Noise gates...

Jbird

Jbird

Kick Henry Jackassowski
What exactly do they do?

When I take my 50w amp over to my buddy's house and we jam with his son on drums, it seems like I have feedback no matter where I stand. Doesn't matter what guitar I use so it's not a particular guitar.

I generally only have the amp volume at maybe 2 or 3 too and it's plenty loud.

Would a noise gate solve some of that or not?
 
How bad is the feedback? If it gets loud, you may not even be able to control it with a noise gate, because the noise gate shut down the sound below a set floor level.

My question would be, is your amp either pointed at a mic, or is pointed directly at a wall (or other hard surface) that is reflecting the sound into a mic?
 
Turning down the gains does indeed help. Overloading the front of the amp with many pedals does it too. I've found that buying a newer model MXR Smart Gate really helped get rid of crap like hiss once I set it up the right way.
 
I only had the gain on 4-5. That's plenty of gain for playing metal on that EVH III mini head.

And different guitars all did it, so it's not a particular guitar. Cab for the amp was up off the floor at one end of the room, pointed to the middle of the room (maybe 20-25 ft. long room). I don't know, I've always had amps feedback on me. I must be doing something wrong :(

I mainly used my Reverend Sensei the other night. I do have the bridge pickup somewhat close to the strings. I may try lowering that a bit. But my other guitars had feedback too, when I used them.
 
If it does it with different than it is something with the amp or the way you position the amp. I don't think a noise gate will help as Stratguy said. Try repositioning the amp and don't face your amp with the guitar, if you are doing that. Pointing the pickups at the amp is a great way to feedback.
 
Roll your guitar volume down. Are you squealing even when playing? If so, microphonic pickup, microphonic tube. If it is when you aren't playing, turn volume knob off. Do you still hear noise? You may have noisy tubes or your gain is too high. Do you use pedals? Turn them off. Is the noise still there? Noisy tubes in the amp.
 
There is an ISP Decimator built into the Waller amp. When I first got it, son was playing, and I'm pushing the button in, and out. I didn't hear a dammed difference. When he stopped, that's when I herd a difference. There was silence, instead of hum/hiss.
 
Bob411 said:
There is an ISP Decimator built into the Waller amp. When I first got it, son was playing, and I'm pushing the button in, and out. I didn't hear a dammed difference. When he stopped, that's when I herd a difference. There was silence, instead of hum/hiss.
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Yeah. If used sparingly, they can be great. I have one on my big board just for the SG Classic.
 
Will noise gates help with single-coil/p-90 hum?

I love my Reverend Stu D. Baker, the p-90s can be noisy though.
 
Jbird said:
Will noise gates help with single-coil/p-90 hum?

I love my Reverend Stu D. Baker, the p-90s can be noisy though.
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The only thing that will help hum from a guitar is shielding. Either copper shield the instrument cavity or use shielding paint within the cavity. Having crappy guitar cables can also contribute to hum. Worst case scenario is hum from your amp due to caps leaking.
 
Modern Saint said:
The only thing that will help hum from a guitar is shielding. Either copper shield the instrument cavity or use shielding paint within the cavity. Having crappy guitar cables can also contribute to hum. Worst case scenario is hum from your amp due to caps leaking.
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Yep. Unfortunately, hum is part of the deal with single coils. That's why Gibson and Gretsch invented humbuckers.
 
Jbird said:
Will noise gates help with single-coil/p-90 hum?

I love my Reverend Stu D. Baker, the p-90s can be noisy though.
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A noise gate will only kill the hum when you aren't playing by killing the whole signal.

I love the way single soils sound but can't stand the buzz. Shielding helps reduce the noise getting to the other electronics but doesn't stop the hum from the pickup.

A few options:
Replace with a stacked/noiseless P90 - some say these don't sound as good
Build and add a dummy coil - does the same thing as the stacked P90 without changing the pickup
EHX Hum Debugger - seems to notch out the 60 cycle frequency. Works as advertised but it does change the sound. I like it clean but not with distortion.
 
Jbird said:
What exactly do they do?
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My understanding is they raise the threshold for the signal coming through the pedal. You set the threshold on the pedal and anything that doesn't meet that "volume" doesn't get sent to the amp.
 
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