Seeking advice for compressing cleans before amp block

[deathbyguitar]

I'm looking to even out my clean arpeggios as well as add a bit more sustain in clean parts in general. I've been playing around with the Studio Comp with near stock settings (brought down threshold and release a bit) and while it seems to be doing the trick (placebo?) the drastic difference in volume when the effect is toggled makes it hard to compare so I kinda feel like I'm mostly running blind.

Is there a certain gain reduction range I should shoot for? Same applies for other settings but I figure I should probably aim for a low ratio and soft knee to not sound too exaggerated. I'm not looking for exact settings, I'm just curious about how you guys all use compression so I can know if I'm on the right track so I don't spend the next month playing with compressor settings for hours straight.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jlynnb1]

is it quieter or louder? I'm assuming quieter. either way, just use the level in the compressor block to match the compressed signal with the dry signal...then you'll know if it's placebo or not.