Darkglass NSG Noise Gate Bass Pedal Reviews
With Darkglass’s diverse array of musical-mechanical magic, it should come as no surprise that the NSG is an elegant blend of form and function, delivering premier sound shaping with an easy-to-use design. Simply put, the NSG is a noise gate pedal. While designed with the complex sonic needs of bassists in mind, it can work just as effectively with guitars, keyboards, and more! Its streamlined design comprises a single knob for selecting noise thresholds, ensuring unwanted frequencies, hisses, buzzing, and the like are filtered out of your signal. As a result, your output is crisp, clear, and free of background noise. Bassists at Sweetwater especially appreciate the slim form factor, demanding little real estate on your pedalboard and easily integrated into your arrangement.
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Highest Rated Reviews
Hiss-Destroyer!
When I'm summoning bass tones from the darkest depths of the abyss, humming-hissing-electric noise cannot interfere with the listener's experience.
This little beauty ensures the purity of my sound; that sound may strike the ear as evil, but it is "pure" evil!
Fantastic Hiss Tamer, Surprisingly True Bypass
I bought the Darkglass NSG mainly to tame hiss from some gain/compression in the front of my bass guitar chain and it does a seamless job with that. I leave at -30 dB on soft mode without even thinking about it being on.
To my surprise, the NSG is also true bypass and does a fantastic job on my noisier guitar circuit in hard mode with total transparency. There's not much out there on this pedal, and the Darkglass literature/demonstrations leave a lot to be desired, but this was a nice surprise.
It can't do the 4 cable method, but if you have a small issue you're trying to correct, or a simple chain, the NSG is perfect.
Perfect for single coils !
So I'm using this because my single coil pickups add a little noise through my system . I'm using this as the last pedal in my setup , suhr buffer , pc-2a , Diamond vibrato , then the nsg going to my be-50 deluxe . Now when I split the coil on my prs I don't have to hear the hum that comes with single coils . This is the most transparent gate I've ever used . I used to Own the isp's but had to use two of them and the routing was a pain to connect it all . With the nsg you won't even know it is there . Pretty impressive .
Great little noise gate!
I will start this review by stating that my previous experience with noise gates includes the Electro-Harmonics Silencer, the TC Electronic Sentry, and the ISP Decimator. I have long used Darkglass products, specifically distortion pedals in the past. Currently, I use both the Hyper-Luminal and the Microtubes X on my pedalboard. With that said, Darkglass is not the only company I consider when adding pedals to my pedalboard. As of now, the noise gate that is on my bass pedalboard is the standard-sized Fortin Zuul. Now let's get into the review.
First, the aesthetics of the Darkglass NSG is awesome. It's a small footprint box painted in a light blue color. There is only one knob to adjust the sensitivity of the noise gate. You can press down the knob to change from the low intensity (blue) settings to the high intensity (red) settings. There is one LED that changes color as stated above when the pedal is on. There is no indicator letting you know when the noise gate is engaged; the light stays on when the pedal is on. This brings me to my first issue with the pedal. With the Fortin Zuul, there is only one light, but it flashes green when the pedal is on and orange when it is actually engaged. It would be nice if the NSG had some kind of indicator to show if the gate is engaged.
The Darkglass, NSG has two 1/4 inch jacks, one for the input and one for the output. This is similar to other noise gates, including the Electro-Harmonics Silencer and the TC Electronic Sentry. If comparing these three pedals alone, I feel that that Darkglass NSG is the superior pedal. Not only does it have a smaller footprint, it's more aesthetically pleasing and I feel like it is easier to dial in a good sound. I do not feel like the NSG clips your tone, quite as harshly as the Silencer or Sentury do. As far as simple noise gates are concerned, the NSG is the clear winner.
However, when comparing it to the Fortin Zuul, it does have a small problem. The Zuul has a third input. This 3rd input is called the "key" and used for the dry single. This dry signal signifies to the noise gate if it should be on or off. This allows the noise gate to be a little more accurate than the NSG. However, because of this "key" input, the routing on a pedal board is more complicated as you have to split the signal prior to going through the pedals that are causing the unwanted noise. The NSG is much simpler for routing which is definitely appealing.
As of right now, I still haven't decided on whether to go with the Fortin Zuul or the Darkglass NSG on my pedal board. They are both great pedals and the NSG does simplify the routing which is very convenient. The NSG also has a slightly smaller footprint than the Zuul that I own. I could consider purchasing the Fortin Mini-Zuul for space saving, but the aesthetics and the ease of routing with the NSG is a very attractive option. I am going to need some more time to determine which is the best option for me, but as far as simplicity mixed with functionality is concerned, the NSG is hard to beat.
I gave it a 4/5; the NSG lost 1/2 a star for price and 1/2 start because the Fortin Zuul is still the more accurate pedal.
