Compression pedals and a Sansamp VT pre amp

[Jonesy]

Howdy folks!

 

I've never really used a compression pedal and I currently have a hankering to try one. I'm very much in the 'I'm not really sure what they do/I want them to do', and my understanding of the different types of compression is close to non existent. I've read a few articles and threads here, but I'm thinking just picking up a cheap one to try is probably better so I can get an understanding by actually using one. 

 

But, before I do, I have a quick question for you........

 

I play with a Sansamp VT pre amp as an always on, which compresses the signal anyway, so do I 'need' a compression pedal anyway, will it make a noticeable difference? 

 

If you're thinking it's still worth picking one up, I was looking at the Joyo Scylla as an entry point, or the TC Spectracomp. 

 

I have no idea if there are different types of compressors that are suited for different styles (we play blues standards) etc but, if it's handy to know, my current signal chain goes like this......

 

Something with flats

Tuner

Sansamp VT (always on)

Catalinbread SFT (for occasional grit)

Amp

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

[Linus27]

I'm no expert but I play fretless and use a Sansamp BDDI v2 and an Ampeg Opticomp compressor and I couldn't live without it. The compressor just sprinkles magic dust on my tone and smooths everything out. I'm aware that the Sansamp pre-amps do add some compression but I found when I turned my compressor pedal off, my tone lost something and it was noticeable when it was turned back on again. The test for me was when I did a few gigs with another band and needed to build a small pedalboard for a fretted gig. I was going to save money and not bother with the Ampeg compressor but playing without it was considerably noticeable. As soon as I added it to my board (Sansamp, Octave and Compressor), my tone tightened up and was much better for it. I've heard good things about the TC Spectracomp pedal and they are cheap enough to get hold of so I say go for it. 

[Jonesy]

44 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

I'm no expert but I play fretless and use a Sansamp BDDI v2 and an Ampeg Opticomp compressor and I couldn't live without it. The compressor just sprinkles magic dust on my tone and smooths everything out. I'm aware that the Sansamp pre-amps do add some compression but I found when I turned my compressor pedal off, my tone lost something and it was noticeable when it was turned back on again. The test for me was when I did a few gigs with another band and needed to build a small pedalboard for a fretted gig. I was going to save money and not bother with the Ampeg compressor but playing without it was considerably noticeable. As soon as I added it to my board (Sansamp, Octave and Compressor), my tone tightened up and was much better for it. I've heard good things about the TC Spectracomp pedal and they are cheap enough to get hold of so I say go for it. 

 

Good to hear, thanks for that! Do you put the compressor before or after the Sansamp?

 

I've heard good things about the Ampeg too and it's not out of budget, if people think it's worth shelling out a bit more for a different pedal to the the Joyo or TC.

[Linus27]

8 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

 

Good to hear, thanks for that! Do you put the compressor before or after the Sansamp?

 

I've heard good things about the Ampeg too and it's not out of budget, if people think it's worth shelling out a bit more for a different pedal to the the Joyo or TC.

 

I'm current running Bass > Tuner > Octave > Overdrive > Chorus > Reverb 1 > Reverb 2 > Compressor > Sansamp > Amp/Desk so its just before the Sansamp with the Sansamp last in the chain.

 

I chose the Ampeg after having a great chat with @Osiris who suggested an optical compressor works really well for fretless and he was right, I couldn't be happier, it works great for me and the reviews were all really positive as well. A lot of people rate the TC Spectracomp as well though but I would say, due to the Toneprint option, you will fiddle a lot more and may not be able to easily decide what you like or what is working best for you. The Ampeg is literally three dials and super simple to setup and you can just start by having everything at 12 o'clock and tweak from there. I know nothing about the Joyo pedal though but I know the TC and Ampeg are both great.

[Osiris]

Compression is a pretty decisive subject as a trawl of the BC archives will demonstrate 😉.

 

My advice before spending any money would be so a bit more homework on the subject. Admittedly, it a pretty nerdy topic and there's a lot of misinformation about it our there, which IMO, is based more on misunderstanding about what they are, what they do and how best to use them. In fact, you'll get a more objective opinion about the subject from sound engineering sites than sites like this! 

 

Only you know what you want from a compressor, and that usually comes from experience and the type of music you play. With @Linus27 being a fretless player, an optical compressor was the obvious choice as they tend to be more on the smooth and mellow side in terms of their action. But it's very much a personal thing. 

 

But one thing to bear in mind is that compression is more of a feel thing than anything else. And what works for some doesn't work for ithers. I suspect a lot of people who don't get on with comps but one expecting an obvious effect like you get from a distortion pedal, but it's mostly way more subtle. 

 

So in answer to your original post... It depends. I appreciate that probably doesn't help, but it's something that you'll figure out if you decide to dive into that particular rabbit hole. But the Spectracomp is a great starting point as it'll give you an idea of how different parameter settings can affect the bass. If you're in a band, definitely try it in the mix with other musicians as that's where you're more likely to feel what's happened.

 

FWIW, I've been through loads of different compresses over the years, including most of the highest regarding pedals, and I've stuck with the humble Boss LMB-3. It does something that I haven't been able to get from any of the more boutique pedals. It's not expensive or sophisticated, but it does what I want a compressor to do. 

[Jonesy]

I think the issue is that I'm still not 100% sure on what they do and what I want them for! Although, watching a few reviews where they show the sound wave and a talk with ChatGPT has been pretty helpful in me half figuring that out. 

 

From my understanding so far.......

 

I don't really want them to shape my tone (although I don't mind an added bit of warmth, def don't want anything too clinical), what I want is help with evening out the dynamics. 

 

So an Optical or Tube compressor would be best? Given that tube compressors aren't cheap, then optical compressors might be the best route to go down?

 

I do like the look of the Spectracomp, but I'm kinda torn on it. I love the simplicity of one knob (ooh err), but with all of the settings hidden in Toneprint, it makes making changes at band practice a bit more of a faff.

[Frank Blank]

52 minutes ago, Linus27 said:

I chose the Ampeg after having a great chat with @Osiris who suggested an optical compressor works really well for fretless and he was right, I couldn't be happier,

 

I also chose my compressor after a similar chat with compression guru @Osiris who also suggested an optical compressor. I went for the Effectrode PC-2A and, like you, couldn't be happier.

[Osiris]

29 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

I think the issue is that I'm still not 100% sure on what they do and what I want them for! Although, watching a few reviews where they show the sound wave and a talk with ChatGPT has been pretty helpful in me half figuring that out. 

 

From my understanding so far.......

 

I don't really want them to shape my tone (although I don't mind an added bit of warmth, def don't want anything too clinical), what I want is help with evening out the dynamics. 

 

So an Optical or Tube compressor would be best? Given that tube compressors aren't cheap, then optical compressors might be the best route to go down?

 

I do like the look of the Spectracomp, but I'm kinda torn on it. I love the simplicity of one knob (ooh err), but with all of the settings hidden in Toneprint, it makes making changes at band practice a bit more of a faff.

 

Any tonal enhancement is, as far as I understand it, down to the design of the circuit being used, it's very much a personal choice as to whether you like what any particular compressor is doing. And there are those that are transparent too, for my tastes I find them a bit bland and clinical, but many swear by them. 

 

I wouldn't really think in terms of the circuit type at this stage but if possible, try to play through as many different ones as you can can to see which, if any, you like. As a very sweeping generalisation you have optical compressors at one end which tend to be slow, warm and vintage sounding, and FET based units at the other end which tend to be faster and more aggressive. My preference is for the latter as I tend to play quite hard and slower attack times as you typically get with optical units can become a bit spitty or grabby for me. So maybe thinking along the lines of whether you want something retro like the Ampeg Optocomp, or something faster, more precise like the various Origin types would be a good starting point. 

 

And just to consuse matters further, I briefly played with a Sansamp VT a few years ago and as much as I loved the tone, I found it too inherently compressed for my tastes even without any additional compression. So it might be that you don't find compression beneficial with your current gear. I'm not knocking the VT, it just didn't work for me with the band. 

[Lozz196]

I put my dislike of compression solely down to me being too rubbish to know how to use it properly. 
 

 

[BassAdder60]

I found the Ampeg Optocomp very good as a pick player but less so fingerstyle. The pedal added a bit of depth when using a pick 

 

I’ve noticed that true with some compressors on amps such as the Orange LBT also optical 

 

 

[Osiris]

5 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

I put my dislike of compression solely down to me being too rubbish to know how to use it properly. 
 

 

Fair play Lozz 😀

 

Joking aside, it's really easy to set up a compressor incorrectly or so over the top that it destroys your dynamics, and I think it's because people don't understand what to do with them. And I don't mean that in a condescending or patronising way, but it takes a time and experience to get the best from them. With pedal compressors, my assumption people switch them on expecting an immediate and obvious change as you get with most stomp boxes and when that doesn't happen they either dial in up so it's clearly audible - by which point you've usually strangled the life out of your sound - or end up dismissing them as not doing anything. 

 

But when done right, it polishes up the bass and makes it slot into the mix more consistently. And it is more of a feel thing than a tonal one. For example, I was gigging last night and getting a bit carried away as usual and there's a few tracks we do that have large dynamic shifts and sometimes we exaggerate those from whisper quiet to full tilt. With the right settings, the lighter passages are uncompressed but as you dig in you can feel the compression pushing back and controlling the signal. There's still volume and dynamic shifts but they're controlled, I can dig in really hard and get an aggressive energy and while the volume increases it does so in a way that doesn't blow people's heads off. I mentioned my humble Boss LMB-3 earlier and this is what it excels at, once you're pushing against the threshold the pedal really adds something that I've not been able get any other compressor to replicate (a couple have come close, the most notable being the Basswitch dual band) the way it controls the signal and punches back at you, the bass still has the energy as you dig in but feels somehow bigger and more alive without too much of a volume increase. 

 

That's not to say compression is for everyone, there's lots of people who don't use them and that's fine too. 

[TimR]

Ha!

 

I have Lozz's Keeley compressor, which I bought from him 4 years ago.

 

It's brilliant. Always on. 

[Jonesy]

18 hours ago, Osiris said:

And just to consuse matters further, I briefly played with a Sansamp VT a few years ago and as much as I loved the tone, I found it too inherently compressed for my tastes even without any additional compression. So it might be that you don't find compression beneficial with your current gear. I'm not knocking the VT, it just didn't work for me with the band. 

 

That's probably my biggest concern. I really like the VT with the band and I know it compresses things, so I'm wondering if it's worth using a compressor.

 

So then maybe something clean and transparent is the way to go, so it just looks at dynamics? 

 

Or does the VT inherently also help control dynamics? 

 

 

[Osiris]

46 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

 

That's probably my biggest concern. I really like the VT with the band and I know it compresses things, so I'm wondering if it's worth using a compressor.

 

So then maybe something clean and transparent is the way to go, so it just looks at dynamics? 

 

Or does the VT inherently also help control dynamics? 

 

 

 

It's been a long time since I tried it so my memory might be a little rusty but how I remember it is that it sounded great when I set it up at home, I was going for more of a B15 vibe than SVT, with a relatively flat EQ and enough drive to add character without sounding obviously distorted. But when trying it with the band I found it too squashed even without adding my compressor on top. It's hard to explain but I couldn't get it to poke through the mix. But that was me, with my gear and playing style. So your experience could be very different.

 

And at the risk of sounding like a cop out, it's hard to second guess whether adding a compressor in would work with you and your gear. For me, it didn't, but Linus has said that it definitely adds something to his set up. So maybe try it and see. A transparent comp would work if you want to retain the character of the VT, although they're harder to dial in until you get your ear in. Something more coloured may add or take away from what the VT is doing, and only you will know if you like what it's doing. 

 

How about grabbing a Spectracomp and trying a few tone prints. You mentioned it being a bit of a faff to change them on the fly and that's fair comment, but once you have the app loaded in your phone it only takes a few seconds to switch. Don't worry about diving into the editor to create your own, you don't need to. But you can pick one up for around £50 and if you don't get on with it you'll be able to move it on without losing any money.

 

Out of interest, what style of music do you play? What other gear are you using and what type of tone do you use? Knowing what you're aiming for might allow me to suggest something closer to what might work for you. 

 

 

[ezbass]

I run my always on MXR M87 comp into my VTDI and I like what it does. However, when using the VTDI (which seems to be more often than not at the moment) I’m definitely adding grind (more SVT than B15) and a fair bit of top end. There is definitely some added compression but it’s different from what the M87 is doing.

[LawrenceH]

Worth bearing in mind that any recorded bass in a track will have multiple stages of compression contributing to the final sound. Taking a classic setup you've potentially got compression from a (mic'ed) amp, a channel compressor, tape saturation and a mix compressor. Potentially extra channel and/or bus compressors and a tape bounce or two! A lot of these will only be shaving off the odd dB or two but it all adds up.

 

In my opinion, the best way to use compressors on bass is to use several of them, with none of them working too hard individually. That way you can choose the sound sculpting you want practically independently of the dynamic range reduction.

[Jonesy]

On 29/11/2025 at 09:50, Osiris said:

 

It's been a long time since I tried it so my memory might be a little rusty but how I remember it is that it sounded great when I set it up at home, I was going for more of a B15 vibe than SVT, with a relatively flat EQ and enough drive to add character without sounding obviously distorted. But when trying it with the band I found it too squashed even without adding my compressor on top. It's hard to explain but I couldn't get it to poke through the mix. But that was me, with my gear and playing style. So your experience could be very different.

 

And at the risk of sounding like a cop out, it's hard to second guess whether adding a compressor in would work with you and your gear. For me, it didn't, but Linus has said that it definitely adds something to his set up. So maybe try it and see. A transparent comp would work if you want to retain the character of the VT, although they're harder to dial in until you get your ear in. Something more coloured may add or take away from what the VT is doing, and only you will know if you like what it's doing. 

 

How about grabbing a Spectracomp and trying a few tone prints. You mentioned it being a bit of a faff to change them on the fly and that's fair comment, but once you have the app loaded in your phone it only takes a few seconds to switch. Don't worry about diving into the editor to create your own, you don't need to. But you can pick one up for around £50 and if you don't get on with it you'll be able to move it on without losing any money.

 

Out of interest, what style of music do you play? What other gear are you using and what type of tone do you use? Knowing what you're aiming for might allow me to suggest something closer to what might work for you. 

 

 

 

I grabbed a Spectracomp off eBay today, so hopefully it'll be here in a few days and ready for the next band practice!

 

Thanks for the advice! I'll give it a whirl and see what my ears say. I'll be using it in a blues covers band and have 2 general tones. One with the VT, which is fairly flat-ish and just uses a pedal for a bit of warmth and slight break up. Then I use a catalinbread SFT for more grit. I switch between basses depending on what I fancy taking with me, but it'll be wearing flats. 

 

Any tips on which tone print would be good to start with? I hear good things about the Captain East...

[Stub Mandrel]

Funnily enough, I finally got around to playing with my spectracomp today. I saw a gig and the bass player had way more compression than I normally use and it did work. But I want enough dynamics to ride my amp's gain and get results from my autowah.

 

The Nathan East setting is pretty good. The trapdoor one is insane, totally impractical but I'd love to wig out with it and an octaver! A lot of the funk ones felt pretty samey, although they opened up te top end well. I can't remember which I chose now, but I went for a three band with a slightly more rounded bass.

 

I would appreciate a greater understanding of the presets and what the knob does for each one.

 

I couldn't find the editor...

 

 

To be brutal,  I suspect the single knob compression on Joyo amps is at least as effective for rock.

 

I also think I spent most of my time looking for the 'better knob' effect my TC Forcefield has and not finding it.

[Lozz196]

That’s a good point, the only compression I’ve ever used that I was competent enough to use was the one knob compressor on my old Ampeg PF500.

 

Cue the claims of one knob using one knob………

[Osiris]

9 hours ago, Jonesy said:

 

I grabbed a Spectracomp off eBay today, so hopefully it'll be here in a few days and ready for the next band practice!

 

Thanks for the advice! I'll give it a whirl and see what my ears say. I'll be using it in a blues covers band and have 2 general tones. One with the VT, which is fairly flat-ish and just uses a pedal for a bit of warmth and slight break up. Then I use a catalinbread SFT for more grit. I switch between basses depending on what I fancy taking with me, but it'll be wearing flats. 

 

Any tips on which tone print would be good to start with? I hear good things about the Captain East...

 

Are you stacking the SFT with the VT or using one of the other? If you're stacking them you may not notice much benefit from adding additional compression although this is speculation and with the right tone print it could enhance things.

 

Recommending the right tone print is tricky as they're all good in their own way, but whether they do what you want is another matter. Generally speaking, if you're playing blues with flats I'd avoid any slap focussed tone prints, the 3 individual comp engines can be used to impart some tone shaping depending on the settings and slap presets are more likely to scoop your mids while hyping the bass and treble which I'm guessing you don't want. I'd start with any that are more vintage focused or are trying to mimic an optical compressor. Beyond that, it's really a case of try it and see. And remember, less is usually more with compression, so if you're dialling it in until it becomes obvious you've usually gone too far and will likely benefit from dialling things back. 

[Osiris]

7 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I would appreciate a greater understanding of the presets and what the knob does for each one.

 

I couldn't find the editor...

 

 

I can't remember if the editor is or was a separate app to the one you download tone prints from, it's been a few years since I had a Spectracomp but I remember editing it hooked up to my PC so it might be you can't (or never used to be able?) to do it from a mobile. 

 

As for the single knob (fnarr) you can program it in the editor to simultaneously control up to three of the fifty or more parameters, and you can control the range of those parameters too. Most of the tone prints seem to use it to affect ratio, threshold and/or volume  but they can be configured to control any editable parameter so if you wanted to lower one of the crossover frequencies while upping the threshold of the mids and reducing the attack speed on the low end you can. I also had a Hypergravity at one point, effectively a four knob spectracomp, with that I'd dialled it in to work as an adjustable pseudo high pass filter on the lows, a wide frequency single band over everything from the upper bass to the high mids, and a tapered high end roll off, each on individual controls and I think the other was a master volume. It wasn't perfect but it shows what you can do with it given the time and inclination. 

[Stub Mandrel]

Thinking about it what I'm wanting* is:

 

Some noticeable compression low down so when I dig in I can get my amp to overdrive but don't blow the roof off (see your comment above).

 

Enough middle boost so dusty end widdles cut through.

 

Add top end clarity to compensate for strings a tad past their best and bring out some clank if I go 'Entwhistle' or slappy.

 

 

 

 

 

*a sub-editor who can type?

Edited 1 hour ago by Stub Mandrel

[Osiris]

21 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Thinking about it what I'm wanting* is:

 

Some noticeable compression low down so when I dig in I can get my amp to overdrive but don't blow the roof off (see your comment above).

 

Enough middle boost so dusty end widdles cut through.

 

Add top end clarity to compensate for strings a tad past their best and bring out some clank if I go 'Entwhistle' or slappy.

 

 

 

 

 

*a sub-editor who can type?

 

Oddly enough, letting the lows through either uncompressed or with less compression than the highs and mids can help the lows sounding bigger and deeper, try playing with the HPF on one of the Origin Cali units to hear it in action. IME, keeping the mids and highs in check is usually more beneficial, although I do use a single band comp as for my tastes, what it does to the whole signal is more important to me on a gig than a more studio like quality to the low end. But it's down to personal preference.

 

From what you're describing you might possibly get on with the Boss LMB-3, which I mentioned above as being my go to. It keeps the lows tight, add a massive mid range punch but can roll off the highs a bit. You can use the Enhance control to add some high end back in but it honestly sounds a bit cack, like a cheap 80's active preamp. I fund cranking the treble in the amp to taste a better solution. 

[LawrenceH]

14 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Thinking about it what I'm wanting* is:

 

Some noticeable compression low down so when I dig in I can get my amp to overdrive but don't blow the roof off (see your comment above).

 

Enough middle boost so dusty end widdles cut through.

 

Add top end clarity to compensate for strings a tad past their best and bring out some clank if I go 'Entwhistle' or slappy.

 

 

 

 

 

*a sub-editor who can type?

I haven't tried the Spectracomp but I've used the Hypergravity, and assuming it's similar you ought to be able to achieve all that with a 2- or 3- band preset, especially if they have gain on each of the bands. Tbh a good 1176-esque preset ought to get you most of the way there without even needing multiband.

 

In general I find:

 

- fast attack/fast release will even out the note attack and sustain, which helps with upper-mid clarity but can choke the bass end a bit hard which is where sidechain HPF comes in handy.

- slow attack/slow release will emphasise picking attack over a controlled deep note to give you that soft-picked soul sound.

 

- you can adust ratio and threshold together in a compensatory fashion so that you achieve similar amount of overall gain reduction with either high threshold, high ratio, or low threshold, low ratio. However you do it I find aiming for 3-6dB average reduction is about right for really filling out the sound. For fast settings this'll mean very briefly hitting quite hard (9dB plus) on peaks especially if you dig in or slap.

 

- if you're multibanding, the switch frequency from low to mid-band takes a bit of fiddling to suit pickups and your taste in the low mids, which is quite critical to the body of the sound IME.

 

My own general-purpose pop/rock/funk preference is chaining a slower compressor into a faster compressor, with a ratio no more than 4:1 on each, each taking off the aforementioned 3-6dB. A lot of people will do it the other way round (1176 into LA2/3A is conventional wisdom) but this way worked much better for me.