Compression 

I've tried many other expensive compression/sustain pedals that were over $400 and I still come back to this Boss pedal everytime. It's my go-to pedal for compression because I haven't found that one pedal that accomplishes what the Boss CS-3 pedal does. And for those out there bitching about her not knowing how to use the pedal,.......neither did you when you first tried out compression pedals.

great video, definitely helped me with my decision. pedals can be pretty daunting but you broke it down really well

Thank you for this video. I've recently switched from rhythm guitar to bass and was wondering how to apply the CS-3. Enjoyed watching your process to refine your sound.

Hello! It's silly but I had never even thought about putting my Boss CS-3 pedal through my bass amp until I saw your pedalboard setup video a few months ago, so thanks for that. I make a point of not looking so much at the knobs when I'm trying to get a good sound I just slowly twist them back and forth until my ears like it!

Long time no talk! Looks like you beat me to this pedal. I've recently been getting into pedals with my bass. And I found the Boss CS-2 used for $30 so I've been searching on RU-vid on it and found your video :D

New subscriber! Thanks for all the great content, Di

Great video, exactly what I was looking for. I was so excited about my first pedalboard that I bought a cheap used CS-3 even though it's not specifically a bass compressor. Glad to find that it's going to be useful. Thanks!

Your 2nd last setting is exactly what I use for my Jazz fretless. I only use bridge pup to get bite and the CS3 at the start of my chain to tame the sound going into other pedals: Level (unity) 1:30, Tone 12:15, Attack 1:00, Sustain 10:00. For the actual compressor to do its job, all you need to focus on is the amount of squish between the Attack & Sustain. Think about the bass input - it first lowers the signal hot into an onboard buffer, the sustain is actually like a preamp deciding what amount of input to get processed. The attack then takes that and processes this, which means tone is to bring back any perceived loss in tone. It’s not really, it’s our ears that think the tone is lost due to high signals being brought down, and the lower signal getting brought up also - so your hearing more in the centre, hence tone brings out perceived brightness. It took me years to eventually understand what this pedal actually does in real life. Yes, the noise floor is brought up by cranking everything too high - of course it does as it makes loud tones quieter & quiet tones louder, hence a certain noise floor. to be honest, for me it’s silent. If you only use it on a 10%-20% setting, it really does help cutting through a band mix. As it’s not fancy with bells, people misunderstand this beauty. And if you play fretless & use harmonics, it’s a real treat hearing everything on the same level. Wonderful 😊🤘🏻

I used it to play Beatles songs with my p-bass in my classic rock band. The cs-3 help to thin the sound and helped for shorter notes and enhance the attack, sounded great on songs from Revolver and Abbey Road.

Compression is such a massive subject for bass !! 🤩

I just got this pedal-I got it for my lap steel and my bass. I’ll try these settings for the bass. I had a TC Electronics SpectraComp-a "one knobber"-I may go back to that. Thanks!

Good review I just got one myself 🙋‍♂️

Great video! I just ordered a cs3 hoping it would work with my bass. This answered my question. I swear I thought you were Pam from the office at first! Lol

About the attack: I feel like you are plucking very lightly. As a metal bass player I always dig in and this is where the pedal shines. If you play lightly, there are no signals that are too loud or too quiet. Hope this makes sense... :)

Even if it has a background noise I like it for limiting the slap volume and pumping up the tone. Nice video, thanks.👍🏻

Funny thing is, on my CS-3 the LED is also super dim. Kinda hard to see in a room with daylight and practically invisible outside in the sun. I guess that's where all the comments are coming from... I use the pedal in a daisy chain, so I thought maybe thats it, but when I used an isolated power output on my PSU the LED was only a tad brighter. On guitar the difference in attack is more noticeable, especially with high sustain settings. I prefer 12 o'clock on attack and 11 o'clock on sustain on guitar. Thanks for the video!

Interesting Gadget-Nice Compression Sound

The cutest and nost sympathetic bass channel.

I set the Cs 3 almost you did it. I think it's the best you can get of that pedal.

Mind if I "chime in" for a second? Glad you got an outboard compressor for your bass. They're essential for a great sound and control for different environments and settings we find ourselves playing in. Thanks for recording and posting your real time trials and evaluations with your new equipment. I'm always eager and waiting for the next!

Btw, the pedal was most time OFF than ON. Look at somewhere 2:10, and you were turning the knobs. Maybe you put the signal via DI into a PC/MAC, so that there are no blablabla from you and no fan noises

I have this pedal... why do I slowly loose volume as i play a song? what knob on the pedal controls the long term volume... TIA

Compression on bass is used mainly to sustain notes longer especially when ballads require a bass note that can last for several measures.

I have that one but I don’t remember buying it , one day it was in my garage. I use it on my bass n I just can’t get it to do what I am trying to capture. I don’t like using it because it makes me feel stupid idk how it does it but it always out smarts me and it only has 4 knobs. I have it set up with level 2 o’clock tone at 10 atk 1130 sustain 230 that’s the best sound I can get for my set up. I’m really sick of this thing we have a bad abusive love hate relationship going strong for at least 8yrs. I’m always threatening it buy saying I’m gonna upgrade to the cali76 comp but it has a price tag of $360 + tax maybe another $30 on top of that so like $390 which is crazy. I’m trapped in this bad relationship and the boss pedal knows it

Would this pedal be good for a hard rock or metal tone?

I switched to the CS-3 for the sustain

Attack: if you put it all the way left, it is gonna compress all the notes. If it is all the way right, it it will let everything through. This thing works in milliseconds. . Same for the sustain. Left is : it will go very fast. Right is longer release times*. You set it according to the tempo of the song you are gonna play. [round and about] . I own the same pedal but an earlier version and use it for guitar. If you want to hear what a sustainer is doing, listen to AndySummers of ThePolice [ album 3: Zenyatta Mondatta ] or 'walking on the moon' That is a sustainer all the way to the right* :-) . thumbs up.

pretty sure the pedal was off for most of this video....

How's the pedal board project going?

Why is the other pedal better?

You sound good on the high and low notes

Turn it on..... Really????!!!!

Thanks mom.

hi mum!

Damn the pedal was off all the time. Check the led ,its all the time off.

Youre pedal is off!!!! All the time!😂

You keep making the Ewww face as if you hate the sound you're getting haha.

This pedal very noisy