There are basically two ways of using compression on guitars: As a front end effect in front of an amp, mixer or interface; as a post recording “tightener”, helping the guitar sit nicely in the mix. I do both. Recently I have been running my acoustic guitars through my newest toy the Universal Audio Volt 276 interface. This includes a compressor closely related to the manufacturer’s legendary 1967 1176 tube compressor.
In my live band days I used a compressor pedal instead of a distortion pedal to drive the amp. I mainly played my Les Paul Studio through my Marshall TSL valve amp. The clean and crunch channels on that amp are lovely but to my ears the lead channel is a little nasty. After experimenting with a number of compression pedals I found the Line 6 Constrictor to my liking. I’d play through the amp’s crunch channel with just a little dirt. If I wanted clean I’d either switch to the clean channel or drop the guitar volume. When it was solo time I’d stamp on the Constrictor.
Two things happened. The sound got louder and the sustain got longer. I got a nice warm tube distortion on long notes that could end in a delicious feedback. I got lovely pinch harmonics and palm muted “chugs” when I wanted them. For recordings back then I D.I’d through a Line 6 POD. The Brit Class A amp (modelled on a Vox AC30) with the compression/delay effect dialled in was very close to my sound. I just love Line 6 compressors.
Two Ways To Use Compression On Guitar
When it came to post recording/mixing I never used compressors on electric guitar. There was no need. To be honest I also didn’t really know what to do with them in those days. I now do and use them lots on vocals and acoustic guitar both on the way in and in the mix.
When I was working with a 24 track digital workstation I had both in built digital compressors and outboard rack mount jobs. I started to see what they could do for me, my guitar tracks and my mixes in general.
These days, like most people I work mainly in the box with Logic Pro X and interfaces. You can still use a compressor pedal in front of an interface with an electric guitar but having a compressor built into the interface is a better option. Especially if it’s a close relative of a UA1176. If your interface also offers phantom power for your condenser mics you have a great tool for recording acoustic instruments and vocals.
I’ve reviewed the UA Volt 276 in a separate post so won’t dwell on it here. Suffice to say it was exactly what I was looking for and saved me buying a preamp and compressor separately. But what’s the point you ask?
Basically compressors make quiet things louder and loud things quieter. This helps to make things like vocals and guitars “sit” better in a mix. In the old days this was done manually by actually moving the volume up and down. Compressors do this automatically according to the settings chosen.
A Gentle Squeeze Or A Bearhug?
Generally speaking you can control how much the signal is compressed, how quickly the compression kicks in and how quickly or slowly it kicks out. Taken to extremes it can remove all the signal peaks and troughs (and with them personality) of a musical performance. By boosting the volume of a heavily compressed signal it’s perceived loudness can be dramatically increased. Its is often used on complete mixes of songs by mastering engineers for that reason.
The extreme “squashed” sound can be quite desirable for electric guitars in rock or metal music but is usually used more subtly in mixing. Often it will only be used to tame a signal that has occasional peaks that are too high. In digital recording unwanted distortion is not good.
But bringing it back to using compression on guitar, compression can be a lovely thing on acoustic guitars both on the way in and post recording. I usually record acoustics with a condenser microphone. These tend to have a pretty low output level. A touch of compression can provide a little boost in level along with some added clarity and sparkle. Bear in mind though, adding compression while recording is a bit like adding salt to a stew: You can always add more but you can’t take it back out.
The Volt 276 is designed with that in mind. Rather than attack, ratio, release controls it has preset settings for vocals guitar and “fast”. These are on/off buttons based I gather on favoured settings on the 1176 for those types of input. So far I’m a fan especially with my Nashville strung acoustic.
You can read or watch endless detailed tutorials on using compression on guitar but I hope, if it’s something you’ve just started to explore, this has been useful.
Check out my Guitar Masterclass for Just Past Beginners HERE
