Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor

The Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor can be a blessing for Stage and Home use.
I am a late starter in the guitar gear area, with the fortune/misfortune of having gone through alot of Digital Multi-fx Boxes before leaning towards the analog/digital stomp boxes.

Most, if not every Multi-fx box comes with some sort of noise gate/suppressor built in them.
Sitting in a room at the house with different lighting and tvs , stereos etc will cause much interference especially on single coils and your pedals. thus the need of some sort of noise suppresion.

The Boss NS-2 solves these problems with stomp boxes and can eliminate 99% of all the noise imho. There is however good and bad, although bad is not always a bad thing.

The Good:
Turn up your distortions and turn up your gains without having your guitar hum and squeeal like a pig while it's sitting along side you, not being played. Hit the strings and it sings and screams with the proper decay and all!
then silence again...
The NS-2 takes all the sounds to a threshold you can live with up to silent! without coloring your sound to much if at all.
Added bonus, you can use it as a power supply , chaining other pedals to it with an adaptor chord.
Having Fuzz and Muffs and Swirling Flangers/phasers etc in my chain.. this has really tamed the sound.
My Epiphone Valve Junior or my computer line in has gone silent with this attached.. till I want to make it sing out.

The Bad:
It will color the sound ever so slightly, it will take a second to get going...
and it will add in some compression to your sound.

Bad isn't so Bad:
The coloring, well its very very slight if at all and can be EQ'ed, adjusted out.
The one thing that is strange, Boss uses a user adjustable threshold setting to engage/dis-engage the suppressor.
It would be like comparing/using a Boss looper pedal in wait for guitar sound before starting mode , if that makes sense?
Just getting sound started disengages the suppressor till the decay of the guitar wears off, then back to silence.
I have already noticed, sometimes that first strike of a string might take a second to get going.
it's actually very short in time but noticable. This is from Silent mode at the begining, not during play or decay.
it's not that bad a thing..you can deal with it.
The sound is also a bit compressed when the NS-2 is on also. Very slight.
if you don't use a compressor it actually seems to help the sound. If you do use a compressor , you can adjust for this to.
The good seem to outweigh the bads...
I can have lighting, cellphones, radios and tvs eliminated, set my pedals to full gain and look at the
guitar in silence... till I strike a chord.. most excellent! No more turning down/turning off.. just set it down when done and its as
quiet as a mouse.

If you get one without docs... find the docs.. there is a send/return you must use for
everything (compressors, muff, fuzz, flangers etc) but your Delays and Reverb, those go after the NS-2
and it makes a big difference.
There are a few demos on Youtube.com for this pedal..
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hxqn1e_mXB0

I'm so thankful that it was translated. Otherwise I never would have understood a thing.

The beauty of the Internet is that we get into other countries and have access to more information, but understanding something that isn't in English can be pretty tough. That was in another language, right?

Spudman said:

I'm so thankful that it was translated.

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Well, I guess I could just say...

Boss NS-2, don't be an idiot... get one.. it works...

nuff said..

oh you ment the long haired guy...on youtube..whatshisname... ummm..I think..

LMAO Man do I talk like that after a few? Gee I hope not.

Just tried one of these today but since I didn't know anything about them and how to hook them up (until now)...it didn't do what I thought it would...even though it can. >>>>Now I sound as bad as Wingeee.<<<<<

According to Justa here and the Boss pedal products brochure you have to run the pedals through the effects loop in order to cut the hiss. We didn't figure that out at the shop although the young tech tried to help me. After I found out how it's really supposed to work I called up the young tech and told him how it's supposed to be connected. The unit is on hold for me till tomorrow and it's at a great price used but in excellent condition.

I am still in awe over this pedal... it truelly works... and although I know little of tone..it does not seem to color mine any..or I got use to it..

When I stop playing.. all the noise is gone...(now if your amp hisses..its the amp not the pedals) no matter how high muffs, fuzz, flangers, overdrives etc are set they go silent... its all in setting up the loop.. excellent product! I give it 5 raving guitar solos! (once I learn them)

Justa just emailed me a demonstration clip of his NS-2 and there is a dramatic difference in it's ability to suppress noise I'm really impressed. Thanks for sending that Justa!

QUIET!!!

No, I'm not your high school librarian, I'm a new Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor pedal owner. I picked up one of these on eBay after hearing how much Justa & Tone liked theirs, and I have to agree it's an amazing little device. It's ability to distinguish your signal from background noise is really quite impressive. I figured it would take out the hiss & 60Hz hum, but I was skeptical that it could handle something like the cycling background noise I get on a high gain signal with my phaser or vibrato pedals engaged. El wrongo! It handled that perfectly, as well. There is a brief volume swell when you strike an initial note from a dead-quiet starting point, but it's not objectionable, IMO. The unit also does an excellent job in fading your signal out naturally; even though there's a control to adjust the signal decay, I haven't found a need to use it yet.

Seriously, if you have any noise problems--a buzzy pedal or two, a noisy single-coil guitar, etc.--you should give strong consideration to the NS-2. It's not particularly expensive, and it works like a charm. I can see that mine is really going to come in handy when I get that Epi '56 Goldtop with the (notoriously noisy) P90's for Christmas!

Voo your reaction to the pedal is what I was expecting. I was the same way after getting one. One thing to note when changing from your other guitars to your Goldtop...you'll have to increase the threshold a little more because of the P90 noise. They seem to be more noisier than single coil Strat pups, especially when using some pedals. It will work the same as it did when the threshold was lower though.

I think the Boss NS-2 is a god send.. it's one heck of a nosie defeater..

this little clip is about my Hiwatt.. but you will notice me talking about the NS-2 the first few minutes.. and can hear the difference with a MUFF even...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tWBJYy7jl5s

Justa: Your guitar has PUPs like mine and is a bit similar, so I am very interested in your experiences. I noticed you using it on the HiWatt vid also. What I love about my 60th strat is the warmth with clarity of those tex mex pups. When you say it colors the sound a little, in what way would you say? Does it dull it? How do you EQ it out? Thanks man for being such a good tester with a budget right now to try all this stuff out for us!

Cool I didn't know you had a youtube account. I'll add you to my buddy list.

sunvalleylaw said:

Justa: When you say it colors the sound a little, in what way would you say? Does it dull it? How do you EQ it out? Thanks man for being such a good tester with a budget right now to try all this stuff out for us!

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Yeah, I would say its very very slight if at all..might just be me.. volume drops "dull" might not be the word.. maybe "compress" but I mean slight.. just kick it up a bit..
Whats your opinion T2TB?

I can't get YouTube here at work, but will check out that vid clip later, Justa.

Tone and I have been trading clips experimenting with phaser/distortion pedal combos to get vintage Trower/Hendrix type tones. While doing this, I had the gain on my home-built ProCo Rat clone cranked up pretty high with the phaser engaged, and it gave an obnoxious cycling background hum. I had to mute out this noise at the beginning of the clips I was recording, because it sounded so crappy.

I really doubted that the NS-2 could handle that, because it wasn't a steady noise--the phaser caused the modulation, as you'd expect. Well, NO PROBLEMO, amigos! The NS-2 cleaned it up beautifully. I don't know how the thing distinguishes unwanted noise from "real" signal, but it does so with astonishing efficiency!

Justaguyin_nc said:

Yeah, I would say its very very slight if at all..might just be me.. volume drops "dull" might not be the word.. maybe "compress" but I mean slight.. just kick it up a bit..
Whats your opinion T2TB?

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Is Sun talking about his Tex Mex pups or the NS-2?

Justa if you're answering by talking about the NS-2 then my opinion is that we're probably getting slightly different signal processing going on between the 3 of us that use them. I say this because I know you had mentioned to me that the NS-2 slightly compresses your sound but I haven't had that experience with my pedal board. With my effects everything runs the same as if I didn't have the NS-2 in the chain at all...and this is when it is engaged too. There's no drop in volume or any compression that I can sense but that doesn't mean YOU can't sense that on your end with your pedal chain...nor Voo's. I think about the only major difference in my setup is that I run my guitar into the wah pedal FIRST...then into the TU-2 tuner pedal THEN into the NS-2. I think you're running your guitar into the NS-2 first aren't you? That might make a difference because my Classic Cry Baby pedal has a buffered circuit instead of a true bypass and it actually seems to boost my signal as opposed to sucking it. Voodooman can probably better explain the function of the buffered jack or switch whatchamacallit.

Here's a new photo of my current pedal board configuration. You can kinda tell how my pedals are connected.

View attachment 1214

What I was talking about Tone is that Justa and I have basically the same Pups, so I was curious about what he meant by the sound being colored given the similarity of our guitars. I should probably just try one of these NS-2 things. I have enough pedals daisy-chained together that stray noises sometimes happen, and some noise from my DS-1 is common. That is instructive, Tone, on the pedal board set up. I also have the Classic Cry Baby, though I don't always hook it up, and when I do, put it in the beginning of the chain.

That might be the case..and also, it might just be "thinking" it changes..as I said its very very slight if at all..mines always running now..so I don't tell any difference..

I liked that mini Hiwatt amp you got Justa that's sweet. I can tell it sounds good in person. Your effects sound good too especially that Electric Mistress.

Thanks tone... it has out shined the epi's imho...for the sound "I" want.. and at used $150-$200 is hard to beat... I love my Electric Mistress..another thing thats usually on now..even if set low..lol..

Justa, you sure got a lot of stuff now! Nice clip.

T2TB is joining my band.. I need this stuff cause I can't play sh*t.. but I got the cool stuff and more comming..lol

Justaguyin_nc said:

T2TB is joining my band.. I need this stuff cause I can't play sh*t.. but I got the cool stuff and more comming..lol

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Not true Spongebob... I really dig your Ghostriders clip! I have it in my playlist.

Hey Super we need a bass player can you join us? I'll lend you my Jazz Bass.

Hey I got a Bass on the wall.. SX-57...see I got all the gear...hmm..need to get a set of drums... but I got a drum machine..

tone2thebone said:

Hey Super we need a bass player can you join us? I'll lend you my Jazz Bass.

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Groovy, I want to be like Bootsy Collins. Thats one cool dude.

I just want to be like Bill Murray... walk out on stage with an unplugged guitar.. introduce the band and then hang out backstage with the groupies.. ya'll can use the equipment..

Tone nice pavers there my knees hurt just looking at them, I've put in thousands of feet of that stuff.
Back to the thread, this is a good thread for me I'm just starting to set up a pedal board this will come in handy.

250Keith said:

Tone nice pavers there my knees hurt just looking at them, I've put in thousands of feet of that stuff.
Back to the thread, this is a good thread for me I'm just starting to set up a pedal board this will come in handy.

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I actually like doing tile work it's fun. As long as you got a decent pair of knee pads and some beer to go along with them you're alright. LMAO I also like doing concrete finish work too as sick as that sounds.

To summarize...the NS-2 pedal...dont' have one...get one. You really need it. R

tone2thebone said:

I actually like doing tile work it's fun. As long as you got a decent pair of knee pads and some beer to go along with them you're alright. LMAO I also like doing concrete finish work too as sick as that sounds.

To summarize...the NS-2 pedal...dont' have one...get one. You really need it. R

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It's only fun for me is when I'm doing a side job for friends (Beer & BBQ) are involved and I put them there kids there parents everybody to work LOL.
The NS-2 is on my short list.
Thanks