Rocktron Big Crush - Manual (Page 9)

Hints and Tips:
What does the Big Crush do? Answer - The Big Crush Compressor pedal
basically makes loud sounds softer and soft sounds louder. This enables
you to avoid peaks in the sound and keep the volume level even.
For guitar, it is a consistent volume level across all strings. It also give
you more sustain. As a plucked string’s volume dies out the Big Crush
will provide automatic gain control to keep the volume of the note(s) at a
consistent level. For bass it is recommended that you use a slower attack
speed to avoid over-compression.
It is recommended that the Big Crush be placed in your signal chain after
the guitar or bass, but before any other processing. Thus, if you are using
other stomp boxes, put the Big Crush first, then followed by you distortion
pedal, delay and so on.
The Big Crush Compressor is ideally suited for many different types of
music. By adjusting the various controls you can achieve lusher and
richer sounds when combined with other effects such as chorus and
flanger.
Try the Big Crush when playing chords without distortion (clean). By
adjusting the “sustain” control you can help all the strings become clearer
and more distinct. The overall sound will ring with a similar volume
level. The Big Crush can add a tonal texture to your sound that is useful
in many situations. Experiment with it. Sometimes the effect is subtle,
try it in different modes - clean, light crunch, heavy crunch and super
distortion - the differences will be clear.