Why I Changed My Mind About Noise Gates

For as long as I’ve been a fan of guitar pedals and electric guitar, I’ve always had a dislike for noise gates. I had always been told by my fellow tone connoisseurs that such pedals would destroy my guitar tone irrevocably. Fast forward 25 years later, to 2022, and I’m just now appreciating not only the transparency of today’s noise gate pedals, but also their ability to lower the noise floor on my high gain amplifiers - making them more usable for sessions (where having a quiet amp is often critical). Understandably, this effect isn’t for every amp or every player, but when you need one, it’s an incredible problem solver and can do the job with little to no impact on your tone as proven in this video.

SKIP TO 11:49 FOR PLAYING EXAMPLES

TABLE OF CONTENTS
00:00 - Intro Jam
00:28 - My complicated relationship with NOISE GATES
01:30 - Why should you use a NOISE GATE
01:35 - Reason 1
01:50 - Reason 2
01:59 - Reason 3
02:32 - How to GATE a noisy guitar
03:25 - How to GATE noisy pedals
04:19 - How to GATE a noisy amplifier
05:45 - How to GATE a noisy amp with noisy pedals
06:17 - GATES with a key input
07:06 - Routing a 4CM GATE pedal like a “key input” style GATE
08:13 - Ground lifting your 4CM GATE pedal by removing shield
09:07 - Ground lifting your 4CM GATE pedal by adding a capacitor
09:22 - Gear used for the GATE demo
10:35 - GATE testing procedure
11:49 - GATE on/off baseline (Eyes Without A Face)
12:02 - Billy Idol “Eyes Without A Face”
12:28 - Debrief and analysis
13:25 - GATE on/off baseline (Love Bites)
13:39 - Def Leppard “Love Bites”
14:34 - Debrief and analysis
15:30 - GATE on/off baseline (Nightrain)
15:42 - Guns N’ Roses “Nightrain”
17:06 - Final thoughts on GATES
18:00 - Thanks for watching and to our sponsor!
18:56 - Outro Jam

NOISE GATE DIAGRAMS:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folder...

RECOMMENDED NOISE GATES

ISP Decimator II G String:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/deta...

MXR Smart Gate:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/deta...

Boss NS-2:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/deta...

Pigtronix Gate Keeper:
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/deta...

Fortin Zuul:
https://fortinamps.com/products/zuul-...

TIM’S CUSTOM SHOP GOLDTOP LES PAUL
https://www.sweetwater.com/used/listi...

RECOMMENDED GEAR
https://www.sweetwater.com/shop/the-r...

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CREDITS:
Host/Co-Production: Mason Marangella
Video: Nico Sotomayor
Video Editing: Mason Mejia
Co-Production/Design: Mason Mejia
Audio Engineering: Hunter Harrison#noisegate

#noisegates #gatepedals