boring pedal thread... noise gates

[Neemo]

No delay comes after

 

[Paulinator]

No delay comes after

No delay comes after or No, delay comes after?

Sorry, don't mean to grammar police, but I just want to clarify. I had the delay after the first time, all other pedals were in the loop.

 

[Paulinator]

Tried it with Delay in the loop and had the same issues.

Called up GC, spoke to a manager and said I was thinking about returning the NS-2. He wanted to "help" so the first thing he asked was how much gain I use, so I told him I only had issues when using thrash metal levels of gain. He went on to say that with the gain required for thrash my issues were normal with the NS-2 and gates in general, then he kinda slammed Boss and recommended the Decimator lol. He said the Decimator is a "true" gate in teh sense that it just cuts out certain frequencies and doesn't color tone. I'm going to crosscheck all that though because I know how they like to make those sales.

I don't think Boss pedals are crap, and I think the NS-2 does what it says, but maybe it's just not ideal for high gain styles. From what I read the ISP Decimator is more suited for metal. I don't always play metal, but when noise is an issue it's because I've got my pedals set to "metal" settings.

Rhust - Just thought I'd throw that out there incase you use a lot of gain too. Something to keep in mind.

 

[Rhust]

Appreciate that, not usually thrash levels, for me... At least from pedals...

The other thing, I don't see the mute/staccato mode on the ISP, is it a small toggle, hidden somewhere ?

I'd say 3/4 of my gain is on the blackstar now, so the ns2 would only cut gain on the ultimate drive hat i use to boost/thicken the gain...which makes me think about this differently, now...

If the ns2 is in front of the amp, and a large portion of the gain is IN the amp, will it help with that staccato? Or would you put the ns2 and overedrive in the amp's effects loop...

I always see the ns2 on heavy players boards... Watching Jim root's rig rundown made me think about noise suppressors in the first place...

Btw, even if you aren't a fan of his style.. You should check his rig run down, and he has a few lessons/interviews that are kinda cool because he talks about his whole guitar philosophy...

 

[Paulinator]

Appreciate that, not usually thrash levels, for me... At least from pedals...

The other thing, I don't see the mute/staccato mode on the ISP, is it a small toggle, hidden somewhere ?

I'd say 3/4 of my gain is on the blackstar now, so the ns2 would only cut gain on the ultimate drive hat i use to boost/thicken the gain...which makes me think about this differently, now...

If the ns2 is in front of the amp, and a large portion of the gain is IN the amp, will it help with that staccato? Or would you put the ns2 and overedrive in the amp's effects loop...

I always see the ns2 on heavy players boards... Watching Jim root's rig rundown made me think about noise suppressors in the first place...

Btw, even if you aren't a fan of his style.. You should check his rig run down, and he has a few lessons/interviews that are kinda cool because he talks about his whole guitar philosophy...

I think in that scenario you'd want the "X-pattern" method.

Peavey 5150 and a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor | Wisdom's Guitar

I just ran across this myself and it may solve my noise supression needs. The article even addresses using this method for metal. I may hang on to the NS-2. Also note what he says about putting the delay after the NS-2 or else the repeats will be cut off.

 

[Rhust]

That just blew my ****in' mind.... I'll bet that's how guys like root who play on the level of insanity tame the rigs...

That's cool as shit! Thanks for sharing

 

[Batman]

That really is cool as shit!!!

I'm going to try that tomorrow as well!

Nice score Paul

 

[Paulinator]

No problem guys! Hope it works out for you both! I'm gonna try it as soon as I can.

 

[Neemo]

No delay comes after or No, delay comes after?

Sorry, don't mean to grammar police, but I just want to clarify. I had the delay after the first time, all other pedals were in the loop.

With the comma lol

Delay after noise gate, and modulation after as well (haven't decided best place for phase 90 yet)

The smartgate only has one in and one out, and I don't have an effects loop on my Drri, everything I run goes straight into amp

With my compressor, gate od and Dist I can get chug, still tweaking pedal settings though to refine....I may invest in a fullbore for when I feel like playing heavy stuff, lol

 

[Neemo]

I've also read that some heavy metal guys run 2 noise gates

One before gain and one after...I've not tried it tho

 

[dickjonesify]

I could definitely see it helping out pre-gain, too. Get rid of the little buzzes and hiss before they're big buzzes and hiss!

 

[Paulinator]

I've also read that some heavy metal guys run 2 noise gates

One before gain and one after...I've not tried it tho

That's what the dude at GC told me too, but I never know what to think about those guys. I thought he was just trying to sell me another NS-2 LOL.

 

[TeaForTwo]

Tried it with Delay in the loop and had the same issues.

Called up GC, spoke to a manager and said I was thinking about returning the NS-2. He wanted to "help" so the first thing he asked was how much gain I use, so I told him I only had issues when using thrash metal levels of gain. He went on to say that with the gain required for thrash my issues were normal with the NS-2 and gates in general, then he kinda slammed Boss and recommended the Decimator lol. He said the Decimator is a "true" gate in teh sense that it just cuts out certain frequencies and doesn't color tone. I'm going to crosscheck all that though because I know how they like to make those sales.

I don't think Boss pedals are crap, and I think the NS-2 does what it says, but maybe it's just not ideal for high gain styles. From what I read the ISP Decimator is more suited for metal. I don't always play metal, but when noise is an issue it's because I've got my pedals set to "metal" settings.

Rhust - Just thought I'd throw that out there incase you use a lot of gain too. Something to keep in mind.

The ISP has handled well every pedal I've thrown at it....Even uber high gain.....
I sometimes use one to kill P-90 / Tele / Strat PUs 60 cycle hum while recording...
I use ISPs sometimes with clean and fairly clean tones...Works great,
without, IMHO, any colouration....
IMHO, this rare time, that G.C. guy got it right; ( He's probably been fired by now )..
...

 

[Batman]

Well I tore apart my board last night and finished rewiring it this morning. I spent several hours thrashing the snot out of my rig and I love how it has turned out. I killed a couple of birds with the rewire. I'm back to a stereo rig but am running it Wet/Dry this time and killed the pre-amp noise I was getting from the Phaez when I kicked on its Boost circuit.

I wired the NS-2 in an "X" pattern as per the link Paulinator provided. The NS-2 input sits after my second pedal switcher. Send to a Radial Big Shot ABY and split to two amps. Phaze AC14 with an effects loop is my Wet amp and EVJ is Dry. Effects send of the AC14 --> GE-7 EQ --> NS-2 Return --> NS-2 OUT --> Timefactor Delay --> Line 6 M9 (Reverb mostly) --> AC14 Effects Return

WOW. . .just WOW! Absolutely stunning how good a Wet/Dry stereo rig sounds!

Since I took this picture, I added the Big Shot ABY to the bottom left of the board and turned the amps boost switch 90 degrees so its all nice and neat.

 

[Paulinator]

Well I tore apart my board last night and finished rewiring it this morning. I spent several hours thrashing the snot out of my rig and I love how it has turned out. I killed a couple of birds with the rewire. I'm back to a stereo rig but am running it Wet/Dry this time and killed the pre-amp noise I was getting from the Phaez when I kicked on its Boost circuit.

I wired the NS-2 in an "X" pattern as per the link Paulinator provided. The NS-2 input sits after my second pedal switcher. Send to a Radial Big Shot ABY and split to two amps. Phaze AC14 with an effects loop is my Wet amp and EVJ is Dry. Effects send of the AC14 --> GE-7 EQ --> NS-2 Return --> NS-2 OUT --> Timefactor Delay --> Line 6 M9 (Reverb mostly) --> AC14 Effects Return

WOW. . .just WOW! Absolutely stunning how good a Wet/Dry stereo rig sounds!

Since I took this picture, I added the Big Shot ABY to the bottom left of the board and turned the amps boost switch 90 degrees so its all nice and neat.

Dude, that's an awesome rig! I've yet to try the X-pattern myself, probably will this weekend though.

 

[Lloydy]

NS-2 is designed just as really high quality noise gate. Whilst it doesn't have a lot of options in terms of control, it does what it says on the tin with typically faultless Boss fashion. I've never tried using one to get a staccato sound (might have to try it, but not really my sort of thing), but as something to mute stuff you don't want, and let the stuff through that you do want, it's awesome. Never tried an MXR Smart Gate, but if it's in the same league I'll be surprised and impressed. The NS-2 has never made it onto my pedalboard, but does see a fair bit of use in recording, and saves a lot of work in cleaning up guitar parts.

Liam

I see you've never used your NS-2 on your pedalboard but if you did, where would you put it in your signal chain? I've just acquired one and I'm not sure of the best way to use it. I like to run volume, wah, overdrive and distortion into my clean channel, and roto machine, tremolo and delay through the FX loop. So.....just connect the NS-2 in tandem, after the distortion, or run everything except the delay through the send/return of the NS-2 and run the ouptut through the delay and have them all through the amp input? In other words, guitar> NS-2 input Send> vol, wah, od, dist, roto, trem> return output> delay> amp input (no FX loop at all.) Be interested in your thoughts about that set up and if you have any alternatives? Cheers!

 

[Batman]

There are several ways to wire it. . .

1. In-line after your last gain pedal.

Guitar --> Volume --> Wah --> OD --> Distortion --> NS-2 Input --> NS-2 Output --> Amp Input

2. Put the NS-2 after your Wah with the gain pedals in it's loop.

Guitar --> Volume --> Wah --> NS-2 Input --> NS-2 Send --> OD --> Distortion --> NS-2 Return --> NS-2 Output --> Amp Input

3. Wire the NS-2 in an "X" pattern capturing the pre-amp section of your amp.

Guitar --> Volume --> Wah --> NS-2 Input --> NS-2 Send --> OD --> Distortion --> Amp Input --> Effects Send --> NS-2 Return --> NS-2 Output --> Roto machine --> Tremolo --> Delay --> Effects Return

 

[Batman]

Personally, I'd suggest you go with option 3 as it quiets the rig down the most effectively.

 

[Slasher]

I just picked up a NS-2 during my lunch break. Gotta say, I'm at a loss as to what to do with it, where to put it in my chain...mainly because I'm out of pedalboard space and power supply inputs lol.

Do I know how to use the thing properly? Not a clue. But I have one, that's the important part. PAS mission accomplished!

Didn't you have a Decimator at one point?

 

[Paulinator]

Didn't you have a Decimator at one point?

Yep, still do too.

I tried the NS-2 prior to buying the Decimator. I found the ISP to play nicer with the insane amount of gain I sometimes like to use, although the NS-2 is a very good pedal.