NPD: Wizard Gate Minder

B

braintheory

Well-known member
Got this recently and it looks to be 1 of the 3 noise gates I’ll keep. All these pedals color/suck the amp’s core tone to varying degrees, but this is for sure the best one I’ve had in that regard. I actually like the color it adds. Seems to make my core tone brighter in a good way and almost like there’s even a little more clarity. The Phalanx makes things a bit duller & the Golem adds this modern pedal filtered quality. My Phalanx & Golem are still definitely better/more natural in how they gate and sustain the notes, but I can mostly live with it. I had to have both the hold & release knobs turned all the way down to get it right and just like the Phalanx it works best straight in (no loop used) going from guitar to overdrive pedal to gate to amp

I’m surprised this pedal hasn’t been talked about yet. It’s been out a while now. I’ve tried now pretty much all the noise gate pedals other than some vintage ones. Had the LWA Endless Blockade, NS-2, Thelema, ISP Decimator I & II, Revv G8, Donner Soph Gate, Cockblocker, Zuul, Guul, Lichtlaerm, & Pylon. The 3 I kept still aren’t perfect, but imo best of what I’ve tried. The Phalanx & Golem gate better, but the Wizard has better tone. The Golem is also by far the best I’ve had for that fast modern stop-start type gating, but the Wizard & Phalanx aren’t bad there, just not as good as some others. The Golem would be my go-to for more modern stuff. Maybe I should try eventually some rack units for this to see if they’re better. If anyone knows about any great rack noise gates feel free to recommend some
 
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braintheory said:
Got this recently and it looks to be 1 of the 3 noise gates I’ll keep. All these pedals color/suck the amp’s core tone to varying degrees, but this is for sure the best one I’ve had in that regard. I actually like the color it adds. Seems to make my core tone brighter in a good way and almost like there’s even a little more clarity. The Phalanx makes things a bit duller & the Golem adds this modern pedal filtered quality. My Phalanx & Golem are still definitely better/more natural in how they gate and sustain the notes, but I can mostly live with it. I had to have both the hold & release knobs turned all the way down to get it right and just like the Phalanx works best straight in (no loop used) going from guitar to overdrive pedal to gate to amp

I’m surprised this pedal hasn’t been talked about yet. It’s been out a while now. I’ve tried now pretty much all the noise gate pedals other than some vintage ones. Had the LWA Endless Blockade, NS-2, Thelema, ISP Decimator I & II, Revv Gate, Donner Soph G8, Cockblocker, Zuul, Lichtlaerm, & Pylon. The 3 I kept still aren’t perfect, but imo best of what I’ve tried. The Phalanx & Golem gate better, but the Wizard has better tone. The Golem is also by far the best I’ve had for that fast modern stop-start type gating, but the Wizard & Phalanx aren’t bad there, just not as good as some others. The Golem would be my go-to for more modern stuff. Maybe I should try eventually some rack units for this to see if they’re better. If anyone knows about any great rack noise gates feel free to recommend some
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I have been waiting a long time for this very review from this very rig-talker...what took you soo long?
 
I don't think that I have heard of the Gate Minder but I am in the market for a gate. Will take a look.

Could never get the NS-2 to work for me without a fairly large tone suck and I recently sold a Decimator II G String because I didn't think I needed it. After watching Fluff and Ben Eller's gate shootout that they did at Sweetwater, I have a TC Sentry on order but no one has had them in stock for a while.
 
mhenson42 said:
Man. Now I want one. Lol

You’d think I’d already have one with all my Wizard gear, but my Fortin Zuul seems to work well enough I never bothered.
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Yeah I’m very surprised no one else on here seems to have tried one yet somehow. From what I remember of the Zuul, I think it gated better, but I like the tone most on the Wizard gate. For lead playing especially, all the other gates I’ve had sucked out too much tone and nuance/detail from the notes to be passable for leads imo. The Wizard is the only one I’d consider if I needed a noise gate in that scenario

Although for some of the modern shred-type leads I’ve heard, that more homogeneous/sterile/filtered sound seems to be what they go for, so for that I guess the phalanx or Golem would be better
 
braintheory said:
Yeah I’m very surprised no one else on here seems to have tried one yet somehow. From what I remember of the Zuul, I think it gated better, but I like the tone most on the Wizard gate. For lead playing especially, all the other gates I’ve had sucked out too much tone and nuance/detail from the notes to be passable for leads imo. The Wizard is the only one I’d consider if I needed a noise gate in that scenario

Although for some of the modern shred-type leads I’ve heard, that more homogeneous/sterile/filtered sound seems to be what they go for, so for that I guess the phalanx or Golem would be better
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Is the brightness and detail you’re describing from an increase in top end or reduction of lows?
 
braintheory said:
Increase in uppermids or maybe lower part of the treble range I think
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That sounds very similar to what the two Zuuls I've had do. The Zuul also adds some detail and brightness, but it seems to be a combination of a slight increase in that area and a slight reduction in lows.
 
fearhk213 said:
That sounds very similar to what the two Zuuls I've had do. The Zuul also adds some detail and brightness, but it seems to be a combination of a slight increase in that area and a slight reduction in lows.
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It’s been a few years now since I had a Zuul, but I remember it coloring my tone differently than this Wizard gate, but maybe I’ll revisit if other guy’s AB this & the Zuul. Iirc I think I sold the Zuul because I preferred the Phalanx that I still have
 
braintheory said:
It’s been a few years now since I had a Zuul, but I remember it coloring my tone differently than this Wizard gate, but maybe I’ll revisit if other guy’s AB this & the Zuul. Iirc I think I sold the Zuul because I preferred the Phalanx that I still have
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Yeah if the Wizard doesn't fiddle with the lows then I'd also assume they color the tone differently.

The Phalanx is supposedly a part for part Zuul clone. At least that's what the builder told me when I reached out to him when they were first rolling out. I never played one myself, but I've seen others also preferring one over the other as well. Being they're supposedly the same it could be a part tolerance or layout thing leading one to prefer one over the other.

But to get back on topic...I too have been curious about the Wizard gate and was wondering why I hadn't heard anything about it. Glad to hear it's a winner.
 
fearhk213 said:
Yeah if the Wizard doesn't fiddle with the lows then I'd also assume they color the tone differently.

The Phalanx is supposedly a part for part Zuul clone. At least that's what the builder told me when I reached out to him when they were first rolling out. I never played one myself, but I've seen others also preferring one over the other as well. Being they're supposedly the same it could be a part tolerance or layout thing leading one to prefer one over the other.

But to get back on topic...I too have been curious about the Wizard gate and was wondering why I hadn't heard anything about it. Glad to hear it's a winner.
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It’s a winner for me due to the tone/color, but if you need a more immediate stop to the noise or more immediate gate I’d go with other ones. I didn’t hear it mess with my lows, but I will try it a bit more to make sure

The Phalanx does seem to color more how I remember the Zuul coloring. I’m guessing you’re probably right about why I liked the Phalanx a bit more. The thing is, with most of these gates they seem to suck out these overtones or nuances out of my core sound. It’s especially noticeable on leads where I do a lot of milky vibrato type stuff. That’s part of what I mean by clarity/detail. The Wizard is the only one I’ve had that doesn’t do that, and if anything maybe adds some of that in the upper mid or lower treble area. That’s the thing that impressed me about it. If it could also gate as well as my Golem or Phalanx it would pretty much be perfect for me, but maybe there’s a trade-off. Even when the pedal is turned off it adds still some of that nice color. It could possibly make a good buffer even. I should try that with my 1972 Marshall SuperLead 100
 
I want to like noise gates badly, but everyone I’ve tried sucks tone, feel and dynamics. I’ve tried almost as many as the OP too. I kept the phalanx since I got it cheap and wanted to keep something around just in case. I really want to mod it for the new features that some of the gates have. I like the features of the new Fortin Zuul, but I’m not spending more money to get the same results.

I had most of them all at the same time so I could compare. They are all super similar in what they do. I will say, the Fortin mini Zuul had the LEAST tone suck out of them all…even the full sized Zuul. Of course it could have just been luck. Like a dummy, I sold it.
 
interesting stuff. I’ve been running an ISP Decimate X. It definitely affects the tone while engaged. I’d love to find a gate that doesn’t but it seems that’s a pipe dream. If the Wizard effects the tone the least that might be the best we can hope for now
 
Update: I just tried it with my 1972 Marshall SuperLead 100 at very loud volumes purposely using unpotted ‘60’s pickups that feedback a lot. As a gate I’m sorry to say it’s not good enough to work for that feedback, BUT it’s my new favorite buffer (and still will be used as a gate in other less challenging scenarios). I love the tone color it adds to the amp when it’s turned off, so as silly as it sounds that’s gonna be this pedal’s new main niche for me. It really does add some clarity, sparkle and my palm mutes sound more defined or chunky somehow
 
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