NOISE GATE- STONE DEAF Noise Reaper ...you THINK you don't need a gate until you have one!!!!

 STONE DEAF NOISE REAPER 

$200.00 USD

My first noise gate was a Caline cheapy for the Heavy Metal thing of 'Stops'

A thing where you put a rest in your tune going from full volume at high gain and therefore maximum loud ...to dead quiet. 

The problem with gates used on something with just regular noise is they were in the past so sensitive they would chop your note right off before it naturally faded away or even more annoying would turn on and off

creating a 'stutter' off on ...off on ...off ...on.

We now have 'Smart Gates'. This is how they work. They have a normal in and out that has a circuit that will not let the gate work as long as it can detect a signal from your guitar. There are 2 more jacks in the pedal that allow you to create a loop with 

the noisy pedal or pedals in it to cut off the 

noise of your dirt pedals once the normal in 

out gives them the go ahead.

I use a Boss ES-5 switcher to switch 4 loops. Each loop has a group of pedals that are put together to work as if they are actually 4 small single boards. In short I can switch between boards. In practical use I take these 'small boards' and put 70 pedals placed on 2 boards linked together as one with 35 pedals on each. 

This allows me to use my 4 faux boards with a different 'board' on each part of a song. The intro, verse, chorus, middle 8, coda etc. can have drastically different sounds. I use 4 smart gates. Between tunes I turn off pedals I do not need and choose ones I need for the next tune. 

Yes there are both all in one boxes and with both programing and using MIDI you can do all this and more. Even my switcher allows for grouping loops together and having endless banks of different setups. These I do NOT do use. BECAUSE! Keep in mind these things ARE computers. In use they are complex to program and in spite of hundreds of choices they do not sound as good as analog pedals with choices from hundreds of makers. If your programing gets scrambled or the whole multi unit dies you are F__KED!!! Update with pedals is both simple and a couple of hundred dollars ...NOT a couple of thousand! Better still many pedals like a Tube Screamer never NEED to be replaced. Add to that they have a short learning curve and are more fun.

OTHER BRANDS

I have tried them all!!!

I have owned the coveted ISP

So what's the BEST???

The Stone Deaf...works equal to or better and only has one knob!!!

I have 2 SMG Cock Blockers which are as good and also use one knob but were a limited edition and are no longer available. 

I use 2 TC Electronic Sentry gates that at $130.00 USD that are a reasonable alternative they use 3 knobs to set it up which I find is NOT better and is a bit annoying.

The very best single end gates can get you by reasonably well but only the ISP is good enough. BIG BUT! Any patents have long since terminated so Mooer does an ISP in a mini pedal. It gets even better. Mooer do rebrands where they put a distributor's name on a Mooer pedal. You can buy the SAME pedal at less than half price branded as a Rowin for about $35.00 USD.