Post
by basshead56 » Fri Mar 24, 2017 8:42 am
ZOMBIE THREAD REVIVAL
I decided to try a noise gate pedal for use with my Ampeg Baby upright bass - it is awesome!!!
I had a second pickup added behind the board to pick up the 'click' from my weedwacker strings as I play mostly rockabilly style. While the sound is terrific, the hum from both the neck and main 'transducer' style plate pickup under the bridge can be quite annoying between songs. Not overly loud but present!
The Tech21 Bass VT Deluxe kills a little bit of the hum front of house but on stage its annoying to me. I am wireless via a Line 6 g30 so if its a decent stage I can go walkabout from my amp a bit which can solve most of the problem - (proximity to amp and feedback/resonance is always a factor in hum/noise) but most of the time its a small cramped venue and I'm practically on top of my amp.
So, decided to take a punt on a cheap noise gate - the EHX Silencer. Spent about 2 hours of solid experimenting with it yesterday and i have to say, it is a great little piece of kit!!! Just have to be sure to find the 'sweet spot' between the release (time) and threshold knobs so it doesn't impact on the note - had to dig slightly harder playing pizz to wake it up initially but have figured it out now. no impact on tone whatsoever (that I could hear) and kills the hum stone dead!!!
I am going to place it in my doubling effects board - 2 x line 6 g30's - AB Box - Tuner - Noise gate - VT Bass pre - Amp/DI and see how it goes.
Depending on how that goes, i may pull the Aphes Xciter back into the rig too (it was awesome but a touch noisey when flicking it on).
Noise gates = I like!
Fender Precision X 9 (mostly 70's), Jazz, Jaguar,
MM Stingray, Gibson T-Bird, Dean Cabbie, Dano DC Bass
Ampeg Baby
Koffin Bass
Ampeg SVT-CL,8x10
Ampeg SVT 4PRO, 610
Ampeg PF-800 & PF-115HE
Ampeg B-100R
Marshall VBA400 & VBC412(x2)