Boss Sustain

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MichaelRobinson
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Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:20 pm

Boss Sustain

Post by MichaelRobinson »

Hi guys !

I have a new "toy". A Boss compressor-sustain pedal. I'm testing it and upploaded soundsample here to see what you guys think about the sustain. Is it to much ? Is to litle ? Advice how you guys uses your Compressor-sustain pedals are welcome.
The hum is comming from the AC-DC converter, i think. It's not the best one.


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weelie
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Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2010 10:23 am

Re: Boss Sustain

Post by weelie »

I never really understood how I should use the compressor pedal. It seems that most are not exactly what a person wants and searching for the right one takes time and money... and in the end many guys who have great tone don't use one.

I have a Line 6 constrictor. It's not noisy, it changes the tone, but I am not sure if it changes in the way I like. Sure you can add sustain with it. But I just don't get it.
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2WheelsOfBlues
Posts: 750
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2010 10:59 pm

Re: Boss Sustain

Post by 2WheelsOfBlues »

Thats a difficult question MR.....

I mean the one likes hard and over the top, the other likes a little and a bit.
It is more what you like and what you want to reach with it.

I like sustain a lot and my new amp gives a lot, for now i'm a happy guy :D
play guitar like the wind, mysterious but definitely present....
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vancouverois
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Re: Boss Sustain

Post by vancouverois »

weelie wrote:I never really understood how I should use the compressor pedal. It seems that most are not exactly what a person wants and searching for the right one takes time and money... and in the end many guys who have great tone don't use one.

I have a Line 6 constrictor. It's not noisy, it changes the tone, but I am not sure if it changes in the way I like. Sure you can add sustain with it. But I just don't get it.
Most often, compressors give the impression they enhance the basic tone from the amp
but it is at the expense of the harmonics and overall clarity.
A clean booster may be preferable, depending on what you play and of course the volume of the amp.
Jan 15th 2007
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VikingBlues
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Re: Boss Sustain

Post by VikingBlues »

I had been very puzzled :think: by compressors for a long time and never really got much positive from them.

I have finally managed to get results - all my recordings for the last few months have had compression used in a way to aid sustain with as little impact on tone as possible.

I'm going to sound really dumb now (not for the first .. or for the last time :big_smile: ), but it was only recently I became aware that, for the sort of effect I was looking for, the important thing with one of these pedals was to bring low levels of sound up. I think I had been suffering from the belief that in order to get more sustain I still had to hit the strings harder even when using a compressor pedal. I was very amazed when I saw a demo of a teacher playing clean and very, very gently and getting huge amounts of beautiful ringing musical sustain with great tone.

So for me the value comes from the boosting qualities rather than the compressing of louder playing. I do find that the compressor I use does a better job of a clean boost than trying to use a boost pedal which seems to want to add more dirt. I think it's the way the compressor "boost" is an extension over time rather than an immediate boost in volume.

It does take some juggling to find the right settings on a compressor though, and it doesn't help that the manufacturers all seem to have variations on what they call teh controls, nit to mention the number of controls.

Good luck with using the pedal MR :thumbsup: - I think it's a case of keeping trying different settings etc and trying to work out what sounds best for what you want to do.
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
alaskabluesguy
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Re: Boss Sustain

Post by alaskabluesguy »

I love the Boss Compressor! But it is not always on like a lot of folks. I use it as an effect for certain things.

MR you recording sounds awesome!!! Great use of a compressor!
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DeaconBlues
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Re: Boss Sustain

Post by DeaconBlues »

Strictly my opinion, but compression like many effects is best used very subtly. The "less is more" approach is very aptly applied to compression. I never use anymore than absolutely necessary. I use so little that it's hard to tell it's even in the mix...until I turn it off. Same goes for reverb, tremolo, chorus and most time based effects. It's easy to overindulge in effects usage. I know from experience. I have a rather elaborate pedal board, but i seldom take it out of the house these days. The last few times I've played out, I've only taken a tuner. I really prefer the freedom and simplicity of just saying no to effects. :D
That boy ain't right...,

but he's big on the North Sea Coast of Germany.
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VikingBlues
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Re: Boss Sustain

Post by VikingBlues »

DeaconBlues wrote:Strictly my opinion, but compression like many effects is best used very subtly. The "less is more" approach is very aptly applied to compression. I never use anymore than absolutely necessary. I use so little that it's hard to tell it's even in the mix...until I turn it off. Same goes for reverb, tremolo, chorus and most time based effects. It's easy to overindulge in effects usage.
I agree absolutely. :thumbsup:

If only the manufacturers of multi-fx took your attitude to these things when they do presets, or when they set the ranges for the fx. It IS definitely getting worse too - very noticeable if you get an older generation of these bits of gear there are usually at least a fair number of presets that are usable instead of hardly any.

Or is it just we live in a world now where everything is always having to be bigger and more extreme? We can't have a news story consisting of some basic facts - it has to be blown up into some major world shattering event. We can't have CGI in films unless it becomes the major feature of the film and by doing so usually devalues the whole film watching experience and the story (call me old-fashioned but I always thought the story was the most important thing). Voice overs on tv programmes are invariably done by someone that feels the need to shout all the time and put huge emphasis on nearly all the words.

In the guitar world we also have to have high output pickups (don't get me started on that! :angry: ). Any demos of guitar gear usually comprise some guy demonstrating how fast and noisily he can shred and do high speed tapping. The last thing on their mind is to tell you how the piece of gear works. :motz:

I think I maybe allergic to the 21st century - or is it just :oldie: ?

Sorry - rant over! :shy:
An improv a day keeps the demons at bay!
MichaelRobinson
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Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:20 pm

Re: Boss Sustain

Post by MichaelRobinson »

VikingBlues wrote:
DeaconBlues wrote:Strictly my opinion, but compression like many effects is best used very subtly. The "less is more" approach is very aptly applied to compression. I never use anymore than absolutely necessary. I use so little that it's hard to tell it's even in the mix...until I turn it off. Same goes for reverb, tremolo, chorus and most time based effects. It's easy to overindulge in effects usage.
I agree absolutely. :thumbsup:

If only the manufacturers of multi-fx took your attitude to these things when they do presets, or when they set the ranges for the fx. It IS definitely getting worse too - very noticeable if you get an older generation of these bits of gear there are usually at least a fair number of presets that are usable instead of hardly any.

Or is it just we live in a world now where everything is always having to be bigger and more extreme? We can't have a news story consisting of some basic facts - it has to be blown up into some major world shattering event. We can't have CGI in films unless it becomes the major feature of the film and by doing so usually devalues the whole film watching experience and the story (call me old-fashioned but I always thought the story was the most important thing). Voice overs on tv programmes are invariably done by someone that feels the need to shout all the time and put huge emphasis on nearly all the words.

In the guitar world we also have to have high output pickups (don't get me started on that! :angry: ). Any demos of guitar gear usually comprise some guy demonstrating how fast and noisily he can shred and do high speed tapping. The last thing on their mind is to tell you how the piece of gear works. :motz:

I think I maybe allergic to the 21st century - or is it just :oldie: ?

Sorry - rant over! :shy:
Some agreements I share with you:

It's not easy to get older and not be fast and allert any longer and it is hard to accept new this when it come to oldies like me and you. I'm alergic to 21st century to but I try to keep up and test new things to see if it is any thing I need or must. Usualy I don't need so much new stuff and material things anymore.
alaskabluesguy
Posts: 97
Joined: Fri Dec 30, 2011 7:06 am

Re: Boss Sustain

Post by alaskabluesguy »

OK you codgers, :oldie: guitarists have been using compression pedals mainstream since the early 70's. You are hardly embracing anything new here, you have traveled back in time 35 years!! Granted it is new compared to a cranked tweed deluxe but dang,it's a compressor not a gateway to the Matrix, or is it?? :eye_rub:

:peace:
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Blindboy
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Re: Boss Sustain

Post by Blindboy »

alaskabluesguy wrote:OK you codgers, :oldie: guitarists have been using compression pedals mainstream since the early 70's. You are hardly embracing anything new here, you have traveled back in time 35 years!! Granted it is new compared to a cranked tweed deluxe but dang,it's a compressor not a gateway to the Matrix, or is it?? :eye_rub:

:peace:

I don't know... I am still a bit suspicious of my channel switching pedal for my tweed Fender BluesdeVille. :whistle:
I really don't use pedals much... I have a TS9 Tube Screamer in front of my amp, and sometimes use a JH Dunlop Wah pedal, and that's it. I have owned and still own others, from rackmount Digitech widgets to a Zoom thing that I still have, but I haven't found a sound I like as well as a tube amp cranked up 'bout halfway. The Ibanez Tube Screamer and the wah live in the back of my tweed amp, (which actually lives at the bar where we play on Monday nights) the rest are in a suitcase somewhere in the garage attic. :roll:
"Throw yo' big leg over me Mama, I might not feel this good again!"
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losaavedra
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Re: Boss Sustain

Post by losaavedra »

I tend to use my (now discontinued) RP50 for most things these days, and then only 5 user presets I've cobbled together over the past 5 years or so:

1. Mostly based on Digitech factory preset 'smooth drive' but with the gain cranked to max.
2. An octave dropping bass sim.
3. A sort-of acoustic-sounding setting.
4. Another acoustic-sounding setting.
5. The one I use mostly for blues stuff, which is the closest I've ever got to an overdriven tube sound via solid state, which has ...

GAIN ... 99 (i.e. set to max)
PICKUP simulator ... OFF
COMPRESSOR at 7 (of max 15)
AMP MODEL at U7 (crunch) which assigns CAB type as Vintage 4x12
NOISE GATE at 5 (of max 9)
EQ ... Bass 5/9 Mid 1/9 Treb 9/9
CHORUS/MOD ... Flanger 2 (of max 9)
DELAY ... Analogue 5,35
REVERB ... Plate 5,15

Although I've got a Boss BR900 for final recording, I've never managed to get quite the same satisfaction sound-wise out of the effects there (despite its 230 page manual .... Aaaaagh!) as I get from this last Digitech setup, which most days I use via headphones. A current project is to capture the sound I get through cans into recordings, which is not quite as simple as one may think, and has involved construction of a post-processing amp from scratch that can handle the Digitech line-out without unwanted attenuation of other signals I intend to shove into it. I'll post the results of this activity when I've finished it.

In the meantime, to keep this post vaguely on topic, I think the compression setting I've adopted is what's producing a reasonably decent sustain for me now, after a long time trying to get it via other means.
Mike
"I feel more like I do now than when I first came on" (Ronnie Scott, Maidstone)
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