NEWS FLASH: All Noise Gates Suck…Tone

  • Thread starter Thread starter PurityS.L.G
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PurityS.L.G

PurityS.L.G

Well-known member
So I got a Fortin ZUUL + from my wife for Xmas and putting it up against my KMA Pylon, Donner Sophgate and MXR Smart gate, it’s hardly any better really.

ZUUL+: Cuts out some lows/low mids
Pylon: Adds a slight plastic sheen to overall tone
Donner: Cuts highs just a tad too much. Controls are finicky and hard to dial in natural gating
MXR: Too aggressive. Not natural sounding. Hollows out the tone a little bit.

I’ve also owned the NS-2, Revv G8, and ISP G-string. The G string was the one I’ve owned the longest of all.

I have yet to try a Highwind Phallanx, DW Golem or the new Boss NS1-X but I’ll happily pass on those.

I guess the point of this thread is IMO, pick one that you’re willing spend the money on and roll with it. They all fucking suck.
 
The REVV G8 has been my best bet. Prior to that, I had so many and did suck tone.
 
The gate is so important though . Especially for metal tones , where the gate suck helps make the tone better . After the gates suck just add more gain and eq from the amp to get back to where you were . But now you have the same tone with gate . This works for me so much that I don’t judge an amp until I’ve gated it.
 
I've had all of those ones except for the MXR and would agree, but have kept the Phalanx, Golem and Wizard Gate Minder. The Phalanx has the least tone suck and more natural feel of what I've had, but still not perfect. Definitely makes the stock sound a little bit darker, more muffled and less detailed. I actually kept the Wizard gate just because I actually think it makes my stock sound better and clearer (opposite of tone suck), but I don't actually like it much as a gate, so I never turn it on lol. It's just a subtle tone enhancer for me
 
PurityS.L.G said:
So I got a Fortin ZUUL + from my wife for Xmas and putting it up against my KMA Pylon, Donner Sophgate and MXR Smart gate, it’s hardly any better really.

ZUUL+: Cuts out some lows/low mids
Pylon: Adds a slight plastic sheen to overall tone
Donner: Cuts highs just a tad too much. Controls are finicky and hard to dial in natural gating
MXR: Too aggressive. Not natural sounding. Hollows out the tone a little bit.

I’ve also owned the NS-2, Revv G8, and ISP G-string. The G string was the one I’ve owned the longest of all.

I have yet to try a Highwind Phallanx, DW Golem or the new Boss NS1-X but I’ll happily pass on those.

I guess the point of this thread is IMO, pick one that you’re willing spend the money on and roll with it. They all fucking suck.
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I replaced my ISP with the TC Electronics Sentry
 
Meh, I've owned a number of gates as well and to me the change in tone has always been pretty subtle. To me it's not really sucking tone, just altering it slightly and it's pretty fucking easy to add back in what you want like Techdeth said. The Zuul+ is badass, as is the Revv G8.
 
Meeotch said:
Meh, I've owned a number of gates as well and to me the change in tone has always been pretty subtle. To me it's not really sucking tone, just altering it slightly and it's pretty fucking easy to add back in what you want like Techdeth said. The Zuul+ is badass, as is the Revv G8.
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This.

I've used a Decimator pedal for years. I first tried an NS2, that shaved off a good amount of high end. When I got the Decimator, it was night/day better than the Boss. It's a very subtle change; using the Decimator/vs not using it. I've unplugged it/plugged it back in and I can hardly tell the difference.
Works for me.
 
I use either an old Decimator pedal or Decimator Pro Rack G. Whether plugging into the gate or direct into the amp, the difference in tone is negligible. I pretty much always use a gate just to cut out the 60 cycle him from pickups. So for better or worse it's part of my normal signal chain.
 
Haven't used the Decimator myself, but I know it gets a good rep. My go-to for years has been the MXR Smart Gate (didn't like the tone-suck of the Boss NS2), but lately I try to get by without a gate, even at home.
 
I'm thinking about buying a Zuul+ today.

I tried several and owned a few. Currently have a BOSS NS-2. I don't have a tone issue with the NS-2. But looking for faster.

I don't play Djent but do employ some of the techniques. If done properly the right hand is critical.

I pretty much only use a gate with overdrive or boost pedals. Occasionally I use distortion or fuzz pedals.
Out in front of the amp. Pedals in the loop of the noise gate.
A lot of my amps don't have a effects loop or I don't use it.
I do have a Fryette PS-100. I could use the four cable method with its effects loop.
 
Racerxrated said:
This.

I've used a Decimator pedal for years. I first tried an NS2, that shaved off a good amount of high end. When I got the Decimator, it was night/day better than the Boss. It's a very subtle change; using the Decimator/vs not using it. I've unplugged it/plugged it back in and I can hardly tell the difference.
Works for me.
Click to expand...
I've used the Decimator II for years. I don't notice anything that sticks out at sucking tone.
 
I don’t hear any tone suck with my Zulu+ dialed in using the key input with the serial effects loop of my Mesa Boogie JP2C. For high gain rhythm tones, it sounds awesome. For leads, I click it off just because I like to sustain notes longer than what is optimal for rhythm settings.
 
I really don’t find the NS-2 to have a tone suck in any seriously negative way. The major amount of my gate usage is to deal with the hum from my teles and strats, which is often going into a deluxe reverb with clean or overdrive tones. In this scenario I really don’t hear it robbing me of anything.

Maybe if I was trying to use it to clean up high gain sounds more and not just kill hum and hiss I would notice the issue.
 
i could never get along with noise gates either. the fatty part of my right palm is all the noise gate i need...i've learned to accept hum and noise as a natural part of the overall tonal experience.
 
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