In REDUCTION mode, the NS-2 will suppress unwanted noise, as determined by the Threshold. To activate Reduction mode, simply select it via the Mode Selector and press the pedal ON. In MUTE mode, the NS-2 will MUTE your sound completely once the pedal is switched on – like a kill switch, giving you dead silence.
In addition to its five effects categories, the Katana also has a built-in noise suppressor. This can be helpful to tame background noise with high-gain sounds. It can only be adjusted with BOSS Tone Studio; there are no controls available from the amp's panel.
Both types of silencers reduce noise by allowing the rapidly expanding gases from the firing of the cartridge to be decelerated and cooled through a series of hollow chambers. The trapped gas exits the suppressor over a longer period of time and at a greatly reduced speed, producing less noise signature.
You can reduce the input noise by adding a noise gate before the pedal chain, but this will not prevent noise added by the signal chain itself - however, simply adding another gate at the end of the chain would come with its own problems. Varying combinations of effect pedal will produce different amounts of noise.
As we know by now, a noise gate pedal is used to attenuate the hiss or hum that is a byproduct of high gain, noisy pickups, or anything similar. So if you hook up a brand new noise gate pedal to your setup, and it does nothing for your tone, maybe it's not the pedal that's the problem.
A noise gate or gate is an electronic device or software that is used to control the volume of an audio signal. Comparable to a compressor, which attenuates signals above a threshold, such as loud attacks from the start of musical notes, noise gates attenuate signals that register below the threshold.
How-to Use a Noise Gate in 8 Steps
- Step 1: Patch your gate inline. Patch inline.
- Step 2: Set Everything at Minimum and Threshold at Maximum.
- Step 3: Slowly Lower the Threshold.
- Step 4: Find your Sound.
- Step 5: Set the Attack.
- Step 6: Set the Hold.
- Step 7: Set the Release.
- Step 8: Adjust the Floor.
The 10 Best Noise Gate Pedals:
- Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor Pedal.
- TC Electronic Sentry Noise Gate Guitar Pedal.
- EHX Silencer Noise Gate Guitar Pedal.
- MXR M-135 Smart Gate Guitar Pedal.
- Electro-Harmonix XO Hum Debugger Guitar Pedal.
- Mooer Noise Killer Micro Noise Gate Pedal.
- Donner Noise Killer Pedal.
So if the most of your noise comes from the amp's distortion channel, a gate should sit first in the fx loop. If the main source of noise is a distortion pedal, it should go immediately after that pedal. Compressors and overdrives are usually run in front of the amp, with delay, reverb etc in the fx loop.
The hum in humbucker pickups should be very lighter than that in single coils, but it would still exist. This is due to the electric potential difference between the components (guitar, jack, amp) and the fact that the opposite windings of copper in the humbucker pickup do not completely cancel each other.
A noise gate is used to remove or at least limit background and extraneous noise from an audio signal chain. Put simply, it ensures that sound that falls beneath a defined volume is removed or 'gated' and not permitted to pass. A threshold is set above the level of the 'noise' to clean up an electric guitar signal.
An EQ pedal can be very useful. Boost the highs, boost the lows, boost the mids, cut certain frequencies, all at the push of a footswitch. A great way to change your overall sound in an instant. And then you can go right back just as fast.
Just put the EQ pedal before your amp and/or drive pedals and lower or raise the gain as necessary! No matter what your use for the pedal is, the bottom line is that it can help you find a much more unique voice than your amp can on its own. It's one of the most beneficial tools in tone that we almost never use.
Because a compressor compresses the entire signal, it's not recommended to place one after a boost, overdrive or distortion/fuzz pedal as those pedals often generate noise that will be boosted by a compressor along with the guitar's signal.
To get maximum boost to your guitar tone with a tube screamer you want to get the pedals in the right order with the correct settings. Now, this is personal preference but you cannot go wrong by having the tube screamer last in the chain (before the noise gate), and having the overdrive setting set to almost zero.
For general use, the delay should go before reverb. But, in some case, people try both ways and get the best sound. Therefore, the ears will decide the method to use delay or reverb. Usually when your delays aren't being modulated, then it doesn't make much of a difference which order they go in.
Octave and pitch effects are most commonly placed at the front of your chain (after tuners & volume pedals), with a clean signal going into it. This ensures the cleanest input signal, which means the note can be easily tracked.
If you're a bass player, you should place your preamp near the start of the chain. Mine comes right after the compressor. Preamp pedals are often equipped with multiple outputs for sending a clean bass signal to a PA, and provide a great tonal platform to build upon.
The Best EQ Pedals
- Danelectro Fish & Chips. Let's start off with our "Best Budget Pick" the Danelectro DJ-14 Fish & Chips.
- MXR M108S Ten Band EQ. Our "Best Bang for the Buck" choice goes to the MXR M108S Ten Band EQ.
- EarthQuaker Devices Tone Job.
- Boss GE-7 7-Band Graphic EQ.
- Source Audio SA170 Programmable EQ.
Another filter you can use to remove background noise in OBS is Noise Gate. This filter is a bit different than the previous one. It acts like real gates and doesn't let any signal to pass if the volume of a signal drops below a certain threshold level. The threshold determines which sounds get in and which don't.
Hard gate is a sorta of switch; when it's on, nothing pass the gate, so you hear nothing, no noise, no guitar. This is handy when you stop your string and don't want to hear buzzing sound. When the gate is open, any sound will pass, so it won't reduce any noise at all. Quote.
An effects loop is an input/output that allows you to place effects between the pre-amp section of the guitar - where it gets its tone and the power section of the amplifier - where it amplifies the sound. This means that your pre-amp can go anywhere in the signal chain rather than having to be the last stop.
Connect a Decimator pedal between your guitar and amp's input and another in your effects loop, and you can link the two via 1/8" cable allowing both pedals directly track your input signal. For the ultimate in electric guitar noise reduction, put an ISP Decimator II in your signal chain.
Why Do I Need a Guitar Pedal? Simply put, guitar effects are used to make your tone sound better than they would with just a guitar and amp, or are used to create interesting tonal textures. Some effects are more widely used or essential than others.
