small pedalboard going from last effect to first, I usually put reverb, delay, two overdrives and a compressor pedal. That’s 5 pedals. In that small board, the compressor is my least important pedal. However, if you take that pedalboard and double its size and now also have a chorus, tremolo, phaser, octave and EQ pedals, the compressor will STILL remain in my top 5 most important pedals on that board. Period.
For my style of playing, I need to have a reverb and a delay on my pedalboard, as well as a good overdrive or two. But the compressor pedal is very close to those in importance. It does so much for my playing and also helps me level out different guitars and pickups. Additionally, I play really percussive rhythm parts that simply don’t sound right without a healthy dose of compression.
One thing to keep in mind is that compression is essential to the unique tone of some artists. Cory Wong wouldn’t sound the same without a compressor pedal.
In conclusion – do I need a compressor pedal or not?
No, you don’t necessarily need a compressor pedal. However, if you decide not to use one in your guitar or bass rig, you are really depriving yourself of one of the most useful sound shaping tools available to guitarists and bassists. In short, every single pedal board I build for myself, always has one.
For fun, I’ll list my top 5 compressor pedals in order, starting with my most favorite. Any of these will sure be amazing for guitar or bass. I’ve tested a lot of compressors before I arrived at this conclusion.
- Thorpy FX The Fat General (or Thorpy Fat General V2)
- Empress Effects Compressor MKII – Guitar or bass versions
- Origin Effects Cali 76 Compact Deluxe (Or any of the various versions)
- Chase Bliss Clean
- Source Audio Atlas
Keeley definitely gets a huge honorary mention. I have an old Keeley 2-Knob from the mid 2000s, but haven’t put enough time on the Keeley Compressor Plus 4-Knob version. That said, it’s so popular I expect it to sit somewhere in that list above if I were to play one back to back against the others.
Additionally, I also like the Wampler Ego and the Jackson Audio Bloom V2. The major draw of the Bloom V2 is the versatility and the MIDI control. Both of these I particularly love on bass guitar.
