While some instruments in your mix can benefit from a lot of compression, virtually every track can benefit from SOME compression. This is the case with guitar; you typically don’t need a lot of compression, but a little bit can help bring a sense of added energy, thickness, and cohesion to your guitar without stripping the transient bite or life from it. With that in mind, here are my favorite compressor settings for guitar.
Compressor Settings for Guitar
Before we address the specifics of each of the best compressor settings for guitar, here’s just a quick recap on what each of these parameters do, as taken from my audio compressor settings chart:
Now let’s take a look at a snapshot of the best compressor settings for guitar before getting into the specific settings in depth. Note that the best compressor settings for guitar will vary slightly with the type of performance you’re compressing.
Generally, a good rule of thumb is that if you’ve got a more dynamic performance like arpeggio style picking, opt for a touch more aggression in the settings as we’ll mention to ensure you’re not losing any notes.
With that said, here’s the snapshot for the best compressor settings for guitar:
Now as mentioned let’s address the specific best compressor settings for guitar for each parameter, beginning with the threshold.
Threshold
The threshold determines how much of the guitar’s signal we’re going to actually compress. If the threshold is set to -10dB but the level of the guitar never gets louder than -10dB, no compression will occur.
When it comes to the best threshold setting for guitar compression, I like to aim for the average level of the guitar, particularly on strummed/multiple notes playing at once parts.
I find that is a nice and relatively light compromise to where we’re really only pulling down those peaks. Remember that we’ll be bringing up the quieter notes by way of makeup gain in a moment to achieve a more average and consistent level throughout the performance.
The threshold should really be set in combination with the rest of the parameters, so you may need to tweak this as you evaluate the effects of the compression.
With picked parts where you have a lot more dynamic range between the notes (versus strummed parts which are naturally more consistent), you may want to set that threshold slightly lower to capture more signal.
Ratio
The ratio refers to the extent to which the threshold exceeding signal will be brought down.
I like a relatively light ratio of 3:1 when it comes to compressing guitar, particularly with strummed parts. I might bump this up to a 4 or 5:1 ratio for individual note picked parts, solos, etc. or those parts with more dynamic range between the notes.
You’ll find it’s those monophonic performances, meaning those where individual notes are played at a time which can benefit from a more aggressive ratio because this ensures the quieter notes in the performance are left closer to the loudest notes and vice versa. This is in contrast to a strummed or polyphonic performance where multiple notes are played simultaneously on top of one another where one chord to another will have a much more similar level.
Whether you’ve got a strummed performance or picked notes, turn that ratio higher to keep that performance more consistent and up front in the mix (like in the case of a solo).
Attack
The compressor’s attack is an important setting because it allows us to delay that compression for an amount of time measured in milliseconds in order to let the guitar come through at full volume for a split second even when the signal level exceeds the threshold we set.
This is essential for maintaining the transient punch of our performance, keeping that instrument present in the mix by drawing the listener’s ear to that track by way of that high frequency, percussive transient for that split second.
I like an attack of 5ms when compressing guitar as that’s enough of an offset to let that bite of the strings of the guitar cut through the mix, particularly with picked, individual note parts.
Release
I always liken the compression release to the compressor’s off ramp.
This is the amount of time it takes for the signal to return to its normal, uncompressed state after it drops below the threshold.
A release of 50ms is a good setting for guitar to return the signal to its normal state without introducing any artifacts you can get with setting it too fast OR too slow. To put it another way, this is a great transparent release setting for guitar.
Gain
One last but important factor to mention is that after you’ve got the compression sounding how you want it, you need to match the output gain to the input gain.
By definition, compression makes your guitar quieter by pulling down or compressing those peaks.
In the interest of gain staging, you need to turn up the output gain to roughly match the same level you had going in.
This will both ensure that you’re not swayed by the louder option when A/B split test evaluating the guitar with and without the compression, and it also ensures the guitar is at the perfect level for the next step in the processing chain.
Don’t forget to check my complete, Ultimate Compression Cheat Sheet for the best settings for compressing EVERY single track in your mix!
Compression Settings for Guitar Reviewed
- Compression can help you get a more consistent level from your guitar, not to mention impart more energy and cohesion without sacrificing transients.
- Picked parts with more dynamic range typically call for a slightly more aggressive threshold and ratio than a strummed part.
- Set the threshold for the average level of your performance.
- Set a relatively light 3:1 ratio for strummed parts and slightly higher to a 4 or 5:1 ratio for parts with more dynamic range like picked parts.
- Use an attack of 5ms to enjoy the benefits of the compression while maintaining the transient punch of the strings with that slight compression delay.
- Use a release of 50ms for a natural off ramp for the compressor.
- Match the output gain post compression to the input gain to maintain gain staging.
