JVM Forum

I got the "upgraded" Alesis...it gave a 1.5 second "tail" in between patches. If you threw some tremelo in there you got some really wild 80's swishy/swooshy thing going on! Pretty awesome

Anyway, back to the ISP...I promise you'll love it! I got mine from musicians fiend and a $50 gift cert for just under $450. Believe me when I tell you that I understand being short on cash, I swear that every guitar player is. I sometimes wonder how rich I would be if I never started playing but then my life would'nt be soooooo cool...NOT!

I haven't tried the MXR Smart Gate but I have used MXR Noise Gate/Line Drivers which aren't great.
I have a Boss NS-2 and it does tone suck (as with most Boss pedals)
I tried The ISP Noise Decimator and hooked it up after my pedals going into the Amp, it wasn't that great but it didn't tone suck, so I exchanged it for the ISP G-String Noise Decimator.

Your guitar plugs directly into ISP Guitar In, Guitar Out goes to your pedals before the Amp, your Amps serial FX Loop Send goes to Dec In and Dec Out goes to your FX in your loop, your final FX in the FX Loop goes back to your FX Loop Return.
With this connection the ISP G-String senses the string decay and does and excellent job of controlling noise. I however still use the NS-2 at the end of my FX chain hitting the front of my Amp followed by a CAE Boost/Line driver to revive some tone loss. I've always used a noise gate in the front and another in the FX loop to keep noise controlled.
I may replace the NS-2 with the ISP Noise Decimator just for an improved tone.

My guitar setup is JVM 410C and custom pedal board and no racks hence why I didn't go the ISP rack solution.
I do use racks in my home studio which is an extension of my guitar setup but not taken to gigs.

Well this is all great info folks - I appreciate it!
So it appears that overall the ISP is the only way to go-

I've done quite a bit of research in the last couple of weeks, and read almost every damn post on here!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I think the ISP G-string is the way to go also. And how can you resist anything that's called a "G-String" Awesome!

I bought the ISP G-String. This is one of the best pieces of equipment I've ever bought!!! Using it in the loop and OD1/OD2 are "Dead Quiet". If any of you guys are thinking about buying this pedal and you're wondering how well it works, it is great man. Seriously, it works great.

"Dead quiet" is what I have been looking for!

Did you have to use the four cable method most are talking about or is two fine?

Hey which one of the forum did this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyZYuaGDxYo

Great review by the way Man!

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2538&p=23109&hilit=decimator#p23109

I remembered this one. It is very informative.

I have to agree with Gearjunkie on this one. In the past, soundguys have put me through rack-mounted or on-board noise gates for performances and I just hated them. I thought that hiss and hum was something I had to live with because I could not deal with the latency of a gate. It was so bad one time that I was getting a volume swell instead of a pick attack. Although it is not perfect, the G-String simply works the way I need it to work. There aren't many products on the market in general that I'll actually say that about. 'Dead Quiet' ... if you're not in a perfectly quiet room, you might think that your JVM is on standby, even when you're in OD-Orange. Set properly it will allow even subtle sounds from your guitar (like shifting your left hand around), without even a hint of latency.

I actually hooked it up in the 2 cable method first and its works fantastic. I hooked it up to 4 cable but I haven't tried it yet (kids unexpectedly steal your time!) This may just be my rig configuration though. I just put in as the last pedal in the loop adjusted for the noise floor, backed it off slightly and left it there. I've been playing for a long time and I really don't find the JVM to be all that noisy its much better than some amps I've used. But it sure is nice to have a dead silent rig again. I used rack gear also years ago.

As you now know buddy - that was me! Great pedal - you'll love it (but remember, it's all in the setting - need to set it so it shuts off your noise only when the guitar volume is rolled off, otherwise it may kill off some signal which is not cool!)

good luck man.
Sukh

I've used an NS-2 as the first or second pedal in my signal chain, in the front of (all of) my amps for years, and I swear by it. To me, it affects the tone in the loop, and gates the signal unnaturally. I A/B'd a standard Decimator with my NS-2, and the ISP didn't really do it for me...but I haven't tried the pre/post rack version.

I still have my Boss NS-2 on the input. works well for the guitar and pedals in front (did nothing in the loop). The decimator cleans up everything. Also I've read a lot of mixed reviews about the regular decimator (seems to be the same as all the others) But the "ISP Decimator G-string" is in a completely different league! I don't even think you can compare the two. (hence the big price difference)

Thanks for all the info! Yeah I never change any of the settings on my JVM except the master volumes so I should be able to set it once and leave it. I never really roll off the volume or do swells so I'll probably be good!

Hello toadfish,

Excellent review, thank you. Your tone is fantastic!
Which pedals are you using in front of the JVM?

Best,
Marcelo

Thanks Marcelo! Very kind of you.

However, that was a very quick and nasty demo - my tone has changed since then since I have had more time with the JVM. I'll post some current clips again soon.

In that video, however, it was just the JVM with a BB Preamp giving it a little kick in the front. Other than that, a couple of VOX delays in the loop (Time Machines). My rig has completely changed now, however, but sounds much better (to me, anyway!).

Cheers,
Sukh

I have the Decimator pedal and I could NOT do without it. It is a very simple and essential part of my pedal board. Love it love it love it!