Compression “Noise” —

Causes and Fixes

Compression “noise” in general is tricky stuff and can be created and/or exaggerated by many variables in your rig. Any pedal that increases gain (as opposed to just altering tone) can potentially increase noise, but most decent compressors don't actually generate much noise themselves.

Here's a “reverse analogy”: Think of a noise gate. Generally speaking, when the sound starts decaying, a gate immediately kills the signal. A compressor is the exact opposite. When the signal from your guitar to your compressor is faint or silent, the compressor goes to full gain. Until the decibel level reaches the threshold point where the compressor begins limiting the signal, the compressor will stay at full gain, amplifying any noise that's already in your signal chain. In this regard, the compressor isn't “creating” noise or hiss, but it could be exaggerating — by amplifying — any noise that's already there.

Situational Issues

The noise itself is usually situational and can be affected by any number of variables in your signal path:

• Tubes

• Circuits

• Pickups

• Amp grounding

• 60-cycle hum from lights in a particular room

• Active electronics in your guitar

• Buffers (as opposed to true bypass) in other pedals

• High capacitance/low conductivity from your cables

• Running your compressor from an effects loop input instead of the amp's front regular input (compression, especially, should not run after the amp's preamp)

There are guitar players who have noise issues in their homes, but when they gig, their compressor is virtually silent. And vice versa. Again, it's situational.

Any JangleBox compressor with the attack and gain opened wide, guitar volume open, in relatively close proximity to an amp with the guitar "idling" (not playing, no fingers on the fret board), can certainly generate signal path noise. But the compressor alone isn't the culprit. You'll notice that any "noise" is canceled the moment you start playing and the compression is engaged and operating directly from your guitar signal. You can test it by recording direct input (DI). You'll hear no extraneous noise in the recorded signal with a JangleBox.

Of course, if any noise is simply intolerable to you, you can always remedy that with a JangleBox J-Gate. But that’s a whole other story...