NOISE GATE- REVV G8 Gate ... simply the best!

 REVV|G8 NOISE GATE 

$200.00 USD  

I use 5 gates. If set carefully all do a very good job. None do a hard gate where the second you stop playing everything shuts off. A hard gate is not needed for the kind of noise you get from Fuzz or OD or you just want to clean up PU hum. It is perfect for Modern Metal styles like Djent or a lot of chugging or anything where you want super tight 'stops' The rule of thumb is the less noise you want to remove at one time the better. That's why I use 5 gates so I can isolate very noisy pedals on one gate, medium noisy pedals on another and even small budget gate to grab the noise from the PU's before they even get to another gate.

CONCLUSION

There is nothing new going on with the G8. However it makes sure to cover all the bases and do as well or better than all others. It is priced the same as any of it's best competition. Gate pedal quality should never to compromise on. Get the best or don't get one. You do 

not want to trade the headache of a lot of noise for a gate 

with limited response.

HOW A GATE WORKS

If you play your guitar thru an amp, even clean, a dB meter might say you are putting out a factor of 10 while you are playing but when you stop playing the hum puts out a factor of 1. The gate simply gets set to turn off your guitar signal at a factor of 1, and turn it back on if the signal coming in is louder than 1. The noise is not removed when you are playing it is simply drowned out.

In a hard gate mode it is designed so if you stop playing it shuts off your whole signal instantly as complete as if you cut your cord were cut in two.

A smart gate, which mode it also has, will never start to gate as long as the clean signal going in is still ringing. 

Furthermore if you have the gate set to at a factor of 1 your sound will start fading the volume at a factor of 2 so the notes do not get hard gated at a factor of 1 but just have a natural fade to off before it gets there.

You can use the gate knob to deliberately kick in the gate just a tad early. Doing this tightens the sound between ever chord change and sounds killer. Even with good palm muting moving your palm at high gain still gets amplified. Especially when you move your palm at high gain and fast tempos to leap over a string or 2 for high riff from a low power chord. The gate can take most of that out.

All these tricks of using a gate are used on recording so if some clever ass Star boasts they don't use one then see them live. They may sound hot on record but live without a band drowning out their sloppy playing you would cringe. Their sound is actually total sh@t.

My 4 main gates are 2  SMG Cock Blockers that are killer but were limited edition and no longer available. I also have 2 TC Electronic Sentry gates that are quite effective but are not transparent like the REVV G8. I wanted to replace one of the Sentry with something as good or better than my SMG's. I also have the Boss NS2. I think I will sell the Boss and one Sentry to offset the expense of the REVV. 

It is the only gate that addresses both seamless lower noise gating and hard gating and at the same time never colors your original signal. I bit a big bullet and am going to have the luxury of owning one.

HANDS ON

I have had it for a couple of days. It really earns it's keep when used with stupid levels of gain. You can push Metal pedals so hard they would be totally unusable without it.  

I prefer My 2  SMB Cock Blocker gates with just a single knob on a lot of noisy Fuzz pedals and any average gain pedals. They are beyond easy to set up for average noise situations. But for serious Metal needs this is not just the right one but a priority pedal to own. Finally the pedal makes your sound bigger clearer and gives it a near 3 dimensional vibe. It is like the difference between looking thru a dirty window or looking thru an open window. 

 

A FEW NEW BUTS 

October 2023  and I have second thoughts that are not about sonics but practical application. First some info about a runner up. 

In second place the winner would be ISP Decimator II G-String at $235.00 USD. It sounds very clean though slightly colored but it has a wide breadth to the sound . In other words it sounds good I would not hesitate to use it. I feel my SMG's are very much clones of it both having one knob. 

Recently  DEMONfx has made a clone, the Filtation 2 G-String, lol. At $50.00 USD. Without any damning reviews about its performance I am very tempted to get one. 

As dead laser accurate as the REVV is it is not user friendly in dialing in the right setting. In fact it is bit of a pain. For many they can set and forget in which case it is perfection loveliness. BUT ... if you need to change because of constant variation caused by different choices of dirt pedals or stacking it is on some days torture.