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bass Compressor?

Started by Al Heeley, June 13, 2009, 05:46:46 PM

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Al Heeley

Can anyone recommend me a good DIY bass compressor circuit to build? Will the Ross or Dyna Comp handle the freq range ok or do I need a different or modded design?

andrew_k

Yesterday I built a Flatline compressor with a .047uF input cap and a 10uF output cap for use with bass. Came up sounding good. I can't hear any bass loss on low E through a ported 1x15 and ported 2x12 stack.

Layout: http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/ulysses/ulysses_layouts/ulysses_jh_flatline_compressor/ulysses_jh_flatline_vero_1_01_p1.gif.html 

Note that the wiring for volume pot is back-to-front in that layout. That said, I found mine was at unity gain anyway so I didn't use a volume pot and ran what he has marked as "volume 1" straight to the bypass switch.

Al Heeley

Are there any pro's and cons to optical compressors? I built a (probably quite crude) optical comp for lead guitar many years ago and it was so noisy but great for sustain when linked to a distortion unit.

mrslunk

if you google around, you might be able to find a schematic for the demeter compulator
if not, drop me an pm and i can email it to you.

though i've not built it yet, i've heard rave reviews about its use for bassists, and it looks pretty simple too.

if you've not already read it, read this: http://www.ovnilab.com/index.shtml


oldrocker

I might have something not right in my Orange Squeezer because it sounds great on my bass.  With no mods it makes my bass come alive.  I guess I'm the only one but I won't play my bass without it.

mnordbye

There's an Ibanez compressor clone over at Tonepad, which i built for a friend. It was very good for bass, only think i changed was the first and last caps i believe.
General tone addict
Deaf Audio at Facebook

Al Heeley

My dyna comp stopped working when i tried to squash it into its enclosure, really - for a compressor it doesn't like being compressed much.
If I manage to get it working again I'll try it out with the bass. I will also have a go at the Baja / compulator build

Al Heeley

Sorry - links above not working.
Here are the pics for the Baja:
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa211/bajaman002/BAJAPCB.png
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa211/bajaman002/BAJALAYOUT.png
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa211/bajaman002/BAJALA2ASTYLEOPTICALLIMITER.png
Now I see this is a limiter based on the Demeter Compulator, and does not quite work in the same way. What I am trying to search for is the PCB + layout for the Compulator clone, plus any advice on optimising for bass use. If anyone can assist I'd be most grateful, I've had a search thru threads on Freestompboxes.Org but not had any success finding the details.