noise gate: worth it?

Anyone believe in noise gates? Here's one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpcEsUzYeq8

I'm not a big distorter like that guy. Just like a rig that's quiet except for the music.

Good idea? Waste of money?

Thanks!

If you look at most of the rigs posted here, they don't have them. When I get noise it's usually in a home environment low vol in an extremely signal rich country.
Then the noise is introduced through an open pedal (espec. wah!)

Live here, no probs. Decent short as poss shielded cables etc. Spend your money there.

Live there's always noise cuz you play loud, but does it really interfere with anything? I guess that's the question. I've toyed with a few but never found anything that special...I don't feel I need it.

I put my vol pedal last in the chain and use it for a noise gate.

The subject has been around the block many times over. For me, the song remains the same: it's an essential ace in the hole. I love not having to count on it, but it's nice to know that it's there when I need it. I play bars and clubs with horrible wiring, and sometimes I work independent studios that don't have a copper grounding spike in the earth. The single coil pickup in my Goldtone eight string lap steel is noisier than any Fender-based strat or tele "single" that I've ever played, including scenarios that would involve gain-additive circuits. That particular pickup has character deluxe, but it's noisier than crap, particularly at one venue within my current rotation. I can quickly "fix" it by adjusting the threshold on a BOSS NS-2, or I can be a "tone freak", and allow listeners to be pummeled by 60 cycle hum, which I'm not a fan of. Choice is yours.

I use a passive EBTech Hum Eliminator at the end of my peddle chain. Works pretty good for 60 cycle hum.

i dont like what they do to my signal. Most seem to cutoff the signal to early even if the strings are still vibrating. I like feedback and interaction with my amp. I use single coils and get almost no hum even with high gain. The only time i'll get some hiss is when i have my dynacomp, OD channel and OD pedal on all at once, and still the hiss is tolerable.

As always - trust the TDPRI crew for a unanimous verdict!

=O]

Thanks, gang - this actually helps a lot!

I don't mind a little noise...hell, I can't hear that well anyway!

I'm with Tim. I have a boss ns-2 on my board permanantly. I dont have to use it often but when i do it works like a charm with no ill effects and i'm glad i have the option. My TU-2 is also handy for muting my signal when not playing.

If you eliminate your other noise sources (bad grounding in your guitar, cheap pedal power supplies) you may not need a noise gate - I didn't. Try and see if you can fix those common problems before you use band-aid them with a noise gate. You can roll down your volume knob between songs.

But as always, YMMV!

If you eliminate your other noise sources (bad grounding in your guitar, cheap pedal power supplies) you may not need a noise gate - I didn't. Try and see if you can fix those common problems before you use band-aid them with a noise gate. You can roll down your volume knob between songs.

But as always, YMMV!


Since you brought it up.. what do you mean by cheap pedal power supplies? I think that might be my problem. For 6 pedals, what would be a good power supply that doesn't cost too much?

thx..

Since you brought it up.. what do you mean by cheap pedal power supplies? I think that might be my problem. For 6 pedals, what would be a good power supply that doesn't cost too much?

Good question! I use a One-Spot with their eight-plug extension. Seems to work okay - though since I've never tried running through a more serious power. Anyone here want to agrue that something big, heavy, and expensive makes more sense?