Compressor and how to use it to enhance tone

[Benson]

I've got an old Boss CS-1 compressor pedal and for the life of me I can't get anything musicial out of it except country twang or funk rhythms.

I hear lots of people talking about using compression for lead tones and I know Vai is fond of it, can anyone suggest how I might set up a cs-1 to enhance my tone given that I have the basic saturated tone with a touch of delay ?

[Petie]

Try putting it in your amp's effects loop. You'll suddenly notice that everything you play sounds like it's coming from an FM radio station.

[Benson]

ah .. that makes sense. I presume it would go before delay in the loop ?

Not sure I understand the FM Radio analogy though!

[Artist]

FM radio stations use a LOT of compression, to boost their signal and to make sure the listner can hear everything that's said, and because no one wants to have the quiet radio station (just the same as current engineering, COMPRESS LOUD LOUD LIMIT LOUD LOUD).
You can tell if a radio station is using (way) too much compression (they all use too much) if things like the DJ shuffling papers, or scratching/tapping etc is really loud.

[geetarmonkey]

Originally Posted by Artist

FM radio stations use a LOT of compression, to boost their signal and to make sure the listner can hear everything that's said, and because no one wants to have the quiet radio station (just the same as current engineering, COMPRESS LOUD LOUD LIMIT LOUD LOUD).
You can tell if a radio station is using (way) too much compression (they all use too much) if things like the DJ shuffling papers, or scratching/tapping etc is really loud.

Yeah, or quiet breathing, or moving of lips...

[Benson]

interesting, thanks guys.

[Artist]

Originally Posted by geetarmonkey

Yeah, or quiet breathing, or moving of lips...

Heh, that "phone pervert" effect