Buffer resistance

[mbself]

I know from published specs that both the Cornish buffer and the Fryette Valvulator have input Z of about 1Megohm. The ones from T1M have about 10Megohm.

Is there any reason or situation why one would be preferred over the other? All things being equal, I like the array of options and pricing matrix of the T1M stuff. Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[mboogman]

I've only ever heard great things about the TIM stuff. And as far as impedance goes, I think the higher input Ω helps to not load the pickups down too much, keeping the signal strong, clean and quite. If an EE wants to step in and correct me, that'd be good, but that's my untrained understanding.

$.02

 

[mbself]

Thanks mboogman. I hear great things about them as well.

 

[maddnotez]

I've only ever heard great things about the TIM stuff. And as far as impedance goes, I think the higher input Ω helps to not load the pickups down too much, keeping the signal strong, clean and quite. If an EE wants to step in and correct me, that'd be good, but that's my untrained understanding.

$.02

Any other known "side effects" apart from not loading the pups down so much?

 

[Sixtonoize]

When you load a pickup, high end is the first thing to go.

If you're using a 10M buffer, you can expect your guitar to be a bit brighter...which may be a good thing, or it may end up a bit on the icepick side. The difference between 1M and 10M probably won't be huge, though, but if you're comparing a strat through a 10M buffer to the same guitar into an amp with a 500k input, you will probably notice a substantial difference. It also depends on the length of the cable. As a general rule, the higher the impedance, the longer of a cable you need to notice high end loss.