Can Compression Help Improve

The Tone of Your Acoustic Guitars?

Compression can do a lot more than ”make loud sounds softer and soft sounds louder“ with your acoustic guitars. Used judiciously, the right compressor can add sustain, evenness of tone and clarity, and help boost complex harmonic overtones.

Yes, some guitarists consider it heresy to compress acoustic instruments, claiming it kills the dynamics of the guitar. What’s odd is that few musicians have a problem compressing vocals. Why are dynamics deemed more fragile with acoustic guitars than with singers? Old prejudices can stubbornly persist.

Compression, by definition, does limit dynamic range. But it’s important to understand that it doesn’t “kill” dynamics unless you push the gain and attack unreasonably. In fact, the moderate use of compression with acoustic guitars can give you quite a few additional, distinct tonal advantages:

1. Greater sustain

It’s not much different than compression with an electric guitar. By boosting the input signal and dialing in a quicker attack and slow release, the resulting sustain will make your acoustic ring out more than if it were simply open mic'd.

2. Evenness of tone

A broad example: consider the difference in output between a low E string (.56 gauge) and a high E string (.09 gauge). There’s an obvious disparity between the relative “strength” of sound that each one makes. Compression helps to greatly even that out, giving you a fuller tone with more richness and depth.

3. Enhanced overtones and harmonics

If you finger pick, hybrid pick or have an arpeggiated flat-picking style, compression will sustain all the overtones you’re creating with those individual notes to build bigger, more complex harmonics. A high quality, open-tuned acoustic 6-string can generate overtones like a baby grand, and a resonant acoustic 12-string can resemble bells in a cathedral.

4. Clarity

Acoustic guitars with prominent low-end bass response — Martin dreadnaughts come to mind — can be subject to the dreaded “blanket-over-the-amp” dullness when poorly amplified. Careful EQ’ing is your first defense, of course, but compression can also be very effective in making the sound sharper and cleaner.

Another facet of greater clarity is that by compressing your acoustic, you can achieve a more “plectrum audible” percussive sound when strumming — whether it’s an intensive bluegrass style or steady eighth-note rock rhythms.

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There’s no question that compression with acoustic guitars is best added with restraint. But with some experimentation and minor tweaking, you’ll discover all kinds of great enhancements and tonal nuances that only compression can bring to your treasured acoustic instruments. If you haven’t tried it yet, there’s a whole world of new acoustic tones awaiting you.

We now have a new and different JangleBox compressor designed for acoustic guitar players who want nuanced compression and tone control while enhancing the natural sustain, resonance, and aural contours of their treasured instrument. Click here to discover the new JangleBox Acousticomp™.