# Noise gate through the effects loop.



## Andrew (Dec 24, 2007)

recommend it? don't recommend it? why? 
i have an mxr smart gate. it works alright in front of the amp, but theres still a lot of fuzz when it's cranked. [dual rec]


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## newamerikangospel (Dec 24, 2007)

If you run it before the amp, you kill guitar/pedal hum. Run it in the effects loops and you kill all hum minus 60cycle (comes through the power tubes).


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## Andrew (Dec 24, 2007)

explain 60 cycle?


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## stuh84 (Dec 24, 2007)

60 cycle hum. In the US, voltage alternates 60 times a second (hence the term alternating current). Anything with takes power from the mains can be susceptible to it, even single coil guitars can be affected due to not having anything to cancel it out (like humbuckers).


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## ShawnFjellstad (Dec 24, 2007)

any way to get rid of 60 cycle?


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## Andrew (Dec 24, 2007)

so in that case? would it be best to run through the loop?


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## ibznorange (Dec 24, 2007)

ShawnFjellstad said:


> any way to get rid of 60 cycle?



humbuckers. thats the point of humbuckers lol, get rid of 50/60 cycle hum


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## ibznorange (Dec 24, 2007)

Andrew said:


> so in that case? would it be best to run through the loop?



if youve got alot of hum, run it in the fx loop, after all your fx. 

the ipc decimator pro racks, are actually 2 gates, one for your guitar in and out to the preamp, and one in after your fx and out to your loop return.

the thing with running it in your fx loop, you need a serial fx loop. if its parallel, the noise from your pre will still get to the power amp


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## Andrew (Dec 24, 2007)

sorry, im a pretty big newb here. serial fx loop? :|


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## ibznorange (Dec 24, 2007)

its ok man, you gotta start somewhere. this is a good forum to learn on. typically, people are pretty damn chill here about nooby questions and shit. nothing to worry about

anyways, serial vs parallel fx loops. 
if you have an fx loop in your amp, its either serial or parallel. 
you have 2 lines going from your pre to your poweramp. 
line one, is the direct line, it goes straight from your preamp to your poweramp, maybe hits a buffer in there but anyways, its essentially a direct connection. the other line, is the fx path. this is the line where it says fx loop out, you hook in all your fx (and possibly a noise gate) and then to the fx loop return, where it then goes to the power amp
in either a serial or parallel fx loop, the direct line is connected when the fx loop is disengaged. when you engage the loop, this is where the difference comes into play.

in a serial loop, when y ou engage the fx loop, the direct line disengages, and you run exclusively through the pre, the fx line, and the power amp. 
in a parallel loop, the fx loop connects, but the direct line doesnt disconnect. at the same time you are running both lines at once, like this:

...........Effects line
........./................\
preamp..................power amp
.........\................/
...........Direct Line
(ignore the periods, i just couldnt get a non breaking space to keep the diagram shaped right)

the reason you cant use a noise gate in a parallel effects loop, is that all the noise from the preamp, not only goes throught the effects loop (and thus the noise gate) but also through the direct line, thereby bypassing the noise gate, and running into your power amp anyways. in a serial fx loop, the direct line is cut when the loop is engaged, so all the noise has to filter through the noise gate

sorry that was so long, im feeling too wordy today. hope that helps


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## Andrew (Dec 24, 2007)

kinda, would help more if i had my head at my house right now. so im not sure what id have to really do to work it with the mesa. but thanks for the info. im sure ill figure it out.


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## Edroz (Dec 24, 2007)

ibznorange said:


> if youve got alot of hum, run it in the fx loop, after all your fx.





or buy a new amp... preferably a Brunetti , where amp noise issues cease to exist 


FWIW i used to use 2 noise gates with my 5150 and XXX, a Boss NS-2 in front and a HUSH super C in the f/x loop, worked really well... at the expense of some tone suckage though.


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## supertruper1988 (Dec 25, 2007)

Mesa amps are serial FX loops


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## ibznorange (Dec 25, 2007)

supertruper1988 said:


> Mesa amps are serial FX loops



some of em. i was talking to andrew last night, his 3 chan dual rec is parallel. at least, thats what the mesa site told him


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## MF_Kitten (Dec 25, 2007)

also, some amps let you pan between fx and dry... just felt like contributing that 

so if you have something with a volume knob or mute function in the effect loop, it will completely cut the soumd from the preamp when it's engaged with volume at zero... but you can still pan back to the dry preamp signal...

that could be a solid state only thing? 

*never owned a tube amp*


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## psychoticsnoman (Dec 25, 2007)

how about buying two used noise gates, like the ns-2 and have one out front and one in the loop.


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## ibznorange (Dec 25, 2007)

Edroz said:


> or buy a new amp... preferably a Brunetti , where amp noise issues cease to exist



you're a bastard 






you can run 2, one in both places. it can get pretty tonesucky if you dont set it just right though. actually, the isp decimator pro racks are dual gates, one for your in and one for the fx loop


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## 7 Strings of Hate (Dec 29, 2007)

yea, my rectoverb head has a parallel fx loop


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## Jerich (Dec 29, 2007)

I kinds have a few opinions here. First putting a NG in the effects loops of most TUBE AMPS kills your sustain attack of your playing unless you play stop on the dime grind death metal this is not what you want. I suggest never putting NG in effects loops but once again that's not for me. Put the NG's either right after your guitar or right before the amps input for MAX effect..and you also have a few options on devices Boss Ns-2 ..I.S.P. Decimator/or rack and a few other Rocktron related items. I prefer the I,S.P. pedal i have the rack versions too but they are too tight on the release at times. Plus the rack model you can tie both channels together making a super tight gate. I use my Decimator only to clean the Hiss not shut the tone completely. Edroz prefers the Boss Ns 2 to my Decimator so what works for each, you simply must try a few options.
But i will have to follow Edroz and say a good amp would not need a NG if you use it's distortion ..if you are using a preamp a NG is needed. good luck...



and for god's sake try a Brunetti......


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## Paul Malmsteen (Dec 29, 2007)

Does a 5150 or 6505 have a series or parallel FX loop?


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## Toshiro (Dec 29, 2007)

Paul Malmsteen said:


> Does a 5150 or 6505 have a series or parallel FX loop?



Parallel I think.

I run 2 gates, ISP in front to kill 100% of the hum(yeah, I have a DS7 ), and one in the loop(GT8) to kill that high gain 'hiss'. You wouldn't know my amp was on when I'm not playing.


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