ISP Decimator G-String...Mistake!??!

[mightywarlock]

Well, dang it all...

I think i made a silly mistake.

So over the weekend I sold my ISP Decimator with the thinking I would buy the ISP Decimator G-String, thinking it would not only work the same way, but better, and and also allow going through the effects loop to quiet the amp to silence. (similar to the Boss NS-2).

So i picked it up last night and discovered that NO, it does not work the same way at all!

they are 2 very different pedals indeed!!

with the regular pedal, you go guitar, pedal, amp, if you wish, and it acts like a normal noise gate if you want.

with the G-String however, it has guitar in, guitar out, decimator in, decimator out. However, if you do not want to use the Effects loop, this pedal is useless. It must go through the loop in order for it to actually do anything, and, i found it only worked somewhat ok when doing so. Now, i only used it for 10 minutes or so, but I did notice a very minor change in the tone (i am very tone sensitive to changes).

It can do what it claims, to quiet a noisy hissy amp, but it doesn't seem to react as quick as I would like for the heavy stuff, and would almost seem like you would still need another pedal up front to act as a noise gate...

so...

I think i made a mistake! While it might be great for recording purposes only, while quieting the amp and eliminating all the hiss when you are recording, for general use, and amps that may not have an effects loop, it may not work properly at all!

I also bought one of those Ernie Ball String winder things (the electronic ones), and it did not work at all (plastic piece of &^&%), so I have to go back tonight to the store to return it, but I will have to play with the pedal some more before deciding whether it goes back as well or I keep it. It was very expensive (almost $200!) and I had to spend over $100 more than i sold my other pedal for, so if this is the case, this is a sad sorry lesson to learn if i end up having to go and buy the standard Decimator pedal back all over again!

 

[Larrikin666]

Wow. I was completely unaware. That seems odd. I have the ProrackG, and it works fine if I just want to use it in front of the amp.

 

[Larrikin666]

Wow. I was completely unaware. That seems odd. I have the ProrackG, and it works fine if I just want to use it in front of the amp.

 

[raximkoron]

I have noticed that the G-string pedal doesn't work without the loop included but it's never been an issue for me. I have no experience with the straight decimator pedal but the gate opens and closes without any issue or lag at all. I guess I would try to bridge the loop's in/out with a small patch cable if you didn't want to use the fx loop, or you have one of the very few amps out there that don't include loops. Not sure if bridging it would work, but I guess it was specifically designed to be in the loop as well as up front as that is what makes it different from the standard decimator.

 

[rareform707]

I would try to bridge the loop's in/out with a small patch cable

this!
just use a 6 inch cable or so...it may look kinda goofy arched over but it works

 

[PirateMetalTroy]

I find that my g-string works awesome. Granted I've always run it through the loop, but it's always been really tight gating wise and the cutoff is smooth-ish, even when set absurdly high.

I suppose if you only meant to run it out front with a minimum of cabling then the g-string may have been a mistake, but I love complicated gizmos and such so it suits my tastes just fine.

 

[cycloptopus]

Yeah, when I first tried mine I tried running straight in front and got nothing. It didn't matter to me because I got it so I could run it in the effects loop too. So when all hooked up in front and in the loop no issues. I've never had a problem with the speed of it. It's definitely fast enough. As stated above try the patch cable if you're not gonna run it in the effects loop, or just go back to a regs Decimator

 

[Sepultorture]

glad i read this, after trying a few gates i decided on the Decimator and my practice amp has no FX loop really, so i think i shall gun for the regular Decimator for the practice amp and spring for a Pro Rack G when i get another rig

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

Why not just go guitar to the guitar in, then run the output into the loop in of the G-String? Just run the pedal up front of your amp. I mean...it kind of sucks you dropped the cash on it, but you might want it in the loop at some other point if you get an amp where you'd leave the loop on all the time.

It's a work around if you really don't want to get rid of it, but if you feel no need for the more expensive pedal, then I'd say return it and get another regular Decimator.

 

[Bekanor]

I'll trade you a normal decimator for your g string.

 

[mightywarlock]

I'll trade you a normal decimator for your g string.

sure.



i guess if i decide to buy a 5150, this pedal will come in quite useful eh?

 

[Bekanor]

sure.



i guess if i decide to buy a 5150, this pedal will come in quite useful eh?

So that's a no?

 

[Geoffrey]

So that's a no?

I think so..

 

[Bekanor]

Stool.

 

[PnKnG]

Well, dang it all...

I think i made a silly mistake.

So over the weekend I sold my ISP Decimator with the thinking I would buy the ISP Decimator G-String, thinking it would not only work the same way, but better, and and also allow going through the effects loop to quiet the amp to silence. (similar to the Boss NS-2).

So i picked it up last night and discovered that NO, it does not work the same way at all!

they are 2 very different pedals indeed!!

with the regular pedal, you go guitar, pedal, amp, if you wish, and it acts like a normal noise gate if you want.

with the G-String however, it has guitar in, guitar out, decimator in, decimator out. However, if you do not want to use the Effects loop, this pedal is useless. It must go through the loop in order for it to actually do anything, and, i found it only worked somewhat ok when doing so. Now, i only used it for 10 minutes or so, but I did notice a very minor change in the tone (i am very tone sensitive to changes).

It can do what it claims, to quiet a noisy hissy amp, but it doesn't seem to react as quick as I would like for the heavy stuff, and would almost seem like you would still need another pedal up front to act as a noise gate...

so...

I think i made a mistake! While it might be great for recording purposes only, while quieting the amp and eliminating all the hiss when you are recording, for general use, and amps that may not have an effects loop, it may not work properly at all!

I also bought one of those Ernie Ball String winder things (the electronic ones), and it did not work at all (plastic piece of &^&%), so I have to go back tonight to the store to return it, but I will have to play with the pedal some more before deciding whether it goes back as well or I keep it. It was very expensive (almost $200!) and I had to spend over $100 more than i sold my other pedal for, so if this is the case, this is a sad sorry lesson to learn if i end up having to go and buy the standard Decimator pedal back all over again!

Sounds like the G-String is build like a Boss NS-2 (I never had one so I'm only going after what you said). it has a normal in and out and a loop to put in pedals.
If that how its made than I suggests that you try the X connection method that can be used with a NS-2.

 

[phonix]

I keep reading people say that with a G-string you have to patch the deci in and deci out with a cable to make it work out the front of an amp. This is useless and will achieve nothing. There is no gating circuitry between guitar in and guitar out on the G-string. Going guitar in, then guitar out to amp will not gate anything, deci in and out bridged or not - it's just reading the guitar signal as it passes through.

To make the G-string work out front, you need to run your guitar into guitar in, then patch guitar out to deci in, then deci out to your amp input.

You can also run into an OD first, like a tubescreamer, then into the G-string as described above.

 

[smith10210]

I had the g-string also at one point if you want to use it just up front before the amp and not use the loop you have to run a patch cable in the pedal. I actually called isp and talked to Buck about it and asked him if they might put a switch on the unit so you could use it both ways eliminating the patch cable. The ProRack G doesnt have that problem.

 

[phonix]

I know. That's exactly what I just said. I clarified where the patch cable has to connect though, as people keep saying it wrong.

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

I keep reading people say that with a G-string you have to patch the deci in and deci out with a cable to make it work out the front of an amp. This is useless and will achieve nothing. There is no gating circuitry between guitar in and guitar out on the G-string. Going guitar in, then guitar out to amp will not gate anything, deci in and out bridged or not - it's just reading the guitar signal as it passes through.

To make the G-string work out front, you need to run your guitar into guitar in, then patch guitar out to deci in, then deci out to your amp input.

You can also run into an OD first, like a tubescreamer, then into the G-string as described above.

Way to bump a 10 month old thread to give a solution that was already given:

Why not just go guitar to the guitar in, then run the output into the loop in of the G-String? Just run the pedal up front of your amp. I mean...it kind of sucks you dropped the cash on it, but you might want it in the loop at some other point if you get an amp where you'd leave the loop on all the time.

It's a work around if you really don't want to get rid of it, but if you feel no need for the more expensive pedal, then I'd say return it and get another regular Decimator.

 

[phonix]

There are 2 posts before yours saying to do the wrong thing:

I have noticed that the G-string pedal doesn't work without the loop included but it's never been an issue for me. I have no experience with the straight decimator pedal but the gate opens and closes without any issue or lag at all. I guess I would try to bridge the loop's in/out with a small patch cable if you didn't want to use the fx loop, or you have one of the very few amps out there that don't include loops. Not sure if bridging it would work, but I guess it was specifically designed to be in the loop as well as up front as that is what makes it different from the standard decimator.

and directly after that post, this one

this!
just use a 6 inch cable or so...it may look kinda goofy arched over but it works

Other threads have the same misinformation. Your post kind of just looks like a random opinion like the others, I wanted to make it clear.
I only got one of these pedals a couple of days ago and was looking to see how to get it to work (no manual) and saw multiple posts saying connect deci in to deci out with a patch cable. I did add new info the the thread by saying there was no gating circuitry between guitar in & guitar out.

I was just trying to help others.