the STOMP noise gates are classic downward expanders and work great on high gain tones where an aggressive gate is often part of the sound.
the front NOISE GATE is more of a 'sound conditioner' that can remove unwanted noise, like single coil artifacts, from your tone, but it won't work quite as well as a STOMP noise gate for high gain applications, since if turned up too high, it can begin to influence the sound beyond removing excess noise.
As a high gain Metal player, using the noise gate knob on the front in conjunction with a gate in slot #1 works the best for me. The knob noise gate, at really high settings, can really choke off the notes & make the tone sound almost robotic.
I always put a 4:1 gate at about 40% level in slot #1 for anything super-saturated high gain Metal. The knob noise gate varies from barely on, up to about 50%.
Three years later, this method continues to be perfect for my style & needs.
the STOMP noise gates are classic downward expanders and work great on high gain tones where an aggressive gate is often part of the sound.
the front NOISE GATE is more of a 'sound conditioner' that can remove unwanted noise, like single coil artifacts, from your tone, but it won't work quite as well as a STOMP noise gate for high gain applications, since if turned up too high, it can begin to influence the sound beyond removing excess noise.
I'll do a feature request and ask to make the front noise gate a classic downward expander (Noise gate) instead of a "sound conditioner". If it doesn't work that well as a noise gate, maybe it should / could?
I'll do a feature request and ask to make the front noise gate a classic downward expander (Noise gate) instead of a "sound conditioner". If it doesn't work that well as a noise gate, maybe it should / could?
they're both doing their respective jobs - one as a traditional gate, the other one by 'intelligently' removing noise and hum from your signal.
Maybe a useful feature request along the lines of Dynochrome asks, is merely the OPTION to switch the front noise gate to a classic downward expander, in order to save an effects slot for something else?
Personally, the sound conditioner is best for every noise gating needs other than really high gain sounds. What I love best about it is that set it to tame the highest gain sound I'm going to use and it doesn't seem to be an issue if I go to a lower gain level if I don't bother to lower the gate.
With classic downward expanders, at least the traditional noise gate pedals I've used in past, even expensive ones, they were very sensitive to the overall gain they were being used with. Meaning you needed it set one way for low gain, another way for mid gain, another way for high gain or you'd have major issues with losing sustain trying to leave it on all the time. This always made it extremely hard to have just one noise gate, quite aside from the tap dancing issues needed to turn the gate on and off with the distortion.
Meaning you needed it set one way for low gain, another way for mid gain, another way for high gain or you'd have major issues with losing sustain trying to leave it on all the time. This always made it extremely hard to have just one noise gate, quite aside from the tap dancing issues needed to turn the gate on and off with the distortion.
Completely been there and totally agree.
What I did for years at rehearsals & live, was to use two noise gates - the classic Boss NS-2...
One pedal in the loop of the amp. Set pretty high. Cuts out all of that high gain hiss and also helps quiet the guitar during silent passages. Then another gate in front of the amp, set fairly low, to keep the guitar whisper-quiet in silent passages, and without having to worry about the guitar's volume knob. This method allowed me to use any kind of tone - pristine clean, overdriven, to death chunk high gain. The guitar HAS to be silent when nothing is being played. My god, noise gates are such a brilliant invention.
I prefer the 4:1 noise gate in Stomp D on my profiles, set to taste. Not a huge fan of the front end noise gate on my Toaster although I am now using it on my Player since options are limited and you have to get creative and endure some compromises.
Maybe a useful feature request along the lines of Dynochrome asks, is merely the OPTION to switch the front noise gate to a classic downward expander, in order to save an effects slot for something else?
I actually just suggested the exact same thing in my feature request I posted!
