|
Anyone have much experience with noise gates/suppressors? Between my P90s and a few fairly noisy pedals, it can get pretty nasty. Chain is Guitar -> Planet Waves Tuner -> MXR EQ -> VS Route 66 -> EHX Big Muff Pi -> Amp. I've also got an EHX Wiggler, which is pretty noisy, but I need to order a power cable for it (I really HATE the loving weird-rear end proprietary power input for this thing), and a Crybaby I hardly ever touch. I'm about to place an order for a replacement cable for the Wiggler and a Dunlop DC Brick to replace my cheap-rear end daisy-chain power setup for the rest of my effects, so that might help a little with the pedal noise, but even guitar -> amp is pretty drat noisy. Any suggestions?
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2010 16:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 04:33 |
|
|
man thats gross posted:Anyone have much experience with noise gates/suppressors? Try putting your eq last in the chain for one thing, it helps me cut out a ton of hiss while my noise gate is open and my current fav noise gate is the Nova Dynamics fromTC Electronics. It's actually a dual compressor noise gate that has some interesting settings that work well with my various guitars and amps. A LOT of people here seem to like the Decimator which I have no opinion on. What P90's are you using?
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2010 16:46
|
|
|
iostream.h posted:I use mostly P90 equipped guitars these days myself, and my pedalboard is ridiculous so I understand where you're coming from. Hmm, I hadn't thought of using my EQ to cut out the noise. I'll give that a shot before ordering anything. The pickups are Seymour Duncan (it's a Godin LG P90, if you're curious). edit: I don't really need to get a new compressor (Route 66), but That Nova looks like an awesome pedal, and is only marginally more expensive than a BOSS or EHX noise gate. 
man thats gross fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Aug 26, 2010 |
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2010 16:56
|
|
|
The cheapest way to get rid of noise is to get an effective but inexpensive gate (like a Rocktron HUSH pedal) and run it right after your guitar. Cutting the noise coming from your pickups will go a great distance toward cutting the noise completely, since it's the later amplification of the noise that ends up getting all HSSSHHHHHHH. I spent $230 to get an ISP Decimator G-String and I'll never look back, this thing is amazing, but you could do pretty good without having to spend quite so much money. Look back a few pages in the "Post Pictures" thread to see a comprehensive discussion and review of the G-String. If you've got serious noise and want a totally transparent removal (and are willing to pay for it), it's the best you can get, in my opinion. But if you're trying to save money, you can go with a cheaper pedal and get decent results if you just gate your pickups. The G-String is so damned good at what it does that I can actually run my compressor in front of it (raising the noise floor by at least 10dB or more) and run my dirt in the loop, and when configured properly it will still kill noise and leave signal intact, still allowing me freedom to switch pickups and play coil tapped or full humbuckers, still allowing me to kick off all my dirt completely and get uninterrupted sustain.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2010 18:42
|
|
|
Tsunami Redux posted:Usually either the tweed 2x12 setting or the AC30 setting. Alright, hard-rock dirt but also capable of high gain. I haven't had a chance to record any new clips, but here are some some reviews and some reviews with clips that I think might be helpful. First, some stuff I reviewed for FrugalGuitarist. This group is actually not all that "frugal," some of these are ~$200 pedals, one is a lot higher; our notion here is if you can get THE SOUND you want for $200 and it'll stop you from having to buy a new amp that costs $1K+, that's a frugal decision. But really the DirectDrive stands up there with any of them, and it's a lot more affordable. It won't get as high gain as any of the others though. The Dirty Bomb takes care of that territory (more on that in a sec). My review of the Barber DirectDrive, a killer distortion pedal My review of the Radial ToneBone Hot British (I also own this one still, great pedal too) A double review of the Wampler Plextortion and Super Plextortion Review of the ProTone Jason Becker distortion And a couple from my blog: Wampler Triple Recstortion (replaced in his lineup by the Triple Wreck, which has the same circuit but an additional, fuzz-mode footswitch - it is, somewhat confusingly, considered a "boost" by some, but that's not at all what it does or what it sounds like, so people get it all wrong and think something's hosed up when all of a sudden it sounds like a super-saturated Big Muff  )Barber Dirty Bomb, though the price has moved up slightly since this review (it was introduced cheap during the recession's worst bits, he couldn't keep making them at that price though - David Barber is a really great guy, he does a lot to keep prices low while still offering quality that's the equal of the best makers out there) I've got some others I want to record demos of for you, but I don't seem to be able to find the time right now. I'll try, though. If you want any more information on any of those or an additional clip or something, let me know, they're all from my personal collection.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2010 19:16
|
|
|
It seems to be common knowledge that it's a bad idea to play a bass guitar through a guitar amp because the speakers will blow. Do you have to worry about the same thing using an octave pedal? Right now I just play around making backing tracks and playing over them with my rc20xl through a Vox DA-5. I'm considering getting a bass to add some depth to things, but I recently tried an octave pedal and it seems like I could get the same thing out of that with less hassle (no need for 2nd instrument, 2nd amp, A/B switches to use the looper, etc). Granted, if I destroy my DA-5 I'm not out much, but I do intend to eventually move up to something slightly more substantial amp wise.
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2010 19:22
|
|
|
havelock posted:Do you have to worry about the same thing using an octave pedal?
|
|
#
?
Aug 26, 2010 19:53
|
|
|
Agreed posted:A bunch of reviews. Thanks for all the reviews! I perused them all and watched some more youtube vids on those pedals you recommended. Particularly the Dirty Bomb and Direct Drive compared to Fulltone's OCD. From what I've seen (heard?), videos of the direct drive make it sound more compressed and very tight with lots of mids--almost harsh. The OCD on the other hand sounds wide open but seems a little sloppy with the gain maxed out. With the direct drive, is it harsh and too mid-biased? Will that push-pull tone pot break in a week or is it sturdy? Do I need to tweak the internal trim pots? What the hell does the presence setting do? I'm having a hell of a time picking between the OCD and the Direct Drive. As for the dirty bomb, the tail end of the clip you posted for that was AMAZING. What the hell were those chords? It sounded like you were in drop D. How come in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5sA5Ev3-b4 the dirty bomb sounds so quiet compared to the fullbore metal? Anyone played with a Devi Ever Aenima? :iamafag:
|
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2010 03:40
|
|
|
My USA Big Muff seems to be losing output, I have to crank up the output to hear it when I play live. I'm wondering if I should replace it. I've been looking at the Big Muff Bass and have been mildly impressed with it. When I use the muff I'm playing power chords or fingerstyle octave lines ala John Wetton, and I was really impressed with his fuzz tone. Another option I have is get the muff I have repaired and also modded for bass.
|
|
#
?
Aug 30, 2010 23:29
|
|
|
EHX stuff, especially older stuff, is the easiest stuff to work on. Get it fixed. Or give it to me, whatever.
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2010 00:29
|
|
|
Agreed posted:The cheapest way to get rid of noise is to get an effective but inexpensive gate (like a Rocktron HUSH pedal) and run it right after your guitar. Cutting the noise coming from your pickups will go a great distance toward cutting the noise completely, since it's the later amplification of the noise that ends up getting all HSSSHHHHHHH. I ended up trying the Boss NS-2, and I'm not entirely sure it's what I'm looking for, or if there's ANY noise reduction out there which will be as transparent as I hoped. On the attack I'm perfectly fine with the NS-2, but no amount of adjustment of the threshold or decay could really get the release where I wanted it. Any time I mute the strings after I stop playing it sounds perfectly fine, but any time I just let a note fade naturally, the point where it crosses the threshold and the noise cuts out is really noticeable. I suppose I could just turn it off towards the end of a song if I know that's how it ends, but I really was hoping for something I can just dial in and forget about. I'll probably end up bringing it back. The G-Sring is definitely not in my budget right now (too many other effects I'm lacking), but I'll probably head that route eventually. Thanks for your help. man thats gross fucked around with this message at 14:11 on Aug 31, 2010 |
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2010 14:07
|
|
|
Noise Machine posted:My USA Big Muff seems to be losing output, I have to crank up the output to hear it when I play live. I had that problem with my Big Muff Pi. I took it apart and poked around a little, and it turned out to be a bad solder connection on the output wire. I just replaced that, and it's good as new!
|
|
#
?
Aug 31, 2010 14:10
|
|
|
I've got an MXR Phase 90 I'm gonna mod, hopefully tomorrow. Stock, this thing sounds great but distorts clean tone. I checked today and I have the non surface mount version, which means I can mess with the components. Anyone have experience with the R28 removal mod? Does it take care of the mid boost/distortion without overall volume loss?
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2010 01:40
|
|
|
To start off, I am in a 2 piece band, myself on guitar and a drummer. I am thinking about getting a POG to add some more low end on songs that need it, but I am curious if this could damage my speakers. I am currently running an old beat up bassman and a JC-120. I know Jack White gets away with using one on a twin/silvertone rig, which is slightly similar to what I have. The guy from No Age also does this, but I believe he is running through a bass amp. Anyways, will this damage my speakers by blending in a little bit of octave down (not full on bass guitar thunder, just a little bit of depth to add to the songs)? I know Jack White does it, but he can also afford to buy new speaker at any loving time.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2010 20:54
|
|
|
CalvinDooglas posted:I've got an MXR Phase 90 I'm gonna mod, hopefully tomorrow. Stock, this thing sounds great but distorts clean tone. I checked today and I have the non surface mount version, which means I can mess with the components. Anyone have experience with the R28 removal mod? Does it take care of the mid boost/distortion without overall volume loss? I did that mod, but it was a long time ago (like 7 years). I don't remember there being any volume loss, and I definitely heard a difference between the premod and postmod sound. Try googling the mod; I think at one point I found some before and after soundclips.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2010 20:59
|
|
|
New God posted:I am thinking about getting a POG to add some more low end on songs that need it, but I am curious if this could damage my speakers. I am currently running an old beat up bassman 
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2010 21:03
|
|
|
Also just to add to the discussion of devi ever pedals a few pages back, I have owned a Rocket, shoegazer and godzilla, all of which I have been pretty displeased with. It seems that all the devi pedals (that I have used) have this huge gate on it and little to no dynamics. All of the sounds are pretty typical and amateur in my opinion. Its a square wave wall with octave up/self oscillation/huge gate, all very boring and rarely useable. This is coming from a HUGE My Bloody Valentine fan playing in a shoegaze/punk band, so its not like I hate fuzz. Love that poo poo, but on a board with an OCD, big muff and fender blender the devi ever pedals just seem bland and ugly.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2010 21:05
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:To clarify, you're asking if using a POG to bring your guitar down to the frequency of a bass will damage your bass amp. You should be fine. I was actually wondering the same thing, except I use a guitar amp. edit: So were you. Missed the JC-120. Sorry.  vvv Should fare as well as it would were you just using a standard bass behind a wall of fuzz, no? vvv man thats gross fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Sep 2, 2010 |
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2010 21:06
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:Yes yes I know, but as I guess you already know the bassman didn't fair too well as a bass amp. I also play loud, wall of sound shoegazey stuff so its not like a smooth 1940's bassline is coming out of the speakers. I was also asking about the JC-120 as well, so thanks.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2010 21:07
|
|
|
New God posted:Also just to add to the discussion of devi ever pedals a few pages back, I have owned a Rocket, shoegazer and godzilla, all of which I have been pretty displeased with. It seems that all the devi pedals (that I have used) have this huge gate on it and little to no dynamics. All of the sounds are pretty typical and amateur in my opinion. Its a square wave wall with octave up/self oscillation/huge gate, all very boring and rarely useable. This is coming from a HUGE My Bloody Valentine fan playing in a shoegaze/punk band, so its not like I hate fuzz. Love that poo poo, but on a board with an OCD, big muff and fender blender the devi ever pedals just seem bland and ugly. Yeah I pretty much agree. The shoegazer is kind of misnamed really, doesn't actually seem that good for shoegaze. How's the fender blender? Kevin Shields apparenly uses one but then Kevin Shields uses everything these days so that's not much of an endorsement.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2010 21:13
|
|
|
Tutu posted:Yeah I pretty much agree. The shoegazer is kind of misnamed really, doesn't actually seem that good for shoegaze. How's the fender blender? Kevin Shields apparenly uses one but then Kevin Shields uses everything these days so that's not much of an endorsement. Its great! Really grinding lowend, the highend is not really existent on chords. Basically turns chords into harmonic jumbles when you first strike the strings then mellows out a split second later, really interesting effect. The octave up for soloing is meh (not really a fan of octave fuzzes), but playing multiple notes really high up on the neck can cause some interesting octave related glitches. Basically it thickens up your sound a ton and on high distortion settings creates really thrashy jumble. I usually use it with distortion on 6 or so so that the jumble effect doesn't get too crazy. Can't really see Kevin Shields using it though, its a bit too crazy for his typically tight melodic sounds.
|
|
#
?
Sep 2, 2010 21:22
|
|
|
Narwhale posted:I did that mod, but it was a long time ago (like 7 years). I don't remember there being any volume loss, and I definitely heard a difference between the premod and postmod sound. Try googling the mod; I think at one point I found some before and after soundclips. I did the mod just now, and tried to back-to-back it by bridging the disconnected resistor, but it was a little difficult to tell. It seems a bit cleaner now. I also adjusted the trim pot to something a little more Univibey. Not only is it better for my tone, I now have a different phaser sound than my other guitarist with the same pedal.
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2010 02:43
|
|
|
New God posted:Yes yes I know, but as I guess you already know the bassman didn't fair too well as a bass amp. I also play loud, wall of sound shoegazey stuff so its not like a smooth 1940's bassline is coming out of the speakers. It's not the low-frequency of the note that makes guitar amps not able to handle a bass guitar's output. It's that the bass guitar has a much higher level of output than a regular guitar. Bass pickups have to be "hotter" than guitar pickups in order to pickup those low frequencies. The POG just generates a digital signal an octave below and/or above the signal it receives. It's not going to change the output beyond the maybe plus/minus 6db of gain that the pedal may have. In short, you'll be fine.
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2010 14:36
|
|
|
It's definitely the low frequencies that do the damage. Pickup output doesn't really come into it - do bass pickups really have higher outputs than the overdrive/distortion pedals that guitar players run in front of their amps? http://professional.celestion.com/guitar/features/drdecibel/secret_cabinetdesign.html JC-120s are notoriously wideband and invincible, I wouldn't worry about it. edit: I think the dangers of too much low-end are overstated. As long as you apply some common sense you should be fine. Just don't crank everything up if your speakers are struggling to produce much volume in that band, every moron with blown speakers seems to have tried this. the wizards beard fucked around with this message at 15:09 on Sep 3, 2010 |
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2010 15:04
|
|
|
I'm stuck on this octave pedal thing now. All I really do is play loops and noodle over them and rather than getting a bass and a bass amp and all that I'm thinking an octave pedal will do what I need. From reading reviews and listening to things, it sounds like the Micro POG is probably worth the $100 premium over a monophonic octave pedal. Is the full POG2 worth another $100 on top of that? Is there a better idea for a first pedal that makes interesting noises? I just have a DA5 so right now all my loops and overdubs get the same effect since they're all on board the amp which is after the looper. I can fiddle with pickups and tone and stuff to make them sound a bit different but that's it.
|
|
#
?
Sep 3, 2010 16:59
|
|
|
I now have 4 effects and it's enough that I feel like I need a single power supply for them. Unfortunately, I don't have much money. Would it be a horrible idea to get something like this? http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Godlyke-PowerAll-PA9B-9V-Digital-Power-Supply-Basic-Kit?sku=150470 How bad will it be?
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 16:20
|
|
|
rt4 posted:I now have 4 effects and it's enough that I feel like I need a single power supply for them. Unfortunately, I don't have much money. It can introduce noise into your chain, but as long as your pedals aren't power hogs, you should be pretty much okay.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 18:22
|
|
|
rt4 posted:I now have 4 effects and it's enough that I feel like I need a single power supply for them. Unfortunately, I don't have much money. I use a 1-Spot on my ~7 pedalboard and I have no complaints. I've only ever gotten noise in one specific situation (in my house plugging into my POD with a Boss Space Echo, which is notoriously a noisy pedal anyway), and I've never felt the need to upgrade. Plus if I wanted a brick like the Pedal Power I'd need a bigger board.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 18:30
|
|
|
I am also using a 1-Spot and daisy-chain. This set up works just fine for me, and I haven't had any additional noise issues.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 18:50
|
|
|
Jumping on the 1-Spot bandwagon. ~10 pedals and an extender cable, zero noise, zero complaints.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 19:29
|
|
|
Hopefully something similar hasn't already been asked but I'm having problems using multiple amps with a single guitar. I get an ugly buzzing noise regardless of how I split the signal to the two amps. I can have everything hooked up to either amp and it's fine but as soon as I plug the cable to the second amp, effects loop or main inputs, both amps produce a buzzing noise similar to having an distortion pedal with out a noise gate. Ideally I just want to be able to use my panner with out the buzzing but I also like being able to blend tones and have different effects on the two different amps. I've also tried using a quarter inch y splitter, no dice. If anyone has any ideas on what's causing this and if it's fixable or if there's a work around I would appreciate it. Vira fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Sep 10, 2010 |
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 19:55
|
|
|
Your problem is most likely caused by ground loops. A dedicated dual output buffer might help alleviate your problems. Other "fixes" can involve unearthing one of the amps so that both are earthed through a single outlet. This is potentially very dangerous though.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 20:22
|
|
|
Zakalwe posted:Your problem is most likely caused by ground loops. A dedicated dual output buffer might help alleviate your problems. Other "fixes" can involve unearthing one of the amps so that both are earthed through a single outlet. This is potentially very dangerous though. Yeah, I'm not sure I'd want to even attempt going with the single outlet method but I'm unfamiliar with what a dedicated dual output buffer is. I'm not finding much on Google, could you explain what that is? Edit: Would something like this alleviate the problem. An Isolation Transformer? Vira fucked around with this message at 22:28 on Sep 10, 2010 |
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 22:21
|
|
|
Vira posted:Yeah, I'm not sure I'd want to even attempt going with the single outlet method but I'm unfamiliar with what a dedicated dual output buffer is. I'm not finding much on Google, could you explain what that is? I'm not sure about the transformer, but a dual output buffer would could be any stereo output pedal. A tuner pedal with both muted output and a non muted output would also do the trick.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 22:43
|
|
|
New God posted:Its a square wave wall with octave up/self oscillation/huge gate, all very boring and rarely useable.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 22:59
|
|
|
Zakalwe posted:I'm not sure about the transformer, but a dual output buffer would could be any stereo output pedal. A tuner pedal with both muted output and a non muted output would also do the trick. Oh, I've tried that already, didn't have any luck. But now that I know its a ground loop problem I'm finding a lot more information. Apparently one of these is the easiest/safest way to fix the problem. Thanks.
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 23:01
|
|
|
the wizards beard is an EE or something similar so maybe you should wait till he chips in. TWB?
|
|
#
?
Sep 10, 2010 23:04
|
|
|
I run off a 1-spot and it works great. The only problem I've had is when I added an EHX Stereo Memory Man to the chain. Since the pedal draws such a high amperage (200 mA, which is high for a single pedal) I ended up getting a slight high-pitch whine when it was plugged in. Switching the SMMH to a dedicated power supply fixed everything though!
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2010 04:08
|
|
|
The SMMH just doesn't like daisy chains at all. It isn't really to do with the current draw, you can have other high draw pedals on a daisy chain with a sufficiently powerful source and have no issues, that pedal in particular is extremely picky about its input. I never even liked using it with a different adapter than the stock 9.6v that it came with, it seemed noisier with the incorrect wall wart.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2010 05:59
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 9, 2024 04:33 |
|
|
Vira posted:Oh, I've tried that already, didn't have any luck. I can't seem to figure out what that is. If it's a passive filter then I guess it would work, I would still go with using a pedal to split the signal.
|
|
#
?
Sep 11, 2010 20:01
|
|