Compression/Sustain - How Much?

[Tim]

Compression/Sustain. How does everybody use it? Do you use it on all songs? Or dialing in a varying degree depending on the expression you are trying to achieve?

I know what is does. Compression takes the amount of attack and averages out the volume, while sustain allows the note or chord to hang a round a few milliseconds longer.

I have no idea on how to dial in the amount needed to do any thing. I have read that too much is an over kill. Can someone explain what a little vs. a lot will do to a note or chord?

Thanks!

 

[Katastrophe]

Tim -

Sent you a PM...

 

[warren0728]

i would be interested too.....

ww

 

[Katastrophe]

Okey Doke, here goes...

A good example of a great, highly compressed lead tone would be David Gilmour's breakdown solo in "Money," right after the saxophone solo, where the rhythm slows down. The sound is very tight and small, which leads into a more open, unleashed sound when the whole band comes back in.

There's a place for it, but I tend not to use very much in my effects. The tone, for me, tends to sound too "processed" (which is one of the reasons I got rid of my big ol' rack set up and went back to a combo).

"Sustain" is the amount of time that a note rings after it's been struck. I know Fernandes makes a "Sustainer" pup for their guitars that forces the string to vibrate longer, and I'd imagine a sustain effect holds the tone for a definable amount of time, but I've never used it.

With any effect, I tend to start with a flat eq (turning the equalizer settings on the amp to 12 o'clock or zero), and a clean tone. Add effects one at a time, incrementally. Start at "1" and play a bit. If that's not satisfactory, bump the level up one and check it again. Repeat until it sounds good to your ear.

Too much of any effect is a bad thing! Try to keep it simple, and the tone will come from your hands...

My former guitar teacher used to have this old, 70's era Strat. It was beat all to heck, and it didn't take much pressure to bend the neck at all. He got the most amazing, thick lead tone out of just the guitar and a Mesa/Boogie combo amp. He was (and I imagine, still is) amazingly fast. He let me play it one day, and, you guessed it, I still sounded like me...

 

[warren0728]

thanks kat....

i knew about sustain but have been a little puzzled by compression...i'm digging out the floyd cd now to listen for your description.

thanks again,
ww