🔇 Darkglass NSG Noise Gate Review

The Darkglass NSG is a compact, precision-engineered noise gate pedal designed specifically for modern bass and guitar players running high-gain or complex signal chains. In true Darkglass fashion, it’s sleek, powerful, and optimized for clarity and tone preservation.

🔧 What It Does

• The NSG silences unwanted noise and hiss that often come with distortion, compression, or long pedal chains.

• It does this without killing your sustain or clipping your tone — a critical feature for dynamic bass playing.

• Ideal for players using drive-heavy rigs (like Darkglass Microtubes, B7K, or distortion stacks) who still want control between notes or during silent parts.

🎛 Controls & Features

• Threshold Control:
  Dial in how aggressively the gate clamps down on your signal.

• Hard/Soft Switch:
  Toggle between two gate response styles:

  • Hard: Fast, surgical gating — great for metal and staccato playing.

  • Soft: More natural decay for smoother transitions.

• Send/Return Loop:
  Place noisy pedals (like high-gain drive) in the loop for isolated gating.

• Buffered Bypass:
  Maintains signal integrity even when off.

🧱 Build & Design

• Compact footprint — pedalboard-friendly.

• Typical Darkglass aesthetic: black brushed metal finish, minimal labeling, intuitive layout.

• Built to survive years of stomping.

🎯 Performance

The NSG is quiet, fast, and musical. It’s extremely effective at reducing hiss and hum from noisy gear, especially in aggressive, high-gain bass setups. It’s also smart — the sidechain-style loop design lets it tame noise without choking your dynamics.

Whether you slap, pick, or grind out fuzz-heavy riffs, it’ll keep your tone clean where it needs to be — and dead silent when you stop playing.

🏁 Conclusion

The NSG is one of the most transparent and intelligent noise gates available for bass. It’s a perfect match for Darkglass amps and pedals but versatile enough for any setup that demands silence without sacrificing tone. If you play modern, aggressive music and want your rig tight and clean, this pedal’s a no-brainer.