Compressor w/ a Rockerverb 100 mk3

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groundmeat
Tiny Terror
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Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:56 am

Compressor w/ a Rockerverb 100 mk3

Post by groundmeat » Sun Jan 12, 2020 5:06 pm

Like I said, I'm using a Rockerverb 100 mkIII, a high gain tube amp. Before I got this amp back in June, I'd used tube amps for a long time, but... they were rackmount. And that means the vast majority of effects I used were rackmount and all within one single unit. One of the beautiful things about that which I didn't appreciate at the time was how much that removes excess noise like what you can acquire piece by piece when you assemble a chain of individual floor pedals. I've been attempting to slowly by surely piece together a collection of pedals to use rather than my old rack unit (because it has a built-in undefeatable preamp on the front end of it, a Digitech GSP2101).

A few weeks before Xmas, I went out to buy a compressor pedal. I had done a good bit of research online, watching videos, reading reviews, etc. I decided I was gonna get an MXR Super Comp. I couldn't find a store that had one in stock. So I played around with a couple of compressors they did have, like 2 different versions of a 4-knob Keeley, a 2-knob MXR dynacomp, but I liked the EHX Tone Corset the best, so I bought it. Got it home, plugged it up, and on the clean channel it did okay. But on the dirty channel, it added noise. I made a post here before talking about the hum you get from higher gain settings. Well a compressor apparently AMPLIFIES that noise. I tried tweaking the compressor for a few minutes, but the only thing that really kept the noise at the same level with the pedal on versus off... really made it to where there was no compression happening anymore. So what's the point of having a compressor pedal if you aren't gonna use it to compress anything?

So I took it back and resigned myself to a life of compressorlessness. My question is should I reconsider? I really like using one occasionally with clean tones to get that Chicago blues thumpy kinda thing like I used to get with the rack unit. But I also wanna get those nice smooth and even chorused/flanged/phased leads with dirty tones. Is there some trick to using one of these things with a high gain dirty Orange that I don't know about?

Les Paul Lover
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Re: Compressor w/ a Rockerverb 100 mk3

Post by Les Paul Lover » Sun Jan 12, 2020 11:34 pm

What power supply do you use with your stomp boxes?

They should be all reasonnably silent, but unisolated power may well introduce unwanted noise.
Ant

Orange Gear: RV50 MKI, R30, AD15, PPC212
And.... Genz Benz Black Pearl 30
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groundmeat
Tiny Terror
Posts: 70
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:56 am

Re: Compressor w/ a Rockerverb 100 mk3

Post by groundmeat » Sun Jan 26, 2020 2:56 am

It's not the pedal making the noise, it's the amp. I've posted about it before elsewhere on here and came to the conclusion that it's just normal for this particular amp (Rockerverb 100 mk3). With the gain past about 60% on the dirty channel, there's always noticeable background hum when you stop playing. I hauled my amp up to Guitar Center one day and tried out noise gates (a Boss one and an EHX one) and they "kinda" work to hush it up when you stop playing. But with the nature of what compressor pedals DO, its always gonna amplify that noise I guess.

I dunno that I'll really need a compressor anymore. Ideally I thought I'd need it to plop in front of an EHX Pitchfork octave pedal to make it track more accurately, but I don't think it'll help.

If I absolutely MUST have compression, I guess I can always patch my rackmount Digitech GSP2101 into the amps effects loop and use that.

I assume this is probably a common problem people face with high gain amps, since all of them do tend to boost that microphonic hum when you crank the gain up. My last amp didn't really do it, but then again, it wasn't a 100% tube amp. The poweramp was a 120/120w stereo Peavey all tube 6L6 monster. But the preamp was a Marshall JMP1, which has 2 12AX7's, sure... but it's not REALLY a tube preamp like a Mesa or something. So when I cranked the gain, it didn't do that microphonic thing because it's basically a solid state preamp that just happens to have tubes thrown into it somewhere. Anyway, I'm rambling... like I said, I assume it's a common problem, and was just wondering what other people did to accomodate it if anything.

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