Noise Gate?

Hi everybody,
I'm new here in the forum and I'm asking for a good advice.
I bought the GM Deluxe40 2 years ago and I have been very happy with it for a whole year, then I started buying pedals and pedals and pedals.
I've reached quota 8 pedals and I would like to add 2-3 more.
Among these pedals there is the ISP decimator G string2 to have full control of the distortion. Do you think this will be a good idea?
I don't feel that a "global gate" is enough for my taste so I would like to take the Gstring2 and cut every single damn noise out of the rig and if I want to cut even more (like in a djent style) I use the integrated gate.
Is it a stupid idea or does it make sense?
I've also got the Precision Drive from Horizon Devices but IMHO it cuts too many bass freq if I use a guitar in Standard E. Also I think that my cab is lacking some bass but I love it since is lightweight (It's the DV Mark Neoclassic 2x12)

What would you do to control the gain in a proper way?

PS I've got a compressor that pumps up the gain a bit and is hard to control with the integrated gate.

Thanks for the future replies and have a nice day!
cheers!

I'm afraid I couldn't say DrS, I'm more of a "simplicity is God" type of player. I don't ever use more than one or two cheap or self designed pedals in my rig, and that rig is actually based around a Marshall nowadays as I only play real classic rock, (60s/70s when it was at its peak ). My own H&K GM36 just gets used as it is at home without needing any pedals at all. Hopefully someone else will chime in to chat to you while you both drool over your respective overstocked pedalboards.




(note, that really was a friendly bit of joshing not a criticism! )

I use the ISP G String in my rig (and have used one for like 10+ years). Love the simplicity and effectiveness of it. I agree, the on board gate is functional but seems to affect the tone a little too much. In general, the best way to use this pedal is as follows:

Guitar--->ISP--->pedals (everything in front of the amp)--->Amp input--->FX send--->ISP--->pedals (everything in the loop)--->FX return.

Without playing, turn the amp on channel 4 and adjust the ISP until the background noise disappears. I found that it works with the knob at noon or just slightly before. Test the same thing with the the amp on channel 1 with your noisiest gain pedal on.

Works like a charm.

I absolutely love the ISP Decimator G string and used one for a long time with my Kemper and other amp heads.  Once I got the GM40, I found that I did not need it since its noise gate is very good.  I also only run one OD pedal that can add noise, so I seem to be in a different situation from you.  When you are using a compressor and OD pedals a lot, the ISP is a great asset.  I would leave that running at all times and not use the onboard gate.  I've never had any problems with the ISP sucking tone or getting the way once it is set up correctly.

I've been seeing the Fortin Zuul getting some love from other guitarist on Youtube. If you have a stereo out pedal trigger the key indicator input. The Tc electronics Sentry looks pretty interesting since it allows you to adjust the pedals parameters from a PC editor.

Only because my previous main amplifier was a Mesa Boogie Lonestar Special, where I used the excellent clean channel to support a number of pedals via a Boss ES-8, I have a variety of pedals to support the sounds I need.

It has to be said though since moving to the GM40D I find that the dirt pedals once blisteringly good (wampler, xotic) are not working as well in with the H&K.

I have an ISP Decimator II which largely is in the input to the amplifier at the end of the chain of pedals, I really don't play too much "high gain" metal and find that in my more Dire Straits orientated rock/ Steely Dan/ Traditional sounds that the ISP clips the signal too much for me, even when dialed back to the point of extinction.

My ES-8 controls 6 dirt pedals directly connected into the H&K and two Eventide H9's that are connected through the GM40D effects loop.

ES8 connected via 4 cable method, this allows me to choose which effects go where in the chain, which effects are in the loop, the order they are in and whether they appear in the effects loop.

Guitar IN -> BOSS ES-8 direct chain to front of amp (xotic EP, wampler tweed 57, exotic BB, wampler plexi, simble, wampler purple velvet)/ in channel 7 and 8 connected via stereo i have the H9s) these are in the effects loop and control all time-based effects.

At the output of the ES-8 I have the XOTIC SP compressor, fed into the ISP decimator, the ISP then feeds the amplifier input. I decided not to use the SP in patch as I found early days that invariably I had the compressor on. It therefore was a wasted loop and was better placed such that it would free up a loop.

Of course I use the ES-8 not only as a switcher but as a midi board that controls the GM40D, pulling up presets, selecting Boost etc.

I really don't think the GM40 takes the pedals as well as the Mesa, so I am kind of in transition finding presets to take place of the pedals. Perhaps i am overloading the amplifier too much and need to dial back to outputs of say the wampler purple velvet. I have a lot of tinkering to do before i decide to sell on my pedal collection.
Hard when you are so heavily invested in tech just to take them off the board.

I went pedals as a few years ago multi effects were hopeless for me, sound wise and actual use in practice.

(to explain, as well as original material i need to call upon a wide variety of sounds for various covers the band does, from Steely Dan, to Souixsie and the Banshees, from Joe Jackson to The Cure as well as a host of traditional rock classics.) I wanted a simple way to call up sounds without tap dancing.

I've posted this before but it still could be reviewed and considered as it may be relevant to your current situations.  It is important to understand how the GM36/40 have their inputs set up to get the best of any gain (boost/overdrive/distortion) pedal.  This makes them respond to input signals in a more sensitive way to "normal" amps.

There is a clipping overdrive/distortion mechanism built into the input buffer stage and it is significant in its effect on tone.  You can't turn it off, there is no need to do so.  It is present in every setup the amp has and is only affected by the Boost setting which increases its effect when turned on.  People bleat at the fact that they can't remove it but you just need to understand it and have the confidence to work it as it should be then you may find your amp opens up to you even more.  It never interferes with your ability to get any tone the amp can produce and it does the job of buffering the guitar perfectly as well.  The buffer is a perfectly clean opamp stage which gives the guitar a solid input impedance and amplifies the input signal by just over 3x to the point where the valve stages can be heavily overdriven to help enable them to give higher gain sounds.  At low levels it has absolutely no effect on the signal at all.  No crap about "tonesuck" please, it doesn't exist in this context.

The mechanism is an assymetric clipping circuit around that opamp, (assymetric = different on +ve and -ve sides of the signal).  It comprises of four 3V9 zener diodes in the opamp's feedback loop, 3 in one direction with the fourth in reverse.  This means the diodes will turn on and clip at about 3x0.6V + 3.9V = 5.7V in one direction and 3x3.9V + 0.6V = 12.3V in the other.  It responds only to one thing, the level of your input signal from either the guitar or whichever pedal is the last in line before it.  This puts the onus on you to control that signal level to the point where you get the tone you are looking for and you must do that with the volume control of your guitar or the output level control of the last pedal.  It's a real adult's distortion mechanism right under your finger and I like to look on it as a free distortion pedal built into the amp!

At low levels of guitar/pedal signal it is completely out of circuit.  You can increase the Gain/Volume of the amp to compensate, there is plenty to spare.  That way you are getting only the effect of the amp's valve stages in terms of distortion.

If you increase the input level to a certain point the clipping on one side of the signal kicks in and you get sweetened classic valve overdrive type sounds.  At this level clipping is very gradual as there are the 4 diodes creating it which smooths out the rounding off of the signal.

At a slightly higher level this mechanism clips its side more but you also get the other side of the signal clipped too at a sharper rate.

With the Boost engaged the input signal is amplified more by this stage with a trimmed frequency response which drives this mechanism harder by a factor of about 2x so distortion becomes more extreme.

Try this experiment.  Plug your guitar into the amp directly with no pedals.  Turn the volume down very low on the guitar and set up the amp on the Clean channel with whatever volume you like.  The input stage is totally clean and tone is coming from the later valve stages.  Play with the Gain and set it up for whatever level of amp distortion you like as things stand.  Once you are familiar with the sounds you can create with that level of signal, keep the amp on Clean with Gain back down and turn your guitar up until you detect the input distortion kicking in.  Again play with the amp's Gain control to see what tones you can get.  I find this input type a good basis for Crunch tones.  Finally, still on the Clean channel, turn the guitar up full and again play with the Gain control.  With low amp gain you have only the input stage producing distortion so you can hear what it is contributing.

A large amount of complaints of harsh or confused distortion tones in the GMs are caused by too much of a "pedals + input stage + valve stages + output stages" full on approach.  You need to concentrate on one of those mechanisms and blend in the others sparingly if at all.  With too much from all of them you will just confuse the whole sound and make it very strident.  Of course you may like that but it doesn't sound as though that is really the case.  Understanding this is the approach you should take in finding your distortion tones.  It relies on you getting the level right at the input socket.  Too often I find myself unaware of the fact that I am playing full on from my guitar and unsuccessfully trying to dial what I want in on the amp.  Once I trim back the input signal it clears up and I can then get the amp settings right.  The same thing applies with your pedals and their signal level into the amp I suspect.

I really do find there is too much choice nowadays and it makes us suffer from that modern FOMO phenomenon.  If we aren't careful it can make us "pedal collectors" in an unhealthy way as it can confuse the Hell out of us when we try to use them to get what we want.  I now strictly restrict my pedal board to only a tuner, a Sliderig compressor used only for slide work, a classic Wah which is rarely used at all and a single overdrive distortion pedal chosen from either a Blackstar HT Dual (current choice) or a Marshall Bluesbreaker or my own corrected Okko Diablo type dual SRPP configuration circuit.  With both of the amps I use, GM36 at home or JVM205H for gigging, this gives me every tone I can want and more, and distortion ranges from none to dirtier than I would ever use for my music with no overcluttered effect at all.

I'll add a different point here too if I may just for reference. The Noise Gate in the GM40D is a very clever device and works in a much more advanced way than any pedal could. A pedal can only detect the noise in the signal at the point in the chain at which it is inserted. The GM40D design detects and analyses the signal at two points in the chain, directly at the input and after the preamp before the Effects Loop. It takes a much more "enlightened" view of your requirements re noise. Of course it does not offer the same degree of control as a pedal would but with the Intelligent Dual Breakpoint technology (H&K trademarked ) it works pretty well.