Do you use noise gate?

[MrPowers]

More people need to learn to do this...it's really not that difficult.

See thats what I always thought. To me it seems like in most cases a noise gate wouldn't be necessary at all if people were willing to do it themselves and learn the technique. And I think it would help the tone too.

 

[JohnnyCNote]

I have a Decimator G String that's really nice. I have 2 large Peavey heads and always use a distortion/fuzz pedal and have a pre-amp in my guitars, so that can generate a lot of undesirable noise. However, I have yet to try it with both 160 watt heads dimed out, mostly due to a lack of space. Things are changing in that department, so stay tuned.

For years I muted the unused strings and have myself trained to immediately turn down the volume knob when I stop playing, and to not turn on a distortion/fuzz effect until I'm ready to play. That being said, the Decimator really helps clean up what the other practices don't . . .

 

[GuitaristOfHell]

I just turn my volume knob down
I run a Boss GT8 into Peavey Bandit into a Hughes and Kettner 4x12.

I pretty much only use the TS-9 as far as boosting goes and I use my pinky to just roll it down or up.

 

[noUser01]

Read the first sentence of my post

I'm not saying you personally need one, I'm saying if you're going to buy one, use it for studio and live, if you've got it.

 

[T-e-r-r-y]

For the rock gig I used to do I played straight into a Laney GH50L, using a strat and no gating at all. It was pure bliss!
All the magic was contained in the guitar's volume control - it's tricky at first but it's definitely a really musical and fun way to play.

Having said that, I do use an ISP G-string with my current band as we're going for a very clinical sound. Depends on what kind of thing you're going for IMO.

 

[iRaiseTheDead]

If you've got a tube amp and you crank it, you need one unless you want that 100% tone XD

 

[JohnnyCNote]

I prefer to leave my volume control all the way up and vary the tone by either switching pickups or distortion/fuzz pedals. I typically use one for rhythm and the other for lead stuff. I also tend to prefer the bridge pickup for wah pedal.

Of course, there is not right way to do it. If it sounds good, then it's right . . .

 

[MrPowers]

Of course, there is not right way to do it. If it sounds good, then it's right . . .

So very true!

 

[7JxN7]

I use a ISP in combination with a Keeley 4 knob compressor. I lose a little "rawness" to my tone, but it keeps my ENGL quiet while having awesome sustain.

 

[pero]

See thats what I always thought. To me it seems like in most cases a noise gate wouldn't be necessary at all if people were willing to do it themselves and learn the technique. And I think it would help the tone too.

it also helps knowing how to setup your amp, using reasonable amounts of gain and not turning your volume knob up to 11 will do wonders for your sound

( I never turn my volume past 3 )

 

[Harry]

Interesting that barely anyone brought up the topic of particular pickups.
I'm using Blackouts, which cancel out more noise and hum compared to passives.
As long as I turn the Tube Screamer off at appropriate times, I pretty much never run into issues with feedback and excess noise.

I don't really switch amp channels, I pretty much just turn off the TS and roll down the volume knob on the guitar for a cleaner sound/different dynamics.
I also like to deliberately coax controlled feedback from the amp (that sustaining harmonic thing) at times too, and it's just easier if I don't have to switch on and off a pedal to do those things.

 

[jordanky]

In my band, I play an AC30 pretty much cranked and I don't and never will use a gate. All of my guitars that I play in that band have single coils or P90's and I love my tone! As it's been said a thousand times here, it's nothing that my volume knob can't fix.

 

[metalguy_hk]

I am a metal player, I didn't use separate noise gate since my amptweaker tight metal has a noise gate function, if I switch the noise gate off, there is slightly noise only, so far it's enough for me although the build in noise gate function from tight metal can only cut the noise slightly. When I use Dime distortion with the same gears, my amp is pretty quiet without using any noise gate

 

[Soubi7string]

I play death metal, so high gain amp means yes.
I run a Boss NS-50