Compressor-less

The last while, I've been noticing at rehearsal that certain moves or licks or generally any soloing I was doing at rehearsal just weren't coming out as easily or naturally as they would when I was sitting in my room playing by myself. This was confusing me, why couldn't I play as well here as I could in my room? The only difference between my setup at my jam space and home is that I have a compressor in my rack. A month or so ago, the little Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone Compression I'd been using for my low end channel at home died. I just carried on without it and figured while I liked that pedal alot I'd pick up another compressor pedal when one came up cheap. The last few days I was really trying to think of why I wasn't playing as well as I knew I was capable of and the only variable came down to the compressor in my rack. Its a great compressor, I've used it for a number of years now but when I got to the jam space today, the first thing I did was unhook it out out my Pearce and EQ it the same as my Pearce at my house and there it was, all the little fills and soloing I was pulling off at home was suddenly back. The compressor was actually changing the way the bass felt to me and I've always had it set the same way, it wasn't like I was suddenly choking my bass with compression I've always had it set the way it was. There was a time when I would not have considered gigging without a compressor, it was such a important part of my set up as it made my bass feel way easier to play but strangely enough it turned into the opposite when my pedal died and I got use to playing without it. Now, I have the same tone I have at home as I do at rehearsal and I'm loving it! It feels alot nicer not having to rely on a piece of gear to be able to play confidentiality or to the best of my ability anymore. I'm not saying I'm completely at that level yet however, you won't see me gigging without a Pearce or Yamaha Attitude anytime soon!
Anyway, thought this little story might be amusing to some of you.

I have actually never had a compressor.  When I tried one I didn`t like what it did to the sound of my bass.  Guess I just never got into it

wow, interesting. I have used a Boss CS2 for 20 years, and have a CS3 as a spare. I could never be without it. Even when using a backline rig, that pedal is with me

Two weeks ago and I'd be saying the same thing!
All my gigs for the last 2-3 years I've played with compression, this upcoming Friday will be the first in a LONG while.
I actually still have a tiny amount of compression still, the EBS Sheehan Pedal has a little switch for some, I keep it on as it boosts the signal abit and makes the overdrive sound a bit more in your face but its nothing like the compressor I was using and its only on one of my signals.
Now that I've freed up some space in my rack I want to get a power amp, I've using a Ampeg SVT-4 Pro just to power my Pearce.
Not easy finding a power amp good for the Pearce though, since its older it doesn't drive power amps aswell as modern preamps.
I've been considering a Hartke LH1000, since its two rack spaces and comes up cheap on TB pretty often.

Everyone will say "this sounds better then that", like a cabinet or favorite amp.
I just cant STAND having the strings be so dynamic without something to limit it.

If I had to recommend a amp, the first gen Peavy IPRs are really getting cheap. The 1600, you'll never run out of watts all for 7lbs. the sensitivity on those is .77 compared to the crown 1.4.

My Behringer vamp-pro puts out enough not to have that master more than 2-3 oclock with my crown 2500 driving 4cabs to amp clip.

crown 1000's and 1500's are getting really cheap as well Peavys and although all of them are slightly out of warranty now and can only say on my experiences with my 3 crowns - ( 2 for the PA ), none of them glitched in cold, extreme heat, very damp, and of course the always present amp killer g.e.n.e.r.a.t.o.r.s.

of course if you can afford it, a Crest Prolite 1.6 is much safter to toss in a rack and take on tour

Thanks amimbari!
I'II check out those power amps.

So the Peavey IPR 1600 is looking pretty good.
Would it be good for powering a 8x10 and a 4x10 for smaller gigs?
The 4x10 is 8 Ohms at 500 watts, 1000 watts peak.
Sorry for any stupid questions, I'm painfully ignorant when it comes to this kind of stuff.

considering the quality preamp you have, ya all you need is a lot of watts

the DSP version of the Peavy/Crown is a cool playtoy, but not a deal killer if I saw a IPR for the cheap. ( the XLS comes with it whether you like it or not )
used, you can get a IPR 1600 for less than 300 now a days, same for the crown, around 300.
each amp is 2ohm stable in stereo so you could run multiple cabs per channel, and 4 ohms bridged with 2 8ohm cabs and get LOUD.

I have no peavy but the 3 crowns 1000/1500/2500 but the output is similar.

AND the nice thing about stereo amps is you can use the clean channel as left, the dirt as right, and blend the volumes into 2 cabs the way you want it to sound, or if you are one of those people who like a 4x10 and a 2x15 so the volume of the mismatched cabs is equal.