Its here

[bassetman]

I love to experiment with setups and wiring. Right now it has a “deluxe setup” with S1 switch. It half paid for its self last night at its first gigs. I’ll look into those pick ups.

 

[rgand]

The GFS parts are mostly noiseless, using a dummy coil to achieve CMNR. What noise they make is very limited, though. It doesn't bother me, and I'm easily bothered by such things. A noise gate with a very low threshold setting would make them silent, but even that's not really necessary.

This brings up a question. I see noise gates at all price levels from $20 on ebay to $1200 on some of the online stores. What will do an adequate job without breaking the bank?

 

[Logrinn]

I've been looking at noise gates lately and decided to go with a Silencer by Electro Harmonix.

 

[Cagey]

Actually, the technology has improved on noise gates quite a bit in recent years to the point where it's tough to get a bad one, even at the lower end. The higher end units tend to give more bandwidth control, so you can attack particular ranges where noise is occurring, but that's more for sound reinforcement applications than just a single instrument. I used to use the rack-mount version of a Rocktron Hush to good effect, and I recently heard an Electro-Harmonix "Silencer" do a really good job. They're both fairly transparent and the attack/release controls make 'em so you almost don't know they're there. You don't get that abrupt "gate opening/closing" effect that many have had in the past. My AxeFx has a couple built-in things so I don't use anything with that, but on the pedalboard (which doesn't make much noise anyway) I just use a Behringer NR300, which has all those controls plus a "mute"/"reduction" switch that lets you have it function as gate on/off (subject to threshhold/attack/decay), or it'll just filter 60hz noise like the Silencer does. Pretty effective, and dirt cheap. I mean, at $25, if it doesn't float your boat, you give it to your nephew or something  :laughing7:

 

[Cagey]

I've been looking at noise gates lately and decided to go with a Silencer by Electro Harmonix. 

Pretty sweet, right? How's that working out for you?

 

[rgand]

Thanks, guys. I haven't needed one so far but it's good to know what works should have to get one.

 

[Logrinn]

I've been looking at noise gates lately and decided to go with a Silencer by Electro Harmonix. 

Pretty sweet, right? How's that working out for you?

Haven't gotten it yet. I'll try to pick it up tomorrow or on tuesday.

 

[Cagey]

Ok. Well, I think you'll be pretty pleased with the thing. But, be aware that like all noise gates, it's not a panacea. If you're really wankin' and crankin', you'll probably still have to reach down and turn your volume off during lulls or it's liable to open up on you inadvertently. Then, once the feedback starts, it thinks it should stay open because it sees a strong signal coming in.

Ideally, you want the threshold set as low as you can get it and still be effective. If you turn it up too much, it'll take too much signal to open the gate and you'll get a "staccato" effect that usually isn't very musical/pleasant.

I'm just guessing, but I think that's how SRV got that "barking" chord sound on the intro/ride out of David Bowie's "Cat People". Crank the snot out of the guitar and amp, but set the threshold on the gate very high with a very short attack and decay so he had to bang the chords out. The only thing that made it through the gate was the basically the pick attack, when the signal was strongest.

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