using a trimpot to gate off the noise in a tonebender mark II

[mordechai]

After some interesting exchanges with another contributor out here, I wanted to open up a topic for broader discussion, and that is how best to "gate off" some of the noise from a tonebender mark II.  I like what Vex does with the "gate" control on the Fuzz Factory...could we not do something similar with the Q2 of a tonebender?  Maybe a trimpot on the collector to dial in just the right amount of noise gating (or would this be done on the emitter)?

[Electric Warrior]

a little gating is exactly what the doctor prescribed:

I'd rather achieve it by picking different tranistors than messing with resistors. The people at Sola Sound did just fine without trim pots, so I can be fine without them, too.
Q2 is a good starting point for sure. Ever notice how a MKII sounds more gated and choppy when you touch Q2 for a couple of seconds? 

[Solidhex]

 The higher the value on Q2's collector the more gating you'll get. The higher the leakage on Q2 the more gating as well. You'll lose your ability to clean the fuzz up properly with the guitar's volume control but its the price you pay.

[azrael]

Good components and good wiring go a long way.
I'm told that my silicon MKII builds are very quiet.

[Electric Warrior]

The higher the value on Q2's collector the more gating you'll get. The higher the leakage on Q2 the more gating as well. You'll lose your ability to clean the fuzz up properly with the guitar's volume control but its the price you pay.

Yes, but that needn't be a disadvantage. A bit of choppiness sure adds to the character and some people actually prefer a wide range of different fuzz sounds at the volume control to the cleanup thing.

[mordechai]

So -- if I have a Q2 of quite low leakage, then upping the Q2 collector resistor will help in creating a bit more gating?  I currently have a 47K on the breadboard -- a slight increase to, say, 56K could do the trick, you think?

I'll give it a try and report back...

[Solidhex]

The higher the value on Q2's collector the more gating you'll get. The higher the leakage on Q2 the more gating as well. You'll lose your ability to clean the fuzz up properly with the guitar's volume control but its the price you pay.

Yes, but that needn't be a disadvantage. A bit of choppiness sure adds to the character and some people actually prefer a wide range of different fuzz sounds at the volume control to the cleanup thing.

  Absolutely. I think a little gating accentuates the pick attack which helps in a circuit with this much gain. That little crunchy noise as the transistor rears into action is really cool. All that sustain and compression can sound too smooth and featureless in some cases.