Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor

Read the manual, it helps.
Once it's setup its easy to use.
I found it a little confusing for about an hour, then it all made sense.

Read my Big Muff USA reissue review for full setup.

My effects chain is pretty noisy - Big Muff, Electric Mistress, Phase 90, Dynacomp - are all pretty noisy pedals. This fixes all my problems. With the decay at 0 and the threshold about 60% all noise is eliminated. I would say that this pedal does alter my tone slightly, it almost adds a little bit more compression, but in a good way i think, it sounds a bit punchier with this in the chain.

Boss seem to be very reliable, i have had quite a few Boss products, with very few complaints

No idea

This pedal is essential to my setup. It works exactly as i want it to and is now the most important pedal i own.

I dont think i could improve upon this.

If you use a lot of pedals, and hate to hear loads of hiss and noise everytime you stop playing, even if only between phrases in your solo, then you need this pedal. buy it....love it

How about 1 minute setup time & fixed all my problems !!!. My wireless is noisy as hell ( Samson CR-77 Airline ) when not playing. This took care of 90% of the hiss without coloring the sound at all.

Awesome, didn't kill anything. I have the Thresh set at 1/2 way, decay all the way off, & use the Mute function for my Schecter Triple XXX. For my hollowbody ( you guys know how bad hollowbody's feedback when distored ), I have the Thresh maxed out, Decay off, & use the mute function. NO MORE HOLLOWBODY FEEDBACK. I use no other pedals & my head is a Marshall VS100. I'm so stoked about this thing you have no idea.

It's a Boss pedal, what else do you need. Have mounted in the back of my rack. Set it & forget it.

Once again, it's a Boss.

Perfect for killing that little bit of Hiss I was getting while not playing. Beautiful for killing my hollowbody feedback. Overall, this thing rules.

Very easy,never read the manual with BOSS pedals the're so simple.

Great,Noise gates and Suppresors are always a tricky one as you dont want them to take anything away from your playing but undoubtibly they will slightly how ever the amount they help is completley paramount compared, as i use a guitar with Soapbar single coil pick-ups an Amp with lots of gain and an epic pedal board the NS-2 is probly the most vital piece of kit in it second to my Boss Tuner.

Havent had any problems and mine is about a year old

dont know

Great pedal effects your sound slightly when picking lightly or using your amps clean channel but never the less is helps everything else an great amount, go out and buy one!

Well, not so easy to use, it depends of your problem.
#1)Quiet amp, quiet guitar, noisy booster/drive pedal: simple. Guitar-in NS2, send NS2-in pedal, out pedal-return NS2, out NS2-in amp.

#2)Noisy amp, quiet guitar, quiet booster/drive pedal: NOT simple. Guitar-pedal-in NS2, send NS2-in amp, send amp-return NS2, out NS2-return amp. Your amp must have a (serial)loop! Normally it's the preamp part of your combo,or head, which is noisy.
Note that if you insert the booster/drive pedal between send NS2 and in amp you'll get feedback.

#3)Noisy amp without fx loop: dead simple. Get another amp, fast!

#4) Noisy amp, guitar, pedal: well, Boss is not God after all. Still, with the #2 configuration it will be okay.

#5) Noisy guitar, quiet amp, quiet pedal: I only tried this with a booster as explained in #1 and waow is it quiet!

It gets a five, but please take note: it is the very nature of noise problems that makes it difficult to cure, whatever the machine...

The unit DOES change your sound, the ones below who tell you otherwise are deaf.

It does add a lot of low-mids, and the grain of your sound is thicker hence less defined, less "liquid". Uglier in fact. Still better than noise (your basic strat...).
In the #1 configuration this phenomenon is more pronounced than in the #2 configuration. It is because of the impedance (high before the preamp, low after the preamp), high impedance signal gets way more affected than their lower counterparts.

Yes it is reliable, as long as you are careful with your cables/jacks.
Mine is , what, ten years old and never gave problems.

I can't see a better noise gate for guitar. It rules, especially in the #2 setting.
I have a hush(in an intellifex rocktron), and a behringer denoiser, both more signal-destroying due to their lack of detection circuitry.
Note that the boss does handle direct guitar signal too, the others just can't.
The extra dc socket is the way to go, hats off.
I only wish it didn't change your sound so much, that's what I'm asking for the NS3...
A lot of musicians I know don't know how to set this unit properly, and are unsatisfied. Hence my report, hope it helps.
One thing: don't get this to reduce feedback when playing electro acoustic guitar, get a zoom 504 or boss ad3 instead.

hella easy to use. there's a manual, didnt have to refer to it.

i'd say its pretty damn transparent, i heard horror stories about how it altered your sound. so i recorded my amp with it and without it, made no difference. no noise as far as i can see. im using it with a peavey XXL half stack, eliminates the noise.

only problem is that you have to have the threshold at max and decay at 0 in order to get immediate response to the noise reduction after sudden stops without that "fadeout" sound. this effectively elimates quiet playing. for my purposes though (metal, hardcore, etc) this is a non-issue. it does take some sustain away too, but i used a stopwatch and got around 20 seconds, versus around 30 without it and having noise seep through.

only pedal ive ever known that doesnt have this problem is the ISP decimator. wanted to get one, having online ordering issues...so i demo'd the boss at GC, works great for $50 less. so basically, if you need those soft notes and extra long sustain, get an ISP. if not, get this.

ive never had a single issue with a boss product. no back up necessary.

never needed them.

i play metal, this is exactly what i needed. no tone coloring as far as i could see, only problems that it has are a non-issue with metal. if it were lost or stolen, i'd still get this one again because the ISP costs too much more for not much more (for my purposes). excellent product, sexy looking too.

Easy to use. It does what it says it should do, it supresses noise.

Um, maybe lack of sound quality, it's pretty good. the only problem comes into play when you want to play quieter phrases, because the threshold control will only allow you to cut the noise when you're not playing, but if you play quiet notes, the backgroud fuzz is immediatley present. It's more like a noise suppressor for when you aren't playing.

I just started using a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2, and this power source eliminates all that hum, making this pedal all but obsolete. I'm keeping it around as it will probably come in handy to cut feedback and such, but it's not a part of my rig right now.

It's a boss pedal. Always reliable.

Never called 'em.

Been playing 9 years, so I've been around the block. This is a good pedal until you have about 5 or more running simultaneously, then it's hard to play with softer dynamics, and I'd reccomend the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2, it's just worth it. But for feedback reduction of a 3 or 4 pedal setup, especially for a beginner, this is a great pedal.

Couldn't be simpler, really. I'd never used a dedicated noise supressor before, but I got to grips with this in a matter of minutes. Simply set how much noise will trigger the gate (threshold) and how long it takes to click off again as the sound level reduces (decay). Requires a bit of experimentation to find the right levels, which will be dictated largely by a) how much unwanted noise your rig produces and b) your playing style.

I use a Gibson Les Paul, straight into the NS-2 and then into a 50w Marshall JCM 800 Lead Series. My amp produces a fair bit of hiss, particularly on high gain settings as you would expect. I play a lot of staccato rhythm parts, so the NS-2 is there primarily to help keep that sounding tight by taking out hiss and other unwanted noise, and by chopping the chord off cleanly as soon as I mute the strings. It works great for this, and fans of Prong, Helmet etc will love it for that.

It does have a tendency to muffle quieter notes, though this doesn't affect me much with my playing style and this would happen with any suppressor. People who play more delicate styles would want to set the threshold relatively low to let those quiet notes through - however this needn't be a compromise as a player of that type will probably not be using such high gain (and therefore high noise) settings as I do.

It DOES alter the tone a little too, and at first I was a bit worried about that. But, as I've gotten accustomed to the sound I've noticed that the alteration is for the better - at least with my gear. The overall result seems to be a more focussed and punchy rhythm sound, which is exactly what I wanted.

Built well, like all Boss pedals. I don't anticipate any problems in that regard.

N/A

Can't fault it, so far. I'd almost certainly buy another one if this were stolen or damaged, though I'd consider other brands too. It adds quite a professional touch to my sound, by making it sound very tidy and tight. My only real complaint is that I sometimes roll off the guitar volume for cleaner passages, and the drop in sound level means that the notes get muffled or cut off. For some songs, it's necessary to compromise a little and roll the threshold down a little to let those quiter notes through.

I don't get it. Is it only me?A noise gates function is to remove hiss or unwanted noise at idle. You set a threshold, and anything below this is eliminated.Once you hit a note or go above that threshold,the peddle is no longer in the loop,and all the noise you heard at idle is there again except now the other sounds cover most of it up due to the larger noise to music levels.If the threshold is set too high,soft passages may not be heard,or may sound muffled.You have to experiment with it to set it right,then leave there.

THIS IS NOT AN EFFECTS PEDAL.

It's a Boss,could be a peddal,could be a weapon.

the knobs are very easy to use...just get your settings, and leave em there when the noise is gone. The cords on the other hand can be a hassle.
1) guitar to "input"
2) "send" to other pedals
3) if there more than one pedal, they have to be linked (obviously)
4) last pedal to "return"
5) delay or reverb must be between output and your amp.
6) "output" to your amp

for a boss stompbox...this is confusing...however if you have the manual, and you learn what goes where, its as easy as any other pedal. just make sure you have lots of patches.

this pedal is frickin amazing. i like my setup with a huge supply of distortion. when im playing a song with breaks, or have to stop playing for a minute, it is 100% muted. ive been told its more of a tool than a pedal, and this is true. however, now with the ns-2, i can link more pedals together, and it wont fuck my signal. it seems like the possibilities are endless now aha. also i find that my distortion sounds thicker which is good, but that could be because im listening too hard, who knows.

The ONLY problem i had was this...
whenever i played solos with toggle switches.(bridge pickup has volume, neck pickup is turned to 0...flick the toggle switch back and forth from pickup to pickup), there would be a short squeal when it was flicked to the pickup with no volume. although ive had this pedal for about 4 hours now, ive tried all kinds of different settings, and couldnt seem to solve this. although it could be improper use of the pedal, or my guitar.

i now own 5 boss pedals, some new, some used, and ive never had a problem with any of them. boss seems to make very sturdy, heavy duty pedals.

cant say...never had problems

i play mostly metal....if you play metal, you should get this pedal...its just inconvenient not to have it. i wish i would have got it sooner. like i said above, ive had it 4 hours, and its definately a permanent part of my setup now. i own 2 other boss distortions (ds-2, mt-2) boss flanger (hf-2) boss compressor (cs-3) creamy dreamer, shin-ei companion fuzz wah, and a snarling dogs wonder wah 2. i have tried these all together in some form with the ns-2, and it is beautiful. my signal doesnt turn to shit when i link 2 pedals or more at the same time. this is especially true with my snarling dogs wah and my creamy dreamer...sounds great, and no fuzz-outs or feedback taking over like before...only problems ive had i mentioned above
1) the mysterious squeal (probably my fault though)
2) the number of patches required, but there really is no way around this, and its a small price to pay for suck a kick-ass pedal...id give it 11 if i could.

set it and forget it. very handy mute feature. anybody could figure out how to use it (like every boss pedal)

les paul>morley wah>boss me-50>dano fab tone>Boss ds-1>ns-2>traynor ycv 80

totally takes out the hum from my effects board, with the exception of the dano fab tone (good sounding, horrible hum). was surprised when it even took the noise out of my amp channels.

it DOES change the tone when on, gives more mid-highs than i would like, but nothing a little EQ tweak can't fix.

built like a brick. i would gig without a backup because it isn't the end of the world if it dies.

no idea

the longer the effects chain, the more you need one of these. after playing with it for a while you forget about it (good thing i think), the noise just isn't there.

You only need to set this up once, just find the threshold that cuts your effects' noise effectively (no pun intended), and set the decay.

I use this with a Gibson Les Paul Studio, with Proco Rat and Boss Heavy Metal distortion, Boss Chorus Ensemble, Danelectro chorus and Flange and a Boss Tremolo in the effects loop. It does the job VERY well. Can't fault it.

I use my effects with a power supply rather than batteries. The 'default' when I power up my pedals is 'off' on the NS-2, so I have to remember to switch it on each time. Oddly, the reverse applies to the Boss Tremolo, which is pretty frustrating. A very minor criticism, but the only one I have.

I love messing with effects and hate noise, so this is ideal. Max the distortion and effects and let the NS-2 do the legwork. I used to have an MXR Noise Gate/Line Driver but that was complete rubbish! - simply too basic to do the job properly and constantly having to alter the threshold. I have also found, with the NS-2, you can create some crazy industrial cut-off sounds if your max the threshold and play around with the decay. Other than this, the NS-2 isn't an effect as such, so not much fun to be had unless you have already established a need to cut your noise, but it does give you more freedom with your existing effects. 9/10 (nothing's perfect!)

Easiest thing to use. Period. You'd need to have down syndrom to have difficulties with this pedal.

guitar > dunlop wah > iput NS-2 > digitech whammy > Korg DF-10 stage tuner > GE-7 Equalizer... and the NS-2 is being used as an effects loop on it's own by running my Dan Electro Fab Tone and MT-2 Distortion pedals through the send and recieve inputs..

The sound quality is wonderful! It cuts out any feedback/hum/buzz my single coil stratocastor gives off without removing ANY tone!!! This pedal will make any crapy guitar sound great! It's never noisey and the instructions are soooo easy to figure out! The sound is always great! effects are great. period.

Never screwed up yet, and I haven't owned a BOSS product that has. I would gig it without backup.

never had to call them! probably wont ever have to!!

I play every style excluding country. It's awesome. I've been playing for 9 years now, and this is the best investment i've ever had. If it wwere lost or stolen, i'd buy one that same day. GREAT PEDAL!!

Dirt Simple....Only Three(3) Knobs to worry about....and one you don't even have to move.

Guitar->Noise Suppressor->Compressor/Sustainer->Ibanez Tube Screamer Reissue->Marshall AVT-50

The Pedal itself has cut out all background noise and has sharpened up the overall tone itself.

With my other effects + a little gain on the clean setting, I can get a pretty decent SRV Tone.

or

With the Distortion setting + my effects a really BITCHIN' lead crunch.

It's a BOSS.

A friend of mine has run over one of his BOSS effects with his truck and it still survived.

Never have needed to call the company, hope I never have to either.

I typically play blues-rock of the 60s and 70s and alot of SRV but I have played some Heavy Metal.

I have been playing for 3 years now. I currently own two Left Handed Stratocasters, 1 Jay Turser Telecaster, a Fender Accoustic, and a Hondo accoustic. I play with several effects when I play on my electrics: Boss Noise Suppressor(of course), Boss Compressor/Sustainer, Boss Blues Driver, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, Original Crybaby Wah, and a Dunlop Rotovibe pedal.
I either play through a Marshall Avt-50 or a 10 Watt Pignose.

I love using this pedal cause it cuts out all the noise ad unwanted sound from the pickups. The only bad thing that I can say about it s that the effect does really change when you play around with the controls (Which can be good or bad when you look at it)

There is one sacrifice you have to make when you use this pedal. I don't know whether this is intentional or not but when I use the suppressor, I can't get a very deep reverb that I used to get from the Marshall. Usually I only have to set the reverb to about 4 on the setting to get a nice rich deep tone but when I activate the pedal, I have to "jack that knob to 11" to get any type of reverb. So I wish it had a reverb knob on the pedal so I could get that deep tone.

I found this very easy to use. People should have no problem. That is, if they bothered to read the manual as it's very easy to understand and explains everything. A cool feature is that this pedal can power other effect pedals so you don't tons of adaptors or an expensive multi-pedal power supply.

Amazing!I used to have real problems with noise in my set-up, but now, thanks to this, I don't have any unwanted or unnecessary noise. Sounds great together with my Boss CS-3 (compressor). I don't know how I survived without it for so long.

Bulit like all Boss eg. like a tank. Had no problems in the years that I've owned it.

Never needed to get in touch with them and hopefully I never will.

Anyone who uses high gain distortion pedals or vintage pedals should get this as it cuts all extra noise. Also essential for those who gig a lot as it reduces loud hums and feedback. An amazing pedal that every guitarist should own.

A complete dumbass can figure this thing out. It's just a couple of simple knobs.

I play a Fender Sam Ash Costum strat and a Marshall MG250DFX amp. I also have a MT-2 that i run through the little effect loop thing. This thing does what is suppose to. knocks out all the buzz from my humbuckers (when the distortion is on). but it doesn't get rid of all the buzz from my single coils when the distortion is on. but it makes them bareable.

Its boss. All their stuff is solid. don't drop it on the knobs though cuz i did that with my MT-2 Metal Zone and it kinda messed them up. but it still works

This is amazing. theres no reason to buy somthing more expensive unless your recording.

This little grey box is extremely versistile and easy to use.
You have to tweak the decay and threshold nobs around for a few minutes so you can get a natural decay and not kill your sound.
The manual only tells you what the knobs do so you have to find your own settings. But other than that it's a really simple and cost effective unit.

I use a Squier Standard Stratocaster (with single coils so it can get pretty noisy) that i run through a Boss Metal Zone, Boss Tuner, and the Boss NS-2, (all the pedals are hooked into my Boss BCB3 pedalboard) then I run all that into a Marshall 100 watt Half Stack.
so it goes Strat> Metal Zone> Tuner> Noise Supressor> Stack. The sound is incredible thanks to the NS-2 cutting out all of the hiss and buzz from my pickups and amp, the Metal Zone's distortion really rings through and shines because you can only hear the distortion and no hiss or buzz, plus you get no feedback. Believe me when I tell you that your Distortion will sound twice as good once you add the Ns-2 to your rig it improves everything. This thing is never noisy unless you dont set the threshold knob clockwise unitl you get total silence. This thing is awesome

I would most ceartainly depend on it. I play in a Skacore/ Grindcore band and we use Strats in order to get that nice brightness and midrange. And also single coils are great for grind because their sharp and goodd for that gritty distortion. I bought this about 3 weeks ago and I have played 4 shows since then. This thing has overall improved my sound and noise problems and it lets me concentrate on my vocals, and guitar playing. I would use it on a gig without a backup.

I play in a skacore band called Jolly Roger. This is ideal for anyone who uses single coils and plays at very high levels of distortion. I've been playing for a little over 2 years I started when I was 15 and now m 17. If this item were stolen or lost I'd hunt the guy down and beat him senseless.

Its really darn easy, just make sure you read the manual about what threshold and decay does. I find all boss manuals very helpful.

It does what its supposta really well! Cuts out a hell of alot of noise... Maybe its just me but this seems to work better when playing at really loud volumes, it seems as though there is more noise when I have my marshalls and fenders on 1 as oppossed to 10. So by saything that, it really does its job in keeping you sound very nice at high volumes!. Come on... Gretsch hollowbodys thru a Ibanez ts9 and a marshall plexi/fender deville.. Yes that creats alot of crappy hum but the ns-2 gets rid of pretty much all of it. (Of course your always gonna hear the speaker noise tho!!)

Yes I totally depend on this.. Built like a tank. Only a 9 cos of platic knobs but you'd seriously have to go out of your way to break em'

Not too sure... I heard it takes a while but then again even if you take something to your local tech that takes a while too. So with a rating im undecided.

Ive mentioned it all above... I absolutly recommand this pedal. Sure it cost be $200 AU new but I know im gonna be lending this to my kid one day (im only 18 so yes thats a long way off!!) so it is worth it.

This is simply simple to use. It's a tool not an effect.
The manual eXplains how to use the loop function well enough for a monkey to understand.

I run the NS-2 2'nd in my chain with a compressor in front of it and a wah, eq, and an overdrive after.
This pedal adds ZERO noise to the chain. Infact, if there is any tone suckage it's not audible. Maybe some of you got a bad pedal.
One other thing, Many of the previous posts remarked about it chopping off their notes pre-maturely. If thats happening, you dont have it set right. I play Clean tones to saturated lead tones and the NS-2 NEVER cuts out single note lines, even with long bends it wont mess with my sustain/decay etc. The cleans are just the same. Quiet finger picking or lite picking with big spaces between notes never get cut. When the pedal starts its magic, it does so in a smooth manner and is really undetectible.
9 because there must be something up Rolands sleeve for the neXt model.

No problems are forseen because Boss builds their pedals to stand up to the clock.

Never needed to and strange enough, I dont think I will ever have to.

This pedal is a very great tool for any player who wants to keep things quiet when they need them to be (when you stomp the pedal it goes from noise suppressor to deactivating the signal).
I love this pedal and if it were stolen or stopped working, I would get another one.

Very easy to use. I've looked through the manual a couple of times.

I'm using my NS-2 with my Marshall AVT150. I've yet to work any other F/X's in with it, but I'm putting together a chain of Boss pedals and the NS-2 is will an essential part of it.

Noise? The great thing about it is that it CUTS OUT the noise!!

I can depend on it and will gig without it because right now I cannot afford a backup.

I hope I NEVER have to deal with CS for ANY company!!

I play a variety of music. My main "gig" right now is Sunday mornings in my church. We have a contempeary service and when I play that service, I can and will use the distortion settings on my Marshall. I've also played with a 50's cover band and will be playing with a rock and blues band in the near future. I plan on using my NS-2 from now on or at least until I can move up to racks.

I've been playing for 25 years, seriously for the last 5-7. I play mostly "classic" music. Classic country, classic rock, 50's rock, classic metal, and even classic Christian/religioius. I've little use for most "modern" music. Especially country, rock and metal.

If my NS-2 was stolen, I'd be burning the web on Ebay looking for another one.

My favorite feature about it is that I can run my distortion channels on my Marshall full crank with it on and not have that EXTREMEMLY ANNOYING racket a distortion channel can make. Another thing I like about is that I can finally take my hands of the guitar and not get the annoying sound my pickups make either. We're using "in ear" at church and the rest of the musicians are glad I've fixed it also! lol!!!

Anything I wish I had? A Boss GT-6 or the Roland VG-88. Those and STACKS of Marshalls and Fenders.

I don't know about it helping to make music, but it makes playing music easier because now I don't have to worry about extracurricular noise going on.

Easy to use. I have second in my chain behind my wah, then just loop all my other toys, back in the return socket, and finally to my amp. Adjust the level and decay and your away. Monkeys could operate it.

I had a real problem with noise in my setup before I tried the NS2. I use a Firebird, Les Paul and strat into an Orange AD30 for my clean sound, and a '77 Marshall half stack for my 'Give it some teddy' sound. I use some pretty fizzy pedals - a RAT box, fuzzface, HAO Rust Driver, Electric mistress - as well as some quiet ones and this little beauty cleaned the lot up.
I have the level set at about 75% with just a little decay and it just lets my tone sing without choking it at all. You can set it up so it cuts out all the dirt, but I think this sounds a bit sterile, besides noise isn't always a bad thing!
I have this thing on all the time and can't imagine life without it! It really is THAT DAMN GOOD!

It's a Boss - which basically translates to "would survive a nuclear blast". I have a few other Boss pedals and never had any problems with any of them.

Never had to contact them.

If you use any sort of pedal overdrive then you really do need one of these. All that hissy garbage just disappears and when you hit your guitar, you wonder where it came from. I never thought that a noise gate could be this effective.

verry easy
whatever you feel is adiquet

guitar into boss tu-bluesdriver-whammy-fm4-phaser-flanger-marshall dsl 50-dsl fxloop ns2-line6 delay-marshalldsl50.
i have the threshold on about 80-100 percent .always messing around, youve got to fiddle!!!!
it takes way most if not all the hum away from the dsl and the pedals.
decay on minium.
depending on how much drive you use it will take all of the hum and feedback away away.
but when on i still hear a slight noise from the amp but i think its just natural, the valves or somthing i guess? no big deal at all.
definately worth the #55 pounds.
BUT...
when at loud volumes if the ns2 is on a high thresh hold and depending on the amount of origional noise i can hear when strings are pressed of lightly tapping strings i hear noise beginning to build behind the guitar sound? maybe its the way i set it up?
anywho well worthy the money, you must explore as many possibilitys as possible !i still am till i find the best!

its boss

no problems yet

primerily brought for recording
works well at what it does
the manual DIDNT REALLY help me
just mess around
if u have any tips for me or help with the problem please email me.

I followed the manual in setting it up. Easy to understand and it works.

I run my Wah through it but outside of the effect/return loop of the pedal into my amp. When I ran my Wah in the pedal loop it changed the dynamics of the Wah(Vox 847) drastically. Outside the loop like I have it and it is good to go. In the pedal loop I put my flanger and EQ pedal(use to push the gain a little more on my amp. Not EQ'ing.) I have put distortion pedals here too and it works great. With too much gain added to your amps distortion it can get to be more than the pedal can do well. You may run into sustain problems but this has only happened to me with a butt load of distortion plus amp distortion. Too much gain just ain't a good thing. My amp's distortions are good enough so no dist. pedal needed. Just a little overdrive or gain boost to thicken things up. When the pedal is off I get feedback and or hiss especially at gig level. Pedal on....hiss gone, feedback is caught by the pedal and cut off. I adjust it so it doesn't cut off notes sustain as well as have it capture any unwanted noise. I use this on a Peavey XXL Head, Behringer Jenson 4x12 cab. I use my amps effects loop with another EQ pedal to boost my leads for soloing. So I run all my other pedals through the Boss effect/return loop. No adverse effects to my tone. Only coloration I notice is a slight increase in treble. I am anal too about coloration and it is just very slight. The benefit of the pedal's noise control far outways that slight coloration. Again...does not change my tone for the worse.

Been using for about a month now. I most definitely use it at gigs. Hell yes. It continues to work as it should. Doesn't eat batteries as bad as some pedals I've tried. I'd say it has an average appetite for batteries. If it craps on me I will be back to tell.

The style of music our band plays would be hard rock mostly...old school metal. Been playing off on for 20yrs. Own 4 other amps, 4 guitars and numerous pedals. This is the most useful pedal and necessary tool I have. It takes away unwanted noise period. When you have rhythm lines that stop and start again with guitar volume maxxed you know if it works or not. It does.

simple... three knobs... no problem!

well... i play with a gibson les paul trhu a fender devile 410 with big muff, ds2, bf2,zoom 505II and the ns2...
it's one of the most useful pedal i've ever bought... BUT it cuts some low frequences and it increases the volume...
if you are looking for a quite noise reduction, this is perfect. but be carefull about it's problem...
note: for use it, you must have a boss psa or an ibanez ac-109 or other regulated eletric generetors...

i don't know

usefull.

Quite easy to use, it's really a question of proper positioning in the effects chain and getting the most out of it's built-in effects loop. Just plug it in properly, tweak until you get the right balance between noise suppression and proper tone.

A big big thumbs up for noise suppression! When I run my guitars straight to my amp (Class A tube amp, Gibson Les Paul or Takamine GZ-300 solidbody), I use the pedal on it's reduction (not mute) mode and it cleans up the sound nicely without affecting sustain or tone noticeably. In my effetcs chain, I use it right between my guitar and my compressor, and the distortion pedal I patch through the send and return loop of the NS-2. Things are nice and quiet that way, and if I need to do really chunky rhythm work (Green Day-like), I put the pedal on "mute" instead of "reduction". Works great!!

It's BOSS, so I don't think I could ever break it.

Never had to deal with them.

Love it! It does exactly what it's supposed to, but you have to take the time to plug things up properly to use it to the maximum of it's capacities and not totally kill your tone.

easy to setup.

godin radiator into a mdx1400-ns2-ph1r-ls2-(1)>fz2-hm3-(2)>ds1-sd1-H&K ats120 valve head-fxloop-mdx1400-hf2-smallclone-pds1002 into a 2/vintage30 cab. I like this pedal a lot. i believe that it sounds better than the noisegates in my behringer rack gear. i switch it off when i do feedback and on when i play normal riffs. like most boss gear if you turn the knobs up to their max settings things just aren't as sweet. this unit is very clean sounding and doesn't adversely affect my tone.

very dependible

not needed

this is a saviour if you like distortion. and lots of it.

Not too hard.

I use the send/return loop. I put the chorus last outside the loop, but compressor, distortion, and wah within (in that order). I have it set to minimize the noise (i turn the gain up on my compressor) and it does a wonderful job. With the compressor on it's smooth, when it's off the noise supressor causes noticeable cutoffs in sustain. Some people say that it blocks noise without sacrificing sustain. That's definitely true to an extent.

Don't regret buying it.

This pedal was a bit diffucult to use in the begining, but if you take a look at the manual, its not so bad. I give it a 9 because there where so many jacks. But after that its all uphill.

After looking in the manual, and setting it up correctly I realized how well it acually works. No noise what so ever. I cant even hear my hand sliding up and down the fretboard. Knobs are Threshold, Decay, and a Reduction/Mute Switch. I run BOSS NS-2, DOD DEATH METAL, DOD GRUNGE, DANELECTRO MILKSHAK CHORUS, then VOX WAH. It sounds encredible, wait, there is non!

It has never failed me yet, and I dont plan on it.

Never delt with them. Musicians Friend is very reliable though.

I pump gobs of distortion thrrough my amp and cant tell if their on unless i look at the pedals.

I recomend it over anything, and its not one of those huge rack space HUSH things either, its small and built to perfection.

Well, the manual has a couple of good examples about how to use de NS-2, and you can do many useful things with it, it is really easy to use, just be patient about finding your right settings.
But I'm really satisfied cause this pedal really does what I was looking for, of course, in my case.

Ok, I use some Ibanez guitars connected to a Shure wireless system, or a normal instrument cable, depending the situation; my effects are in this way: Boss CS-2 Compressor/Sustainer, Digitech XP100, Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive, Boss TR-2 Tremolo, Ibanez PH-7 Phase Shifter and The NS-2. All those pedals are mounted and routed in a Furman SPB-8 Pedalboard, and then to the front of my amp.
My main distortion sounds come from a Marshall TSL100, so I use a Boss DD-3 Digital Delay in the effects loop of the amp.
Well, as I guess you might know, the high gain that amp's distortion produce, can introduce a lot of noise to the signal, and also the use of wall warts, long cables, and effect loop pedals can intoduce more unwanted noises to the signal!!!!!!!, so, if you're having problems with ground loop noise for the use of many long cables or wall warts inductance and what not, do not hesitate and go for this pedal now. It really helped me to give a solution.
Some guys are worried about the sustain and the cutted notes, but, you just need to learn how to interact with the NS-2, it is not the class of gate that cuts out everything, you can visualize this with the reduction diode: when this diode is dim while you're playing, you don't have to worry about the sustain, even if you're playing softly, or with the volume of your guitar rolled back, just worry yourself about not getting noises while you're not playing.

Boss kicks ass.

Well, I play guitar since 10 years ago, and I like to play whatever, but rock is my main style, and as the years go passing by, I have been introducing new gear to my rig, I play live almost every week and I was really having problems with noise cause the way I use my rig, but this pedal is at this time the best solution I found for a good price.
I think this pedal adapts to the problem you're having, but its functionallity will depend on even how you play, in the use of your guitar volume, your amp settings, effects settings, connections between all your pieces of equipment etc etc etc. just find the right settings to the threshold and decay. Something great of this pedal is that it doesn't cut the sound abruptlly, it does the reduction in a smooth way, so you don't have to worry too much about the sustain, again, everything is up to your playing and your settings.

plug and play... loop the nastiness in and voila
absolutely necessary when using multiple voicings and filters

i run an extensive setup:
7-string>>pitch shifter w/ exp. pedal>>octave>>auto wah>>
bass synth wah>>ns-2>>compressor>>distortion>>
chorus>>phaser>>flanger>>ns-2>>delay>>delay>>reverb

this pedal takes care of all that unwanted hiss and squeal...or I can dial to squelch the noise...or I can dial to let it shreik: good stuff

personally, I'm not striving to sound like anyone...just the sounds in my head!

well, i can't very well get backups for all my pedals
of course, it's a BOSS... it's not goin' down any time soon

I play whatever: some would call it Nu-metal, some would call it ambient rock, some might call rap-core...depends on the tune...depends on the project...depends on the band

Just like any peice of equiptment,
takes a little bit of fooling around to find the perfect settings,,
but not hard at all.

Peavey 5150 II is a loud amp. The NS-2 takes away almost all noise. The only problem with this unit is that it doesnt just take away hums and squels, but it also cuts notes off early. To have the pedal work truly how it shoud and eliminate all noise, the nobs must be set in a manner that also cuts of notes that are ment to be sustained. it mistakes large bends at the end of solos as "noise" and cuts it off. The pedal does what it should, Suppresses noise, i just wish it could differentiate.

100%

never

it is essential for a live show to avoid loud hums and squeling feedback when the amp is at high levels.

It's fairly easy to use. When I use mine, it really helps with the distortion.

The manual is pretty easy to understand.

I use an old Maya Strat that I've had more or less rebuilt over the last 17 or so years. I've used the NS2 with a Randall half stack and a MT2 Metal Zone. I would consider the NS2 very essential is you use something like an MT2.

Asking if a noise suppresor makes noise seems like an oxymoron, but no, it doesn't make any noise.

Yes it's dependable. Boss puts out some decent effects.

I would gig without a backup because this is the ONLY ONE I got!!

I've heard some horror stories about Boss CS. Even tho I honestly cannot give a rating I'll say one thing, thier website stinks as far as information goes. I've wanted to check out online samples of the GT6 and there never seems to be one.

I've only played it around the house with my Metal Zone pedal. My wife loves the fact that there is something in the universe that seems to be able to control distortion the likes the MT2 puts out. I play mostly in church these days and probably should find a way to use it.

I've been playing for nearly 25 years. My style varies between rock, hard rock, gospel, bluegrass and classic country. No rap, hip-hop, modern metal or modern pop.

I've been thinking about getting rid of all my pedals and going to one unit like a GT. Under different circumstances, yes I would replace it if it were lost or stolen. Even if I go with a GT or VG system, I might still keep it around "just in case".

I bought it because it was Boss and out of nearly a dozen pedals, only 3 of them aren't Boss.

Quite simple to figure out....3 knobs, turn them to the desired gate effect you need. I didn't get a manual with it, but I've used noise gates before. This isn't a 'gate' per-se, cause it's soooo smooth.....more like a noise 'garage-door'

Well....I use a Gibson SG, Les Paul >> Boss NS-2 >> Boss HM-2 >> Korg AX 100-g >> Boss 10 band EQ >> Boss CS-3 >> Roland JC-77 Amplifier.....with an Electro-Harmonix Memory Man in the effects loop of the Noise Surpressor, and it REALLY helps big time. I guess the 'Sound Quality' is really terrible....? Seeing how the NS-2 takes away all the bad noise of the signal. So, that would make it a great pedal. Get it?

As you can probably tell from my rig....I LOVE Boss stuff. Play without a backup? In a heartbeat.

Figments of the imagination, these people.....Who has actually needed them?

I play anything from Pink Floyd to Black Sabbath to Deftones.....and it helps to have the NS-2....really it does. I swear, people, Boss could make Christmas wrapping paper....and I'd buy it. The NS-2 really helps to get rid of the signal hum when not playing....just makes it sound better. No tone differential either...nice 'n' clean, and true. I like the 'Mute' function too....helps for tuning, without annoying everyone in the room. Someone wrote a review on this and said it was more of a tool, than an effect. So true. But what a tool it is.....like a swiss army knife made by Boss.....Hey....That'd be cool, eh?

easy, but read the booklet first...

if you use many pedals (such as me) it will make your sound...better!!! how is it possible? simple, it has an effect loop so you get a lot more of the original tone with less pedals in the way. i not sure way pepole are not talking about it. it's an amazing thing and was a surpise to me. it does a great job suppressing noise and if you dont go crazy with the nobs it wont kill your sustain +it has a mute function you can do silent tuning live...great!i only give it nine couse it's not perfect but damm close!

yea!it's good

dont know?!

a must for me it's:1.noise supressor
2.a'b box for silent tuning
3.kind of a tone bufer thanks to the effect loop brings back your sound!
4. it can power up effects (i dont use it for that..)
does a lot more than you think and yea it kill the noise and doesn't kill the guitar. get it!

Real easy to use. Just plug your guitar into it, and put everything else in the loop (you might want to keep delay pedals out of the loop as when the delay decays, the noise suppressor will cut down on it and mute it), then output to your poweramp.

There's a threshold knob to set signal the level at which the pedal kicks in, and anotehr knob to set how quickly it mutes the signal when the threshold is reached.

Jackson RR3 - Tu2 - NS2 - Compressor - Wah - Mesa Dual Rectifier, then out of the Rectifiers FX loop into Chorus, Flange, back into the NS and out of that into a delay pedal and into the FX retun on the amp. This way the Pre-amp stage of the Mesa is in the NS's loop and everything gets muted (they can be fairly noisy amps with the gain cranked up).

I've put the tuner before the NS. When it was in the loop, the NS still registered that you were playing while tuning, and turned itself off. This meant the tuner was on and muting the guitar signal, so I got all the amp buzz back when I tuned. With it infront of the NS, this problem goes away.
When the signal level is above the set threshold, it's completely uneffected (as far as I can tell, and I'm usually quite anal about these things). I have teh attack set very high, so that when it turns on, it turns on almost instantly, so I don't know if it does a nice job of gating the signal slowly or not.

Read the other reviews.

Ditto.

Never had to deal with them.

Play heavy drop tuned metal, with lots of sharp stop-start riffs (hence the high attack level on the pedal, and teh main reason for buying it). It makes those sections really tight (well, as tight as my playing at any rate) :)

It's the most indespensible pedal I own. I wouldn't want to use the Boss compressor in my rig in a live situation without it. It does a nice job of keeping the noise down between songs.

Very simple to use. Just two knobs.

Original tonalitiy stays pretty well intact. I run it at the end of my chain, before my amp. I am using a PRS custom22 into a Mesa Dual Rec. I have the threshold pretty cranked and the decay as little as possible. Sustain and original decay of notes is very impressive for a noise suppression unit. You will notice a slight difference, but nothing terribly bad. Plus in a footpedal you can just turn it off when you need notes to sustain or feedback.

Boss makes great products that last and last. Its built like a tank. Had mine for almost 3 years.

Never needed it.

As far as noise gates go, it kicks ass. Especially for the price.

This unit is extremely easy to use. I bought mine new and it came with a manual but I didn't have to read it; just turn the knobs until you get the right settings and go.

I use this with a Les Paul Custom through the NS-2 and a bunch of other pedals into a Fender Bassman 135. I use the Boss DS-1 distortion which tends to be pretty noisy. This unit stops all the extra noise without changing the tone. I had an old Boss NF-1 Noise Gate but it would cut off the signal once it dropped below a certain range. The NS-2 slowly suppresses the sound, bringing it down quietly without any sudden stops. However, when the settings are tight on this thing (set for silence immediately after muting the strings) it reduces sustain dramatically. You can change the settings to clip later but it introduces more noise after you stop playing. I give it a 9 only because of the sustain loss. I know this might be by design but it's still a small problem. You can, however, easily turn the unit off via the footswitch if you know you do not need to mute the strings and your normal tone and sustain are back.

We've heard it all before; "It's a tank", "You could drop a bomb on it", "It'll survive a nuclear war". Well, it is a Boss so I don't worry about it crapping out on me. I would play out without a back up.

Never had to deal with customer support for any Boss product.

I play heavy, drop D rock. Often I use quick stops or choppy rhythms and this unit eliminates all noise between the stops. If you dial it in tight there is NO delay after you stop playing. Your rig immediately quiets and you have a tight, solid stop. This is why I bought it. I would immediately buy another one if it were lost or stolen. It also powers up to 8 other pedals so I use it along with a TU-2 to power my never-ending line of pedals. Great buy.

It was easy to understand how it works. Only 3 knobs. And for the send/return, I used the manuel. But before using it, read the manuel to be sure your using it well.

Setup: Vantage guitar -> Ibanez Ds7 -> Bf-3 Flanger ->(the 2 in the loop) -> Ns-2 -> DD-3 Digital delay-> Peavey rage 158. Before I got my noise suppressor, my setup had make a lot of noise with my flanger and with my amp . But, now all noise is gone. My effects sound better in the loop except the DD-3. But if you put your threshold to the max or close to it, your volume will drop a little. But for the noise it suppress, it is not too significant.

As others have said, it is a BOSS and last longer than you.

I never dealt with them.

I play most of the time alternative music. With my setting, my ns-2 is now essential. It suppress all the noise that disturbs me. And what I like the most of it, it's that the ns-2 can to power my others Boss pedals. But if it were lost or stolen, I would replace it without hesitation.


If you have a setting that make a lot of noise, buy it, especially if you have a lot of Boss pedals.

Strange at first because you don't know what it is doing! (2nd Hand - no manual!)

It's best to think of it as a Tool rather than an effect. Plug your guitar in, crank your amp up full, then don't play a thing and you'll probably hear humming/cracking noises. You get rid of this with the pedal and when you have other pedals in gear it reduces noise that they create to. Once I got my head around this I realised that this was a pretty useful pedal.

It should take just a few knob turns to take away that unwanted noise.

I use 72 reissue Telecaster > Boss NS2 > Boss CS2 > Marshall DSL100.

The Marshall and CS2 create a bit of noise and using the NS2 helps to get rid of a lot of it. It doesn't seem to detract from the sound in any way so I am going to giver it a 10 as it serves it's purpose really well.

GOOD TIP - If you play real heavy hardcore/metal stuff with stabby, stops and starts the pedal has a "mute" setting. When you press your sound will stop making those sections of your songs sound tight as you like!

It seems to eat batteries but other than that no problems.

Never used them

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to be a bit more professional with their sound. I bought it because Steve Albini uses one and I haven't been let down. It just cleans your sound up nicely letting you hear what you want to hear.

I must confess for the money I paid (delivery from US to UK etc) it is probably a bit of a luxury but hey! it was only money right??

We don't need no stinkin' manuals! Just turn it on and play with it.

UPDATE:4/29/01
If you play electric music and use high gain pedals or noisey classics(MXR chorus,Small Stone,Rampage).You'll need this pedal!!The sensitivity and subtle decay rate alone makes this gadget worth every penny.I use the NS-2 all the time.INDISPENSIBLE!! Someone said it changed his tone...hmmm...never bothered me.
In my opinion,if Boss built a rack-mount stereo version,with the SAME components,I'd buy it in a flash!But really,they should just keep making these and don't change a damn thing.
I'd had an NS-50 and "JEEZ",it totally sucked!

Had it almost 4yrs. without a glitch.Just gigged it last night.

???

Some guys/girls are loyal to one pedal company.For me,it depends on the product be it Boss,Ibanez,E.H.,Rocktron(yada,yada).This is Roland/Boss's MOST USEFUL PEDAL ever!

Just use it as written in the Manual.

Jesus Christ – I wish I´d came across this Pedal much earlier… This little Thing is really doing WONDERS! Just like another Guy mentioned before run your NS-2 first, put your distortions in the loop and then go to your effects or amp. I run my Zoom 5000 Driver Pedal in the Loop (powered by the NS-2!), then into the Korg AX100G (Woooouuuuuwwwww – it sounds like a Wall of Marshall Stacks!) and it´s unbelevible, how all Hum and Buzzing disappears. I´m using the following Settings on the NS-2: Threshold 12 o´clock, Decay at Minimum. I´m playing a Fender Stratocaster Special Edition with Texas Special PU´s and Fender Vintage Telecaster and always had large Noise and Feedback Problems playing heavy Distortion or Overdrive Sounds with the Bridge and Neck Pickups. Now that belongs to the Past…

Solid as a Rock, no need for a Backup.

Never needed.

I´ve tried several other devices before (like Rocktron´s AGX and Hush Crap) and was thinking, that there is no effective unit to solve my Problems. But now I know better.
When you have such Problems with Single-Coils too and you are looking for a really good Device for Noise and Hum cancelling – THIS IS A MUST! Go and buy it immediately and you will thank God for it!!!

Easy to use..just tweak till it responds the way you want it to.

I dont notice any tone change and I'm anal about things.

Boss...tough stuff

Never needed it.

I use a Marshall jcm900 and a Boogie DC-5 and I need more gain for the newer stuff on the radio when using the Marshall. I have a TS-9 808 modded and use it with the Marshall's gain channel. Kinda 2 gain stages and an EMG SPC mid boost in the guitar. When the TS9 and the Marshalls gain channel are on it hisssses like a snake. The NS-2 took that out and I was happy as hell. It does what its supposed to. I dont know how it works this well but it does. I run my TS9 and a Boss chorus in the loop of the NS-2 and all front end hiss,noise and hum are gone. The rest of my pedals go thru the NS-2's output. I lightly strummed the guitar while it was hanging in the hanger and it rang out without cutting out like a gate would. Its was a smooth fade out.

This one is very easy to use. It can be difficult to control the amount of noise with different effects turned on/off if you use the send recieve circuit (+ it will color you tone!). So, I don't. For me it is therefore very easy to use, because I don't use the decay and treshold - they're always set to min.

Before I got the NS2 I hated (really!) BOSS stompboxes - especially the overdrive and distortion boxes. This one is the only BOSS pedal I find usefull. I have tried ALOT of noisegates, and this one is without question the best by far. What I like about is, that it doesn't cut the sound of... You will be able to fade out each tone naturally. I don't know how they made this possible - BUT IT WORKS.
I do not agree with people who say that this pedal doesn't change your tone - it does! But I have found a solution that works for me.

1) Never use the send/recieve circuit with other effects - especially distortion/overdrive.
2) Plug your guitarcable DIRECTLY into the NS2input and let the rest of your effect be connected after the NS2. Do not use the Send/recieve circuit! You won't be able to contol the sound very well and the NS2 will color your tone!! Set the delay and treshold to minimum (or very close to min)
3) If you use a Wah pedal (wich always generates alot of noise)connect it to the send/recieve circuit.

Following these 3 rules you have VERY good ears if you can hear the NS2 in the effects chain, and the NS2 works very well - keeping even extremely distorted sound under control.

I have played blues and rock for 12 years. I play a Fender Strat Plus ==> NS2 (send/recieve circuit connected to Cry baby wah) ==> Ibanez TS9 ==> Marshall Shredmaster ==> ProCo RAT ==> BOSS EQ7 ==> Fender Blues Deluxe 40 W tubeamp.

I have never met anyone who used the NS2 like this - but it works for me. I use the TS9 for a subtle overdriven sound and to boost the Shredmaster. When I turn the TS9 and the Shredmaster on at the same time it will produce a little noise (NOTHING compared to the noise you will get without the NS2)because the NS2 isn't the last effect in the chain (and because the send/recieve circuit isn't used for anything else but the wah). Even with the wah, TS9 and the Shredmaster turned on at the same time, the NS2 controls the noise fabiously.

I give this effect 9 and not 10, because (as I said) if you listen very carefully it does affect your tone a little. Anyway: The best noise elimination unit I have ever tried...

I agree with everyone else - Boss pedals won't break!

Much better than those crappy noisegates - they have never worked for me. This one does - an extremely good pedal. I would buy one right away if i lost this one.

very easy to use, but I highly suggest reading the manual, or else you might be left with more noise than you began with.

doesn't affect the quality as far as I can tell

It seems very, very sturdy. I wouldn't use a backup. Why? Because I can't afford a backup.

Haven't dealt with them.

awesome, I use a fender double fat strat, modified with a seymour duncan invader humbucker and a gibson 57 hum. The invader is a rather noisy pickup and I also use a line 6 spider 212. That also made a decent amount of noise, especially when miced up. But I got this and all the noise is gone.

Very simple controls. One nob switches between the two modes: mute, which leaves noise supression all the time and uses the switch to mute the output, and reduction which allows the switch to turn on and off noise supression. The other two nobs control threshold which determine the volume at which the gate opens up and the other controls decay, which is the rate at which the noise gate "closes".

My setup is as follows Schecter C-1 Elite with SD pickups, ESP MH-300 with EMGs, Washburn WG-587V -> NS-2 with an Original Crybaby and a Digitech Synth Wah in it's loop -> Looper A/B Splitter -> Channel A Peavey Ultra Plus (Distorted Tones) -> Channel B Boss TR-2 -> Boss BF-3 -> Boss-DD5 -> Ibanez PH-7 -> Boss CE-5 -> EBTech Hum Eliminator -> Peavey Deltabass (Clean Tones)

Does what it should, very well, but it does create a slight problem for me. When the gate is activate it creates just a slight hum in the signal. It's barely noticeable and I actually didn't notice it for the first month of owning this pedal, but it's annoying just the same.

The Hum cancellation circuit does exactly what it should, though I have logistical problems with the the jacks because they're on the wrong sides to make my setup work without a ton of crossed cables.

The pedal powering feature is nice too, but it is definitely a bit noisy, so be prepared.

Completely reliable, I've never had a single problem with it for over 6 months

I've never dealt with them

I play a mixture of styles, mostly modern rock/nu metal style music with a bit of effects-heavy rock ala incubus as well. This does wonders for my playing as it stops alot of the feedback issues I was having with my high-gain distortion as well allows me to play more staccato lines with wonderful clarity because of the high-threshold and short-decay times I can dial in.

I'd definitely buy another one if it was stolen or lost. This is a primary piece of equipment in my setup that I couldn't do without.

If you're having high-gain hum problems unrelated to effects this is a good solution for that. I'm not sure I'd recommend it if you were just having ground loop hum from effects because the EBTech hum eliminator I have does wonders for that and costs less.

Very easy to figure out. But if you need it, the included documentation is easy to understand and explains how to set up the pedal for best results. Basically you plug your guitar into the input jack, connect your pedals through the send/return loop, connect the output jack to your amp, turn everything on, and roll the threshold knob up until the noise is suppressed.

I'm currently playing a '52 re-issue Telecaster, into a Marshall BluesBreaker II -> DOD or Boss Chorus -> Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp. I also play a American Deluxe Stratocaster with Texas Special pickups installed. While I love the sound of the hot and dirty single coil and tele pickups, I get seriously irritated by the hum and hiss inherent in those configurations. This pedal effectively removes the noise between songs and during stops in the music, without affecting the overall tone.

This is my first new Boss pedal. My old Boss pedals and the Boss reputation for quality and reliability lead me to believe that I don't need to worry that this pedal will fail.

Have never dealt with Boss/Roland for support so I can't rate this.

I play mostly Fender Tele's and Strat's in a band that plays classic rock and blues standards. I bought this pedal because I was frustrated with the non-musical unwanted noise my gear produces. This pedal has exceeded my expectations and I do recommend it to anyone deling with noise issues. I also purchased the PSA adapter and power cable and am using the NS-2 to power my other pedals, freeing me from battery dependency! My total cost was about $120 USD.
It was expensive, but if it were lost or stolen, I would replace it without hesitation.

Pretty easy to use, three knobs, Threshold, Decay, Mode. Took a minor amount of tweaking to get rid of all the noise from my Jazzmaster. This pedal has an added bonus of being able to power other pedals, however I have only had this pedal for a few weeks and I'm already considering a separate power unit because I don't like the daisy chain that you have to use to power the other pedals. They're good if you only have pedals with the AC jack in the back, but several of my pedals don't.

This pedal sounds great. It gets rid of all the noise from my Jazzmaster (which hums like crazy, especially with distortion on). I also like the Mute function. This allows me to shut down all my pedals for between songs, or when I need to change guitars. Great at getting rid of all my unwanted noise. I have a few vintage pedals that can also be noisy at times, but this things eliminates it all.

I bought this one used, and it's almost 20 years old, and has only a few scratches to show for it. Boss makes their pedals to last, and I'm sure this one will. Definately would use it without a back-up.

Never had to deal with Boss, I doubt I ever will.

I would give this pedal a 10, but I don't like it very much as a power source. Having to use a daisy chain is very annoying for me since about half of my pedals have the AC jacks on the side, so it's very difficult to get everything set-up the way I want it, and get the power cords plugged it. If you have all Boss pedals, I guess this would be okay, but for me it's terrible, I'm considering investing a VoodooLab Pedal Power unit instead of this one. Otherwise, this thing is amazing, I would recommend this pedal to a stranger if they needed a noise gate.

pretty easy to hook up, when i firts got it i was running my metal zone through it so it took me a while to figure out you ahd to use the send and return. just look at the instrustions and fon't be dumb like me.

i am using a Godin Radiator guitar with a EMG pickup i got installed. my amp is a Peavey 5150. i almost always play with a lot of distortion so without the NS-2 its very noisy, it reduces a lot of noise but some hum is still expected at loud volumes. i can still get it to feedback if i want which is cool. crank the threshold as high as you need it (mine's all the way) and keep the decay low. the mute option is also nice.

this pedal is reliable, it is a BOSS so that is expected. i would use it at a gig but not without backup batteries or an adaptor. it sucks back the batts. i gave it a 7 only because it uses so much batteries.

i play punk rock, its all heavy and fast with heavy distortion, without this pedal i would have to always mute my strings when i'm not playing or else i would get massive feedback. its nicee.

Simple

Does what its supposed to do, cept i hate it how noise suppressors can kill some of the guitars ambience and sustain....this is the only one i have however. I play a PRS CE-22 -- 8 boss pedals and an ibanez tubescreamer ---Crate Blue Vooodoo halfstack. This definitely helps keep my effects clean and my amp quiet. I can hold my hands off the guitar with amp distortion on and the volume knob on the guitar all the way up and the only thing i'll hear is some hiss. makes me smile and warm all over

Boss. DUh.

never dealt

DOes the job and is completely necessary to any and every rig. OH and i forgot to mention that it powers all my pedals through the Boss Daisy chain. ITs a biT** to get them all lined up though with this stupid daisy chain...but hey for 30 bucks it works great for me.

Within a minute I got this puppy to sound good. It didn't come with a manual so the FX loop took some playing with, but I was able to figure it out. Very simple.

Sounds almost perfect. The only reason I'm giving this a 9 is because when it's engaged you can just barely notice a change in sound. But it's really not enough to say so.

You can't really get a bad sound out of this. Even with extreme settings. I have my threshold set at 3 o'clock and attack at 0. Even with quick attack it has decent sustain. I don't know how people can complain about that. well I maybe I do.....

A lot of people set it up wrong. So no wonder they don't get the sustain and sound quality they want.

Run your NS-2 first. Put your wah and distortions in the loop. Then go to your effects or amp. The reason for that is this... the line in on the pedal is used to tell the pedal when your playing. If you put your distortions that buzz even when your not playing in front of the NS-2 it will hear the buzz and think your playing and engage. when you put them in the loop it doesn't hear that yet it still applies the suppression to the signal. You run your effects after the NS-2. Take a delay pedal for example. The delay fades out. If the NS-2 is listening to the signal from the delay it will cut off the quieter repetitions, essentially killing your sustain.

Never had a BOSS pedal fail me...not even used ones

Easy to use. Cleans up your sound. Doesn't kill your tone. I wish I had gotten it sooner.

When I got it I thought i could just pull it out and hook it up. Well no, you have to read the instructions or else you'll end up with more noise than you started with. The threshhold and decay just take some tweaking. I have my threshhold at 10, decay at 0. It really depends on your setup.

I'm using a Fender American Standard Stratocaster with Seymour Duncan neck upgraded Little 59er, and Hot Rails in the bridge, running through a Marshall MG250DFX with an extension 1936 2x12. I also use a Dunlop Crybaby Wah, Boss flange, digital delay, and a Distortion pedal. One problem I have found is that the signal is not as suppressed as it should be. When playing at a low volume it will suppress it even if you do not want it to, based on the master volume setting. One strange thing is that it seems i lose suppression when i use an ac adapter, so I use a battery.

Boss pedals are all well built and dependable.

Nver had to use it.

It's a well built and reliable pedal, a couple of problems but definitely nothing major. You might want to try this out before you buy it if possible, because how well it works really depends on your setup.