Modding my $20 Amuzik Noise Gate into an Killer ISP Decimator Clone!

Check out my official shop for NAM Models, IRs, and more! https://nickleonard.gumroad.com/ In this exclusive mod tutorial, I show you just how easy (or not) it is to swap a few parts and turn the cheapest noise gate I could find on Amazon into a near-perfect clone of the ISP Decimator - and prove it!

This pedal wasn't bad, but it was too slow, and after some research, I found out the circuit is actually based on the ISP Decimator thanks to the study of this pedal done by Toshi Okada at: http://toshi.life.coocan.jp/review/en...

Noise Gate Shootout 2 is out!    • Testing 22 Noise Gate Pedals to Determine ...  
Check out the original test that inspired this!    • Testing Noise Gate Pedal Release Times to ...  

More info and schematic here:
https://revolutiondeux.blogspot.com/2...

The components I changed in the Amuzik Noise gate are
-R8 (stock 1M) lowered to 470k
-R35 (stock 10M and R12 in the Decimator) lowered to 4.7M

While this gets extremely close to the release time of the Decimator, it's very possible that you could make it even faster with lower values, just keep them 10x apart, such as 330k/3.3M, etc. Below a certain point, it may sound unnatural, but I haven't tested that. The ISP Decimator v1 is also through-hole, so I may try lowering the values of R8/R12 on that too - that would be a much easier mod, though more expensive if you don't have an original Decimator!

UPDATE 1/7/24: I further modified my Amuzik gate and my Decimator I in the same way.
-For the Decimator I, I lowered R8 to 330k and R12 to 3.3M and cut the release time down to around 45ms. Similar to the Decimator II G-String.
-For the already modded Amuzik, I further lowered R8 to 150k and R35 to 1.5M and got the release time down to 55ms!
Note that the original Decimator I is through hole and easier to mod. I need to check the I G-string and II, but the II G-string is SMD, so would be a pain to mod, though that one really doesn't need modding. If you can find an original Decimator cheap enough, that's the easiest to mod and a nice enclosure!

0:00 The Mod
8:34 Audio Tests
11:42 Should You Do This Mod?

#elecronics #guitarpedals #musicproduction



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