Originally Posted by: Dr_simonCompression:
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=8572

If the noise gate is clipping your signal, drop the threshold. It is a bad idea to have it at the end of your signal chain as you can lose verb tails / delay / distortion.

You don't want a CS3, it will only raise the noise floor.

Hi Doc-thanks for your prompt reply and link to what compression is all about.

In retrospect, I guess it does seem to makes sense to have the gate up front, but that's when I get the most clipping, but it really cuts down on the distortion and overall response. The threshold is already at the minimum, in front, or at the end. I get better distortion with the gate at the end, but more hiss also. With the gate up front, I may as well not even use the distortion box- it sounds like a Gibson SG played clean; nice, but not what I'm trying to accomplish. I've taken the Korg box out of the equation for now while I'm tinkering with this. Maybe I'll try the Korg at the end and up the sustain? Will try it when I get a chance- got an impatient kid waiting for me to stop making all this noise, lol. Thanks again; will report back.