200 S plus ehx black finger?

[Smoothwound]

Hello again All,

I'm asking this question after having read as much as I could searching compression on this site, however my question is a little bit more from the novice side of things.

I have been considering getting an EHX BLACK FINGER optical tube compressor for vocals,

but anticipate it ending up in front of my 200s. I'm still using the original stamped Mullard KT88's but plan on getting a matched pair of JJ's soon.

My question is, is this too redundant, to put a tube compressor on a tube amp?

Does anyone have suggestions for compressors or any other classic combination of effects pedals on the 200s for studio vs live settings?

What compression, if any do you use?

I'm bringing her into the studio on June 11th to cut our first demos and will be mixing and going direct. I love the way it sounds on low volumes, but we play pretty loud. The guys LOVE the sound, and it is especially interesting using vintage equipment with all this new digital stuff.

 So far all I have is an EHX deluxe memory man with hazari on a couple tracks, other wise it's bass and treble boost on, bass and treble rolled off, volume around 5-6.

If I had the scratch, I would get the deluxe big muff, and bass synth, by EHX, and or the old Roland Jet Phaser, or pigtronix envelope phaser.

Biggest question is about the compressor, thanks in advance.

The elephant in the room I suppose,is,

do I keep buying pedals or jump on the digital wagon with everyone else and run it through a computer.  Thing is just like the Sunn Sound, these digital effects get real super close to capturing the effect, but it just isn't the same . . . at least to me.

Smooth

[Isaac]

I've tried a lot of effects over the years, but I keep going back to bass, cord, amp. Although lately I've been using a Digitech Bass Synth Wah for one or two songs.

[EdBass]

I've tried a lot of effects over the years, but I keep going back to bass, cord, amp. Although lately I've been using a Digitech Bass Synth Wah for one or two songs.

Ditto here, I haven't used anything but bass, cord, amp for over a decade. I rely a lot on touch to control my tone, and while compression is a mainstay of audio reproduction, IMO a comp just interferes with the dynamics when used as a tonal effect. The natural compression of a tube MI amp is plenty for me.

[Oli]

I used an EHX attack eq for a while, but it changed the tone too much. I think I get enough compression from the amp. I use an exotic preamp instad for "solo"(ish) parts, that`s really cool....

Greetings

Oli

[Isaac]

Played a festival gig Saturday. The back line amp was a Line 6 bass amp. It had built in compression. I found that it noticeably reduced the available dynamics. When I backed off during the quieter parts or to let the vocals be up front, there was a change in the tone, but little change in volume.

[EdBass]

Played a festival gig Saturday. The back line amp was a Line 6 bass amp. It had built in compression. I found that it noticeably reduced the available dynamics. When I backed off during the quieter parts or to let the vocals be up front, there was a change in the tone, but little change in volume.

Yep, that's pretty much what compressors are supposed to do. One of the earliest use of compressors was to equalize the dynamics of orchestral music for broadcast use in the early days of radio (and is still used for that purpose). With those rudimentary radio sets (again, even with today's technology), without at least some compression a very dynamic musical piece would be too quiet to be heard during soft passages, and would clip amps during the loud sections.

As I said, I have no use for it with an MI rig, but whatever sounds good to your ears; have at it!

[Isaac]

Oh, yeah, it did exactly what it was supposed to do. But I find that I get plenty of sustain with my Rics - sometimes too much - and I'm pretty good at controlling my dynamics with my fingers, after all these years. So, like you, I don't find that I benefit much, if at all, from using a compressor.