Compression before or after Eq?

Gear
1

Just trying to figure out which pedal to put before or after my compression pedal since I got a new pedal board

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2

Since you EQ to the room, if you’re not using the EQ controls on your amp or amp sim, I’d put the EQ pedal at the very end of the chain.

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3

Bass - effects - amp is the general order. Compression evens out the individual note volumes coming from your bass so usually sits at the start (after a tuner).

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4

and there you go. the first two posts show compression really can go anywhere depending on what you like and what you’re trying to do. you can also do multiple compressions if you want. josh from jhs has some tag line that says “just try stuff” or something like that. experiment and see what you like.

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5

I went wonky trying to figure out pedal order for a while. I finally figured out that if you like the sound with them in the order they’re in it is right.
The only order I keep is: Bass-Tuner-what_ever_else-Amp
But then that’s just me.
Play On!

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6

I would put it after the compressor. Specifically, I would start by putting it after any drive/distortion/fuzz pedals.

The right spot is very you dependent. As for me, I’m still playing around with whether I like it before or after my drive pedals.

In general, use this as a guide for pedal order. It even has a helpful picture. It would go in the “Tone” section.

I like this. Pedals are fun.

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7

The right answer for where to put the compressor is “yes”. Thereare valid uses of them both at the start and end of the signal chain.

If you only have one compressor I would prioritize putting it first, right after the tuner, for dynamics control from your bass. This is the usual way bass players use them.

Extreme mixing geekery follows:

In terms of a full signal chain I will almost always have one and sometimes two compressors on a track at the end as well, in the DAW - one being a general track limiter and sometimes another one for loudness and saturation control. That latter one will always be multiband and closely used with parametric EQ.

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