[FrankHudson]

My betters in recording achievement are talking here, so I should be quiet and listen, but I'm only going to the do the later.

I think I've tended to over-compress my recordings with just acoustic guitar instrumentation. It may be because I'm also mixing full band mixes and I'm used to "that sound." I also used to test my proposed masters in a car, and without compression a lot of the performance would be unheard. Now-a-days I try to test my masters on earbuds where I can get away with less compression.

It's not a solo guitar instrumental (which Doug Young was discussing) but as to an example of a compressed/limited "bad sound" making for an emotionally compelling recording I'd point to "Street Fighting Man" by the Rolling Stones where Keith Richards was insisting that his acoustic guitar should go through a cheapo portable cassette recorder preamp with its crude auto-level control.