About the Compressor block

feliperigby

Inspired
What can you say about the compressor block from Axe FX, Ax8 and Fx8 (they are the same).
Comparing with a compressor real pedal like: MXR, Empress, Darkglass?
The ones available (pedal 1, pedal 2, studio and dynamics). Are good as the empress for example?

And where in the chain you put the compressor on FAS, First? Middle? Final of the grid?
 
I tackled your inquiry on TalkBass as well, but I'll chime in here for this audience :).

I mostly use Pedal 2 or Studio. Never found a great use for Pedal 1 on bass.

The issue with the compressor block in general - like pretty much everything else - is that they are created with guitar in mind, not bass. So it takes a lot of extra tweaking to get where you want with it. I can dial in comps like the Empress or Super Symmetry in <10 seconds to taste. I've been messing with the studio compressor for months in the Axe-Fx II and AX8, and still not blown away by it. Quality wise, it'll easily be on par with every pedal you've mentioned. But, expect to spend extra time critically listening and knob twisting to get exactly what you want with it. As much as I'd LOVE for the multiband comp to be useful, I've given up on it for bass. My experience with the multiband compressor pretty much falls right in line with jimfists. More tweaking options on it would be nice to be able to really dial it in.

As for location in the grid... you'll want to experiment. On the Axe-Fx II Mk II I have, I typically run two - one up front, then one at the end. The one up front just evens things out for everything downstream, and is setup somewhat mild. The only time it's not the first block is when I have an envelope filter or wah - those blocks would be before the compressor, then everything else after the compressor.

The one at the tail end is mostly insurance for the signal to FOH and again is pretty mild. I don't go for super squished tone though. You'll also have to be a little careful with a compressor on the end of the chain, as it'll also level all noise in the signal chain, which can be unpleasant to say the least.

I can't really see a use case for the compressor in the middle. If I needed some squish / limiting there, I'd probably use the comp in the Amp block.

I often debate taking out the comp from the end of my signal chain. I need to spend time with my FOH guy and a good amount of volume to play around. So far, been too busy gigging and writing to really worry about it :D
 
I'll have to see if I even have a perset with that model still in it. I'm pretty sure I've made all of them use "Studio" now, though.
 
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