buffers on cheaper overdrive pedals

[mbengs1]

I have a boss super overdrive and a maxon od808. the maxon is over 100 dollars and the boss super overdrive is 50 dollars. Is there a difference in noise levels between the two? coz I didn't really notice a difference. the super overdrive maybe a little noisier but I really can't hear it. when I get my marshall jcm 900 I plan to use either to boost it. I wonder if there will be too much hum since theyre both low priced. does an expensive amp need a expensive overdrive to suit it?

[WRGKMC]

Do you even know what a buffered pedal is? Its a clean gain stage, a preamplifier that typically runs when the pedal is bypassed. It supposedly prevents tone suck and signal loss with specific pedal designs but it also means you're always adding solid state amplification and any additional noise it creates to the signal chain.

 

The decision of a manufacturer to use a buffer has little to do with cost or quality. Boss has buffers which consist of a couple of transistors or op amp which literally cost them pennies. They likely add buffers to save money on the cost of the chip so you likely got the reasoning on why they use buffers bass ackwards. Boss pedals are very expensive when you consider how simple the circuits are. They make huge profit off their name and there is absolutely nothing special inside as far as component quality or circuit design. They simply did a great job at advertising and being popular when there wasn't allot of competition.

 

The Maxon is a totally different pedal from the super drive. Its an Ibanez Tube Screamer Clone with a full bypass switch added. There are a couple of different TS pedals people clone. The original was an 808 which many cloners pride themselves on copying. There are also newer TS9 versions and Turbo models that had transistorized switching which allowed them to save money. Instead of paying $6 for a high quality true bypass switch they cheapened up and used a $.010 contact disk and plunger plus a couple of $.010 transistors to switch between on and bypass.

 

Like Boss, the later Ibanez pedals needs to be powered to function. The TS9 used a screwy reverse polarity power supply if I remember right. Many got damaged by guitarists plugging in a standard wall wart.

 

Other then a cap and resistor or two the TS808 and TS9 are exactly the same. Same thing goes for most clones. Most use the same op amp and it merely comes down to how badly you get ripped off buying one. I had an original TS I bought back in the late 70's I used for years. I traded it off and bought a programmable Ibanez drive pedal. I also own a Joyo version and a Behringer version which I paid chump change for. Other then a little difference in how far the pots sweep they all produce the same tones once you have them dialed in.

 

When you compare the cost of the Maxon, Joyo or even the original its a no brainer a $25 Joyo is a much bigger bang for the buck. They are built as well as any other pedal and have solid switches and pots. All the TS clones use the same TL4558P IC and clipping diodes so the only thing that sets them apart are how well they are built and a few minor mods that can be done on them like true bypass vs buffered bypass and a few tone/gain changes which may or may not be an improvement depending on what kind of amp you're using.

 

One thing is notable. Tube screamers are all going to sound like cheap overdrive pedals when improperly used so I suspect you are improperly using it if it sounds like your Boss pedal. A tube screamer should be placed last in line before a tube amp. You then crank its clean tone up till the amps preamp tube begins to overdrive. Then you add additional pedal gain as needed for playing leads. From there you should be able to dial the guitars volume down a few notches so the sound cleans up and you have a tone on the pedal to compensate for treble loss when its turned down.

 

 

TS pedals are noted for their creamy midrange drive tones when used properly. Used improperly they sound like every other drive pedal except they don't have a midrange scoop like many metal pedals do.