Using Noise Gates with a pedal board
Q:
I have a noise question I hope you can help me with. I currently play a strat through a bunch of effects into a Marshall JCM 2000 401 Combo, which is an amp I love. Anyway, recently as i have been adding effects, I have been hearing hissing noise through the amp, even without me playing.ÊA friend told me to check out noise gates but I don't know which one does the best job of cutting the hiss but leaving my tone alone!!? So, which would you recommend to add to my effects chain. I currently run my strat into a Boss Chromatic tuner, Boss Compressor, Boss Blues drive, Ibanez TS9, Crybaby wah, Line 6 Modulation ML4, Boss Delay DD6 and Line 6 Delay Modulator DL4......in that order.
A:
Hi Rob,
The series connection of many FX can certainly cause noise problems, as well as general signal degradation. The first thing I'd suggest is taking the tuner out of the signal path. Tuners absolutely KILL guitar tone. Get a switch box that enables you to simultaneously send to the tuner and mute the main path; be sure it is a 100% true bypass switch box.
Next, find a pedal that acts as a "line driver" or a unity gain boost. Place this first in the chain. It will help "push" the signal through all the rest of the devices and isolate the pick ups.
You only want to use a noise gate as a last resort. Be sure all of your cables are top notch, connections are all good, power supplies, grounding and general layout are perfect. It take a while to optimize a pedal board that has more than a couple of devices, but it's worth the effort. Go to Analog Man's site and look at some of the bypass boxes he makes. Consider placing some of your FX into loops so they are not in line all the time. The Line 6 devices are all pretty noisy and not good for your signal. They do not 100% bypass as far as I know.
Now, if you've done that and still have a noise problem, perhaps you can consider a gate. The way they work is to clamp down during low/no signal conditions and "mute". The problems are that they can be difficult to set to where they don't cut off lightly picked notes or cut on and off too fast. I'm not familiar with the ones you mention, but try to find one that has the most flexible control possibilities. In addition to the usual level and threshold controls, look for one with variable attack and release settings. These will allow you to fine tune how it behaves.
Good luck with your set up and let us know how you make out.
