Who is using buffers on their pedalboard?

mooncobra

mooncobra

Well-known member
What’s the verdict. I have never used buffers but the rig doctor seems to think it’s a make it or break it for epic tone and a mandatory edition to a good pedalboard. He says you should use two, before and after your fx. Is that standard and what everyone does?

Perhaps this is basic pedalboard theory that everyone is aware of? but perhaps I am left in the dust in the pursuit of the magical guitar tone, tone so good, that guys are left flabbergasted, jaws slack, drooling and eventually mumbling, “wha………wha……what ah….ah….ah….is that I’m he……he…….he……hearing? Are mah…..mah……mah…my ears wah…..wah..wah..working ok? D-d-d-d-d-d-did I hear that c-c-c-c-c-correctly? My god………. And the lord of tone says, “yup, you heard that right. I learned how to magically alter the circuitry in my amp. Look, I don’t even got none of them pedals, nuthin.”
 
Buffers are a thing you need when you need them, and are just a waste of money and space when you don't. There isn't a single answer to this. In general, the huge benefits of buffers are that they make sure that you don't load down your guitar pickups when you switch to longer pre-amp cable runs, or have a bunch of effects pedals in the middle of things you're trying to drive. In those cases, a buffer is nice. Really, I'd just put on in the electronics control cavity of the guitar if you have room and be done. Then, it's pre-cable and will boost whatever current you need for the next stage.

A couple of things: active pickups don't need them. They already have their own power supply to prevent loading. A wireless system has a built-in power supply so is it's own buffer. You also don't need them for anything inside the loop (unless the loop is total crap, which is probably more common than is should be admittedly....) since that should have buffering.

Do you need one after effects, before the amp? Most likely not, but it would even things out a bit, potentially. You could try it and see if it changes anything. Before the pedals is the big place that buffers really help. This really comes into play when someone has their favorite setup that sounds great in the small practice space, and then they suddenly get a bigger stage gig and run longer cables all over.....suddenly the tone gets a bit wonky and off, because those long cable runs are loading down the passive pickups.
 
If you can try it try it . If it helps your tone you need it . If not you don’t . I just go by when assembling a rig , not using one atm though
 
I’m gonna explore some buffer stuff too, but in a completely different context. I don’t use boards myself. Just 1 overdrive pedal if needed and a gate if needed, so it’s not relevant for my needs, but rstites I think said what you need to know about them

For what it’s worth, just my opinion, I don’t think pedals or fx are the answer to epic, magical or flabbergasted tone. I’ve never heard a tone that really wowed me with that stuff. Maybe it’s just me, but I like to just get a raw, naked guitar tone that’s so good it doesn’t need fx. The answer for me has just been great gear. Maybe they can be subtly used as like the icing on the cake. To me they’re like when a girl uses make up to cover up her imperfections and try to look prettier. I would’ve liked EVH tone so much better without that obnoxious plate reverb and phasers. Anyway I’m just rambling now
 
I use the MXR Buffer mounted under my boards. It does make a difference, and it doesn't take up real estate if it's on the bottom. I do mount it after certain effects, as it doesn't play well with input sensitive effects. For me, that's my auto wah and fuzz. If you run always on effects in your chain, like a compressor or boost, you might not need one at the end of the chain. YMMV
 
braintheory said:
I’m gonna explore some buffer stuff too, but in a completely different context. I don’t use boards myself. Just 1 overdrive pedal if needed and a gate if needed, so it’s not relevant for my needs, but rstites I think said what you need to know about them

For what it’s worth, just my opinion, I don’t think pedals or fx are the answer to epic, magical or flabbergasted tone. I’ve never heard a tone that really wowed me with that stuff. Maybe it’s just me, but I like to just get a raw, naked guitar tone that’s so good it doesn’t need fx. The answer for me has just been great gear. Maybe they can be subtly used as like the icing on the cake. To me they’re like when a girl uses make up to cover up her imperfections and try to look prettier. I would’ve liked EVH tone so much better without that obnoxious plate reverb and phasers. Anyway I’m just rambling now
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Don't listen to this guy. Everything is better with a phaser. I say just use a phaser as a buffer. Win win.
 
I mentioned this in another thread but I discovered how important an ‘off’ Boss pedal was one day..my SD1 was in my board but not used. My 72 is a raging beast with my stacked OD1X and Joyo Ultimate drive. Love it.
One day I took the SD1 upstairs to run in front of my RG50 combo. Next time I played my 72, didn’t sound the same. Wasn’t as tight or aggressive. I immediately panicked and started rolling tubes, checking connections etc. No dice. Then, I realized I had removed the SD1. Problem solved. Back to that tight aggressive monster Marshall again.
For me, a Boss pedal buffer must be in my signal chain.
 
Racerxrated said:
For me, a Boss pedal buffer must be in my signal chain
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I use a Boss tuner and put it last on my board for the run back to the amp.

I agree with try it and decide. I have quite a few pedals on my board and don't need a dedicated buffer in front of and after the board. Just try a super short cable as your base and then compare with your full length cable (no pedals yet) then compare that to using the whole board. It can also depend on your cables. They don't have to be expensive...some of the expensive ones are actually worse than the cheap ones.

And some buffers 'artificially' affect tone. I had one that added a glassy high end that I'm sure was added by the buffer since it sounded noticeably more glassy than a 1 foot long cable or just using the Boss tuner. But one could easily mistake that for "look how much treble was being bled off".

And I also noticed that I don't really care for the buffer in my MXR EVH Flanger. It has a slight mid bump. I'm currently using a Lehle to switch it in/out.
 
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I don't understand why you'd need two buffers, but I'm down to try it to see what happens... but in terms of why it's important for guitar in particular, look at it this way - your guitar pickups, switching and wiring are a passive circult (unless you have an onboard preamp like EMG which I'm assuming you don't). Literally magnets and coils hooked up to detect string vibrations. As a result, even very minor changes like a pot resistance or cap value can make a pretty audible difference in tone. This extends to the cable - in a lot of places in audio cable differences are really minor, but two different cables coming out of a guitar can really sound audibly different from one another. This is because at that point the circuit is still passive, so a cable with more capacitance really darkens the top end of your tone because basically it's the equivalent of soldering a capacitor to the lugs of your output jack.

When you're dealing with a pedalboard, that can mean all sorts of different cables, circuits, switches etc that your tone is running through. That' why, for better or worse, minor changes can really affect your overall tone. But once you hit a buffer, the signal is no longer passive - once it's running at an active voltage, unless there's something screwed up further down the chain like a bad cable, badly designed circuit, etc, anything you mess with should have little effect on your tone.

That said, that doesn't mean changes in your tone are bad. For example, I think Wah's and Fuzz's sound like shit once they get a buffered signal, probably because a big part of what they do has to do with them essentially becoming a part of your guitar circuit, so I always run them before the buffer on my board. But I'm sure there are others who like the way they sound buffered etc.

Long story short, guitar tone is a pain in the ass to get right so fuck it and just plug straight in 😂
 
Depend how long are you cables, how many pedal you have, and if are all tbp (many are buffered, klones too). You may need a buffer when all your pedals are off.
 
I use my TC Electronic Polytune in Buffer mode, first in my chain (The polytune has the ability to allow the user to select between True Bypass and Buffer.) There are roughly 7 pedals after the tuner, mostly true bypass. All of my patch cables are low capacitance cables as well as two 10 foot cables (Gtr to board, board to amp) which are also low capacitance. I have a/b compared True Bypass vs. Buffer and there is an unmistakable difference in tone, with the buffered signal brighter and clearer. However - in buffered mode it is too bright.

I realize the buffer is not adding anything, instead it is keeping the signal strong and retaining highs. With that said, switching out, the two 10 foot cables for a higher capacitance cable in the 30pf per ft range, gives me exactly the tone I want. YMMV. Perhaps a bit of tail chasing here on my part, but everything now plays nice together to my ears.

So to answer the question as to whether you need a buffer or not, it all comes down to personal preference and personal setup - what sounds best to you?
 
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I've been using the Fryette (VHT) Valvulator tube buffer/power supply on my pedalboard for years. When placed in front of an multi-effects floor processor or pedals, it makes the difference with how it affects the tone to my ears, especially if you're using 20' of instrument cables to/from the pedalboard. I did a test with a friend to see how it sounded with his guitar, a bunch of his pedals, and a 1964 Fender Deluxe non reverb amp. The long cables to & from the pedalboard plus the cables on the pedalboard created a lot of capacitance with some loss of highs/lows. Guitar>VHT Valvulator tube buffer/power supply>pedals>Fender Deluxe non reverb amp. Running the Valvulator tube buffer/power supply helped restore the guitar sound going through all of the pedals to the amp. After he played my VHT Valvulator tube buffer/power supply, he went out and got one for himself as he was sort of jealous of how good it made my guitar rig sound. What works for me may not work for other people's guitar rig.

Guitar George
 
johnny q said:
I use my TC Electronic Polytune in Buffer mode, first in my chain (The polytune has the ability to allow the user to select between True Bypass and Buffer.) There are roughly 7 pedals after the tuner, mostly true bypass. All of my patch cables are low capacitance cables as well as two 10 foot cables (Gtr to board, board to amp) which are also low capacitance. I have a/b compared True Bypass vs. Buffer and there is an unmistakable difference in tone, with the buffered signal brighter and clearer. However - in buffered mode it is too bright.

I realize the buffer is not adding anything, instead it is keeping the signal strong and retaining highs. With that said, switching out, the two 10 foot cables for a higher capacitance cable in the 30pf per ft range, gives me exactly the tone I want. YMMV. Perhaps a bit of tail chasing here on my part, but everything now plays nice together to my ears.

So to answer the question as to whether you need a buffer or not, it all comes down to personal preference and personal setup - what sounds best to you?
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This is the truth. I have the same tuner pedal and the buffer stays off. I have a few other pedals with buffers built in I can turn on and off both in the pre/post chains and they all stay off. I’m running Mogami cables and find they retain plenty high end. Any buffers just over brighten my tone.
 
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