Very 80s sounding compressor

[Heemis]

Hey guys,

So a friend has asked if I can build him a compressor to help him achieve a very compressed, very brittle guitar sound for his 80s style electronic music project.  He uses lots of digital chorus and delay so he's got that covered, but he's looking for some compression.  Here are the two clips he referred me to for an example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D7stsq52Eg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM2-cRCssBY&feature=fvst

So my first thought is to use the classic "not to subtle" orange squeezer for compression, but then add an additional knob for that extra treble bite.  I was thinking I'd add a "clean blend" that was actually a high passed input signal to increase the highs.  Anyone ever tried this or have any other ideas?

[mongo]

use single coils, middle pickup!

[jonny]

Maybe a Dyna comp?..or  Jangle box?..or Dyna comp with jangle box mod haha?

[Mark Hammer]

1) Love Scritti Politti.  Got that album and another. Vapid but happy and so perfectly synchronized.

2) It's really hard to tell where the compression is applied in that track.  The drums, synths, and assorted percussion tend to make it hard to hear the guitar clearly.  And in the Real Life track, it's hard to tell what's guitar and what's guitar synth.

I guess the thing to consider is just what the most popular and widely available compressors were at that time.  IT would have been the Dynacomp, the Boss CS-2, and Ibanez CP-9, pretty much.

[Rodgre]

I know exactly what you're talking about. I not-so-secretly play in an 80's MTV-era parody band called Flock of Assholes and I am all about these tones.

I can tell you what I use, but something to note about these recordings is that engineers had a major hand in getting that tone. A lot of what you might think is a Dyna Comp or a CS-3 is most likely a strat run through a DI into a preamp into a Valley People Dyna-Mite Compressor rack then through a Roland Dimension D rack. I saw The Fixx a few years back at a small club, and Jamie West Oram had the most glorious guitar tone on stage. He actually had the Valley People rack on his pedalboard. He has THE classic 80's squashed strat tone.

My live compressor has been a Marshall Edward usually driving a Super Hard-On for a little, uh, sheen. I also run two amps in stereo: sometimes a Roland JC55 or 77 or a Fender Pro Junior in tandem with a 63 Vibroverb reissue.

As far as what to build, I would say that the 3080-based compressors like the Dynacomp/Edward are a good place to start. I would also investigate some studio-style VCA-based compressor circuits and try to squeeze one into a pedal. If you're not looking to DIY, even an Alesis Nanocompressor would do.


By the way, I am also a huge fan of that era or Scritti Politti. That album (Cupid and Psyche 85) is one of my benchmark albums of incredible pop over-production, in a good way. The guitar tones on that song are more than likely samples played on a Fairlight or Synclavier. The muted picking in the verses is most definitely a keyboard-played sample.

[Heemis]

Thanks for all the input!

I knew this would be a sort of vague project, but I think if I can get him close, he can get the rest of the way however he needs to.  It was pretty tough for me to single out the guitar on both of those tracks also short of a stab here and there. 

So it looks like it's going to be a Dynacomp.  As far as the treble boost, I guess I'll experiment with some simple filtered boosting post compression.  Just out of curiosity though, has any tried a clean blend on a guitar comp?

[jonny]

There's a good vero layout for a dyna comp here http://www.sabrodesign.com/?p=62 and one with the jangle box mod there too. I just built the standard one sounds just the same as the dyna comp i used to own. Not sure how a blend would sound really? Could be worth a try!

[DougH]

Never heard of that Valley People compressor before, but it is available as a software plug-in for recording too.

Love "Cupid and Psyche '85". I wore that vinyl out after it came out. "Perfect Way" is pretty much the perfect 80's pop song- a very well written small masterpiece.

edit: Just an aside but if you guys like 80's music, check out Prefab Sprout. Fantastic songwriting and a very sophisticated sound and approach. I still listen to that stuff, a lot.

[Steve Mavronis]

So it looks like it's going to be a Dynacomp.

If you need an accurate circuit, here's a '77 MXR factory schematic that I re-drew:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=32476.msg735765#msg735765

[jacobyjd]

I know exactly what you're talking about. I not-so-secretly play in an 80's MTV-era parody band called Flock of Assholes and I am all about these tones.

AAAAAand...I'm watching all the videos for this band that I can find on Youtube.

[Gordo]

I not-so-secretly play in an 80's MTV-era parody band called Flock of Assholes and I am all about these tones.

That's the best band name I've ever heard!!!

+1 on the Boss comp.  The tone control allows you to add in enough top end to crack the enamel on your teeth (although it gets noisy).

+1 on the Fixx guitar sound too.