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TC Spectracomp


Guest BassAdder27
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Any users of the Spectracomp can you advise if it’s a decent compressor?

 

Looking for it to tame the boom on low notes when digging in so input to amp isn’t hammered to much 

 

Im moving on my Ampeg Opto Comp as it colours the tone slightly and want a neutral sounding compressor with simple adjustments 

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It does what it says on the tin in the simplest way (one knob)
I prefer the control I have on a manual compressor but there are some good downloads for it. 
Your other option maybe a Thumpinator 

Edited by Bunion
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On 25/03/2022 at 11:19, Bunion said:

It does what it says on the tin in the simplest way (one knob)
I prefer the control I have on a manual compressor but there are some good downloads for it. 
Your other option maybe a Thumpinator 

Or both.

Great simple combination for controlling your sound.

I highly recommend getting a Thumpinator and a Spectracomp.

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It's a great pedal. The toneprint thing is genius and there are loads of presets. I've got 2 on my board, one for my EUB and the other for BGs. The 'Captain East' toneprint is one of my favs. 

It's also a tri band comp so despite the one knob it's quite versatile and if you really want to, you can dig in to every setting with the editor (which is too much faff for me and the toneprints work brilliantly). 

Edited by Boodang
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22 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

I’ve got the spectra dive - the Captain East setting is lovely.

 

yes, I have the Spectradrive.  Does everything I need apart from a tuner - maybe they could pop one in?  The Spectrapolydrivetune? 

 

I don't understand compressors so just use the one knob, but the drive patch I like is 'clean boost' which just gives a smidge of drive.

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It's an amazingly effective yet complex pedal but I am surprised how little there is online about how to get the best out of it, especially after all this time; how to REALLY use it, Dood's review is the most comprehensive I've seen and there was someone who published the settings for each toneprint (though that link seems to have died) but there's very little else out there, especially on TC's own user forum. There must be some people who have really experimented with it other than the people who programmed the toneprints, many of which are pretty similar. I was expecting to find lots of sharing of people's own experiments and user help but most people just flick through the available toneprints it seems and choose the one that works for them; I also found the Captain East the easiest to work with. I've had a go with the editor but I don't understand it enough or have a good enough ear to get the best out of it; you really need your own engineer to fiddle while you play it seems

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On 27/03/2022 at 09:11, Paul S said:

Our very own @Dood did a rather splendid and comprehensive review of this. 

 

 

 

Thank you so much for sharing my review! :) Even now, I still think the Spectracomp is great. There's no other triple band compressor I can think of on the market this small,  that is this simple and easy to use, yet so complex if one wants. 

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Yes, it's an amazing compressor pedal, insanely tweakable.

 

You can basically get any possible compression sound of of this.

 

Though in my opinion it does require of you to take the time needed to dial in your own custom settings in the Toneprint editor for this pedal to be worth anything, I didn't like any of the pre-made basic templates as they were or artist Toneprints.

 

If you do though it's one of the absolute most versatile and customizable compression pedals on the market.

 

The Toneprint editor really allows you to tweak every imaginable useful parameter to exactly how you prefer it, making it possible to get the exact spot on compression effect you desire. 

Edited by Baloney Balderdash
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On 30/03/2022 at 10:28, BassAdder27 said:

Excellent as it is I’ve returned mine as I don’t think it was better than my analogue Ampeg Opto Compressor which is also excellent 👍 

In fact I’ve now sold both the TC and Ampeg as I don’t think I need to run a compressor at all !

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1 hour ago, BassAdder27 said:

In fact I’ve now sold both the TC and Ampeg as I don’t think I need to run a compressor at all !

Keep it simple I never understood compressors but now I wouldn’t live without one but it’s for me for sure in a band, studio is a different matter. 

Edited by Bunion
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55 minutes ago, such said:

This thread (and a few more like it) makes me think the Spectracomp may be what I want in a compressor. Need to investigate. 

£50 2nd hand. Then sell it for £50 if you do not like it. Nothing not to love about that. 

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On 29/03/2022 at 07:06, BassAdder27 said:

That’s excellent 

 

Anyone know which parameters to change to drop the slight volume increase when ON compared to OFF 

If you go into the editor there is a setting called 'Make-up Gain' or something similar. Turn that off and it's a lot more manageable. You'll still have to tweak a toneprint to your liking but that does a lot of the work. 

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I never used a compressor up until recently when I borrowed a friends spectracomp. Really loved what it did to the sound. Was going to buy one but a ridiculously cheap Seymour Duncan studio compressor came up for sale. So I snapped that up and absolutely love what it does to my tone. 

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