Red Witch

[RichR]

So far no issues, and what I really liked about it is it brought the other pedals under control as well.  By the time I was getting a tone I liked, things were getting a little muddy, and loud as well.  That all went away.  It really cleaned up my act a LOT!  Just the same, it couldn't hurt to experiment a little.

Sounds like a good one.   I am pretty finicky about being the right volume.   If I feel like my guitar is overbearing or drowns out the rest of the band, from my vantage point, it is a mojo killer.  Makes me hold back, play lightly, etc.   Finding that perfect volume is important to me.   Compressor would help smooth out the peaks and valleys a bit.

When I bought my Ross compressor (late 70s/early 80s), they were marketed as compressor/sustainer.   And playing alone, I could get extra sustain, by using lots of compression.   But that ultra squashed sound was lost in the mix.   Long story short, I didn't know what I was doing, and didn't have access to anyone who knew any more than I did.   Most of us here remember the pre-internet days.   I tried using it as a boost, but it wasn't well suited to that task either.   Along the way, I picked up a better understanding of the subtle way compression fits in.

Anyway, that could be the next change on my pedalboard.   Money is a little tight.   A few scheduled gigs have fallen through, and my wife has been out of work since January (finally starting to do some PRN (temping) work).

[DannyDV8]

I found I needed a lot less of the other crap to get across what I was trying to do, which more than having an explosive tone was to just not have my notes dwell out.  A little dirt is nice, but you don't need tons of distortion to play Blues and Southern Rock.  This thing really dialed me in a lot!

[DannyDV8]

Also, most importantly, because it's bringing up the volume a bit on the quiet notes, you can lighten up considerably on your picking attack, and that cleans things up as well.  Between this improvement, and having a mic that cut through much more effectively, life got a lot easier for me, I was like a brand new dog Saturday night!

[DannyDV8]

So, I tore my whole pedal board apart again, I took Yo's advive and put the compressor in front of everything except the Seymour Pickup Booster, and the Tuner, and I picked up an MXR Wylde Overdrive for next to nothing.  I love that thing, and once again I lucked out and traded junk I wasn't using for it.  I got rid of my Lovepedal Superlead.  I just couldn't make friends with the damned thing.  If I tweaked and tweaked on it I could get a Rock Star tone out of it, but I ain't got time for tweakin' when I'm trying to get going in a bar, ya know?  I also traded off a Morley Optical Volume pedal that took up more real estate than my amp!  Anyway my board now is:  Korg Pitchblack Tuner> Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster> Red Witch Grace Compressor> JS-1> MXR Classic Overdrive> MXR ZW-44 Wylde Overdrive> MXR Clssic Distortion> BBE AM-64 Distortion> Delta Lab SC-1 Sterio Chorus> Seymour Duncan DejaVu Tap Delay> BBE Sonic Stomp.  Considering I had all my stuff rippped off not all that long ago and that I started off with nothing but a DS-1 and two cheap guitar cords, I feel pretty good!

[RichR]

So, I tore my whole pedal board apart again, I took Yo's advive and put the compressor in front of everything except the Seymour Pickup Booster, and the Tuner, and I picked up an MXR Wylde Overdrive for next to nothing.  I love that thing, and once again I lucked out and traded junk I wasn't using for it.  I got rid of my Lovepedal Superlead.  I just couldn't make friends with the damned thing.  If I tweaked and tweaked on it I could get a Rock Star tone out of it, but I ain't got time for tweakin' when I'm trying to get going in a bar, ya know?  I also traded off a Morley Optical Volume pedal that took up more real estate than my amp!  Anyway my board now is:  Korg Pitchblack Tuner> Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster> Red Witch Grace Compressor> JS-1> MXR Classic Overdrive> MXR ZW-44 Wylde Overdrive> MXR Clssic Distortion> BBE AM-64 Distortion> Delta Lab SC-1 Sterio Chorus> Seymour Duncan DejaVu Tap Delay> BBE Sonic Stomp.  Considering I had all my stuff rippped off not all that long ago and that I started off with nothing but a DS-1 and two cheap guitar cords, I feel pretty good!

So what do think about the comp move?

[DannyDV8]

It was a pretty hectic day here yesterday, and when I wasn't busy, I was spent.  I'll fire it up today and get back to you.

[DannyDV8]

In a word yes, as usual Yo was right. Grace plays much better with the other children when she's first in line.  The two MXR Overdrives sound really great together!  I'm wishing that I would have put the tuner at the end of the line inasmuch as when you step on it, it mutes everything, which comes in handy at the end of a song for getting all the hiss from whatever pedals turned off, and makes nice for drop dead endings, so I'll probably be moving stuff one more time, but outside of that, I've found the order things ought to be in!

[RichR]

In a word yes, as usual Yo was right. Grace plays much better with the other children when she's first in line.  The two MXR Overdrives sound really great together!  I'm wishing that I would have put the tuner at the end of the line inasmuch as when you step on it, it mutes everything, which comes in handy at the end of a song for getting all the hiss from whatever pedals turned off, and makes nice for drop dead endings, so I'll probably be moving stuff one more time, but outside of that, I've found the order things ought to be in!

Cool.  I think that would be a good addition to my board.  For me, probably between the volume pedal and my first OD.   I am pretty content with vol-OCD-LovepedalOD11-chorus-delay (reverb on the amp).   

[DannyDV8]

For the money you can't beat it.  It doesn't have the hiss usually associated with comps, it's got the smallest footprint imaginable, they put the jacks on the front of the thing so you aren't wasting a lot of dead space trying to hook it up, all you have to do is regester it on line and they extend the warranty from one year to four, and it works like a charm, I couldn't believe how much it tightened up my overall sound when I had it in the wrong place, getting it right is just a little piece of heaven!  A lot of what I've been using the other pedals for is just so my notes won't dwell out when I'm soloing, and that all wen't away, so did the "mush" when I do use the other stuff. 

[yosoytudios]

In a word yes, as usual Yo was right. Grace plays much better with the other children when she's first in line.  The two MXR Overdrives sound really great together!  I'm wishing that I would have put the tuner at the end of the line inasmuch as when you step on it, it mutes everything, which comes in handy at the end of a song for getting all the hiss from whatever pedals turned off, and makes nice for drop dead endings, so I'll probably be moving stuff one more time, but outside of that, I've found the order things ought to be in!

Cool.  I think that would be a good addition to my board.  For me, probably between the volume pedal and my first OD.   I am pretty content with vol-OCD-LovepedalOD11-chorus-delay (reverb on the amp).

i would put it before the volume pedal. tat way even when you roll it back on the pedal, you still have a compressed sound that is even.

[RichR]

In a word yes, as usual Yo was right. Grace plays much better with the other children when she's first in line.  The two MXR Overdrives sound really great together!  I'm wishing that I would have put the tuner at the end of the line inasmuch as when you step on it, it mutes everything, which comes in handy at the end of a song for getting all the hiss from whatever pedals turned off, and makes nice for drop dead endings, so I'll probably be moving stuff one more time, but outside of that, I've found the order things ought to be in!

Cool.  I think that would be a good addition to my board.  For me, probably between the volume pedal and my first OD.   I am pretty content with vol-OCD-LovepedalOD11-chorus-delay (reverb on the amp).

i would put it before the volume pedal. tat way even when you roll it back on the pedal, you still have a compressed sound that is even.

Well, I guess I could try it both ways.  And actually I could try it pre-vol without disturbing the pedalboard.   I use the vol pedal, the way most people use the guitar vol (allowing me to used the middle position on the LP-- guit vol pots disrupt the balance between pups).   I think of the vol as an extension of the guitar.

But easy enough to test both ways.   My gear kitty is just starting to get healthy again.   But I have an amp repair bill coming.  I could probably swing a comp purchase some time in August.   Sooner if I have a windfall.

[DannyDV8]

If you go on MF's site they usually have a code for $20.off over $99. so that gets it down to $79. which really is a killer deal.

[yosoytudios]

xotic came out with a small footprint compressor. i have not tried iit yet, but it is their answer to the grace. http://xotic.us/effects/sp_comp/

i have the xotic ep boost and the seven sisters boost and they are both great. the new sp comp has a dry blend feature, where you can blend in dry signal so the compressor doesn't effect the attack, it just increases the sustain. i am gonna try it out thursday if i can.

[DannyDV8]

Wow, that sounds great!

[yosoytudios]

i tried the sp compressor today, and wow. it doesn't have a compression knob, just a swicth to pick between 3 compression settings, and has a volume and a dry mix. with the compression on high, and the dry mix at around 75%, you get no effect on the initial attack, zero squishiness , and sustain forever. the transition is seamless. i might trade my keeley for this one. the ability to increase compression without effecting the initial attack is incredibly useful. i tried it with a nash strat, what a great guitar.