I use a little tight delay or slapback echo. It saves a lot of time later . About the first one I got was the Boss BD-1 Driver, which I still use. That all depends on the circumstances. I use some slapback echo and the RGE-10 graphic to help the amps out.
Compression is used all the time.
For all of his attention to the fine details of his sound Rory Gallagher insists that he isn't a programmer . I know what it will do and what I want it to do, but I don't actually bother programming it. I leave all that up to an engineer. The BE-5 is another matter. You just set it up as you need it.