Boss (buffered) pedals suck less tone out of your rig then True bypass?

frank_1

frank_1

New member
Is this true?

"There's no reason why a well-designed buffered pedal can't sound as good or better than a "true" bypass pedal. Also, if you chain together a lot of "true" bypass pedals, the capacitance of the cable and connectors will suck tone, too. That is, unless you have a quality buffer in front of 'em".

The guy who said this said that Boss and Mxr pedals (more so boss) are just as good as true bypass pedals.
 
Ummmm......there is a problem with that theory.

Both buffered and true by-pass still need the connections to get the signal into the pedal, so just saying that the connections will cause loss doesn't justify anything with the actually means of by-passing the effect. (If you chain a lot of these fancy buffered pedals, the same thing will happen. Its an invalid point.)
 
What I can't understand is why I've heard so many times that true bypass is the only way to go if you don't want your tone to be sucked from your amp.

Is it just a myth?

I was about to spend about $360 on true bypass switches from www.Pedalboards.com, but now I'm guessing all I need is one, for my cry baby.
 
But what about this literature?

"Buffered bypass is the technique of designing a high input impedance amplifier to go ahead of the actual effect circuitry. The input impedance of this buffer is high enough to avoid tone sucking, and it has an output impedance low enough to drive the rest of the effect with no loading even if the effect proper has a low input impedance. This also allowed electronic switching from dry to effected signals, and became a favorite of several Japanese electronic companies. The best example is probably the Ibanez xx-9 series, which includes the fabled Tube Screamer 808 and 9. These effects do not get a lot of reports of tone sucking, although purists sometimes demand that they be converted to true bypass.

True bypass is the standard of clean signal quality against which all other bypasses are measured. True bypass means that when the bypass switch is in the bypass position, the effect circuit is entirely disconnected, input and output, from the guitar's signal, and that the signal passes from the effect input to its output going only through wire and switch contacts".
 
In my experience, it depends on the pedal. Of the true bypass pedals I've tried, most of them did alter tone slightly in bypass mode - mostly in diminishing higher frequencies. Some do not.
There are buffered pedals that lessen volume slightly in bypass, but the tone is intact. With that you can slightly increase the amp volume to compensate. Others "suck" badly.
So, it depends on the pedal. To test a pedal, put the pedal in line with your rig but keep the effect bypassed. Play something simple, like maybe just one string repeatedly, or a simple lick or chord, and listen carefully. Then, unplug from the pedal and plug your guitar straight into the amp. Play the same series of notes or chord. Repeat this procedure a few times. This will train your ear to hear the differences.
You'll find true bypass advocates all over the internet. One of the strongest voices against true bypass is Pete Cornish. He is arguably the most elite pedal builder in the world. Do a Google to find his site. At the bottom of his homepage is a link to his diatribe against true bypass.
In the final analysis, don't take anybody's word for it. Do the testing for yourself and decide which pedals work for you. Some people like a combination of both.

Good luck!
Terry
 
frank_1 said:
I was about to spend about $360 on true bypass switches from www.Pedalboards.com, but now I'm guessing all I need is one, for my cry baby.
Click to expand...


I hope you are good with fucking with shit. MXR pedals do not lend themselves to true by-pass mods very well without putting them into a larger enclosure. Same with many other pedals where the DPDT switch is mounted to the board.
 
Also, I don't doubt a well designed buffered pedal could compete head to head with true by-pass, but when it comes to BOSS and MXR, their pedals are not in that catagory because their goal is mass appeal where the extra money on that stuff isn't cost effective.
 
Outlaws said:
Also, I don't doubt a well designed buffered pedal could compete head to head with true by-pass, but when it comes to BOSS and MXR, their pedals are not in that catagory because their goal is mass appeal where the extra money on that stuff isn't cost effective.
Click to expand...

Outlaws,

IMHO, there are some cheap buffered pedals that suck less tone than some of the true bypass stuff. There is a difference between tone suck and a slight decrease in volume. Of course, that's not claiming that the buffered pedals are better! When engaged, most of the true bypass pedals, which usually tend to be more expensive, sound better than the buffered ones. YMMV.

Terry
 
Post aux - Yeah, take it out of your chain and send it to Analog Man or Keeley Electronics to be modded..........THEN put it back in! :D

The DS-1 along with the Keeley modded BD-2 (W/"Fat" mod) work unbelievable together!!!

Rick
 
And the true bypass myth continues to alter consensual reality

If it is worth the "pop" noise to you, go ahead and modify your already great sounding Boss or Ibanez pedal to true bypass so you can believe that you are hearing the difference that the so-called "boutique" effects hawkers want you to believe that you are hearing with your 100-watt-amp-ruined-ears.

Go ahead and send it to Joe Modder so he can put in a $3 switch and two three-cent resistors while you drop trou and grab ankle so he can remove the ridiculous fee that he's charging you.

While you're at it, give him another three pedals worth of dough to "mod" it with a dollars worth of parts that will make it sound like the pedal you could have bought three of with the money you just spent to perpetuate the price inflation of stomp boxes.

Here is a free solution:

Put an, Ibanez or, Boss, or other well designed buffered pedal first in your signal chain. Yes, that's before the tone sucking Dunlop and MXR pedals. Now use the money you just saved to buy some beer and some earplugs, and spend the time you just saved worrying about all this pedal mumbo-jumbo to practice so that any flaws in your guitar tone will be overshadowed by your ability to play the instrument well.

-peace
 
And the true bypass myth continues to alter consensual reality

If it is worth the "pop" noise to you, go ahead and modify your already great sounding Boss or Ibanez pedal to true bypass so you can believe that you are hearing the difference that the so-called "boutique" effects hawkers want you to believe that you are hearing with your 100-watt-amp-ruined-ears.

Go ahead and send it to Joe Modder so he can put in a $3 switch and two three-cent resistors while you drop trou and grab ankle so he can remove the ridiculous fee that he's charging you.

While you're at it, give him another three pedals worth of dough to "mod" it with a dollars worth of parts that will make it sound like the pedal you could have bought three of with the money you just spent to perpetuate the price inflation of stomp boxes.

Here is a free solution:

Put an, Ibanez or, Boss, or other well designed buffered pedal first in your signal chain. Yes, that's before the tone sucking Dunlop and MXR pedals. Now use the money you just saved to buy some beer and some earplugs, and spend the time you just saved worrying about all this pedal mumbo-jumbo to practice so that any flaws in your guitar tone will be overshadowed by your ability to play the instrument well.

-peace
 
Dave Hunter has an excellent book out with a CD and samples of many pedals. There is also a sample of 'true bypass' and buffered pedals in bypass mode. Guess what; the 'true bypass' examples always loses tone. How so? Think about it, and it's all explained in his book. The moral of the story is that 'true bypass' is a snake oil term coined by people trying to sell you their pedals. Plus, Dave has people like Pete Cornish and Roger Mayer chime in on the very same topic. That's all I needed to know.
Don't get me wrong. If I like the pedal, I buy it, regardless of whether it is 'true bypass' or 'buffered'. I would just never, never, ever buy a pedal strictly based on it being 'true bypass' and thinking it will suck tone less. And I would never, never, ever pay one thin dime to someone to put a true bypass switch in any of my pedals. What a joke. Ruin a possibly collectible pedal for such foolishness. :spank:
 
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