Boss LMB-3

Tony Done

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Jun 11, 2011, 6:30:01 PM6/11/11

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This is the bass limiter-enhancer, and a used version has been sitting
around my mate's store for years. I have a thing about compressors, so
I've brought it home for a try out with guitar. I can't see anything
about it that makes it better suited to bass, except the enhancer that
can be turned off. The enhancer control just adds brightness, which
might be useful for bass or very muddy humbuckers, but I liked it best
just turned off. Unlike a compressor it has none of this arcane
nonsense about attack, release and sustain, it has nice logical
controls of "threshold", ie input level at which the effect kicks in,
and "ratio", the amount of compression above the threshold, which runs
from none to infinity. The infinity setting give a lot more "squish"
than the compressors I've tried. Both these controls work as you would
expect, and the whole thing is quiet (with the enhancer off) and
transparent. So far I like it better than my assortment of
compressors, and I wondering why we don't hear more about them. I can
likely argue down to $100, where an MXR Custom Comp (not a bad
compressor) would likely be over $250 from the same store.

Any comments or experience?

Tony D

Tony Done

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Jun 11, 2011, 6:38:09 PM6/11/11

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Tony Done

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Jun 11, 2011, 6:41:58 PM6/11/11

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Does anyone have a link to a schematic? I had a quick look and
couldn't find one.

Tony D

DeeAa

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Jun 12, 2011, 12:33:29 AM6/12/11

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If it sounds good, it's good, right? Many of the best ever sounds came
about by using gear that wasn't intended to be used for such purpose,
or used in a wrong place. So why not a bass compressor, if it sounds
good. I would likely miss an attack control, though, I like the comp
to kick in after I've plucked the string and allow for some un-
compressed signal to pass through...I would expect a bass comp to be
rather aggressive in that respect...but, without trying, impossible to
tell. So if it works for you, go for it!

Cheers,

Dee

RichL

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Jun 12, 2011, 1:01:41 AM6/12/11

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"Tony Done" <tony...@bigpond.com> wrote in message
news:e2ca95ed-b8af-42af...@35g2000prp.googlegroups.com...

Just a comment (no experience with that unit, unfortunately)....

Rack compressors, like the ones I use for recording, typically have five
adjustments: threshold, ratio, attack, release, and gain. Most stomps
simplify things by omitting a few of these settings in favor of defaults.

"Sustain" is the same as "ratio". On rack units, lowering the threshold
lowers the output level for signals above threshold, so makeup gain is
needed to compensate. Most stomp boxes automatically compensate.

I could explain this in more detail but Jim Carr from alt.guitar.bass has
done a really nice job of it. If you're interested, read here:

http://www.azwebpages.com/bass/basscompression.htm

Most of the discussion isn't specific to bass. But this will give you a
good feel for what a full-featured compressor can do and what compromises
you make with a stomp box that doesn't have all the settings.

Tony Done

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Jun 12, 2011, 1:03:36 AM6/12/11

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Good comment re attack. One of the reviews I read mentioned that an
attack control would have been more useful than the enhancer. However,
one of the things I'm not wild about in most 2-knob compressors is the
strong attack, it reminds me too much of piezo quack, which is why I
went to magnetics in my acoustics. This doesn't seem to have any of
that quack, the note attack sounds very natural. The only things I
really hear are the compression effect and the improved sustain, the
latter being very noticeable at moderate settings.

I've been playing it through doubled up OD boxes, an SD-1 (asymmetric
clipping) and a BD-2 that I also modded for asymmetric clipping to a
clean amp. A lovely chimey sweet sound, I think I'm going to like it

Tony D