I wish this video came out last month when I was breaking my back to get my noise get to work the way I wanted! Now I’ve got a decimator G string that works beautifully for what i need
For the live player is a must. Don't care if you have the "perfect tone" playing in your room. Hearing unwanted noise live is really annoying and sometimes the conditions aren't the best. Besides, audience can't even tell the "tone suck" but sure as hell can pick on the noises
i found a simple messing with the eq and gate pots, you find your tone again, if you have a quality amp guitar and pedals. Last week i didnt belive in them now ill never go without one, using all fouir inputs and outputs on a qualiy noise gate your whole system is nice and quiet, i used to only be able to handle my Gibsion Les Paul Jr for about 20 minutes because of the 60hz hum, now i dont hear it.
There are two principles to keep in mind when applying noise gates: 1) Unless it is a sophisticated digital unit, gates decide between "noise" and "signal" based on level alone.. So when using one, a person should insert it where the contrast between background noise and wanted signal is greatest. 2) There are two broad categories of noise: hum and other line noise, and hiss. These two broad sources have different sources, and so tend to require different solutions. I find the discontent many users have with noise gates stems from expecting them to do way too much. If one uses high gain pedals, and the guitar itself and connecting cables are not especially quiet and well-shielded, then one can end up with amplified hum and hiss at the end of the pedal chain. Expecting a gate to be able to tell the difference between what you do and don't want at that point is a fool's errand. This is why gates that rely on "the 4 cable method" exist. The guitar goes into the gate first, where the noise floor can be more accurately detected, and the threshold set in a way that doesn't intrude. The signal then goes through all the rest of your pedals, and the gating action is applied at the very end. That works well enough...in theory. Considering point #2 above, a gating action based on whatever noise comes in from the guitar will not necessarily address noise that accumulates over the pedal chain. This is why I've been an advocate for a dual-gate approach. A first gate removes hum and line noise at the start of the signal path, and a second gate removes cumulative hiss at the end. The two would have different filtering actions, with the 2nd one being a noise filter, rather than gate. Not perfect, but it would work better and ask less of each device, resulting in less intrusive threshold settings. I have a compressor, built around an SSM2166 chip. The chip was intended to provide full dynamic control of a mic strip. IN addition to excellent compression, it also includes downward expansion, which exaggerates the difference between low level and very low level signals (as opposed to decreasing the difference between high level and very high level signals...which is what limiting does). This turns it into a dead quiet compressor. Many users who don't understand compressors will often complain about them being noisy or hissy. They simply do what they are told, which is to apply lotsa gain to very soft signals, without any recognition of *what* that signal might be. And if that very soft signal happens to be hiss on the input, then that will get amplified. If the compressor has a slow recovery time, the boosted hiss will get progressively louder after an initial pick attack, and sound a bit like someone inhaling, which has resulted in the technical term "breathing" for such noise. Ideally, one feeds a compressor a pristine signal to avoid that boosted hiss. But if you can't do that, the downward expansion is VERY helpful.
@@jacksonmanuel33 It's simply the circuit in the datasheet for the SSM2166. Jack Orman's "Q & D Compressor" is very close to that. I'm surprised more people aren't using it. Helluva chip.
ty, i will try to absorb this wisdom as i begin to tweek and ferret-out unwanted or obstructing or as you demonstrated: domino effect with a possible logarhythmic or worse... exponential cascade.
What about the isp him extractor with the decimator in one , Do you Think this will suffice over buying two pedals to Suppress noise ? I’m not used to gates . My biggest issue hs been subtle playing , I can really set a gate in a reasonable place where it won’t cut off subtle playing . That aside, I’m curious if you think that isp device is worthwhile and more effective than te speed are decimator as etc. they have multiple pedals and I can’t really tell if the newest and most expensive are any better . I thought about a big Furman power conditioner , like 1200 plus dollars , to try and totally balance and clean electrics issues since I do get a zapping sound, even from the cable , with the guitar is not hooked in and wondered if that would help . Obviously the gate could help me with p90s and hollowbody squeals too. I have multiple issues to address. Iv seen it claimed that the isp will get rid of the hum while playing but I’m assuming it will alter the guitar tone . For live I wouldn’t care but I would like to record professional guitar tracks are home and this is where I try and figure out how to clean up the signal big time
I’ve had the MXR noise gate for years and it changed my sound even though all reviews are positive about it. I watched this yesterday and I thought I must be doing something wrong. I went and messed around with it and can’t believe I got it wrong all these years. I can’t hear a difference except the noise is gone. Glad I watched this.
The big secret if you have a lot of pedals that make noise and you are using a switcher is to use several gates. I have 3 loops each with more than one pedal as i often stack them. It gives me 3 loops so I can use 3 different sounds in a single tune. I also gate the amp. Because there are less demands on a single gate it is easier to get a smooth natural sound. You also find you are not tweaking different pedals between tunes If you are really anal the REVV G8 is hands down the best. Metal guys might want to check out the DAE Audio Golem Gates. Other very good ones are the AMT Incinerator and the Stone Deaf Noise Reaper. All recommended are well made and use a good spec and can grab transients very quickly so you are dealing with any stutter. This demo was a lot of work so give the guy a break , hit the thumbs up and subscribe. All us regulars would love to have you join us and even add a few comments.
I just got the NS-1X, and can attest that it's super transparent, in addition to being very effective even with multiple high gain pedals. Very happy with it, as I can dial pedals in the way I want, instead of just trying to keep the noise down.
What changed my mind on them was the ‘ZNR’ noise reduction setting on the Zoom MultiStomps, G series etc. It’s VERY subtle yet effective and when set at it’s sweet spot (14 on my rig) it does it’s job without effecting dynamics at all. I’m not a high gain player, so I never really needed a gate, but I started using this just for quieting single coil hum between songs, and now every single patch and ‘blank’ patch on my Zoom Ms-70 (which is post drives, pre delay/verb) has the ZNR at the beginning of it.
Best explanation on TH-cam of a very confusing and misunderstood topic. I appreciate the visuals and learned a lot. I now have an MXR Smartgate on my board. It sits after my drive pedals and works like a charm.
I've always been a bit of a fan of the Rocktron _Hush_ series. The simplest one, the classic blue Hush with a single knob works really well without buggering your tone.
the Prorack G IS terribly amazing with high gain and reverb from a H8000FW or I use the pedal version of Decimator which is as good. When I decrease the guitar volume along with gain, I just deactivate the pedal for sustain and subtilty. All good stuff. If the Hush pedals are good enough for Angus Young, it's all good enough for me. Keep in mind that my setup is already with minimum noise, and I use only gain at breakup point. If I want a dark sound I'll mimic the compressed sound of a high gain with low presence, low inductance pickup with Bill and Becky Q-filter (to allow higher gain setting on the amp), guitar's volume at 9 for rounded highs... ... to summarize flat EQ on the amp so the sound cut through (the mids must always blend with the lows if they are punching. This is the metal version of Michael Landau/Scott Henderson style, except I use Bill and Becky L-500's along with any Suhr OD100's type sounds using the minimum of features (no whomp/depth, low feedback ctrl, no bright switch, sometime the bass lower than 50% unless the CH volume and gain is very low... ... then you'll appreciate your pedals exponentially If Love didn't save your life, tone will for sure. ; )
KMA Pylon has an external trigger input, two loops, boost, cut, and a channel control so you can change the channel on your amp when engaging the gate (ie, only use it on the high gain channel, but not the clean). Amazing. Best noise gate I’ve ever used.
I'll certainly be referring back to this documentation and charts and graphs that you had throughout the presentation. Absolutely awesome and hopefully I can employ this in my own rig!!!
Had the boss ns-2 for yrs never let me down. Noise suppressors have never got a bad wrap in my circles. It’s actually necessary. You want to play metal the first pedal you need is a noise suppressor
Thanks for the video. For us high gain guys, that gate the amp's preamp in 3CM or 4CM, probably the biggest issue is being able to sustain notes and not have the gate cut them off. I use a GUP Tech SUN noise gate in 3CM, with a buffered splitter early in the chain, and it works well as do other 3CM/4CM capable gates. The gate is immediately after the amp's preamp. I use a switcher (Carl Martin Octa Switch "The Strip"), so I am able to remove the gate from the signal chain for clean tones.
Thank you for the upload. I recently bought a used Marshall Guv’nor; and dig its sound when I’m playing, but when not playing its quite noisy. This vid came at the perfect time.
A shout out to thank you for this episode. I bought the Decimator II G String after watching this. It's made playing my rig so much more enjoyable and I'm taking less grief from my bandmates over a noisy rig.
One more application would be really high gain, highly rhythmic styles demanding a ton of precision. Yeah, I'm talking about djent tones. Basically, goes after the OD and distortion to clamp down after the note attack, making that signature tight, percussive sound.
The most valuable part of the video is the concept of the 'Key' (pure guitar signal) and how to emulate it at around 7:00. I have not tested if the suggested key emulation diagram works - yet. Ordinary noise gates cannot tell if a dying note is noise, so it prematurely cuts it. The use of a 'Key' allow a Zuul to know that it is a note, not noise. (MXR Noise Clamp and Boss NS-2 user).
Remember that any 4-cable method noise gate has a key, the input is the key (sensor), and the send is the split output (which the Zuul gets from a splitter off the guitar. If you put your gate first (4-cable method style), you'll have the sensor first and the gate circuit is only present from the gate return to the gate output. Everything else is before the gate. Same with the Zuul if you use if after the FX send for example even with the key sensor.
I use a Electro Harmonix Silencer since 2 years. I just put it into the FX-loop of my Laney AOR that can be a bit noisey when not playiung. I turned all the knobs to 1 o'clock, sounds super natural with no loss in dynamics or unwanted gating, as soon as I stop playing the gate kicks in after a few ms of delaytime and it's dead silent. Highly recommend that pedal as a cheap gate option. Cool quirky EHX thing is that the Silencer can also boost the noise if you like, the manual states "yes you can boost the noise instead of reducing it if you like"! You just got to love EHX for doing such weird things!
Don’t know if it’s just my ears but ‘gate on’ somehow made the tracks / guitar sound ‘digital’. I’m not an expert; I’m just commenting as my ears picked up a noticeable difference through headphones. Thank you for another great video.
@dfasht dry and sterile, yes that’s a good description. I’m at an early pedal stage and this channel has been responsible for all the knowledge I possess so far. I don’t really understand your solution as I’m not knowledgeable enough yet. Good to know I wasn’t imagining it, thank you.
ISP Decimator G string or Pro Rack G for me! Anytime there is alot of gain stacking. Not needed for clean amp. May be needed for clean amp with a dirt box.
Mason, have you ever thought of incorporating noise gate technology into your Vertex Boost ?? Observe, that's just what T.C. Electronics did on their original Boost, Line driver, and Distortion (BLD) pedal back in the 1980's. The conceptual design of the BLD pedal is awesome, because it has a strategic combination of functions that are needed. The XLR output lets you send a line to the board (great for acoustics) and the noise gate reduces noise frome the distortion section of the pedal and all upstream gain pedals. LIke your Vertex Boost, this pedal is primarily designed to function as a post-distortion boost.
I chose the Dunlop MXR Smartgate for the versatility it provides, and the larger single knob design. For players that don't have noisy guitars and just need to tame high gain amp signals through the FX loop, I think almost any simple gate would work. Given that, I still believe the top quality components in this MXR Smartgate and the various ranges it allows you to narrow in on, give it superior sensitivity. The rubber cover for the already bigger control knob makes it very easy to dial in. Great design. IMHO the best choice for simple 2 wire gates that don't create more noise or tone suck like a 4 wire gates can.
I run a Rocktron Hush after my boost and overdrive pedals, then mod and delay pedals and finally front of clean amp. The makers of the ISP decimator are the same that made the rocktron hush.
I avoided Noise gates for 25 years, I was going to buy the Decimator, however I ended up getting the Revv G8. Apparently the G8 has the same IC chip as the Fortin one, and I like having more control with he G8 over the Decimator, don't get me wrong it's a fantastic gate, the G8 just seemed to be the updated version in a way. The Revv G8 is definitely staying on my pedalboard, I kid you not when I say I have far more drive pedals then any other pedal on it. Love gain stacking etc. Great video, Cheers!
I settled on the Revv G8 as well and it doesn't leave my pedal layout. Using a 4-cable method and isolating my "noisy pedals" I get very nice and clean tone minus the noise and it lets me be more creative for some reason.
@@robertpurdy4452 I have several drive pedals on my pedalboard going to 3 amps simultaneously, I use the Earthquaker Swissthings pedal to organize it all , sorta lol. I also use the 4 cable method through loop 1 on the Swissthings and run all the drive pedals through it, I love gain stacking so it's almost a must for me lol
A noise gate pedal into a compression pedal - after drive/distortion pedals and before delay and reverb - gives an extra element for fine adjustment of sound output.
Hi Mason! I'm using a MusicomLab MK VI and a Source Audio EQ2, so I can go mono with all my boost, OD and Dist pedals an get out in stereo to 2 amps. Also, out of the switcher and with MIDI I'm using a Eventide H90. I wonder how to use a Fortin Zuul+ into my set up. I'm not trying to connect it to the preamp, so I don't need a send and return FX Loop to the 2 amps. The main question is: can I use the key int with this configuration?
Just put your tuner after noisy pedals, I have mine after Fuzz / Treble boosters, with this I can easiely cut off the noise when I step on the Tuner without doing the tapdance on multiple pedals
I suppose it depends on how loud your noise floor is when playing - a volume pedal can adjust static noise down to zero as well, arguably better than a Tuner, or at least more gradually. Also you'd really need to put it after your last OD pedal to be effective or after you FX Loop send if it's amp gain, doesn't seem so practical in that context.
I’ve tried them all!! The Klirrton snauze is also a good one,expensive though!! I finally settled with the ISP Hum Extractor plus Decimater!! Purchased mine from Sweetwater!!! Best one I’ve ever owned!!!
@@Mike_HuntizWet first time I used it out of the box,touched nothing, plugged in and heard something I’ve never heard before through my plexi,silence!!!!
G-String user for 10 Yeats, it is great, I cannot hear any affect on my tone. But as said here you should start with good cables, clean isolated Power Supply, otherwise your noise floor Will be too high anyway.
In every topic, when I find Ur video on the matter I can stop searching. Soon I will learn my lesson and just come here first. Thankyou for outlining these options. I think I'm following the method at 3'30" for now as I have no effects send and mostly busk with a 2 channel Cube EX. however my future plan is to use a mixer with FX loop and monitors for recording. My remaining questions is where to place the compressor (TC hypergravity), wah (Hotone Soulpress II), fuzz (JHS series 3) eq (Joyo R-12), boost (TC spark mini) tuner (NUX NTU3) Octave (Joyo R-13) and my boss looper. Ouch! I'm thinking: guitar > tuner set true bypass > wah > fuzz > octave > compressor > boss 2 CH looper > noise gate (EHX silencer) My vocal mic plugs into other channel on looper. Hope to put some effects on that line in time. Like a separate compression, reverb, chorus. ***Updated - just realised this might not work well and I need to keep my vocals separate on another channel. Is it possible to put the looper last i.e. after reverb/delay that way Ur recording the final sound with instrument and a more unprocessed sound with vocal? My compressor (TC hypergravity) can act as a buffer? So cld tuner but I think the spec is not so good on the buffer and I would then have to place it after the wah and octave if I follow correct. Then distortion and od in the EHX silencer loop. Out of the silencer goes into mod, chorus and reverb (all 'stereo' Joyo/Flamma), which go into the two clean channels on my cube amp via 2x final buffer -one on each channel. I think I will make from Ur videos) Do my EQ and boost go at the star of this section i.e. first in line from the output of the silencer? Or does one/both live on the silencer FX loop after the drives and distortion? Am I in any way on the right track?! Thanks if you manage to read all this! It's a steep learning curve and I hope to learn a lot just by experimentation but now I'm assembling/building up my individual pedals and tryna get my head around the theory/concepts of pedal chain and get a bit of a starting point cos I'm gonna build my own pedal board/split boards out of timber when I've got everything in place and working out shapes,sizes and layouts is fun 😊
I run 8 pedals on two snark adapters and two daisy chains. It's ugly and messy but only time I hear any hum at all is when I use both drives together and it's barely noticeable at high volumes. I did have some noise issues gain stacking at certain venues when I played a strat alot. Everytime I think about buying a one spot power station I end up just getting a pedal instead 😁
I’ve used vintage gear that definitely was extremely noisy. I only have new gear so I don’t have any noise issues but this video was still helpful if I ever do get vintage stuff.
There’s a fourth reason: you might be playing on a very large stage, in a stadium, arena, or festival, where there is extensive technical setup like screens, lights, effects, and the show might even be recorded and filmed. All of that can contribute to generating some type of electromagnetic waves that interfere with your audio signal, and if you’re also using a guitar with single-coil pickups, it’s even worse.
stone deaf fx shows diagrams how to cable route with the two noise gate pedal method, both pedals having loops of their own. I had to get the Noise Reaper because it has art by one of my favorite artists, McBess.
What about feedback when using the 4CM method (noisy preamp and pedals case)? I encountered this in Boss NS-2 and G-String Clone. Using the buffer right after the guitar helped. Wrong impedance?
holy cow, i never thought about these things. i only wanted the noise to stop, i had no idea i was killing the mod and time tails. i did after awhile realize my sound i worked so hard on was being comprimized in the name of convenience, so i only put it on the noisy settings which i set where noise continues if im not touching strings(even though no notes sounding) but just enough to kill it when i grip the neck to deaden it. my band members appreciate that aspect. this is all very complex and i will watch video over and over to try and absorb your teachings. maybe make a diagram for us who have multi effects processors to we can place the gate in the best spot in the programmable chain?
I have a tele that I love but sometimes the hum compounds through delays and reverbs and other effects. Does a gate in front of these in the chain prevent this?
Used to have the Decimator Pro Rack G on a Laney high gain amp. That gate is wonderful, I did not know at that time that I was using 4 cable method. Not I use the MXR Noise clamp for my Blackstar preamp pedal with fx loop. That pedal sounds great but noisy. Love noise gates.
I have the same mxr smartgate. With dirt pedals on, yes you can't tell the difference especially when it's in the mix with other instruments or with the band. But when it's in clean sound, definitely you will hear that it cuts the high frequency of the guitar's tone.
I notice when I use a boost pedal, I sometimes pick up a radio station. A different kind of noise. Lol. It’s an old house and the wiring isn’t grounded. That would probably help.
So I have three different pedals that are loud. My fuzz and overdrive are loud but so is my Fender MTG Tremolo. I think the internal tube is part of the issue... problem is, my fuzz and overdrive are in the preamp section and the tremolo is in the effects loops (Wet pedals). My thought is to simply put it after the tremolo. Thoughts?
Question: I have a quality noise gate(ISP decimator II) and a cheap one(Azor The Noise) and I set the ISP on front input of the amp(Blackstar ht5210) then the Azor first in the FX loop. Now the ISP just has a knob but the Azor also got a soft/hard switch. I am wondering if I should put the Azor front and the ISP in the FX loop? My thought is having a soft/hard switch sounds more useful/versatile up front than in the FX loop right ?
For many years i didnt use any effects except a rack gate. Hush super C. I use enough gain and play choppy riffs enough that I wouldnt be able to play without one
Mason I have an BOSS IR-200 that has consistant ground hum.Although there is a chassis grnd. screw on the side I really don't know how that would help me.Its at the end of my wet pedals,ie my Boss MD-500 and my EQ-200,not in my Kingtone or overdrives.I bought a used Boss NS-2 and I'm thinking it may affect my timed petals negatively.What do you think would be my best plan of action?Oh,my fuzz and overdrives run to the send and returns on my amp,and the timed pedals eun into the input of my amp.Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Hey, Mason. I have a Lil Rat, and that thing seems to be noisy (pssssshhhhhhhh sound). What gives? Also, does it make sense to use more than one gate? Maybe at different points in the chain?
It should be the responsability of noisy pedal makers to integrate the matching noise gate in their pedal itself. Any one making a pedal boosting the signal, knows perfectly that it will boost everything : hiss hum any unwanted noise. At least they could put a threshold pot on the pedal.
I've owned a lot of gates and... They all suck tone to some degree, and especially in the cases of the 4CM gates, you are at the mercy of their internal buffer/splitter, and to which degree depends on where in the chain the front end of the gate is. Each gate might perform a bit better or worse than any given other, depending on your rig. I tend to not like gates up front and prefer them after dirt, but when you switch dirt pedals, that can throw everying off because of the threshold setting needing to be changed. Also, if you roll back on your volume, good luck! 😂 DEADWEALD has a discontinued pedal called the Golem which is not only one of the best gates out there, it has two different settings to switch between. One is a one knob gate (threshold) and the other is more fully featured, with attach and release. One more thing.. You overlooked using 2 gates. You can put one standard gate in the loop jait to eliminate lower lever hiss from the rig when your guitar volume is off, and another standard or 4cm gate in front of the amp, either plugging straight into it, after dirt, or around your dirt pedals. This can give you two different gate settings.. The one in the loop being mild and the one in from of the amp being heavy handed.. For something for which you need sustain (no early gate closure), you just turn the front gate off, but you'll still at least have some gating... But if you need a tight gate, you can switch the front gate on. Furthermore, you can set up one gate or multiple gates through loops in your switcher, to have different settings and true bypass. This could eat up a lot of switcher channels though! ^I was actually doing this with a Line6 HX effects. I normally don't like going through digital modelers in front of a rig, unless it's for an effect... But almost certainly never for a dry tone... So o would put the front end loop through a channel on something like an ML5, to switch it in and out of the front-end chain completely, depending on my needs... Like when I'd need a oitchifter or synth sound, I'd switch it in.. But for an overdrive or something of that nature, I'd just switch in an overdrive pedal instead. Hell... You can even do this with input and output buffers. If the buffer ruins the tone of a particular pedal, you can switch it out! If it improves it, you can switch it in! I'm still an input buffer hater, but the Mesa buffer is amazing on the output. Oh yeah.. And for a bonus... You can use the tuner out on the Mesa buffer to feed a keyed gate, or even any 4cm gate if you don't want the gate's buffer/splitter in the chain!!! 😜
Front of house would noise gate me while using my Kemper. Messed with my in ear mix! Kindly asked to not use it. One of the many reasons I’m back to live amplifiers! No gates!
How would the context change (if at all) when using something like the EVH 5150 overdrive with a built in smart gate? Also, the song choice in the examples were awesome!
Hey man, great video! Can you help how to connect Decimator g string into my looper switcher? I have into Loop 1 Tubescreamer, into Loop 2 Diezel VH4 Distortion and into Loop3 Fuzz Muffuletta. The noise, of course, came after these pedals so I was thinking to put G String into Loop 4 but if I do connecting input/output to s/r of loop4 it doesn't work. I really don't know how to properly do that with 4cm. I only use pedals distortions and I do not have fx loop on my amplifier, my rig is all front of the amp. I'm stuck and this is driving me crazy. Hope you can help me!
Hello. I have an MXR Smart Gate and an effects loop in my amplifier. Would you mind sharing the details of how you routed your cables for the video's examples?
OK, at 12:02 when the playing stopped, there was what I call “white noise” or maybe some people call hiss…..My rig is suffering from this tremendously. I have the gate near the end of my board and set so that I get decent sustain without any hum/overdrive noise, but this airy “white noise” persists…..It’s less noticeable in a full band setting, although I still hear it, but it’s extremely noticeable obviously while I’m playing alone, and forget about recording….I’m not using the 4-cable method, although I tried it before and it didn’t work…..Does anyone know of a noise gate or something that will eliminate this? I’m extremely pleased with my overall tone, and if I could eliminate that, I’d be forever grateful.
My signal chain is: polytune3 with buffer switch engaged, whammy 5 to (guitar in) isp g string noise gate, (dec in) to output of the khdk scuzzfuzz (with buffer switch engaged) and khdk input to isp (guitar out), and finally isp (dec out) to input of my pod hd500x. Problem is, when i do pinch harmonics, signal cuts off, if i remove Polytune buffer switch off, no such thing, or if i remove ISP from the chain, everything is working! Can’t understand why Polytune with buffer on dont work with ISP decimator G string?
Hey Mason, I want to run a gate on my crunch channel only. Is it possible to run a gate that uses the 'X' 4 cable method such as the ns2 in a switcher? I am running two switchers on my board, one for the front and one for the effects loop. I have an ns2 although I will be using the KMA Pylon and wish to have a very fast gating with high threshold on the distorted channel and therefore it will be to sensitive for the clean channel. Any advice would be great!
In the first example, why would you need to make a loop? Why not just put the Decimator in the signal path between the noisy pedals in your example and the chorus?
hi can you help me? i use amp, preamp, noise gate, other effect . but, my preamp and noise gate have 4 cables connnection amp : h&k tubemeister 36 preamp : kraken v4 v1 noise gate : kma pylon effect : others pédal how chain ? the kraken use 4 cable for connect amp input, looo send, return, guitar noise gate pylon the same bonus : how add an other noise gate on the chain? tbx for your help, best regard
I can definitely hear a difference, but it’s probably not noticeable in a live setting. Definitely wouldn’t want to use it in a recording sesh like this. The tone is noticeably better without it.
I did use a noise gate for awhile but I found that I could not use my volume knob for swells and subtle adjustments. Removed it and put in quieter pedals and just flick off my volume when I stop playing. Far more satisfying experience. Could try a Decimator I suppose, but my current setup works for me… but that could and does always change 🤣
I think it's easy to overdo it with a gate where it prematurely cuts off the sustain of a note or a swell. Typically means that you're using it too far away from the noise source.
for touch sensitive stuff use the zuul method of using a key input. that takes your guitars signal and mirrors all the touch sensitive dynamics while still gating excess noise. i didnt think to try the zuul method on my isp decimator hence me buying a tc sentry but i just might try both and see which sounds better to me
Thanks for the vids. I run a boss ns 2 at the end of my effects.. my order is ( thru the effects loop.. peavey stereo chorus) into my boss rack pwr supply.. ( which also has bypass feature) then to tuner> compressor> overdrive> delay> noise suppressor> to loop return. I utilize both board and amp overdrives .. and only thing i find is overdrive is a bit noisy so i have to crank ns up to max decay which can stifle the return signal and I hear the cutoff if I lessen the decay. Any suggestions?
Hey mason I was wondering if I could maybe send you a picture of my rig? Maybe you could give me some advice about it. Possibly change some things or keep it as it is. Lmk thanks Rick
Thanks for all these very clear explanations, the schemas are very useful. However I feel a little frustrated you didn't try passing from a saturated to a clean sound with the gate engaged to show how, according to the chaining method the clean sound is affected by the noise gate.
The video could have gone hundreds of different ways. The idea here was to talk about my use case (which is common for many guys playing the styles of music shown in this video which is also a style we commonly showcase on our channel). Sure we could have addressed more clean sounds, but generally that's not where you'd use a gate anyway.
@@VertexEffectsInc yes of course ! so may be a good subject for a next video as videos about noise gates never talk about passing from a distortion to a clean sound
I followed your vids to perfect a very “Suck free” pedal board Hi quality buffer in and out But the Marshall high OD 1 and 2 are noisy Can I just loop in and out of the jvm410 loop and avoid tone suck and still provide effective gating Own a ns-2 But thinking a isp g string? ??? Thanks in advance
I usually don't use one and have no need for them. I play on my Jackson HSS and even then no need for using it. But when for some damn reason I have a neighbor who uses this home radio with a tall antenna that my amp sometimes picks up his radio. The noise gate actually blocks him. But the sad part is, clean tones noise gates tend to clamp down and stomp out the notes from sustaining too quickly if set too high. Not high enough, it does no good to block him out. I use my noise gate in the effects loop. Any advice?
Various applications. Subtracting hum? No brainer. Holding back extreme distortion? Of course. Clean? Test and see. Id say all the time. More than likely the threshold and position are key. Certainly it is obvious with isolated guitar. In the mix its less apparent but the feel of the player or players comes to mind. Overtones and or harmonics via pick timing? Id say its most important for every situation.
Would I be better off getting a decimate g string even if I use amps with and without fx loop or should I just get a decimate X since it'll be better for amps without fx loops?
You can still use it to loop around noisy pedals as shown in this video, you can also see more uses for the noise gates here: th-cam.com/video/OAzKTQpH8XE/w-d-xo.html
I have the silver sky and I’m trying to play at my church and for some reason I believe the lights are LED and they’re causing me to have that um Any suggestions
Deciding on getting either metro 20 with cry baby off the board, or getting custom flat platform board to fit the wah, which also is heavier. What would your opinion be, would it be inconvenient to always plug in wah and transport seperate etc?
Do you have any questions about how to implement a noise gate into your rig? Ask in the comments below!
I wish this video came out last month when I was breaking my back to get my noise get to work the way I wanted! Now I’ve got a decimator G string that works beautifully for what i need
With ISP isn't the guitar supposed to plug DIRECTLY into the GTR IN so ISP can track the signal?
@@eathummus where do you see us saying otherwise?
@dkonx probably works well in their ecosystem of effects, I don't know how it would work for external effects looped in with it.
@@VertexEffectsInc You have one scenario (4:40) that's guitar-OD-ISP (guitar in)
For the live player is a must. Don't care if you have the "perfect tone" playing in your room. Hearing unwanted noise live is really annoying and sometimes the conditions aren't the best. Besides, audience can't even tell the "tone suck" but sure as hell can pick on the noises
Truer words have never been spoken.
1,000%
i found a simple messing with the eq and gate pots, you find your tone again, if you have a quality amp
guitar and pedals. Last week i didnt belive in them now ill never go without one, using all fouir inputs
and outputs on a qualiy noise gate your whole system is nice and quiet, i used to only be able to handle
my Gibsion Les Paul Jr for about 20 minutes because of the 60hz hum, now i dont hear it.
Omg this is facts that are valid forever!!!
Thanks for spending the time to draw up the charts.
There are two principles to keep in mind when applying noise gates:
1) Unless it is a sophisticated digital unit, gates decide between "noise" and "signal" based on level alone.. So when using one, a person should insert it where the contrast between background noise and wanted signal is greatest.
2) There are two broad categories of noise: hum and other line noise, and hiss. These two broad sources have different sources, and so tend to require different solutions.
I find the discontent many users have with noise gates stems from expecting them to do way too much. If one uses high gain pedals, and the guitar itself and connecting cables are not especially quiet and well-shielded, then one can end up with amplified hum and hiss at the end of the pedal chain. Expecting a gate to be able to tell the difference between what you do and don't want at that point is a fool's errand. This is why gates that rely on "the 4 cable method" exist. The guitar goes into the gate first, where the noise floor can be more accurately detected, and the threshold set in a way that doesn't intrude. The signal then goes through all the rest of your pedals, and the gating action is applied at the very end.
That works well enough...in theory. Considering point #2 above, a gating action based on whatever noise comes in from the guitar will not necessarily address noise that accumulates over the pedal chain. This is why I've been an advocate for a dual-gate approach. A first gate removes hum and line noise at the start of the signal path, and a second gate removes cumulative hiss at the end. The two would have different filtering actions, with the 2nd one being a noise filter, rather than gate. Not perfect, but it would work better and ask less of each device, resulting in less intrusive threshold settings.
I have a compressor, built around an SSM2166 chip. The chip was intended to provide full dynamic control of a mic strip. IN addition to excellent compression, it also includes downward expansion, which exaggerates the difference between low level and very low level signals (as opposed to decreasing the difference between high level and very high level signals...which is what limiting does). This turns it into a dead quiet compressor. Many users who don't understand compressors will often complain about them being noisy or hissy. They simply do what they are told, which is to apply lotsa gain to very soft signals, without any recognition of *what* that signal might be. And if that very soft signal happens to be hiss on the input, then that will get amplified. If the compressor has a slow recovery time, the boosted hiss will get progressively louder after an initial pick attack, and sound a bit like someone inhaling, which has resulted in the technical term "breathing" for such noise. Ideally, one feeds a compressor a pristine signal to avoid that boosted hiss. But if you can't do that, the downward expansion is VERY helpful.
What compressor are you using?
Thanks, this is very helpful, important information. I too would like to know what compressor you're using.
@@jacksonmanuel33 It's simply the circuit in the datasheet for the SSM2166. Jack Orman's "Q & D Compressor" is very close to that. I'm surprised more people aren't using it. Helluva chip.
ty, i will try to absorb this wisdom as i begin to tweek and ferret-out unwanted or obstructing or as you demonstrated: domino effect with a possible logarhythmic or worse... exponential cascade.
What about the isp him extractor with the decimator in one , Do you Think this will suffice over buying two pedals to
Suppress noise ? I’m not used to gates .
My biggest issue hs been subtle playing , I can really set a gate in a reasonable place where it won’t cut off subtle playing .
That aside, I’m curious if you think that isp device is worthwhile and more effective than te speed are decimator as etc. they have multiple pedals and I can’t really tell if the newest and most expensive are any better .
I thought about a big Furman power conditioner , like 1200 plus dollars , to try and totally balance and clean electrics issues since I do get a zapping sound, even from the cable , with the guitar is not hooked in and wondered if that would help .
Obviously the gate could help me with p90s and hollowbody squeals too. I have multiple issues to address.
Iv seen it claimed that the isp will get rid of the hum while playing but I’m assuming it will alter the guitar tone . For live I wouldn’t care but I would like to record professional guitar tracks are home and this is where I try and figure out how to clean up the signal big time
I’ve had the MXR noise gate for years and it changed my sound even though all reviews are positive about it. I watched this yesterday and I thought I must be doing something wrong. I went and messed around with it and can’t believe I got it wrong all these years. I can’t hear a difference except the noise is gone. Glad I watched this.
The big secret if you have a lot of pedals that make noise and you are using a switcher is to use several gates. I have 3 loops each with more than one pedal as i often stack them. It gives me 3 loops so I can use 3 different sounds in a single tune. I also gate the amp. Because there are less demands on a single gate it is easier to get a smooth natural sound. You also find you are not tweaking different pedals between tunes If you are really anal the REVV G8 is hands down the best. Metal guys might want to check out the DAE Audio Golem Gates. Other very good ones are the AMT Incinerator and the Stone Deaf Noise Reaper. All recommended are well made and use a good spec and can grab transients very quickly so you are dealing with any stutter. This demo was a lot of work so give the guy a break , hit the thumbs up and subscribe. All us regulars would love to have you join us and even add a few comments.
That's a lot of gates!
@@AzathothsAlarmClock Can you please list those midi capable gates?
I just got the new NS-1x and used this 4 cable method! wow!!! Nerual DSP level noise suppressor on my pedal rig!!!! thx man
I just got the NS-1X, and can attest that it's super transparent, in addition to being very effective even with multiple high gain pedals. Very happy with it, as I can dial pedals in the way I want, instead of just trying to keep the noise down.
What changed my mind on them was the ‘ZNR’ noise reduction setting on the Zoom MultiStomps, G series etc. It’s VERY subtle yet effective and when set at it’s sweet spot (14 on my rig) it does it’s job without effecting dynamics at all. I’m not a high gain player, so I never really needed a gate, but I started using this just for quieting single coil hum between songs, and now every single patch and ‘blank’ patch on my Zoom Ms-70 (which is post drives, pre delay/verb) has the ZNR at the beginning of it.
Nice!
I am also using the ZNR from my zoom ms50g. I put it before my drive pedals, and it works well, keeping my pedalboard quiet from unwanted noises.
Thanks. I will try this with my Zoom MS70 CDR.
This video is a life saver. I couldn't figure out how to use the decimator properly and was beginning to worry. Great video!!
Best explanation on TH-cam of a very confusing and misunderstood topic. I appreciate the visuals and learned a lot. I now have an MXR Smartgate on my board. It sits after my drive pedals and works like a charm.
My sentry is probably my favorite pedal !
That's another good choice for the 4CM version gate category.
I've always been a bit of a fan of the Rocktron _Hush_ series. The simplest one, the classic blue Hush with a single knob works really well without buggering your tone.
the Prorack G IS terribly amazing with high gain and reverb from a H8000FW or I use the pedal version of Decimator which is as good. When I decrease the guitar volume along with gain, I just deactivate the pedal for sustain and subtilty. All good stuff. If the Hush pedals are good enough for Angus Young, it's all good enough for me.
Keep in mind that my setup is already with minimum noise, and I use only gain at breakup point. If I want a dark sound I'll mimic the compressed sound of a high gain with low presence, low inductance pickup with Bill and Becky Q-filter (to allow higher gain setting on the amp), guitar's volume at 9 for rounded highs...
... to summarize flat EQ on the amp so the sound cut through (the mids must always blend with the lows if they are punching.
This is the metal version of Michael Landau/Scott Henderson style, except I use Bill and Becky L-500's along with any Suhr OD100's type sounds using the minimum of features (no whomp/depth, low feedback ctrl, no bright switch, sometime the bass lower than 50% unless the CH volume and gain is very low... ... then you'll appreciate your pedals exponentially
If Love didn't save your life, tone will for sure. ; )
KMA Pylon has an external trigger input, two loops, boost, cut, and a channel control so you can change the channel on your amp when engaging the gate (ie, only use it on the high gain channel, but not the clean). Amazing. Best noise gate I’ve ever used.
Must MUST always use a good noise gate in the proper location when playing high gain 🤘
Side note: The MXR Smart Gate is in fact the Tom Scholz Rockman Smart Gate in pedal form.
THE BEST AND EASIEST TO UNDERSTAND VIDEO ON THIS! THANK YOU!!!
I'll certainly be referring back to this documentation and charts and graphs that you had throughout the presentation. Absolutely awesome and hopefully I can employ this in my own rig!!!
Had the boss ns-2 for yrs never let me down. Noise suppressors have never got a bad wrap in my circles. It’s actually necessary. You want to play metal the first pedal you need is a noise suppressor
Thanks for the video. For us high gain guys, that gate the amp's preamp in 3CM or 4CM, probably the biggest issue is being able to sustain notes and not have the gate cut them off. I use a GUP Tech SUN noise gate in 3CM, with a buffered splitter early in the chain, and it works well as do other 3CM/4CM capable gates. The gate is immediately after the amp's preamp. I use a switcher (Carl Martin Octa Switch "The Strip"), so I am able to remove the gate from the signal chain for clean tones.
Thank you for the upload. I recently bought a used Marshall Guv’nor; and dig its sound when I’m playing, but when not playing its quite noisy. This vid came at the perfect time.
A shout out to thank you for this episode. I bought the Decimator II G String after watching this. It's made playing my rig so much more enjoyable and I'm taking less grief from my bandmates over a noisy rig.
One more application would be really high gain, highly rhythmic styles demanding a ton of precision. Yeah, I'm talking about djent tones. Basically, goes after the OD and distortion to clamp down after the note attack, making that signature tight, percussive sound.
I think if nothing else, gates do help tighten up your playing too. You can see in these examples how much it helps with chords and riffs.
The most valuable part of the video is the concept of the 'Key' (pure guitar signal) and how to emulate it at around 7:00. I have not tested if the suggested key emulation diagram works - yet. Ordinary noise gates cannot tell if a dying note is noise, so it prematurely cuts it. The use of a 'Key' allow a Zuul to know that it is a note, not noise. (MXR Noise Clamp and Boss NS-2 user).
Remember that any 4-cable method noise gate has a key, the input is the key (sensor), and the send is the split output (which the Zuul gets from a splitter off the guitar. If you put your gate first (4-cable method style), you'll have the sensor first and the gate circuit is only present from the gate return to the gate output. Everything else is before the gate. Same with the Zuul if you use if after the FX send for example even with the key sensor.
Im using the MXR noise clamp in 4CM. Doesnt cut off notes.
Priceless. I use this in teaching my guitar students. Bless you for caring & sharing.
I'm a metal guy and the Fortin Zuul is the truth. Best gate I've ever owned, and I've owned a lot.
Another good one Mason! I currently don't use a Noise Gate but this has given me something to consider. Thanks!
I use a Electro Harmonix Silencer since 2 years. I just put it into the FX-loop of my Laney AOR that can be a bit noisey when not playiung. I turned all the knobs to 1 o'clock, sounds super natural with no loss in dynamics or unwanted gating, as soon as I stop playing the gate kicks in after a few ms of delaytime and it's dead silent.
Highly recommend that pedal as a cheap gate option.
Cool quirky EHX thing is that the Silencer can also boost the noise if you like, the manual states "yes you can boost the noise instead
of reducing it if you like"! You just got to love EHX for doing such weird things!
Don’t know if it’s just my ears but ‘gate on’ somehow made the tracks / guitar sound ‘digital’. I’m not an expert; I’m just commenting as my ears picked up a noticeable difference through headphones. Thank you for another great video.
@dfasht dry and sterile, yes that’s a good description. I’m at an early pedal stage and this channel has been responsible for all the knowledge I possess so far. I don’t really understand your solution as I’m not knowledgeable enough yet. Good to know I wasn’t imagining it, thank you.
ISP Decimator G string or Pro Rack G for me! Anytime there is alot of gain stacking. Not needed for clean amp. May be needed for clean amp with a dirt box.
Mason, have you ever thought of incorporating noise gate technology into your Vertex Boost ?? Observe, that's just what T.C. Electronics did on their original Boost, Line driver, and Distortion (BLD) pedal back in the 1980's. The conceptual design of the BLD pedal is awesome, because it has a strategic combination of functions that are needed. The XLR output lets you send a line to the board (great for acoustics) and the noise gate reduces noise frome the distortion section of the pedal and all upstream gain pedals. LIke your Vertex Boost, this pedal is primarily designed to function as a post-distortion boost.
As an 80's rock fan, I approve this video.
I chose the Dunlop MXR Smartgate for the versatility it provides, and the larger single knob design. For players that don't have noisy guitars and just need to tame high gain amp signals through the FX loop, I think almost any simple gate would work. Given that, I still believe the top quality components in this MXR Smartgate and the various ranges it allows you to narrow in on, give it superior sensitivity. The rubber cover for the already bigger control knob makes it very easy to dial in. Great design. IMHO the best choice for simple 2 wire gates that don't create more noise or tone suck like a 4 wire gates can.
Thank you Mason!I think best device is ISP Decimator Pro rack G
This system works incredible!
Your show is worth a prescription! You always share good education.
Subscription.
I no longer need my anxiety prescriptions thanks to Vertex.
I run a Rocktron Hush after my boost and overdrive pedals, then mod and delay pedals and finally front of clean amp.
The makers of the ISP decimator are the same that made the rocktron hush.
Nice me too . I have 2 Hushes . One in the effects loop and one in front
I avoided Noise gates for 25 years, I was going to buy the Decimator, however I ended up getting the Revv G8. Apparently the G8 has the same IC chip as the Fortin one, and I like having more control with he G8 over the Decimator, don't get me wrong it's a fantastic gate, the G8 just seemed to be the updated version in a way. The Revv G8 is definitely staying on my pedalboard, I kid you not when I say I have far more drive pedals then any other pedal on it. Love gain stacking etc. Great video, Cheers!
I settled on the Revv G8 as well and it doesn't leave my pedal layout. Using a 4-cable method and isolating my "noisy pedals" I get very nice and clean tone minus the noise and it lets me be more creative for some reason.
@@robertpurdy4452 I have several drive pedals on my pedalboard going to 3 amps simultaneously, I use the Earthquaker Swissthings pedal to organize it all , sorta lol. I also use the 4 cable method through loop 1 on the Swissthings and run all the drive pedals through it, I love gain stacking so it's almost a must for me lol
A noise gate pedal into a compression pedal - after drive/distortion pedals and before delay and reverb - gives an extra element for fine adjustment of sound output.
Hi Mason! I'm using a MusicomLab MK VI and a Source Audio EQ2, so I can go mono with all my boost, OD and Dist pedals an get out in stereo to 2 amps. Also, out of the switcher and with MIDI I'm using a Eventide H90. I wonder how to use a Fortin Zuul+ into my set up. I'm not trying to connect it to the preamp, so I don't need a send and return FX Loop to the 2 amps.
The main question is: can I use the key int with this configuration?
Just put your tuner after noisy pedals, I have mine after Fuzz / Treble boosters, with this I can easiely cut off the noise when I step on the Tuner without doing the tapdance on multiple pedals
I suppose it depends on how loud your noise floor is when playing - a volume pedal can adjust static noise down to zero as well, arguably better than a Tuner, or at least more gradually. Also you'd really need to put it after your last OD pedal to be effective or after you FX Loop send if it's amp gain, doesn't seem so practical in that context.
I’ve tried them all!! The Klirrton snauze is also a good one,expensive though!! I finally settled with the ISP Hum Extractor plus Decimater!! Purchased mine from Sweetwater!!! Best one I’ve ever owned!!!
Do those hum extractors actually work well ?
@@Mike_HuntizWet first time I used it out of the box,touched nothing, plugged in and heard something I’ve never heard before through my plexi,silence!!!!
G-String user for 10 Yeats, it is great, I cannot hear any affect on my tone. But as said here you should start with good cables, clean isolated Power Supply, otherwise your noise floor Will be too high anyway.
In every topic, when I find Ur video on the matter I can stop searching. Soon I will learn my lesson and just come here first. Thankyou for outlining these options.
I think I'm following the method at 3'30" for now as I have no effects send and mostly busk with a 2 channel Cube EX. however my future plan is to use a mixer with FX loop and monitors for recording. My remaining questions is where to place the compressor (TC hypergravity), wah (Hotone Soulpress II), fuzz (JHS series 3) eq (Joyo R-12), boost (TC spark mini) tuner (NUX NTU3) Octave (Joyo R-13) and my boss looper. Ouch!
I'm thinking:
guitar > tuner set true bypass > wah > fuzz > octave > compressor > boss 2 CH looper > noise gate (EHX silencer)
My vocal mic plugs into other channel on looper. Hope to put some effects on that line in time. Like a separate compression, reverb, chorus. ***Updated - just realised this might not work well and I need to keep my vocals separate on another channel.
Is it possible to put the looper last i.e. after reverb/delay that way Ur recording the final sound with instrument and a more unprocessed sound with vocal?
My compressor (TC hypergravity) can act as a buffer? So cld tuner but I think the spec is not so good on the buffer and I would then have to place it after the wah and octave if I follow correct.
Then distortion and od in the EHX silencer loop.
Out of the silencer goes into mod, chorus and reverb (all 'stereo' Joyo/Flamma), which go into the two clean channels on my cube amp via 2x final buffer -one on each channel. I think I will make from Ur videos)
Do my EQ and boost go at the star of this section i.e. first in line from the output of the silencer? Or does one/both live on the silencer FX loop after the drives and distortion?
Am I in any way on the right track?!
Thanks if you manage to read all this! It's a steep learning curve and I hope to learn a lot just by experimentation but now I'm assembling/building up my individual pedals and tryna get my head around the theory/concepts of pedal chain and get a bit of a starting point cos I'm gonna build my own pedal board/split boards out of timber when I've got everything in place and working out shapes,sizes and layouts is fun 😊
I'd put the gate before the looper.
It tightens my tone !!
I run 8 pedals on two snark adapters and two daisy chains. It's ugly and messy but only time I hear any hum at all is when I use both drives together and it's barely noticeable at high volumes. I did have some noise issues gain stacking at certain venues when I played a strat alot. Everytime I think about buying a one spot power station I end up just getting a pedal instead 😁
I’ve used vintage gear that definitely was extremely noisy. I only have new gear so I don’t have any noise issues but this video was still helpful if I ever do get vintage stuff.
Gates change the tone but all you have to do is adjust your gain and eq to compensate. I love my Electro-Harmonix silencer
sometimes i use one to limit the amount of sustain I have. sometimes i get too much sustain and it's handy to be able to have something cut it off
There’s a fourth reason: you might be playing on a very large stage, in a stadium, arena, or festival, where there is extensive technical setup like screens, lights, effects, and the show might even be recorded and filmed. All of that can contribute to generating some type of electromagnetic waves that interfere with your audio signal, and if you’re also using a guitar with single-coil pickups, it’s even worse.
stone deaf fx shows diagrams how to cable route with the two noise gate pedal method, both pedals having loops of their own.
I had to get the Noise Reaper because it has art by one of my favorite artists, McBess.
May not be necessary to have two, but the Decimator has a LINK function that can do this as well.
What about feedback when using the 4CM method (noisy preamp and pedals case)?
I encountered this in Boss NS-2 and G-String Clone. Using the buffer right after the guitar helped. Wrong impedance?
That is shown in the video, it would be no different than it shows with the ISP Decimator G String. See 05:49
@@VertexEffectsInc I know.
But you didn't mention feedback issues. I encountered it in two different noise gates and in three different amplifiers.
holy cow, i never thought about these things. i only wanted the noise to stop, i had no idea i was killing the mod and time tails. i did after awhile realize my sound i worked so hard on was being comprimized in the name of convenience, so i only put it on the noisy settings which i set where noise continues if im not touching strings(even though no notes sounding) but just enough to kill it when i grip the neck to deaden it. my band members appreciate that aspect. this is all very complex and i will watch video over and over to try and absorb your teachings. maybe make a diagram for us who have multi effects processors to we can place the gate in the best spot in the programmable chain?
I have a tele that I love but sometimes the hum compounds through delays and reverbs and other effects. Does a gate in front of these in the chain prevent this?
If you're only trying to eliminate guitar noise, yes.
Used to have the Decimator Pro Rack G on a Laney high gain amp. That gate is wonderful, I did not know at that time that I was using 4 cable method. Not I use the MXR Noise clamp for my Blackstar preamp pedal with fx loop. That pedal sounds great but noisy. Love noise gates.
Saved this video... I was just considering buying this MXR Smart Gate
I have the same mxr smartgate. With dirt pedals on, yes you can't tell the difference especially when it's in the mix with other instruments or with the band. But when it's in clean sound, definitely you will hear that it cuts the high frequency of the guitar's tone.
You dont need a gate on clean sounds.
I notice when I use a boost pedal, I sometimes pick up a radio station. A different kind of noise. Lol. It’s an old house and the wiring isn’t grounded. That would probably help.
No this sounds like a shielding and RF issue.
So I have three different pedals that are loud. My fuzz and overdrive are loud but so is my Fender MTG Tremolo. I think the internal tube is part of the issue... problem is, my fuzz and overdrive are in the preamp section and the tremolo is in the effects loops (Wet pedals). My thought is to simply put it after the tremolo. Thoughts?
Question: I have a quality noise gate(ISP decimator II) and a cheap one(Azor The Noise) and I set the ISP on front input of the amp(Blackstar ht5210) then the Azor first in the FX loop. Now the ISP just has a knob but the Azor also got a soft/hard switch.
I am wondering if I should put the Azor front and the ISP in the FX loop? My thought is having a soft/hard switch sounds more useful/versatile up front than in the FX loop right ?
I’ve used the Gstring for years , it works perfectly live .
A very important "effect" - great video! 👍
For many years i didnt use any effects except a rack gate. Hush super C. I use enough gain and play choppy riffs enough that I wouldnt be able to play without one
The thing I find, is I don't even hear a difference in the noise floor in a mix. Its only apparent if all the instruments stop except the huitat
Mason I have an BOSS IR-200 that has consistant ground hum.Although there is a chassis grnd. screw on the side I really don't know how that would help me.Its at the end of my wet pedals,ie my Boss MD-500 and my EQ-200,not in my Kingtone or overdrives.I bought a used Boss NS-2 and I'm thinking it may affect my timed petals negatively.What do you think would be my best plan of action?Oh,my fuzz and overdrives run to the send and returns on my amp,and the timed pedals eun into the input of my amp.Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Hey, Mason. I have a Lil Rat, and that thing seems to be noisy (pssssshhhhhhhh sound). What gives? Also, does it make sense to use more than one gate? Maybe at different points in the chain?
It should be the responsability of noisy pedal makers to integrate the matching noise gate in their pedal itself.
Any one making a pedal boosting the signal, knows perfectly that it will boost everything : hiss hum any unwanted noise. At least they could put a threshold pot on the pedal.
I've owned a lot of gates and... They all suck tone to some degree, and especially in the cases of the 4CM gates, you are at the mercy of their internal buffer/splitter, and to which degree depends on where in the chain the front end of the gate is.
Each gate might perform a bit better or worse than any given other, depending on your rig.
I tend to not like gates up front and prefer them after dirt, but when you switch dirt pedals, that can throw everying off because of the threshold setting needing to be changed.
Also, if you roll back on your volume, good luck! 😂
DEADWEALD has a discontinued pedal called the Golem which is not only one of the best gates out there, it has two different settings to switch between. One is a one knob gate (threshold) and the other is more fully featured, with attach and release.
One more thing.. You overlooked using 2 gates. You can put one standard gate in the loop jait to eliminate lower lever hiss from the rig when your guitar volume is off, and another standard or 4cm gate in front of the amp, either plugging straight into it, after dirt, or around your dirt pedals. This can give you two different gate settings.. The one in the loop being mild and the one in from of the amp being heavy handed.. For something for which you need sustain (no early gate closure), you just turn the front gate off, but you'll still at least have some gating... But if you need a tight gate, you can switch the front gate on.
Furthermore, you can set up one gate or multiple gates through loops in your switcher, to have different settings and true bypass. This could eat up a lot of switcher channels though!
^I was actually doing this with a Line6 HX effects. I normally don't like going through digital modelers in front of a rig, unless it's for an effect... But almost certainly never for a dry tone... So o would put the front end loop through a channel on something like an ML5, to switch it in and out of the front-end chain completely, depending on my needs... Like when I'd need a oitchifter or synth sound, I'd switch it in.. But for an overdrive or something of that nature, I'd just switch in an overdrive pedal instead.
Hell... You can even do this with input and output buffers. If the buffer ruins the tone of a particular pedal, you can switch it out! If it improves it, you can switch it in!
I'm still an input buffer hater, but the Mesa buffer is amazing on the output.
Oh yeah.. And for a bonus... You can use the tuner out on the Mesa buffer to feed a keyed gate, or even any 4cm gate if you don't want the gate's buffer/splitter in the chain!!! 😜
Front of house would noise gate me while using my Kemper. Messed with my in ear mix! Kindly asked to not use it. One of the many reasons I’m back to live amplifiers! No gates!
How would the context change (if at all) when using something like the EVH 5150 overdrive with a built in smart gate? Also, the song choice in the examples were awesome!
As long as that pedal was on, you'd be OK if it's last in your chain of ODs but won't help with amp gain.
Thank you for the visual 🙏
Hey man, great video!
Can you help how to connect Decimator g string into my looper switcher?
I have into Loop 1 Tubescreamer, into Loop 2 Diezel VH4 Distortion and into Loop3 Fuzz Muffuletta.
The noise, of course, came after these pedals so I was thinking to put G String into Loop 4 but if I do connecting input/output to s/r of loop4 it doesn't work. I really don't know how to properly do that with 4cm.
I only use pedals distortions and I do not have fx loop on my amplifier, my rig is all front of the amp.
I'm stuck and this is driving me crazy.
Hope you can help me!
Another crazy good video...Thx Mason!
Hello. I have an MXR Smart Gate and an effects loop in my amplifier. Would you mind sharing the details of how you routed your cables for the video's examples?
OK, at 12:02 when the playing stopped, there was what I call “white noise” or maybe some people call hiss…..My rig is suffering from this tremendously. I have the gate near the end of my board and set so that I get decent sustain without any hum/overdrive noise, but this airy “white noise” persists…..It’s less noticeable in a full band setting, although I still hear it, but it’s extremely noticeable obviously while I’m playing alone, and forget about recording….I’m not using the 4-cable method, although I tried it before and it didn’t work…..Does anyone know of a noise gate or something that will eliminate this? I’m extremely pleased with my overall tone, and if I could eliminate that, I’d be forever grateful.
My signal chain is: polytune3 with buffer switch engaged, whammy 5 to (guitar in) isp g string noise gate, (dec in) to output of the khdk scuzzfuzz (with buffer switch engaged) and khdk input to isp (guitar out), and finally isp (dec out) to input of my pod hd500x. Problem is, when i do pinch harmonics, signal cuts off, if i remove Polytune buffer switch off, no such thing, or if i remove ISP from the chain, everything is working! Can’t understand why Polytune with buffer on dont work with ISP decimator G string?
Really interesting, dude I love that Billy idol song lol when it comes on in my playlist in my car people give me weird looks when it’s blasting haha
Hey Mason, I want to run a gate on my crunch channel only. Is it possible to run a gate that uses the 'X' 4 cable method such as the ns2 in a switcher? I am running two switchers on my board, one for the front and one for the effects loop. I have an ns2 although I will be using the KMA Pylon and wish to have a very fast gating with high threshold on the distorted channel and therefore it will be to sensitive for the clean channel. Any advice would be great!
Thanks for this video. Can you tell me what the DEC IN & DEC OUT correspond to on the Boss NS-3's Send & Return ?
Decimator in is the Return. Decimator out is the Main Output
In the first example, why would you need to make a loop? Why not just put the Decimator in the signal path between the noisy pedals in your example and the chorus?
Exactly what does a noise gate do? Reduce specific frequencies?
hi can you help me?
i use amp, preamp, noise gate, other effect .
but, my preamp and noise gate have 4 cables connnection
amp : h&k tubemeister 36
preamp : kraken v4 v1
noise gate : kma pylon
effect : others pédal
how chain ?
the kraken use 4 cable for connect
amp input, looo send, return, guitar
noise gate pylon the same
bonus : how add an other noise gate on the chain?
tbx for your help, best regard
I can definitely hear a difference, but it’s probably not noticeable in a live setting. Definitely wouldn’t want to use it in a recording sesh like this. The tone is noticeably better without it.
Rather than tone suck, I'm hearing a stronger clarity and fullness that the noise seems to distract from.
I did use a noise gate for awhile but I found that I could not use my volume knob for swells and subtle adjustments. Removed it and put in quieter pedals and just flick off my volume when I stop playing. Far more satisfying experience. Could try a Decimator I suppose, but my current setup works for me… but that could and does always change 🤣
I think it's easy to overdo it with a gate where it prematurely cuts off the sustain of a note or a swell. Typically means that you're using it too far away from the noise source.
for touch sensitive stuff use the zuul method of using a key input. that takes your guitars signal and mirrors all the touch sensitive dynamics while still gating excess noise. i didnt think to try the zuul method on my isp decimator hence me buying a tc sentry but i just might try both and see which sounds better to me
Thanks for the vids.
I run a boss ns 2 at the end of my effects.. my order is ( thru the effects loop.. peavey stereo chorus) into my boss rack pwr supply.. ( which also has bypass feature) then to tuner> compressor> overdrive> delay> noise suppressor> to loop return.
I utilize both board and amp overdrives .. and only thing i find is overdrive is a bit noisy so i have to crank ns up to max decay which can stifle the return signal and I hear the cutoff if I lessen the decay.
Any suggestions?
Hey mason I was wondering if I could maybe send you a picture of my rig? Maybe you could give me some advice about it. Possibly change some things or keep it as it is. Lmk thanks Rick
Thinking about the Ilitch-system for my Suhr/Lollar SSS - (my concern) Change in True single-coil Tone ??? Any input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks for all these very clear explanations, the schemas are very useful. However I feel a little frustrated you didn't try passing from a saturated to a clean sound with the gate engaged to show how, according to the chaining method the clean sound is affected by the noise gate.
The video could have gone hundreds of different ways. The idea here was to talk about my use case (which is common for many guys playing the styles of music shown in this video which is also a style we commonly showcase on our channel). Sure we could have addressed more clean sounds, but generally that's not where you'd use a gate anyway.
@@VertexEffectsInc yes of course ! so may be a good subject for a next video as videos about noise gates never talk about passing from a distortion to a clean sound
I followed your vids to perfect a very
“Suck free” pedal board
Hi quality buffer in and out
But the Marshall high OD 1 and 2 are noisy
Can I just loop in and out of the jvm410 loop and avoid tone suck and still provide effective gating
Own a ns-2
But thinking a isp g string?
???
Thanks in advance
I usually don't use one and have no need for them. I play on my Jackson HSS and even then no need for using it. But when for some damn reason I have a neighbor who uses this home radio with a tall antenna that my amp sometimes picks up his radio. The noise gate actually blocks him. But the sad part is, clean tones noise gates tend to clamp down and stomp out the notes from sustaining too quickly if set too high. Not high enough, it does no good to block him out. I use my noise gate in the effects loop.
Any advice?
Ok < there it is again. I want to down load or buy that music track that is playing at teh 1st of this video. What song is it.? where can i get it !?
The ONLY thing that matters is whether the pedal kills noise even while you are playing.
If it doesnt do that its useless.
Various applications. Subtracting hum? No brainer. Holding back extreme distortion? Of course. Clean? Test and see. Id say all the time. More than likely the threshold and position are key. Certainly it is obvious with isolated guitar. In the mix its less apparent but the feel of the player or players comes to mind. Overtones and or harmonics via pick timing? Id say its most important for every situation.
Would I be better off getting a decimate g string even if I use amps with and without fx loop or should I just get a decimate X since it'll be better for amps without fx loops?
You can still use it to loop around noisy pedals as shown in this video, you can also see more uses for the noise gates here: th-cam.com/video/OAzKTQpH8XE/w-d-xo.html
Have you tried the pedal called Integrated Gate IG-1N Noise Reduction by Free the Tone?
I have the silver sky and I’m trying to play at my church and for some reason I believe the lights are LED and they’re causing me to have that um Any suggestions
Cool episode! 🎸👍🎸👍
Deciding on getting either metro 20 with cry baby off the board, or getting custom flat platform board to fit the wah, which also is heavier. What would your opinion be, would it be inconvenient to always plug in wah and transport seperate etc?
Noisegates are needed to balance the distortions with the other effects