Ibanez 2024 (2)

I see this as a spinoff, really. The 2023 Ibanez Pentatone pedal is now split into two units. The EQ section is now a standalone unit (PTEQ).

Ditto the noise gate section (PTGATE). This might be the consideration after players decided they don't need a preamp or any gain section in their FX lineup compounded by the fact that the drive produced by the Pentatone might not be up to their expectations but they can do with the EQ & noise gate. Between the two pedals, the EQ looks like it's leaning into the overkill side; features are rather excessive. The noise gate is a good lesson in simplicity.

Pics: Ibanez

MM: Gate

This update strictly relates to the noise gate function of the MM. I plugged this in without other pedals, just a stand alone application. Guitar in use was an RG550 with a D'Activator X pickup on board. 

The threshold here was designed to accommodate other pedals in the lineup. In this application, the gate becomes ultra sensitive past 9 o'clock. In fact, any faint strumming would fail to get signals through. Past noon, the gate becomes super sensitive so this would benefit those who are using noisy, active pickups. Beyond this, you actually need a boost pedal or any drive-type unit (eg. Tube Screamer / OD-3) to push things through. If you are relying on an external noise gate unit in the mean time, it's unnecessary once you are set on switching to this MM as a primary distortion source. 

I will give this pedal a full appraisal as I pipped it against the HM-2w today & noted some interesting observations. 

MM 2021

The EHX Nano Metal Muff gets a feature revision this year (actually, late 2020). The latest incarnation (left) features a 3-band EQ (yes!) & a noise gate. The previous version (right) was a bare 2-knob affair with a scoop midrange option. Thank you, EHX, for keeping it practical; a more editable EQ section is the way to go as metal heads out there are not about scooping the midrange exclusively. The noise gate also helps tame things down in high gain settings. On my list, definitely.

Noise watch

Greetings, guitar fans. I've given this passing comments before but let's put things in perspective this time round. It concerns the noise elimination pedal placement, just a couple of variations. The set up you set above, let's call it set up A.

This one here- let's call it set up B.

The difference- in A, we see the noise gate coming before the distortion unit, in B, it's placed after. What's the difference (if there is any at all)? Let's begin with the understanding that in both set ups, the pedal works & nothing averse had taken place. Noise gate activation depends on the nature of the  signals coming into the device.

In the case of A, the gate deals with signals which are coming directly from the guitar. In B, the gate has to deal with the signals which are already distorted. Unadulterated signals coming from guitars require lesser threshold levels so gating can occur at lower settings. It is often the case that weaker signals from lower output pickups (single coils especially) get cut off rather easily. It is frustrating that notes generated by plain strings (often the higher E & B strings) are sometimes completely shut off altogether. 

This is where B might be useful to the rest of us who wouldn't want to experience premature gating. The additional gain coming from an overdrive or distortion unit would help boost weaker signals coming from the instrument so a differentiated gating effect would be prevented. 

I was doing A in my initial stages of noise gate incorporation. The premature gating occured & thought that my set up was just unsuitable for noise suppression till someone I related to advised me to raise the pickup pole pieces. This helped somewhat but when the noise gate was not in use, the volume difference across strings meant I have to lower what was raised before & it's something that should be avoided. I dabbled in the noise gate placements & came to realize that there's no one particular noise gate arrangement to suit different set ups. 

Hope this bit helps you deal with your set up somewhat. Cheers! 

Decimating

Managed to get this earlier today. A little consolation for some down times.

Selling: Iron Curtain (SOLD)

I have more than one noise suppressing unit, this one will be the least engaged due to my personal set up requirements:

• TC Electronic: Iron Curtain
• Box included, 9.5/10 condition 
• No reservations/ trades
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station
• FINAL price: $65 (non-nego)

Eye iron

Finally. Got news these were available & it wasn't a recent shipment. Stock wasn't updated online, so... 😑

Scaled down decimation

Many of us pretty much regard the ISP Decimator as the industry standard in noise gate technology (the HUSH camp would disagree & most probably back it up with a documented, proven performance). The standard, Decimator as we know it, is a bulky affair, wider than the average BOSS pedal & might jeopardize pedal board real estate. So wisely, the ISP camp evolved their Decimator into this Deci-mate version but rest assured, the original, brick-like model is still in the market for nostalgia's sake. The manufacturer promised a better tracking technology on board this time round. We'll see about that.

Give away (2)

Good Sunday evening my friends. This is my next give away, kindly sponsored by SV Guitars in conjunction with my 10th blog-versary come 2018 (Thanks, Mike & co!). I have a feeling that the noise gate is one pedal that has lower priorities in everybody's to-get list. We have our drive, distortion & delay being major distractions in our effects line up. So here it is, a spanking new Joyo JF-31 Noise Gate pedal:

• E-mail me with the tittle: Bring the noise (gate)! to stand a chance in acquiring the JF-31 depicted above (box included). No contents please, just a blank entry will do
• Do not disclose any personal details until you receive a reply mail stating you as the winner. Winner will self-collect this pedal
• No time limit this time, come try your luck 😁

Mini hushing

Thankful to the Rocktron camp for keeping up with the times- the Micro HUSH. On my to-get list. The irony- it costs more than its standard size sibling.

Shhh...

Ah, finally. My insatiable quest for a noise reduction unit- it's inevitable if one embraces excessive high gain. Appraisal to come.

Electro Harmonix: Silencer

Summer 2015 NAMM release- EHX's Silencer. Hopefully this won't be as adverse as the Hum Debugger- remember that one?

Selling: Beta Aivin noise gate (SOLD)

Selling away my Beta Aivin NG-100.

Because I'm keeping things simple in the mean time :-)

• Selling: Beta Aivin NG-100 noise gate (box included)
• Condition: 8/10
• Self-collect: CCK mrt station
• Queries/ confirmation: subversion.sg@gmail.com
• No trades/ reservations
• Price is final: $39

Hushing

Looks like I'm bent on an over drive over dose but this set up was intentional. I needed to know the real threshold of this Rocktron Hush pedal since it's one of the leading names in noise reduction technology. So a strong drive source (Boss) made the line up, followed by a standard drive source (Nux) & finally, a gain pusher (Artec) which isn't a drive source per se but in conjunction with any drive unit, would provide a drive supplement to boost things up.

The Hush was initially placed before the Boss but the threshold level was strong enough to cut out guitar signals at its maximum application. It's then placed between two drive sources (as depicted) & it reacted accordingly, meaning, it silenced the signals once no playing takes place so all background hissing which are gain-related were rightfully muted. In between the Nux & Artec, the Hush had problems keeping the noise at bay because the preceding drive units overpowered its  maximum threshold level. Placed at the end of the signal chain, the pedal was rendered ineffective. So it sat there in between the yellow & green drivers to manifest its maximum potential till I ended the morning's session.

Is there a correct place for a noise gate to be? It depends on the player's set-up. Keep in mind that the role of such a device is to silence unwanted signals at the player's behest so if it's not doing just that, then that position where it was set to be becomes questionable. The onus is on the player to experiment & embrace what works for him/ her. At the end of any trial & error, there is always an insight in what makes the set-up work. This is where sharing empowers knowledge.

Hush!

This was in the mail. I think I have forsaken the need to keep things quiet when no playing takes place, especially for my set up which is drive excessive. There are many ways to make this happen, using a noise gating effect like this pedal is indeed a way to do so. The leading name in this technology is (in my opinion) ISP but being me, I am open to options especially the embrace of lesser known entities.

Double hush

Here we go- double the noise gate goodness by Rocktron. It's not a serial noise gate but a 2-in-1 function so you can 1) Hush your pedals & at the same time 2) Hush the signals at the amp as well (via FX loop), that's how it works. For the gain-inclined among us, definitely.

Junior Sunday

Sunday indoors. Spent the whole morning with Jr. What could a restrictive, single pickup guitar do, really, other than some tone manipulations via the tone/ volume knob? Well, if you choose to restrict your adventure as such, then you are further limiting a limited option. I chose to do the following:

1. Clean tones- Amp: Marshall DSL40

I started with cleans, even shredded some notes clean. I'm not much of a clean fan but it's worth listening to the P-90 in this application simply because it offers a different perspective to a single coil take. The highs weren't as protrusive as a standard single coil, in fact, they were fatter & more rounded like a humbucker should be but there's still the single coil snap in the mix. Sounded wonderful, in fact, I prefer the P-90offerings in a mahogany body as opposed to true single coils.

2. High gain- Amp: EVH 5150III

OK, the extraneous hum was inevitable but it only persisted when one stops playing. High gain applications shouldn't be served with single coils especially ones with a mad squeak from start to end but I did it anyway. The pickup manifested this coarse midrange only distortion freaks could understand but the bottom end wasn't that commanding in any settings simply because the pickup wasn't a humbucker to be exhibiting some inclinations toward the lower frequencies. If there's a useful application for this, it would be to double a very bottom heavy tone. But it was a pleasant playing experience knowing some black metal & high octane shred could be had from such a guitar which is not the default go-to instrument in this aspect.

3. Guitar-pedals-amp- Amp: Kustom Defender 5H

I'm not too into pedals for the sake of them being able to pull off some tone alchemy in the right combination; I prefer a straight-through set up, that's the way to truly assess the worthiness of the guitar/ amp/ pickups without too much external interference. However, I do line some pedals up occasionally to go into alternative dimensions all in the name of tonal exploration. In this case the following effects were used: tuner (ENO)/ overdrive 1 (Maxon), noise gate (Mooer), overdrive 2 (EHX) & a looping device (Hotone).

The objective here was not to replicate an intense distortion setting but to manifest drive saturation hence the use of 2 overdrive units. The noise gate was necessary because there's a single coil guitar in use, together with that twin overdrive in the mix, it's hum galore. It's good to know that the use of 2 overdrive units simultaneously gave off a thickening effect, enough to push a single coil pickup to produce a fatter tone response (watch the EQ while you're at it) but in this case, the fact that a P-90 is in use, the fattening effect was augmented. This adventure is a little introverted because there were no modulation effects in use to colour the overall output, it's all about hearing some drive overkill & that's what I indulge in most of the time- saturation overkill!

Rest

No, I'm not the one taking a break from guitars (I will play guitar every day even if it's 30sec of noodling before meals) but I'm giving my Noise Gate a rest. I'm removing it from the signal chain to hear my handicap- the inability to control the hands from make unwanted noises while playing/at rest.

Audio clip 2: The value of noise suppression

This is my attempt to let you hear the noise gate in action. There's no fancy playing, just letting you hear how the single coil hum, under lots of distortion application, is subsequently suppressed.

CLICK to listen.

Light

Last night's session was a light one, in terms of set up that is. Had the above assembly going while sitting & watching TV:

1. LTD ST-203: it's a single coil night, nothing humbucking, please...
2. X-mini speaker: it's the first incarnation & still my fav
3. LINE6 Pocket Pod Express: simplicity as it is
4. Planet Waves Custom Pro cable: grabbed the shortest cable, this was it
5. Canare patch cables: used the version with Cabletek plugs, i ordered a trio of 3-inchers from Beez for pedals connection
6. Alice: 3mm pick, my all time fav
7. Biyang: silent adaptor, a very appropriate application with single coils
8. Beta Aivin: noise gate, another all time fav
9. Ibanez TS7: the most utilized Tubescreamer in my collection