Best Noise Gate Guitar Pedal (2024 Update)

I'm amazed at the quality of sound extracted from such small pedals. I haven't added it to my pedal board yet and just assume my dainty little feet will be able to reach the switch. The delay is adequate and the tone is not shaped by the pedal, which was good.andybluesguitar

I've had alot of gates over the years ISP, boss, rocktron, and this one is better than them all. DEAD quiet. I run it right after my waza metal zone and I cant stop smiling. Theres no fade out or abrupt spurts of noise, there's no feedback, theres no humm, no hiss, NOTHING. IT CUTS IT OFF PERFECTLY. Whatever tech they're using for this gate is a winner. Dont waste your money on a brand name, this little fella is all business.usdavi-iq2y0j

I should start by telling you all that i play modern metal, not classic rock or anything close. I bought this pedal a few years back hoping to squash out the hiss in my amp due to my use of an overdrive in front of the amp.I used it in front of my amp with a ts9 in its little effects loop. it was very difficult to get the start-stop quick djent style stuff i wanted without a feedback remnant always cutting in. also, there was a noticable amount of cut on any palm-muted notes and really any note played would not sustain naturally. any setting on the decay would not help. but, i had to have the threshold up pretty high to knock out the hiss. you must also know that i am using a horrific amount of gain with a 6505+. I have the post gain maxed out and most other things maxed out as well.After much research and saving, i invested in the isp decimater g-string. this product was on a whole other level. the things that the ns-2 lacked this thing just has. It senses when you are playing, instead of opening a gate when you play loud enough. Even with my extreme gain settings, overdrive in front, booster in the effects loop, and volume all the way up on my guitar, i can start-stop all day long just like periphery and animals as leaders. plus, my palm muted notes fade naturally as do normally fretted notes. Another thing i have recently learned is that the ns-2 manufacturing process uses lead free solder, whereas the ns-1 has lead based solder. This resulted in a big difference in signal integrity, and is very evident if you leave the pedal on bypass and play something, then removeit from the chain, and play something. it darkens the tone alot. In conclusion, if you want play the new styles of metal with all the gain and start-stop, buy the isp decimater g-string or pro rack g.MTloveit

This is a must have if you have a multitude of effects esp. overdrives, distortions at high gains and volume. Any nuance of movement on a string and the cats are climbing the curtains and your pissing off your neighbors 🙂 BUT! with this suppressor your sloppy metal play is crisp and tight full of clarity and your sound is cleaned up. Must have for overdriven metal heads…Azuljay

It's a huge compliment to any pedal board. If your tired of excessive hum, buzzing or just white noise especially when using multiple pedals on a pedal board this is the solution. I mated mine with a BOSS LS-2 Line Selector pedal at the start of my pedal chain so every pedal is covered by it. It allows instant quiet after quick aggressive picking starts and stops while using heavy distortion. It's a "Fire and Forget" pedal for the most part if your running the same gear regularly. It's a must have if you want clarity and certainly worth the space it takes up on your board. It's the magic behind the curtain.kt.precisio-7

Finally I am experiencing a practice or a live show without the embarrassment of my loud buzzing amp and petals. This is really a great product, I cant recommend it more highly for people who have experienced buzzy obnoxious noise.sam_5339

It's easy to setup, and the inner diffuser gives further control over the light. It's handle is good if somebody has to hold the softbox. This softbox is essential for outdoor portraits.djlevanon

Simple pedal, it does the job. For the price, this pedal is a no brainer, Caline stuff is really cheap but works great. only thing is the pedal does feel a bit cheap but nothing un-expected for the price, hence the 5 starsmuseshowbiz97_1

this sucked all the tone from my guitar when plugged into my rig and made the sound thin and trebly – will just put up with the noise from my gain pedals nowcut-out-witch

Mine came from a friend who was moving away from pedals and effects and switching to a digital rig. I've used it for some time and it has pretty much been always on for my playing with the exception of clean tones. Anything with gain this thing is turned on and for the years I have used it is has been dependable and reliable. Here comes the main issue. It sucks tone like a vampire. I didn't notice it until one night I was lazy and plugged directly into my amp instead of through my board. I was amazed at the clarity and responsiveness of my guitar which even with old strings sounded clear and articulate again. For a while I thought the culprit was my preamp needing new tubes or something. My attention shifted to the volume pedal I added to my board and how they can sap into your high end so I began a quest to try and find a better volume. I borrowed a friends volume and in playing with it decided to do the unthinkable which was touch the gate that had always been on and adjust it a bit. I came to the same conclusion others have. Under 12 O clock you get less tone suck and it mitigates some noise. Above 12 o clock and you're rig is dead quiet but you high end is gone. I found a sweet spot which seems to work for my sound and overall I am happy with it, just not ecstatic. It's better than not having one and dealing with feedback and when I am using a ton of gain pedals it does a good job of keeping them from screeching when I am not playing but I still have some hiss. I may upgrade it later to a TC electronic Sentry right a gate that allows you to have a second loop.Deepstaria

First off the instructions are not the best for this pedal. But at the same time, 5 minutes with this thing and I can see why they didn't write detailed instructions. I plugged it in as the first pedal in the chain. So I have the MXR M-135,an MXR ZW-44, volume at 10, tone 50%, gain 0 to about 3 going into a Blackstar HT-5H with the gain at about 90% into a Randall 2×12 loaded with the Eminence Patriot Swamp Thang and Eminence Patriot Texas Heat. So my home rig is pretty loud and noisy. Prior to the M-135 this thing made more noise than two skeletons fighting on a tin roof. Every time I'd stop playing all you could hear was me trying to not move my hand on the strings unless I kept my pick hand completely still. So I set the gate to full and the Trigger Level to zero with the Hi Trigger Range in the up position and that was it. I did not try in on the hiss mid yet, but that's not what I bought it for complete silence and that's exactly what I got. Now the little rubber thing I presume is for the knob, since that's what if fit on, but inless you want to fight with it for about 20 minutes to get it back off, don't mess with it. To be honest, if I could get one of these for my dog I would! Great pedal for the money and does what it advertises.sevenstring revenge

This is a clone of a popular Boss pedal, and it succeeds in replicating the Boss' performance. It is 1/3 the cost of the Boss. Behringer has "copied" many name brand pedals, undercutting their high prices too. They are a German company with a huge music equipment production Chinese factory integrated 'city' that they manage. The engineering is German. Assembly is in China. I don't know where Boss is assembled. Aside: I also have a small Behringer amp that rivals a particular Fender in every way. (I really like Fenders, btw). It's a copy of sorts, but with simulated vacuum tube solid state circuitry. It also sports a 2" larger speaker – a Bugera. This noise reduction pedal's guts are encased in a heavy plastic box. It looks/feels like it will take normal to harsh treatment without any ill effects. Throwing it hard against a wall might dislodge something, of course!vancegarfish

use this behind a high gain distortion to quiet the juicy bits in between your licks. it performed as well as the more expensive 'pig' pedal, so i went with this one. however, i would not recommend this for gigs, the low build quality won't take much abuse. those with busy logistics will be happier with a better, more expensive, rack-mounted solution. remember to read up on how the pros sculpt their sound and don't forget how useful a simple eq can be. 😉R Phillips

This is a great pedal for the price and it does what it was designed for! I was kind of skeptical about buying a product from a brand that gets a lot of bad rep on many reviews I have read about this pedal and a few other products from this brand, but it turns out those rumors aren't so true about this pedal giving them more feed back than what it can take away. It worked just fine for me after having some experience with some noise compressor a while back I had this thing set up and ready to play. I guess those critics of this pedal must not know how to set up a pedal or they have bad luck with getting bad gear. It's a little heavy for plastic, but that's why I don't recommend that you stomp on this pedal. All you have to do is press on it to turn it on and leave it on until you're finished playing. Over all I am proud I've purchased this, quiets my distortion that fizzes on my amp, but it's not to be used on the clean channel. The pedal is supposed to lower noise which the clean channel doesn't have. Thank Behringer!Berry

Solid chassis and does exactly what it should. Is a huge upgrade from my Boss NS-2. A must in the effects loop of a high gain amp setup.Ruinnations

So … what I've heard isn't all talk. I plugged it in, struck some chords in high gain and the ISP killed what i wanted killed. Yeah, its a real serial killer of b s you dont want. Buying another one.Copper Elliott

The noise wiper does way more than I expected when it comes to silencing my noisy guitar pedals. It performs as well as my Boss NS2.justbluesharold

All in all a solid bigmuff clone in small package. The tone knob is nice, you can sculpt a grainy treble or just a nice full warm fuzz, I lean towards the middle. I combined this with a golden horseman that has its gain up too, and it creates a nice doomy stoner sound. So for what it does, the price, and amount of space on a pedal board that this takes up this pedal on point.kulturv-13

Has a distortion more than fuzz sound. All sounds are subjective so it may be great for some and not others. It will not replace any of my Drive pedals nor do I see it augmenting them.. It looks well built and quiet so for the cheap price you may want to give it a try.jsd4223

It’s such a great squishy sound and I just love it. It’s always on. I had one before but sold it then I realised I missed it too much.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

I took advantage of a SDOTD offer on this pedal and I couldn't be happier. The Pigtronix Gatekeeper does exactly what I was hoping it would do – clamp down on all the hiss coming from my amp head when I'm using its high gain channel.Mr. Bone-Crusher

No complaints…but then again I am using this for line-level sources, so can't comment on how this would work with guitars (haven't tried it on a bass or 6-string yet). Emailed Pigtronix and verified that the freq response is 20Hz-20kHz when engaged. Have used it to keep noise at bay on a long effects chain (echo, reverb, etc.) after a Dave Smith Mopho, and the controls allowed me to dial in effective noise gating without adding any odd artifacts such as "stuttering". It's a small pedal, so can be wedged into a busy pedal board. Would definitely buy again when on Stupid Deal.moparzack

How odd. This review was flagged for writing Big Mu** using the two F's 🙂 For the money, this is a really hard pedal to beat. It goes from mild and laid-back to wild and intense. The controls feel great…like as in excellent quality. This is a reissue of the original Big Mu** PI. I tried a Big Mu** PI with Wicker and forget about it. It hissed so loud in Wicker mode that I couldn't even here myself think and it got even worse with the tone switch off. And even in the so-called Big Mu** PI mode, it didn't sound anywhere near as good as this Rams Head does. And, the Rams Head is quiet compared to the BM PI with Wicker. One more thing, The BM PI with Wicker does not say anywhere on it nor in the included paperwork where it's made, whereas the RH BM PI clearly says New York City on the face of it…Vincent

Overall: Floats like a stone and stings like a nest of angry hornets! This box has the buzzsaw sound down pat. The fuzz is a thick, smooth, and consistent. I like this kind of fuzz in particular because it’s less fuzzy and little more distortion-like. The Tone knob has a really wide sweep from boomy bass to mid-range Hades. It has plenty of gain on tap and even sounds pretty good with the guitar’s volume rolled back a skosh.I’ve never used the original Green Russian Muff and have only heard them compared through videos online, so I can’t speak as to how they’re different/alike. I got it because I didn’t want to haul my vintage Black Russian Muff around from gig to gig anymore because it’s getting valuable and since it was a pretty jenky design to begin with, it’s liable to break with heavy use. That being said, the reissue Green Russian Muff has a different sound than an original V8 Black Russian Muff. It doesn’t sound as good to me, but it’s not so different that I wouldn’t use the Green Russian live in lieu of the Black Russian for the aforementioned reasons. One huge plus for the Green Russian is its pedalboard friendly size. The Black Russian is the size of an 80s metal lunchbox and took up an awkward sized chunk of the pedalboard. Now there’s more room for other unnecessary boxes (gulp)! One noteworthy ding for this pedal is how difficult it is to see the script on the top of the pedal. The words are printed right underneath the knobs, so if it’s kinda dark (which it usually is) and the lights are all in front of you (which they usually are) the words are impossible to see. Overall it’s a nice fuzz especially for the price. It’s noisy, but once the music gets rolling you won’t even notice it.Brad

I wanted a button to make me louder for solos etc. and this does exactly that without changing tone. Brilliantly simple: set how much volume jump you want and that’s it, I don’t think I have had the dial past 25% so far. The ‘latching’ function of the foot switch is a great idea. Great price as wellReviewed by Andertons Music Co.

This pedal does exactly what it claims and does it better than other pedals of the same purpose. It is constructed extremely well. For around $50 this pedal's physical casing and switch assembly is made better than pedals I own costing hundreds of dollars more. I don't foresee this pedal ever needing replacement or repair. I'm not particularly fond of the "momentary volume boost" feature but that doesn't change my overall opinion. It's a great item.ethan1957

I used to think that boost pedals were dumb and that I would never use one. But after watching dozens of videos and seeing several big name endorsements, I thought that the Spark might be for real, and it is now EASILY my favorite pedal. Simply put, it just makes your tone better, no matter what kind of guitar or pickups you run through it. The sound quality and versatility are the best features. It gives you a great boost, but it's extremely amp-like, in the same way that clean channels on good tube amps break up if you crank the gain. And the little toggle switch gives you three different "clean channels" with which to work. The middle position has the most clean headroom and is the classic boost, but still breaks up a little if you max the gain. The Mid and Fat sounds add beef to your tone in fantastic ways, and I use those most often. Do you think that single-coils and/or jazz box guitars sound thin compared to solidbodies with humbuckers, like me? The Mid and Fat settings will fix that for ya. I love my Strats and my jazz guitars so much more now. Turn up the gain and the Mid and Fat settings will give you a great overdrive too. The best part about cranking the gain on the Spark is how well it makes your sound hit tube amps. It gives you glorious saturation at any volume level. This is the perfect pedal to put first in your drive section. Your other drive pedals will greatly benefit as well. Worried about tone? This is the most transparent pedal I've ever used, even more so than TC's other drive pedals (which I also love). The two EQ controls are fantastic and give the pedal a huge advantage over nearly every other boost pedal. Whether fully down or cranked, you get usable sounds in great frequency ranges. Simply put, this is the best pedal I've ever heard. Having volume AND gain, plus two great EQ controls, plus THREE voices to choose from puts this pedal above every other boost on the market. Seriously, just buy it already.T. Slice

Another drive/boost pedal. The ability to switch between fat/clean/mid modes is a nice feature. Separate bass and treble is handy too to sculpt the tone. Only 4 stars though because the foot switch is terrible. Why can’t TC put the same switch as they do in the polytune?Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Took a bit of a flyer on this as I sort of have an end result in my head and im not entirely sure how to get there. i have a hybrid amp that has a touch of valve harmonics that im trying to exagerate. this is a step in the right direction (and with some fiddling might even be the thing) i think what i was expecting was more like a compressor, but this is more or a transparent drive type effect (at least with my amp). however it is first drive pedal that ive loved without faffing about with the dials for hours. am getting nice bluesy /seventies blues rock tones using the clean setting on the toggle, and the gain about midway. the fat setting starts pushing into proper overdriven sounds, but with a nice natural tone. so despite not being exactly what i was looking for (my fault) im really pleased with this pedal. so much so i might gift one to my kid. theres a tiny bit of noise when the level knob goes up high, but i get much the same from my SD1 so either its just the nature of the beast, or my set upReviewed by guitarguitar custome

I enjoy this pedal. it cuts down on some of the noise. the pedal related stuff. most guitarists are hearing the amp noise and pedals don't cut that out, or from what I have read the stuff like the decimator may, but it has been said to mess with the tone. this seems to keep my tone intact. I have the knobs, from left to right, at like 9-10 o'clock, the middle lower knob at about 10-12 o'clock, and the right knob at about 10, that is where it stops the pedal noise. it can lend itself to a slight warbling sound like when a record is warped, kind of slightly up and down at the end of notes ringing out, I tend to like that, but it means one of the knobs is set too aggressive. worth it for the money before you think of getting the icp line, or whatever they are called. the decimator onesJared J

This pedal is getting 4 stars from me instead of 5…and I'll tell you why. It DOES do everything the pedal is designed to do…but good Lord Electro-Harmonix; why does it have to be so difficult (and sensitively touchy) to dial in the "sweet spot"?!? Any time you eliminate, or add a pedal to your chain (this means physically, not just clicking a pedal in the chain to by-pass, but actually adding or removing a pedal completely in the chain) you have to go through the painful process of dialing The Silencer in again…and the controls are extremely picky. You WILL find the sweet spot, but it can be frustrating getting to it. I recommend (if you're gonna use this pedal as a noise gate), arrange ALL the pedals you intend to use in your chain, and put The Silencer behind the noisy 'high gain' pedals (Distortion, Drive, etc…) and in front of the quiet pedals (Delay, Chorus, etc…)—set it, forget it, and leave the chain (and the controls on The Silencer) alone; and this pedal will be your best friend. As always, Electro-Harmonix makes their pedals virtually bullet proof, and this one is no different. High quality build, materials, and looks. There are a lot simpler noise gate pedals out there, but you may have to sacrifice quality for ease…and at this reasonable price, I'll put up with the time consuming difficulty of setting up The Silencer, because, with patience, the end result is ear pleasing bliss.White Dog

Electro Harmonix has or had a digital noise eliminator available. This Silencer is a gate. It works. As per Bogner Tech, I go into my MXR Super Comp, then into the Silencer input. My Drive, Fuzz, excetera…pedals are in the Silencer loop. And then the Silencer out, goes to my amp input. My delay and reverb pedals are running in my effects loop of amp. This gate kills noise present, when no notes from guitar are being played. Any time you are playing, the sound input from guitar overrides the dead signal, allowing signal to circuit to your amp. It does seem to also eliminate noise as effects trails and sustained notes fade. So it is a bit more than a gate. Compressor is first in line because, Silencer is buffered, and buffered circuits will effect a compressor's function…as per Bogner info, which definitely seems to be correct. Works great.Orbit Zenz**Jagg Rocker

The pedal itself works phenomenally well.
But mine stopped working after about 6 months or so.
Sent it back to ISP today to get it repaired under warranty.
The gentleman on the phone was extremely helpful.
I love the product just got a device that did not last.
Never was gigged always kept on a board.
Rarely even turned off because it works well with a clean channel.
Can't wait to get it back in working order especially after the 120$ that was paid for it.Guitar Gerry

Sounds musically transparent design and seems quiet and well made. For the little money hard to beat. Use it on an Orange amp that is not really noisy but depending on the mode could have some. It works real well on it.Morse

This product works great taming the high gain noise in my EVH 5150 III 50 watt EL34. The side chain along with noise reduction at the input and fx loop, effectively stops noise without ruining your tone. Ring ( Red amp input)Tip ( Black fx loop send)Input: (cable with flourecent sticker) Out put of fx before Amp input. Out goes to (Blue cablefx loop return).jrp3mc

First of all over the years I have owned several of the leading pedal gates. Although each one silences unwanted high frequency artifacts I found that the TC Sentry is able to separate and highlight the upper mid and highs uniquely different than any other gate, whether studio rack processor or pedal due primarily to its digitally controlled 3 band processing, which functions much the same way as a Multi Band Opti-mod Compressor. Adjustment takes a bit longer to learn but the results are fa-nominal. Operationally: I especially like the momentary ON/Off button rather than the traditional hard-push latching foot-switch found on most pedals. Furthermore: I have 6 current TC guitar products in my setup and must state that everyone is a drop dead winner. Lastly: I am not a TC employee or Review Troll, just a studio engineer / producer / musician with and uncompromising desire to get the best sound out of ever processor in my set up and for me TC products… by me ears… are the best. Thanks Tim Mungovan818eleven11

I ordered this pedal just to keep my rig's sound nice and clean, not really being sure if I would even keep it. It is now one of my top pedals. It's transparent, effective, and very versatile. The loop feature is my favorite: I run my guitar straight into the Sentry Input, then run my Wah, POG, three TC gain pedals and compressor through the Send/Return on the Sentry, then connect the Sentry's Output to my amp's input. Like the videos say, you can really lower the threshold far in this configuration. Important instructions! At least what I did, and I couldn't be happier: I don't play metal or much high gain, but I do use all three of TC's boost/OD/DS pedals, so when they're all on, I definitely get some hiss. To set my Sentry, I put the switch to "Hiss", turned on all my gain pedals, then turned the threshold knob clockwise and stopped JUST before the hiss came through, then did the same thing with the "Damp", but counter-clockwise with it (idk why it's set up like that). I keep "Decay" maxed out clockwise for the best sustain. This configuration gives you a nice light gate, that immediately gets out of the way when your guitar makes any sound at all, but silences the hiss when you're not playing. Yeah, the gate affects your sustain a little, but every gate does that, and my wiring and knob configuration gives a surprising amount of sustain considering I'm using a gate pedal. In conclusion, I love it, and I would immediately replace it. TC just keeps knocking pedals out of the park at sub-boutique prices. It's why I have 9 of their pedals, and love them all.T. Slice

I had purchased this to see if it could replace my MIJ BOSS NS-2 and at first, it was not as good and was going to return it, then I looked at the toneprint options and updated the pedal's firmware via TC Electronic's website and it completely changed the way it works, for the better….then I discovered their phone app and literally zapped new tone prints into my pedal WIRELESSLY. I'm absolutely amazed with this pedal. Using it through my PRS MT-15 and my EVH 5150iii has been life changing for keeping my tone crisp and original. I highly recommend tweaking this pedal a bit. I tried the FCM and it worked okay, but using it through the front of the amp with my boost/OD through the pedal's send/return and a (full size TC Electronic spark or a Fender Engager boost) through the amp's effects loop works best for taming the boost setups I use. This setup is by far my favourite setup for Tight, thick, punchy slam riffs and death metal riffs. I highly recommend this pedal for anyone wanting to buy a Fortin zuul, revv g8 or decimator as I've tried all of these and they couldn't quite tame my setup after numerous tries. Thank you TC Electronic for making such amazing products, technology and for affordable prices.murderiam

Finally I am experiencing a practice or a live show without the embarrassment of my loud buzzing amp and petals. This is really a great product, I cant recommend it more highly for people who have experienced buzzy obnoxious noise.sam_5339

It's easy to setup, and the inner diffuser gives further control over the light. It's handle is good if somebody has to hold the softbox. This softbox is essential for outdoor portraits.djlevanon

Worked great right out of the box–killed some pretty bad amp noise that was annoying me and my whole band. Included a nice handwritten note from the CNZ. Great deal.joshug-3313