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petethorn
New member
Thomas Nordegg and I discuss and demo buffered and true bypass pedals.... we did this as a sort of public service, to dispel myths and to educate through a very basic experiment. Hope you dig!
Thomas Nordegg and I discuss and demo buffered and true bypass pedals.... we did this as a sort of public service, to dispel myths and to educate through a very basic experiment. Hope you dig!
JTyson
Well-known member
Thanks Pete, I could see it more than I could hear it.. But I get it
xzyryabx
Well-known member
very interesting...so all the talk about non true-bypass pedals coloring the tone...is that BS or do they in fact color the tone and if so is the coloration due to the buffer or other components in the circuitry?
I didn't hear any "color" coming from the Boss pedal....
I didn't hear any "color" coming from the Boss pedal....
glassjaw7
Well-known member
Nice demonstration! I would've liked to see the waveforms for the buffered vs true-bypass signals as well. Either way, I could really hear the difference in high end!
I read an article in Guitar Player back in '08 about this very topic. Cornish said he much prefers a quality buffer when putting together a board with more than 5 pedals or so, or when using long cable runs.
Pete, are the buffers in a Boss pedal worse as far as coloring tone and transparency than in something like the Buff-Puff or a more "boutique" dedicated buffer? And what happens when you have several buffers in line together, such as a couple Boss pedals and then a dedicated buffer last in line? Is that all added tone coloration?
Here's my humble input-buffers should not be placed in line before certain pedals, such as fuzzes with germanium transistors, as they need to see the direct signal from the guitar before the signal is converted to low impedance in the buffer.
I read an article in Guitar Player back in '08 about this very topic. Cornish said he much prefers a quality buffer when putting together a board with more than 5 pedals or so, or when using long cable runs.
Pete, are the buffers in a Boss pedal worse as far as coloring tone and transparency than in something like the Buff-Puff or a more "boutique" dedicated buffer? And what happens when you have several buffers in line together, such as a couple Boss pedals and then a dedicated buffer last in line? Is that all added tone coloration?
Here's my humble input-buffers should not be placed in line before certain pedals, such as fuzzes with germanium transistors, as they need to see the direct signal from the guitar before the signal is converted to low impedance in the buffer.
Gainzilla
Well-known member
That was very cool!!! I absolutely heard the diminished high end and I dont usually notice stuff like that.
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petethorn
New member
glassjaw7":1bu7s7ej said:
Dave Friedman would be a good guy to ask re: the quality and sound of different buffers- I think they all have a sound, but it's not apples and oranges- not nearly as big as the sound of 50 feet of cable degrading your tone! I'll take a Boss TU2 in line any day, if I'm using that much cable, over using a true bypass tuner instead. Keep in mind, if you like a little roll-off from a cable, you'll still get it, up to the buffer- so if you run a 20 foot cable into the pedal, and a 20 foot cable after it to the amp, then you will still hear the effect of the 1st cable and it's capacitance- you are only taking the 2nd cable out of the equation tonally.
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petethorn
New member
Rezamatix":s60p4s1l said:
haha yes I was not responsible for that! This was the 1st 3 camera shoot with lavaliers I'd done at my place- I agree. I actually just prefer using a mic in the room, and then compressing it later- that's what I do on all my vids. Works fine
RockNRun
New member
That was very cool! Thanks for taking the time to put that together. Even on work/chepo desktops I could hear the difference, as if a low pass had been applied.
verderacer
Active member
Pete, Thanks for doing that... Its an excellent example between buffered and bypass.
HerbieBoogie
Active member
im glad someone finally mad a comparison about this. great vid. 
Badronald
New member
Great video. Thanks.
fluff191
Active member
Such a great demo thanks for posting that Pete!
Greg Riley
Member
I noticed a huge difference switching out my RMC-4 wah for the Joe Bonamassa Wah a few weeks ago thru my BE-100. You have the option on the JB-wah to select hard bypass or buffered impedence adjusting.. I choose the buffer. It was a night and day difference. It smoothed out the harsher highs and added warmth to the overall sound. Very interesting wah.. Great video Pete!
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1big1
New member
thanks for making and posting this video. i could hear the difference between the true bypass and the buffered.. even on my cheapo playback system at home.
i could hear the difference between the true bypass and the buffered.. even on my cheapo playback system at home.
blackba
Well-known member
turtlefingers":2lwh6u7a said:
+2 I would also like to hear what happens to the signal when you have say 6 buffered pedals in line, versus going direct.
The buffer of the Boss pedal to my ears did bring back the highs, but to me it sounded a little brighter than the 6foot straight in to the amp.
For me I found the solution with my pedalboard is to use a buffered pedal (I typically go for a Korg DT-10 tuner) early in the chain, than I have most of my pedals are TB afterwards, there may be a buffer or two late in the chain. For this reason I prefer my pedals to be True bypass, so I can control how many buffers and I want and where they are. Ideally I wish all pedals had a buffer switch so that you could either make the pedal TB or buffered, depending on what you need.
I try to keep my cable runs as short as possible too. At a gig I typically bring sets of 6ft, 10ft, 15ft, 20ft, and 25ft cables and use the shortest ones I can get away with.
Ventura
Well-known member
This was good. Thanks Pete & Co. for putting this together.
I think one thing that needs mention here is that we've got the "big" companies which are notorious for buffered pedals (think Boss) and then we have a myriad of smaller companies trying to get their product out there... What "angle" can a company take to truly differentiate its product when most manufacturers know that people buy shit on line without the ability to play it? They go after a hypothesized "technical disadvantage", in this case "buffering alters your tone!!". So then, all of a sudden (take a look at any ad for stomps from the last 3 years or so), it's all "TRUE BYPASS". "TRUE BYPASS" is less a technical aspect than it is a marketing aspect nowadays. Granted, buffering and true bypass definitely have their respective effects on tone; but as this video made clear, so does the cable and its length if not even more so.
Just sayin'.
I think one thing that needs mention here is that we've got the "big" companies which are notorious for buffered pedals (think Boss) and then we have a myriad of smaller companies trying to get their product out there... What "angle" can a company take to truly differentiate its product when most manufacturers know that people buy shit on line without the ability to play it? They go after a hypothesized "technical disadvantage", in this case "buffering alters your tone!!". So then, all of a sudden (take a look at any ad for stomps from the last 3 years or so), it's all "TRUE BYPASS". "TRUE BYPASS" is less a technical aspect than it is a marketing aspect nowadays. Granted, buffering and true bypass definitely have their respective effects on tone; but as this video made clear, so does the cable and its length if not even more so.
Just sayin'.
Kapo_Polenton
Well-known member
Buffered is the tone of the 80's....excellent demonstration. I absolutely hear the difference between my buffer on and buffer off on my board. This is just fact.As a treble whore, I need to have a buffer of some sort be it in my bad monkey or in a loop box if i have multiple pedals. It's like condoms at a whorehouse.. must have.