Compressed sound without Compressor in chain

[erikwt78]

As the title reads, there seems to be something slightly compressing the tone in some/most of my tones without any compressor in the signal chain.

In this one setting in particular, I'll describe briefly:

-No Gate
-Multiple drives; compression is there whether drives are on or not

-Amp is Grammatico Brt; I've toyed around with all the settings but no noticeable change in compression. Drive Norm .0, Drive Bright 8.1, Sag 4.9, Hum 6.5, Ripple 5.4, Bias 5.5, Bias X 4.9

-2x15 Match G25; 421 Dyn, .5", 80hz, 8.0 khz, 0%, 2dB  (any adjustments don't affect compression, even changing mic to any of the Cond mic's)

-Play around with all types of IR's, incl: OHammer, MBritt, Fremen & others

-Simple Delay (standard settings for subtle delay)

-'63 Spring Reverb (settings set for quite reverb. Nothing funky)

 

I toy around between Cab&Ir's on/off. Among many other adjustments. But no change.

I'm playing into a 2x12 powercab.  

And again, it's not on every setting. This one I had described is very similar to others, some with the compression, others without. Some of the ones without, sometimes I'll add a compressor and they sound similar to issues like this preset.

 

It's annoying. Not anything squishy but deffinitely lack of dynamics from strumming average to strumming aggressive, there doesn't seem to be any change.

 

Any ideas?

[SaschaFranck]

First off: IMO this is plenty of drive for such a type of amp already. And it's likely in the nature of that model to compress at such drive settings.

Anyway, even with the drive that high, you will notice a lot less compression once you turn "sag" down. Also, where's your master at? I would turn that down a bit, too. That should already reduce compression quite a bit. Personally, I also always turn down hum and ripple completely. Hum is just that, hum. But it might mask some dynamics. If a real amp would hum that way, I'd have it serviced instantly.

Also, I find the default bias settings to work best for this amp type.

[erikwt78]

1 hour ago, SaschaFranck said:

First off: IMO this is plenty of drive for such a type of amp already. And it's likely in the nature of that model to compress at such drive settings.

Anyway, even with the drive that high, you will notice a lot less compression once you turn "sag" down. Also, where's your master at? I would turn that down a bit, too. That should already reduce compression quite a bit. Personally, I also always turn down hum and ripple completely. Hum is just that, hum. But it might mask some dynamics. If a real amp would hum that way, I'd have it serviced instantly.

Also, I find the default bias settings to work best for this amp type.

Some interesting recommendations, I'll give that all a go. Master I usually keep around 4/5. I've noticed there is some artifact and too much drive when it's over 6 no matter the amp but I'll check out the rest. Thanks

[codamedia]

2 hours ago, erikwt78 said:

Amp is Grammatico Brt

 

There is a lot of sag on that amp, and sag can easily be mistaken as compression. The dirtier you run the amp, the more pronounced it gets. Turning SAG down should help. 

 

As with the real amp... hitting the front of the amp too hard can cause it to compress as well. Double check your gain structure before the amp model to make sure it isn't running too hot.