How do you feel about a noise suppressor in an effect chain? Do they all rob tone? Do they really rob tone? Are they necessary?

One of the guitarists I work with in church uses a noise gate to stop a hum from his acoustic guitar. The hum occurs only in the sanctuary -- it's not present anywhere else -- so the gate is a good thing for that application. He has never complained that it robs tone. I also know a few players who use the gate to stop the 60-cycle hume from some single coil pickups. Can't hear the hum while you're playing, but it's annoying between songs. A properly constructed noise suppressor shouldn't just limit highs -- it should cut volume and work only at levels depending on how you have the sensitivity set.

I could see a noise gate being very handy in an overly acoustic hall with an acoustic guitar. Does he also use a feedback buster? I think certain suppressors do rob some tone but I think that it is also partially due to user error. There are other things that rob tone that people don't think about that are far worse than suppressors. I.E. having 50 feet of patch cable between your guitar and your amp. Or simply having bad or cheap patch cables.

One player -- the one with the noise gate -- has a soundhole insert to eliminate feedback. When The other guys use acoustic/electric, they just go through their regular pedalboards. Luckily all the people I play with have good cables and care about their equipment.

I feel like they're necessary in a recording situation, especially with single coil pickups, unless you're like Sonic Youth or Merzbow. Guys who take feedback and hum to an intensely musical level...in some cases, anyway. I've always been impressed with the players in The Mars Volta for tap dancing on effects and keeping a thorough understanding of the sounds of their guitars/amps. Justin Meldal Johnson takes the cake, though, and he uses a rackmount noise gate that's footswitchable. He says he just uses it to cut down on hum when he isn't playing a song (when you can actually hear it). I don't think I'd personally get one for any other reason. My Jazz Bass has custom stacked humbuckers in it, so I don't get any bad noise out of that.

I agree that they are necessary in a recording situation. I play an American Deluxe Strat with single coils. Whenever I am playing live, I just hit my tuner to kill any buzz between tunes. The only problem with that is I have forgotten to turn the tuner off... and surprise... no sound. It is nice to have one in the studio but it is not absolutely essential if you have a good engineer. I agree with shack man, players who truly understand effects are intriguing to listen to. In a way, if one knows there effects well enough, they can make them selves sound better than they are, which is not a bad thing. It is part of the instrument now.

Definitely Matt. It kind of saddens me that there's a very purist side to it, where players absolutely MUST play without effects. I feel like it's limiting somehow. I suppose the way i think about it is this: If you can still sound good without effects, by all means, add the condiments, or don't. Your choice. But don't keep yourself from ever trying ketchup just 'cause you like french fries.

Does that make sense? I feel like I spiraled around somewhere in there.

That makes perfect sense. My analogy is this; A very skilled rock climber without the proper equipment can climb just as well or better than an amateur with the proper equipment, but a skilled climber with the proper equipment, i.e. ropes, climbing shoes, chalk, etc. will only perform better. Like you said. If you don't like effects, that is one thing, but if it is a purist thing... Go buy a delay pedal and experiment. I don't think all guitarists should try to sound like The Edge by any means, but good tone needs some effects. Unless you play only one sound, and then... just go buy a banjo...