Mark,

are there any sources you don't put Compression on? Like guitars or?

or do you find most things need at least a hair to smooth out

Thanks!

That depends on the song and the style of mix I am going for. On most of the ALT ROCK stuff I am doing there is some amount of compression on most of the tracks, although some of that is a very small amount. I have done a lot of records that had almost none, i.e. Songs For Blue Guitar / Red House Painters or Cake / Prolonging the Magic which also has no reverb at all. I guess my rule of thumb is does it help me achieve the sound I want.