THE SILENCER
Noise Gate/Effects Loop
Congratulations on your purchase of The Silencer, a sophisticated noise gate
with gated effects loop from Electro-Harmonix. The Silencer can be used as an
inline noise gate or it can gate an entire effects loop. Whether you play with a
single distortion pedal, or an entire board of effects, noise can be a problem.
With control over threshold, noise reduction and release time, The Silencer can
be fine tuned to fit your system, instrument and playing style to remove
unwanted noise.
- CONTROLS -
THRESHOLD Knob – Controls how much level is needed to open the noise gate
and allow your signal to pass through. At full counter-clockwise the gate remains
open and passes all signal through. As you turn THRESHOLD clockwise more
level is needed to open the gate.
To tune the THRESHOLD knob, we recommend you start with THRESHOLD set to
its minimum position, REDUCTION set to maximum, RELEASE set to minimum,
and The Silencer’s LED lit. Turn up the volume knob on your guitar but hold the
strings to stop any feedback. You should hear noise coming through your
amplifier. Turn up the THRESHOLD knob until the noise disappears, then
continue to turn it up just a little more; this setting makes for a good starting
point.
REDUCTION Knob – Controls how much the gated signal will be reduced.
Reduction is variable between -70dB at full clockwise (for maximum noise
reduction) to +4dB at full counter-clockwise (yes you can boost the noise instead
of reducing it if you like). You may find setting REDUCTION between 12 o’clock
and 3 o’clock produces a more natural gating effect than it does at maximum.
RELEASE Knob – Controls the speed of the envelope signal that closes the gate
after the input signal drops below the THRESHOLD setting. RELEASE time varies
from a quick 8ms at full counter-clockwise to a slow 4 seconds at full clockwise.
Start with a RELEASE setting of 12 o’clock for a natural sounding gate effect.
FOOTSWITCH and LED – The Footswitch selects whether The Silencer is
engaged or in buffered bypass mode. When the gate is engaged, the LED is lit.
The effects loop remains in your signal path while The Silencer is bypassed.
