ISP Decimator problems

[lemongrenades]

So, I'm using a decimator noise gate with my set up. I'm having trouble figuring out how it works. It's one knob, I know. Buy anywhere below 12 I get noise ( buzzing and feedback and at about 12 the sound just cuts out totally, (can't play a note). There is no middle ground. Anyhow, could there be something wrong with the pedal I have or should it be hooked up in the effects loop or something. Any help on this would totallt be apprciated. I don't want to send it back quite yet.
I use
J bass or SG bass
Terror 500> tuner>
Boss compressor CS-2>
Rusty Box>
Whiteface Rat>
boss oc-2 octave>
ISP Decimator

Maybe it should be somewhere else in the chain? But that doesnt explain the problems.
I should just use the Rusty into the head and call it a day.

 

[Dan Bozek]

Well, I don’t use the Decimator pedal, but I have a Boss noise reduction pedal on my board in case I’m in a less than ideal situation where I’m getting hash from lights when using a single coiled instrument.

If I was going to set up your pedals I would go:

Bass -> tuner -> Decimator -> compressor -> octave (I’d think it would track better before crunching things up with the drive pedals) -> Rusty and Rat.

 

[BassMonstrum]

I also have the Decimator and have no problems with it. My chain is: bass - tuner - octave - filter - fuzz - comp - preamp - decimator.

It's set at around 12:00 and works fine for me.

 

[alec]

I'd put it after the dirt and before the comp.

 

[CharlesNGreggo]

Well, I don’t use the Decimator pedal, but I have a Boss noise reduction pedal on my board in case I’m in a less than ideal situation where I’m getting hash from lights when using a single coiled instrument.

If I was going to set up your pedals I would go:

Bass -> tuner -> Decimator -> compressor -> octave (I’d think it would track better before crunching things up with the drive pedals) -> Rusty and Rat.

That is a PERFECT setup!

 

[jasonmitsch]

Power supply?

 

[rratajski]

When I ran it with my Casady to squelch the noise it produced w/ the Grey Stache (or other muffs), I ran it after my tuner to mute noise feeding into my chain. Give it a try post-tuner and see if that works.

 

[bassgiant15]

I run mine after my di pedal at the end of my chain. After my comp and dirt.

 

[icecycle66]

I had the same problem with my Decimator.
your noise floor is probably too close to your playing level.

I exchanged my Decimator for a Gstring.
The Gstring works exactly how you are expecting the Decimator to work.

 

[CharlesNGreggo]

Is it better to get a Decimator or George L's?

 

[bongomania]

Huh? One is a noise gate and the other is a cable.

Which is better to get, a book or a hot dog?

 

[lowfreq33]

Huh? One is a noise gate and the other is a cable.

Which is better to get, a book or a hot dog?

Gotta go with the hot dog on that one.

 

[CharlesNGreggo]

Hahaha!! Mustard, ketchup & cheese on mine! Lol!

No, what my question is, The Decimator gets rid of hiss & hum. But so do George L's. Is one way better than the other? My guess would be that filling your board with high quality cables is the "proper but expensive" route, and the Decimator would be the "cheaper, quick & easy" option. I would love to know the deal on the this before I start blowing all kinds of dough. Thanks in advance!

And does anyone call Hot Dogs "Frankfurters" anymore?

 

[bongomania]

George L's do NOT do anything about hiss or hum.

 

[bongomania]

To clarify, a really bad-quality or partly broken cable can have noise problems, and that is solved by repairing them or replacing them with any halfway decent cable. And some cables are better than others at shielding against noise picked up along the cable itself, e.g. from appliances or power lines nearby. But even the best of them do not cut out noise or hum.

 

[CharlesNGreggo]

Wow! I did not know that. So is the answer: Buy quality cables, install a Decimator or G-String, and stay away from appliances?

 

[bongomania]

Well, here's where I will go out of strict fact and into personal opinion:

The best approach IMO is to block noise from entering your signal path, and not add any pieces that introduce noise. So for example fully shielding and grounding your bass is job #1; and not using any especially noisy pedals is job #2. After that, choosing a cable that happens to have better-than-average shielding is a good idea, though (a) it will not make a night-and-day difference in most cases, and (b) there's no real easy way to identify which cables have better shielding. Avoiding large appliances, fluorescent lamps, dimmer switches, breaker panels, and other major sources of EMF is also a good idea when possible.

I almost never recommend using a noise gate. The only case I can think of where it makes good sense is in the case of a metal player with a really high-gain amp and high-gain distortion fx, because they need all that gain for their desired tone, and noise for them is just an unavoidable part of getting that tone.

If shielding the bass just doesn't do a good-enough job of cutting the noise, and if your bass has single-coil pickups, you can try the EHX Hum Debugger. Some people say it works well for that situation.

In my sig there's a link to cable reviews, worth checking out since I mention how each of the ones I tested handles noise. Again though, none are really noise eliminators.