SMG Cockblocker Plugin

SMG Cockblocker is a specialised noise gate plugin designed to tackle one core problem: eliminating unwanted noise in high-gain Guitars and bass rigs without sacrificing tone, sustain, or the feel of your playing. Unlike general noise reduction tools, Cockblocker is built from the ground up with metal, hard rock and hardcore in mind—styles where distortion can be intense and unforgiving. By focusing solely on guitar and bass, it uses an intelligent algorithm that monitors playing dynamics to remove noise, hum and feedback, while preserving the sharp attack and solid sustain that heavy music demands.

What really makes Cockblocker stand out is the way it splits the signal from your amp and applies gate processing in real time. This design means loud, crushing riffs stay powerful, but the plugin clamps down on noise the moment you stop playing. Unlike standard DAW gates or bundled gate modules in amp sims, Cockblocker is tuned for musicians who push their gear to the limit. You won’t spend hours tweaking parameters or fighting the “choked” effect most gates produce; instead, Cockblocker delivers fast, transparent gating that maintains clarity through lightning-fast palm-mutes, soaring lead lines, and everything in between.

For anyone tired of waging war on hum and feedback, Cockblocker streamlines the entire process. Setup is effortless, with straightforward controls that take the guesswork out of the equation. This frees you to focus on your performance, instead of constantly adjusting thresholds or worrying that your plugin will kill important harmonics. Speed is key—modern recording sessions often move at a hectic pace, and Cockblocker ensures your signal stays clean and tight without weighing you down with complex settings. You’ll record more efficiently, get a professional sound faster, and capture the best elements of your tone without that annoying background noise.

Compared to generic gate plugins or massive noise-reduction suites, Cockblocker is both more affordable and more precise. There’s no paying for features you’ll never use, and no complicated interface to navigate. It focuses on the demands of high-gain instruments, so you can finally tame the roar of your amp without losing its signature power. For those serious about achieving a polished, aggressive tone—and saving valuable studio time—SMG Cockblocker is the ultimate gate built by guitarists, for guitarists.

One Knob

One knob. That’s it. With SMG Cockblocker’s streamlined control, you skip the usual deep tweaking of complex thresholds or attack/release times. All you have to do is turn a single knob to find the sweet spot where the noise disappears, but your tone stays alive. It’s a fast, straightforward approach that keeps your playing seamless—no time wasted adjusting settings. By focusing on simplicity, the One Knob design lets you get straight to recording, practising, or performing without stressing over gate details. The result is clean, natural high-gain without the frustrating learning curve. It’s noise control that just works.

SMG Splitter

When you’re chasing high-gain tones, the last thing you want is a gate that dulls your attack or cuts off your note tails. That’s where Cockblocker’s Splitter feature really shines. Instead of blindly gating your entire signal, it splits out the noisy part and handles it separately, leaving your clean guitar or bass tone untouched. The result is a more transparent gating experience, where every palm-mute stays tight, leads ring out naturally, and background noise disappears the moment you stop playing.

Because the gate and amp signals are handled independently, the plugin always “hears” your performance accurately, responding quickly to dynamic changes without clamping down too hard. It’s a simple idea—separate the problem and deal with it at the source—but it changes everything for high-gain musicians. You get far fewer artefacts, a more natural feel, and a straightforward setup that means you can spend more time making music and less time fighting noise.

The Back Panel

The back panel on Cockblocker offers the flexibility to sidechain a clean DI signal, so the gate can “listen” to your raw playing before the amp saturates your tone with high gain. Because it hears every note as it really is—minus distortion—it can react with far more precision and keep unwanted noise and feedback out. And with the Key Listen feature, you can quickly audition the clean sidechain signal to set gate thresholds perfectly. That way, you hear exactly what the gate hears, making it easier to squeeze every drop of sustain out of your riffs without ever choking the life out of your tone.