Bonecrusher - Boneyard Delegate Compressor

[BuddytheReow]

This is my first go around using a compressor and I use this primarily on my bass. This is NOT a compressor for beginners. Why? TBH, I have no idea what the top half of the controls do sound-wise . A compressor is one of those "is it on?" type of circuits and I don't really have the best ear for subtleties. If anyone can chime in what the ATTACK, RELEASE, and RATIO controls do that would be cool.

As far as the build itself it was pretty straightforward. For the LDR I used a GL5528 with a 3mm diffused green LED. I think it works ok, not great. I'm saying that because the first note I play is loud/distorted for a quick moment then everything kicks in. Not sure what the fix would be, but for now I think it's ok.

Being a boneyard special, I wanted to incorporate it into the enclosure art itself. Hence, the Bonecrusher. I really love these knobs, but I think they're too big. I just can't catch a break with knobs recently.

 

[Erik S]

I was in the same boat - This was my first compressor too. Definitely took some time and a thorough read through the EQD docs to wrap my head around the controls.

Ratio is a clean blend - pretty straightforward.
Attack controls how it affects the beginning of your note, and release how it affects the end of your note.

I think of those knobs in terms of "how fast" - How fast do you want it to attack (grab and compress the beginning of the note), and how fast do you want it to release (let go of the note at the end).

So, max compression would be Ratio up (no clean signal), attack down (grab and compress fast), and release up (release slow).

Tone is tone.

Level and sustain are pretty interactive in terms of achieving unity volume.

Edit: Now that I re-read that, I guess "how fast" is backwards... more like "how much delay". Knob down for less time, knob up for more time.

 

[tonfarbe]

Ratio is the amount of compression. A ratio of 1:1 means no compression. The higher the ratio, the more extreme the compression. Compressors usually express ratio levels in decibels (dB). For example, with a compression ratio of 2:1, the input signal must cross the threshold by 2 dB for the output level to increase by 1 dB.

Attack refers to the time it takes for the signal to become fully compressed.

Release is the time it takes for the signal to go from the compressed state back to the original non-compressed signal