hi
i got the 3q comp/eq/pre, maybe is the same as your mq3?mine is green.
anyway i heard good things about the 6q...

Is it the 3Q or the ThreeQ ?
On the new ones the first number is spelled out (SixQ, etc..) and they are more of a forest green where the first generation was more Easter Grass green and have it numbered ( 6Q, etc..)

Regardless I think both have a fixed Comp ratio of 5:1

i got the threeQ and i bought it in 2006

What do you use it for mostly?
Have you ever tried parallel compression (aka New York compression) ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_compression

didnt knew aboout the ny compression...
i mostly used the threeQ for voc (mic à condesation - bad english, i know, sorry), but also to put them sampler's sound.
very warm thing.
and once i tried also a sort of sidechain effect with , even if in theory is not possible (and is not described).
the process was: insert (A-one hardware thing) + imput(B-another hardware thing)>output, so the A"rythm" controlled the B sound (sort of "duck" or gate oor "breath" effect)...
after that i bought an alesis 3630 (but the threeQ is still with me!)...

If I had some extra fun money I'd totally scoop this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/TF-Pro-P3-Pro-Chann ... 500wt_1156

Right after Ted Fletcher 'lost' JoeMeek to the PMI Audio group he started manufacturing TF Pro gear. This is the same as the MQ3 (sorta like the 3Q) but it's totally a boutique collector's item pre with that 'chronic' compression.

I love the MQ3 by the way- not so much for line-level stuff, better for mic, and I like it most for low end duties.
HxC

cool

i recently turned back to the threeQ as the main compressor of my setup (well, i got also the alesis 3630 to do that wich -comparing to the 3Q- colour less the sound), and it's still a bomb.

The Alesis is stereo right?- How is the bypass on it?

*After Fletcher moved on from JoeMeek and started this TF Pro line, there was a legal challenge from PMI Audio ordering him to stop making what were essentially the JoeMeek boxes re-branded as TF Pro.
So this pre-amp/compressor is ILLEGAL !

* Best explanation I can make without all of the facts- I am not an attorney

A renegade recording channel !

the bypass on the alesis seems good (i mean "clean"). i've read many opinions sayning the 3630 coulored too much the sound. well this is my first ever compressor (the 3q is mainly a preamp), so to me it seems "correct" in sound.
as i said this compressor -at my ears- colours not too much the sound while the trheeq "destroy" it (in a very positive way).
i bought the 3q for pre-amp/compress vocals but then right after i discovered its hidden potentiality...

this story about the "3q clone" it's funny...why don't let him produce the TF pro changing something?

i read that ny style compression is only possible in the analog domain. is that true? something about frequency cancellation.

@ellaguru I'm not too sure about the particulars with Fletcher/Meek issue, but you can check out his site where he explains & sells his cool looking line of boutique gear: http://www.tfpro.com/

@kel Interesting- I am no expert, but I can't theoretically see why the principle would not work in both domains. I'm sure this trick (NY compression) was done more back in the analog days- so maybe purists would argue, but if you Google ' New York Compression ' there is a wealth of talk on the subject.

With the Meek I have been experimenting doing (Rhode Island Compression ?)
where I'll record a clean kick or snare then run that same sound through the Meek with extreme compression and low EQ boost and then layering them in the multitrack mix- if the compression is extreme enough it won't phase because it is squashed so much it becomes a different signal.

I really love messing with the Meek compressor on vox- NOT main vox- but for backups, effected parts - and even some voiceover stuff- when you crank the compressor and put the release very slow you can hear the pump it's almost funny how extreme it is- very tapey.

i recently posted a treck on Your Music section, called "the mainstream" completely filtered withe the 3q.
i noticed that the sample of drums was too weak (before gettin it on the 3q) so i had to workaround the 3q internal eq and finally i had to add some handclap to make the drums (expecially the snare) more "bright".
what i think about the 3q is that it is mainly a preamp, but with its own optical compressor and internal eq it could be easly used as a sort of "weird multiband compressor"...i put the adjective "weird" because this machine colours the sound not a bit...

Where is that track - I'd love to check it out ?

I'd love to cop one of these http://www.joemeek.com/mc2.html before it goes " legacy " - I love messing with stereo width

just check the Your Music section, the tiltle is "the mainstream"