@sspadowsky
Sounds Pro to me, man. I'm not great at compression either, having always tried to add it with the original signal before it reaches the computer, but I'm starting to get into VST plugins and there are some really good ones being offered gratis. Have you heard of the newer freebie one, Studio Devil? It's an amp simulator...bundled with Acid Music Studio, but you can download it separately
here.
I never could get the hang of Reaper, can you snap-to-grid with it?