Hey guys, Been a while since I posted (got married, tour overseas, etc.). Quick question about noise gates/suppressors. I'm tracking that the ISP Decimator II G-String is the top dog in noise reduction, with the basic Decimator II also being good. The G-String going in front of the amp as well as in the loop, while people generally put the basic DII in the loop. I have my guitar going straight into the front of a JVM205C with just a tuner in the effects loop. With such a simple setup, would you suggest a basic DII or a G-String for the loop? Thanks!
Tuner usually goes 1st in the chain before the preamp. I would recommend you look at this demo of the TC Electronic Sentry first.
Hi, I just put the tuner in the effects loop as it still works there and it allows me to plug the guitar straight in to the front. The Sentry looks good. I'm guessing that in your experience it is better than both the Decimator II and G-String?
Can this thread be moved? If the tuner works in the loop, go for it. I have a Boss NS-2, but as soon as I can afford it, a Sentry will replace it. ISP pedals are almost non-existent in Europe, so not much of a choice for me here in the UK.
From that video I got the following: Both pedals were pretty good. The TC Noise sentry seems to need more setting up to work as well as the simpler Decimator The Noise Sentry even kills string noise before playing! Is this a good thing? Seriously??? I would stick with the Decimator. Have used it for many years and it has worked flawlessly!
G string if you are channel switching so it doesnt kill your clean sustain. Otherwise a decision in the loop
People use noise-gates for two slightly different things! 1) To eliminate hum, hiss, etc when not playing 2) To stop nasty, squealling feedback from ultra-high gain amps like the JVM (particularly in OD orange and red modes) A simple Decimator II will address the second point brilliantly! Just put it as the last pedal in your chain! You may find that there is still a little hiss, etc from the pre-amp. If you want to kill this completely (as per 1)) you would need the G-String! How to find out? - play your gutar though your amp on a high gain setting. Turn your guitar volume to Zero on the guitar controls. Hear any hiss or noise? If so - that is what you will hear with the basic Decimator. I'm guessing this will be quite acceptable to you? If not, and you fell that there is still too much hiss, etc, then a G-String would reduce this residual noise to nothing!
I have a les paul classic running into a beano boost (treble booster) into my DSL40CR. And there is definitely some hiss going on there. My decimator g-string took care of it no problem at all. I want to explain my very simple setup because the instructions are not clear about this. les paul > guitar IN (decimator) guitar OUT (decimator) > treble booster > input on amp DEC in (decimator) > amp fx send DEC out (decimator) > amp fx return in your case, you would want to do the following: guitar OUT (decimator) > tuner > input on amp I know my instructions seem really simplistic but you'll see why this is helpful after you read the instructions in the box... Once you see how good this pedal is, you'll be really happy you got the g-string to handle the preamp noise. One of the best pedals I've ever bought. n
So I went with the ISP Deci-mate. It's cheaper than even the Decimator II and has a newer/better algorithm. The manual shows two options for positioning; in front of the amp and in the effects loop. I haven't tried in front of the amp yet, however the intent was to not put anything between my guitar and JVM. I put it in the loop, and while it sounds good, I have to turn it up to max to quiet things down (loop is 100% wet). Not sure what's going on there... thoughts?
Deci mate? I've not heard of that one - must be new? Why do you not want to put it infront? They are totally transparent and will not colour your sound! I have a number of buffered effects in front of my amp which are always on (ISP is one of them). I have a true bypass (i.e. Hardware Bypass) switch that I can use to test any new pedal. I switch it in, then bypass it. I click the switch with my eyes closed to see if I can tell when the pedal is bypassed. If I can't - then good to go! However it should work in the loop, I would have thought? Have you made sure the loop is on 100% and is on the -10dB setting?
I'm trying to simplify my setup as much as possible. I found myself tweaking my setup instead of playing and want to get back to embarrassing mys... I mean playing guitar. The JVM gives me the tones that I need (i.e. no requirement for OD/Dist/etc.) and based on my playing style the only modulation I would want is reverb, which is on tap. That said, my goal has been to plug straight into the front end of the amp. I'm there now, with a tuner pedal in the loop. Everything I've seen says that this pedal works well in FX loops, and it DOES work well (i.e. even notes played with reverb trail off exceptionally well). It's just that as mentioned above I have to dime the dial. Normally with these types of pedals turning the dial to 10 would barely let anything through (i.e. if you run your hands across the strings it would block the string noise). With mine, at around 3 o'clock it cuts the guitar hiss (beautifully, I might add), which I would expect around 12 o'clock at most. When I turn it all the way to max I still have string noise, etc. It's funny as it works really well, just not enough, if that makes any sense... Here she is: https://www.long-mcquade.com/116454...s/DECI-MATE-Compact-Noise-Reduction-Pedal.htm
I hate the parallel loop on the JVM. Volume issues, weird issues using line level digital things in it. Serial loop only for me. And tuner in the front for sure, they like as clean a guitar signal as possible. Could put it in a bypass pedal if the buffer is that much if an issue. Or buy a true bypass tuner. I've used a G String II in the loop and found it very effective.
I bought 2 Decimator II's along with a seperate 1/8" cable that connects the 2. One stays in front of the amp first in the chain and the other goes in the effects loop of the amp before any time based effects. Of course 1/4" is still used for signal through like any pedal but the purpose of the special cable is so that the first Decimator tells the second Decimator how much signal my guitar is feeding it. That way they work in tandem when you use the guitars controls. This feature was explained in that in past attempts at this tech the threshold was limited to where a player had everything set but variations from that could get notes chopped off, etc. I set the first one where any noise from my guitar is silenced. Usually takes very little but this keeps that noise from being amplified further down stream by the preamp. The second one gets adjusted to remove any preamp hiss. I'm just throwing this option out there. I totally understand the straight in approach. I use a little more than the OP but I'm pretty minimal myself. This setup, i don't use very often but it did work as ISP suggested.
I just Googled the ISP Decimator II G String, and they cost £239 in the UK. Un-justifiable when a TC Sentry or Boss NS-2 costs £79. I think the premium paid for the import of an ISP pedal to the UK makes it a no-go.
I caved and put both the deci-mate and tuner in front of the amp. Tuner works well and deci-mate has the ability to dampen much more than when put through the loop. That said, I am yet to hear a noise suppressor that is intelligent enough to distinguish between what you want to hear and what you don't. For example, if the setting is high enough to quelch the noise from high gain, light picking is not heard. And when it does come through, it jumps in and out like a poor connection as it is on the cusp of being cut (like this on every gate I've used on every setup). Note that the deci-mate is the same as the Deciminator II with a few improvements to the algorithms.
I totally agree. I read transparent mentioned all over the place reading opinions on gear like this. My Decimator pedals work well but I don't find them as transparent as said. That is exactly why I don't use them much and only in certain situations.
I know I sound like a broken record, but you are basically describing the TC Sentry. I only wish I had one already so I could give an honest opinion from experience.
If only they made one with a foot-switch built in - so you could turn it off for different styles ........
