Noise gate & Distortion ped.

[RACER X]

Do any of you guys use a noise gate and if so dose it effect your tone ? Also I have a MXR DD-11 Dime distortion ped., how will these two work together ? Would it be better to run them both on the clean ch or the overdrive ch. I only bought the DD-11 because my amp/head only has Vol, Pres, Contour, and Gain controls on the overdrive ch, the DD-11 has a 3 band EQ on it, so I thought that might help me with fine tuneing the O/D ch. Most distortion pedals tend to be a bit noisey, thats why im asking about a noise gate too.

 

[RACER X]

Forgot to add, would a 7 band EQ and a noise gate ran with a DigiTech Metal Master be a better choice ? I allready have the MM, I just need the other two if thats what will work best.

 

[Chi3f]

i just got a boss ns-2 and i love it already. doesnt' effect my tone one bit and if you want some noise for some reason all you have to do is click it off. extremely happy with it

 

[Jonny C]

I've found the ns-2 is excellent in terms of not altering tone, even compared to other boss pedals. I think it should go well in any setup.

As for which distortion pedal to go for, it's quite up to you. Don't expect any drastic changes in sound from an EQ before any overdive is added. A 7 band EQ will provide the most scope for radical boosts (it's active), whilst also allowing for more subtle alterations. Your best bet is to go into a shop and ask to try the pedals out for yourself.

Whichever you go for, you should wire the effects in the noise gate's own effects loop - that way it actually subtracts the noise that they produce.

 

[Mr Wolf]

I back the NS-2 aswell.

As for what distortion pedal, just mess about with them and decide which one sounds better to your ears. You would also want to play about with gain levels on your amp and pedals to get the right blend of the 2.

An EQ would give you extra flexibility as far as EQ options. If you use it to attenuate your signal instead of boosting, you should have no/less noise boosted so the need for a noise surpressor may not be so urgent, or no need at all.

Out of interest what amp are you using?

 

[RACER X]

Mr Wolf, im useing a Fender M-80 head and 4x12 slant cab loaded with Celestion Vin30's. The reason I asked about a EQ is the overdrive ch only has a Vol, Pres, Contour, and Gain, I realy dont have enough controll there. The Clean ch is std., Vol, Bass, Mid, Treb, also Reverb. Also would it be better to run the effects on the clean ch ?

 

[Mr Wolf]

If i was in that situation i would use a distortion or overdrive pedal on top of the clean. That way i would have access to cleans just by turning off the pedal. Play about with the gains if it gets too noisy. If no luck get a noise surpresser. Hope that helps.

 

[RACER X]

It helped alot, I like the idea of useing the clean ch so I can have the 3 EQ settings, thanks a bunch.

 

[HardRockSinger]

noise gates are great. I have a boss me30 (you can get em on ebay for like 100$$) and it has distortion, noise gate, compressor, ....

the noise gate is almost essential for metal. I have it on all metal settings, and have used it with a variety of amps.

it gets rid of annoying sounds / microphonic feedback that are unwanted. But, it cuts out some sustain....

 

[RACER X]

Thanks HRS, I just got back from GC, I bought a BOSS NS-2 Noise Gate so im gonna hook it up and see how it works.

 

[Chi3f]

i doubt you'll be dissapointed

 

[RACER X]

Will the noise gate effect the sustain any ?

 

[Chi3f]

depends on how you set it. it doesn't really effect mine any

i got the threshold at about 2 oclock... the deacy at minimum and it set to reduction not mute of course

 

[RACER X]

Thanks Chi3f, it works great.

 

[Chi3f]

good to hear