Metal players who dont use a noise gate?

[PuckishGuitar]

Adding to the choir of using it to keep an amp silent when not playing and avoid feedback. More of a QoL tool since loud hiss and hum annoy me. Some amps can have a really noisy preamp (looking at you 5150) even with guitar volume rolled back, and a good 4CM gate can tame it.

 

[TheBloodstained]

Ontopic: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think Dimebag used noisegates? I recall seeing videos of him where he has a super noisy rig

Also, I'm with you guys on the ISP Decimator. Haven't used it for guitar though, I used mine for bass because I played with a really distorted bass sound, and it just kept noise and feedback under control without affecting my tone.

 

[Emperoff]

People who don't use noisegates live are absolute savages. No one gives a flying fuck about that fairy dust lost in your tone, but people sure dislike uncontrolled feedback, hiss and noise. It also makes you look very unprofessional.

I use gates even on clean tones live. A gate at minimum settings will still cut any parasitic noise from interferences and bad power and will not affect your tone in the slightest.

A good quality gate like an ISP G-String II will only affect your tone for the better.

 

[NexusMT]

Zakk Wylde doest use noise gates.

 

[StevenC]

I have one of those Meshuggah amps and one of those Meshuggah pedals and they scream, at any volume, any time you're not playing

 

[budda]

People who don't use noisegates live are absolute savages. No one gives a flying fuck about that fairy dust lost in your tone, but people sure dislike uncontrolled feedback, hiss and noise. It also makes you look very unprofessional.

I use gates even on clean tones live. A gate at minimum settings will still cut any parasitic noise from interferences and bad power and will not affect your tone in the slightest.

A good quality gate like an ISP G-String II will only affect your tone for the better.

Want to know what doesnt have extra hiss and hum?

 

[Emperoff]

Want to know what doesnt have extra hiss and hum?

That sounds like a line to sell drugs to kids out of the school. No thanks

 

[budda]

That sounds like a line to sell drugs to kids out of the school. No thanks

Only caffiene and a little alcohol for me

 

[SalsaWood]

Steve Vai doesn't like to use a noise gate.

I can very easily believe that. Same with Dime and Zakk. Those guys are/were bonkers for high harmonics, and gates are very unforgiving to that.

 

[SalsaWood]

People who don't use noisegates live are absolute savages. No one gives a flying fuck about that fairy dust lost in your tone, but people sure dislike uncontrolled feedback, hiss and noise. It also makes you look very unprofessional.

You're right. I will add that feedback has often been used as a form of atmosphere within extreme styles of guitar performance- though still savage. I personally don't care either way from either side of the stage, but I'm not a "serious" musician even if I do strive to be reliable otherwise.

 

[CleansingCarnage]

To be fair, Dime had a human noise gate in the form of a guitar tech backstage who would literally cut his signal by hand on rests, and I'm pretty sure Wylde currently employs the same guy, lol.

 

[Emperoff]

You're right. I will add that feedback has often been used as a form of atmosphere within extreme styles of guitar performance- though still savage. I personally don't care either way from either side of the stage, but I'm not a "serious" musician even if I do strive to be reliable otherwise.

Yep, hence the "controlled" concept (to feedback only when you want it). I personally love to play with feedback live. When both guitars start feedbacking in different pitches and harmonizing, audience really likes it.

If you do the rock & roll classic "get your guitar close to your amp" thing, you will get feedback unless your gate is super tight. In case that happens because the gate is clamping too much, I just hit the solo button to increase volume (or disengage the gate).

All of the above goes to shit when you go straight to FOH, of course. It can be done, but it's A LOT harder.

 

[tedtan]

Dimebag used the Rocktron Hush rackmount noise gate. The guy who designed those is the owner of ISP these days.

 

[sonoftheoldnorth]

Trey Azagthoth doesn't use gates and manually stomps a mute in between songs and quieter sections.

 

[budda]

Everyone forgetting their tuner also cuts signal maybe

 

[Fenriswolf]

A properly set up gate "four cable gate" (like the ISP Decimator line) really shouldn't cut anything you actually want to hear off, only the unwanted hiss/noise/etc.

Even though I don't use a gate anymore, one thing I will add to that, when I was young and broke and tried that, the cheapo dogshit cables will wreck your tone

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Dimebag used the Rocktron Hush rackmount noise gate. The guy who designed those is the owner of ISP these days.

Yeah IDK where this myth came from that he didn't use noise gates. Like literally you google "Dimebag rig" and the first result is a diagram of his rig with a Rocktron Hush lol. He was probably one of the more popular users too.

Also even though Trucci claims he doesn't use gates, he used to use DBX compressors in his rig and those have a built in gate. So I'm wondering if he actually used those, as well as dialing in something similar in his Axe FX?

Trey Azagthoth doesn't use gates and manually stomps a mute in between songs and quieter sections.

Josh Homme did something similar when he was in Kyuss. I think in his case he would switch to the clean channel of whatever amp he was using.

 

[tedtan]

Also even though Trucci claims he doesn't use gates, he used to use DBX compressors in his rig and those have a built in gate. So I'm wondering if he actually used those, as well as dialing in something similar in his Axe FX?

I seem to remember him using a Boss NS-2 at one point, too, though he’s dropped it from his rig over the years.

 

[Screamingdaisy]

I don't use them. I think learning to control your guitar at high volumes is a right of passage.

 

[Werecow]

Yeah IDK where this myth came from that he didn't use noise gates. Like literally you google "Dimebag rig" and the first result is a diagram of his rig with a Rocktron Hush lol. He was probably one of the more popular users too.

I think the myth started because his tech would manually adjust the gate in certain sections of songs, sometimes very rapidly. Sometimes turning it off and on as well. Along with other effects.
This is him doing the same for Zakk