Noise gate / supressor pedal?

[Mr Bass Man]

Does anyone use one of these and are they actually any good?
at a couple of gigs recently I've been getting buzzing / hissing when DI'ing to the desk
My bass is passive and only a year old so I don't think it is that, and my amp has a built in DI with ground lift, but at Saturdays gig the hissing / buzzing was bad.... ended up using an old vocal mic to mic up the cab

Guitarist said I need to get a 'noise gate / suppressor' pedal and said that would stop the hissing.
I've had a look online and can't really find any specific information about one for bass guitars

just wondering if anyone has used one before and can comment on it?

thanks

[john]

There is something either not set up right or there is a problem somewhere along the signal chain. I would try and work out why it is happening and not go out and buy a gate, as it is just a band aid and not really a fix.

You can probably rule out the bass and leads to the amp because you ended up using the a mic in front of the amp and it sounds like that was okay. So it could be you amps di or the lead from the di to the desk, or the (input) gain set too low on the desk... Next time this happens try plugging your bass directly into the same channel and work your way back adding one element at a time until you find the source of the noise

[Mr Bass Man]

yeah - I said to drummer and guitarist as we were packing up that I'll see if it happens at the next gig.... if so I'll plug bass direct into the desk and if no buzzing then we can rule out the bass guitar.
We did change DI leads twice and it was still hissing...

we had this problem 2012 - 2013 at nearly every gig... I had my old bass checked 3 times, tried different leads, a DI box and nothing worked.... it wasn't until I bought a new bass (passive) and plugged everything in the buzzing stopped... now in 2 of the last 3 gigs it has returned.
it's just frustrating really.... we has so many problems at sound check (drums ringing, monitors not working...etc...) that a 1.5 hour set up and sound check took about 3 hours!

[john]

Sounds like it could be the PA

[Mr Bass Man]

Sounds like it could be the PA

well I unplugged my bass and lead from the amp while it was still all set up and running through PA and the buzzing stopped
but as I said I'll check at nxt weeks gig and see if it happens again - then go through the process of elimination.... again!

[timi]

Your issue sounds like a ground loop, this will change from venue to venue. Strange the ground lift isn't solving it, might be a fault in the PA or your amp.

A noisegate pedal is going to be in your signal chain prior to wherever this problem is coming from so it almost certainly won't help.

we has so many problems at sound check (drums ringing, monitors not working...etc...) that a 1.5 hour set up and sound check took about 3 hours!

Who's doing your sound? Might be time to retire them.

[Mr Bass Man]

Your issue sounds like a ground loop, this will change from venue to venue. Strange the ground lift isn't solving it, might be a fault in the PA or your amp.

A noisegate pedal is going to be in your signal chain prior to wherever this problem is coming from so it almost certainly won't help.

we has so many problems at sound check (drums ringing, monitors not working...etc...) that a 1.5 hour set up and sound check took about 3 hours!

Who's doing your sound? Might be time to retire them.

thanks - no we just has a particularly bad sound check.... the room was akward and some of the drums were ringing and the monitors were not working properly (one of the horns in a monitor had blown)... it is pretty rare that a setup and sound check takes more than 90 mins. Next weeks gig will probably take half that time with no problems

my plan was to see if the buzzing was caused by my bass and if so I would plug the bass into the noise gate pedal then plug the pedal into the amp. But I will go through a process of elimination trying different leads...etc...

we always plug the PA / amps into a different electrical circuit than the lighting rig and we don't usually have any problems.

cheers

[Mr Bass Man]

Well I decided to get a DI box... just a behringer one from the Rock shop $55
works a treat - ran the DI to the desk and could adjust my amp to my hearts content without it hissing / buzzing through the desk!

[basshead56]

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!

[bronzet]

Noisegates are great. I have one on my Rane DC24 Compressor and it gets rid of those annoying hissing sounds coming from my Jazz bass. I do agree you need to find the sweet spot with them because too much of it can ruin your bass tone.

[Mr Bass Man]

I'm happy to say that for the last year I've not had a problem with any hissing...
I use a fender rumble v3 500 with my squire modified jazz and plug into the DI out straight to the desk and no problems at all
I have the on stage volume at 2.5 - 3 on the amp and it sounds sweet
I was worried that the amp being a 2x10 combo wouldn't cut through and I'd need to get an extn speaker cab - but no, I have plenty of volume on the amp and good bottom end for being a 2x10