Recommendation on noise gate...

[Mockbel]

I got it Quill and GibsonKramer.. but in this case I really can't explain how and why the noise is gone when I touch the loose ground leg of the power plug... The theory Quill shared makes a lot of sense that my body is the source of noise and it is grounded when I touch the strings... but how that come considering the fact that my whole rig is not grounded !!?? How the strings are grounded ??

 

[Quill]

Dunno. The metal parts of your wall plug could be - actually, must be, and probably are - connected to ground in some way. I have no idea what the parts and their methods of connection might be like where you are ... I'd love to come and see, it would be really interesting, but that's just not possible. Hopefully you can find out soon.

Can you maybe post a picture? No problem if you can't, no pressure. Anyway you know what to do.

 

[nitrodave08]

I'm loving the Decimator.

Though, a LOT of my noise was coming from the crappy Boss compressor. Soon as the Xotic SP went on, most of my noise went away.

There are times I still use it. When I plug in my Double Cut VOS. It's got P-90s. Loud SOBs. Turn on the Decimator, mute the strings, turn it just until that white noise is gone. Still leaves me that dirty breakup, still get the sustain, and there is some noise still. But, if I hit my volume pedal, it goes to silence.

That's exactly what I expected, from a noise gate, with my extremely limited experience.

I've used a few noise gates including the NS-2 and the smart gate.
I finally landed on the ISP. I was lucky enough to get it second hand for $80 (Which in Australia is very cheap).
For me it's a lot better than the others and by quite a margin.
The smart gate killed my sustain. The ns-2 was to slow to trigger.
The Decimator is perfect for my situation.
Set and forget.

M

I respect the fact that the other pedals mentioned work fine for their owners, but anyone who has had the opportunity to use an ISP pedal will tell you it's the best. You can set the threshold through a very wide range, and it works like a gate should, with very little effect on tone, sustain, etc. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Im just a hobbist, but I noise drives me crazy. Picked up a DecII and completely satisfied. Like it has been said, mute strings and turn knob. Even I could understand that haha

 

[Mockbel]

Can you maybe post a picture? No problem if you can't, no pressure. Anyway you know what to do.

I can.. tell me please what exactly you wanna see..

 

[rjshare]

... how the strings are grounded ??

The strings are normally grounded via the tail piece which has a wire running from one of the threaded inserts in the body of the guitar into the control cavity and soldered to one of the pot bodies. This is a frequent cause of grounding issues - if the connection there is poor it will cause hum that goes away when you touch the strings.

 

[Mockbel]

The strings are normally grounded via the tail piece which has a wire running from one of the threaded inserts in the body of the guitar into the control cavity and soldered to one of the pot bodies. This is a frequent cause of grounding issues - if the connection there is poor it will cause hum that goes away when you touch the strings.

Yeah.. but all this is built on the fact that your rig should be grounded at the power supply point... which is not the case with me.. my wall outlet has no ground.. so the ground of my guitar wiring is connected to the ground of amp electronics then to the power outlet which has no ground !

 

[Quill]

Hey. So, the picture ... I don't want you to do anything that might cause harm, but I wouldn't mind seeing a fairly close-up shot of the receptacle (I mean, the plug or outlet in the wall). If it shows the copper wire you have hooked up, the one you are touching with your foot, so much the better. It might help me understand the system a bit if I could see the actual box for the receptacle; is the receptacle built into the cover plate, or is the cover plate a separate piece?

I'm curious about the plug on the end of your amp's power cord; what does it look like?

Also - somehow you know that there are only two wires feeding the receptacle. How do you know that? You must have opened up the receptacle and had a look; if you can take a picture of whatever you saw - try to show the wiring - that'd be really great.

But - if all this is too intrusive, please, forget the pictures. It'll burn up your time and there's not much anyone can do to help you with it over the internet anyway - so, no problem either way. But I'd be interested to know what was done, if you get it fixed or upgraded or whatever happens.

 

[Rhust]

I respect the fact that the other pedals mentioned work fine for their owners, but anyone who has had the opportunity to use an ISP pedal will tell you it's the best. You can set the threshold through a very wide range, and it works like a gate should, with very little effect on tone, sustain, etc. Can't recommend it highly enough.

have you used ALL of the others mentioned? because it sounds like what your saying is "everyone is entitled to their opinion, but if you don't say ISP, then you are wrong"

my guess is in a blind test, most people wouldn't hear much difference between a properly set ISP and a properly set MXR or joyo or any other the others that have been recommended... just a guess though...

 

[Mockbel]

Hi Quill... here you go..

This is the amp plug... the label reads "Warning, this appliance must be earthed"

This plug goes to this multi plug.. you can notice the ground pins...

This multi plug goes to this outlet in the wall... still it has ground pins

As you see here.. the outlet ground is connected to nothing.. my wall has two wires only.. please also note that chassis and box are plastic not metal...

So the "ugly" solution I made is to have this wire touching the ground area of the plug and pins of the outlet and the other end of the wire is connected to the screw... when I touch the screw, the noise goes away...

This is all I have...

 

[tzd]

So the "ugly" solution I made is to have this wire touching the ground area of the plug and pins of the outlet and the other end of the wire is connected to the screw... when I touch the screw, the noise goes away...

The unorthodox way that we do here is to run a wire from the ground pin and clamp it to a copper water pipe that gets buried into the ground on the way out to its source.

 

[Quill]

Well ... thank you for the photos! It looks like it might be an outlet called a CEE 7/4. Which, perplexingly, is a non-polarized plug and outlet standard. In North America, line and neutral are strictly identified, all connections are polarized (that is, they can only connect in one orientation) and I have seen old houses with two wires coming to the outlets fitted with standard three-connection outlets by jumper in the ground and neutral connections inside the box. This is bad and I've seen these things because I was sent in to fix them, and the best way is to pull in wire that has a proper ground wire. But the neutral and the ground do get connected, eventually, so when the line and neutral polarity is known, it kind of works in a limited and not entirely safe way. The problem is, the ground to neutral connection can only be made at ONE POINT, and it is at the LAST point in the system, as far from all user connections as physically possible. Connecting it at the outlets ... really bad things happen if you get an opening in the neutral somewhere or an outlet is reverse-wired by mistake ...anyway, doesn't matter here, because in your case, where the outlet is not polarized, I just don't know how that is working. I still wonder if somehow the outlet is bonded to ground through the screws ... those tabs that hold the screws, are they metal? Are they connected by a strap to a hidden ground wire? I can't quite see ...

I'll do some more reading tomorrow, couldn't find much tonight.

I'm still really puzzled ... anyone else?


I have also seen ground connections made through copper pipes, and it is not a method that meets the safety standards a certified electrician is bound to uphold ... but I've seen it, and I'd better stop with that

 

[Mockbel]

Well ... thank you for the photos! It looks like it might be an outlet called a CEE 7/4. Which, perplexingly, is a non-polarized plug and outlet standard. In North America, line and neutral are strictly identified, all connections are polarized (that is, they can only connect in one orientation) and I have seen old houses with two wires coming to the outlets fitted with standard three-connection outlets by jumper in the ground and neutral connections inside the box. This is bad and I've seen these things because I was sent in to fix them, and the best way is to pull in wire that has a proper ground wire. But the neutral and the ground do get connected, eventually, so when the line and neutral polarity is known, it kind of works in a limited and not entirely safe way. The problem is, the ground to neutral connection can only be made at ONE POINT, and it is at the LAST point in the system, as far from all user connections as physically possible. Connecting it at the outlets ... really bad things happen if you get an opening in the neutral somewhere or an outlet is reverse-wired by mistake ...anyway, doesn't matter here, because in your case, where the outlet is not polarized, I just don't know how that is working. I still wonder if somehow the outlet is bonded to ground through the screws ... those tabs that hold the screws, are they metal? Are they connected by a strap to a hidden ground wire? I can't quite see ...

I'll do some more reading tomorrow, couldn't find much tonight.

I'm still really puzzled ... anyone else?


I have also seen ground connections made through copper pipes, and it is not a method that meets the safety standards a certified electrician is bound to uphold ... but I've seen it, and I'd better stop with that

Doesn't seem like the box is grounded by any means.. I tried touching different parts of the box and screws with the other end of the wire and noise was still there .. Only when I touch the end noise goes away ..

 

[rjshare]

i think you are over-thinking thins quil (with the best of intentions, of course). that socket is very similar to what we have here in france and it should have a third (earth/ground) wire running to it - end of story. there is no funky hidden systems etc; it just isnt earthed.

have a look inside your fusebox mockbel and see if there are any green/yellow wires in there - see if there is any earthing at all in the house.

 

[Quill]

Probably I am. I just don't understand how the noise level can drop when that screw is touched. Unless, Mockbel, you are a mountainous giant of such massive size you really are somehow absorbing the noise ...

I think the only solution is I need to visit both France and Egypt, and make a thorough and exhaustive study of the matter. You guys could put me up, yes? I could trade for some electrical work ...

No I can't do that right now - I'd have to sell some pedals for plane fare, and, you know, pedals.

Definitely two places I dream of seeing. One day! By the way, both of you, I'm making certain obvious assumptions here but anyway, your fluency and ease with written English is just beautiful and very humbling. I have days I can't even write - or even barely speak - my own first language. just a dumb monoglot

 

[Mockbel]

You would be more than welcome Quill

Another theory I got from another member here is that my body is a source of noise which is absorbed when I touch the rig (the screw, the amp chassis, or the guitar metal parts) which is already grounded... The point is that those parts are not grounded !

It is a mystery !

 

[rjshare]

Pop on over, don't worry about your tool box though as I have a renovations business and have all that covered!

And I am English - I just live in France, so I can't really take any plaudits for speaking the language fluently

 

[dave]

I need a good noise suppressor that eliminates / reduces noise WHILE I am playing. I have a noise gate but i hate the noise that comes through when I'm playing at low volume and the note is fading out.

I play direct to PA with no amp and it's not an option to change that.
There is a LOT of electrical interference in the room - LED lights, TV, old wiring, etc.
It in not an option to go without the noise gate. Period.
I have not shielded the guitar - 2000 American Series Strat with aftermarket humbuckers.

I have tried the EHX humbugger and hated how it changed my sound.
I play low to medium gain OD - nothing crazy.

 

[Mockbel]

I need a good noise suppressor that eliminates / reduces noise WHILE I am playing. I have a noise gate but i hate the noise that comes through when I'm playing at low volume and the note is fading out.

I play direct to PA with no amp and it's not an option to change that.
There is a LOT of electrical interference in the room - LED lights, TV, old wiring, etc.
It in not an option to go without the noise gate. Period.
I have not shielded the guitar - 2000 American Series Strat with aftermarket humbuckers.

I have tried the EHX humbugger and hated how it changed my sound.
I play low to medium gain OD - nothing crazy.

I think the TC Sentry would be the best as it can be programmed to gate certain frequencies... shielding the guitar seems to be a good option too as i see on the net..