I run through a JCM800 with the clean channel (there is no distortion channel on it) and I have a Metal Muff distortion pedal. I have a Schecter C-1 Elite with DiMarzio Tone Zone pickups. Right now I just turn the volume nob all the way down when I'm not playing to get rid of all the disgusting hum.

But I'm torn between these three products:


ISP Decimator

Boss NS2

MXR Smart-Gate

I haven't tried any of them yet, so I am very eager to hear your feedback and not my guitar's.

you might be interested in this:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ArminSZ
a/b boss vs isp

his conclusion is that the boss is less noisy and less invasive, but it sucks more tone.

the gate on the isp is markedly tighter and there's no decay setting, so it's something to consider based on what you need it for. also the boss can be used to chain other pedals and has the loop option.

i've never tried the mxr, so can't comment. the best gate i've tried is the rocktron hush, but it was in a rack not the pedal version.

i have the boss myself. it's good for stopping pickup noise and pedal noise, but it doesn't work for stopping amp noise because of the levels it's set up for. so if you need something to kill the amp noise, you'd be better off with a rack i think.

noise goes away when you put the pedals in the fx loop. they're designed for higher line current, not low instrument current... like racks.

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^ that doesn't work on mine. if you do use it like that tho, do you need one out front as well for the guitar and pedals, or just in amp's loop?

just in the loop. BUT the loop MUST be a series loop.

guitar (noise) --> pedals (more noise) --> preamp gain (more noise) --> loop (kills noise) --> poweramp --> speakers

Mind you, you could do both if you REALLY needed it, but thats just more tone suck. I think Rob Zombie's old guitarist did this so he could get from insane gain from a plexiglass hollow body guitar full of blood (that would probably feed back like a mother fucker after he drank it/spilled it), and play a note and mute it to have perfect silence instantly

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LOL there's really no audible difference between the ISP and Boss. I've ran my amp with 3 pedals in the loop(including the boss) and with nothing in it at all and it sounds exactly the same.

Boss all the way, you simply need that decay knob if you don't want abrupt signal cuts.

If you want possibly the best noisegate then get the rack ISP, but for pedals there's nothing better than the NS2 atm.

To improve noise reduction you should also get your guitar's electronics cavity insulated.

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^http://img176.imagevenue.com/img.ph...s_122_219lo.jpg

I think you'd probably be happy with either the ISP or the Boss, I have the ISP and whislt its good at what it does it can be slightly too abrupt. Theres no tone loss though at all. Buy whichever you can get cheaper. I'd also recommend getting some copper cavity insulation in your guitar. Your equipment is good quality so something isn't quite right if its making that much noise - maybe the wiring isn't so good?

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Boss NS-2 all the way.

Mind you I've also owned the ISP Decimator Pedal and ProRack G. The Rocktron HUSH pedal, HUSH SuperC rack unit, and several Rocktron fx units that have built in HUSH's.

The NS-2 is the best IMO. No audible "tone sucking" as some wish to say. The fx loop on the NS-2 is awesome for keeping my pedalboard quiet.

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You know what would make the NS2 even better, if you could turn its FX loop on and off like a bypass pedal so you could bypass the chain of effects when you're not using them, and keep several effects on and ready to use so all you have to do is tap the NS2 to get all the fx at once.

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