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Is being able to run a pedal 'off' with no power THE litmus test for TBP?


d0zerz

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Kind of. The most transparent board is a board that has a Line Driver input stage in conjunction with TB pedals after it. You dont get the tone sucking that {censored} circuitry necessarily gives you but you get signal degradation and impedience mismatches in some circumstances do to added cable capacitence and kicking TB pedals in and out of the chain.

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It is possible to have a pedal work in bypass with no power, yet still have the input connected to circuitry that may result in tone degredation. So unfortunately, that test can prove a pedal is NOT TB, but can't prove that it IS TB.

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Originally posted by PFDarkside

It is possible to have a pedal work in bypass with no power, yet still have the input connected to circuitry that may result in tone degredation. So unfortunately, that test can prove a pedal is NOT TB, but can't prove that it IS TB.

 

 

Is there any good reason to make a pedal with circutry that may result in tone degredation when it's off? I mean....if you can mechanically switch the signal, why wouldn't you want to make it TRUE TRUE Bypass by mucking it up with other crap the signal's passing through (in the off position)?

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Originally posted by Blungo

I've heard that if you plug a pedal in backwards, remove the battery and it still passes a signal when on, then it's TBP. I think Zvex said it.

 

 

Nope. Try that with any old Big Muff or wah, they only switch the output and suck tone, but will work like you describe above.

 

 

Originally posted by d0zerz
Is there any good reason to make a pedal with circutry that may result in tone degredation when it's off?

 

 

Sure. It's way cheaper and easier to use a SPDT switch, and most people won't notice or care about the tone difference.

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Originally posted by theelectic



Nope. Try that with any old Big Muff or wah, they only switch the output and suck tone, but will work like you describe above.




Dang! I thought i had a sure fire easy test for TBP.:(

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Originally posted by PFDarkside

So unfortunately, that test can prove a pedal is NOT TB

 

 

No it can't. As I already said, it's quite possible to make a TB pedal that won't pass signal in bypass when power isn't applied. How? Have an SPST switch that controls a relay. When the relay is energised, the pedal is bypassed. When the relay isn't energised, the pedal is "on". So if you remove the power the signal goes into the pedal circuit - no signal back out.

 

'Course, it'd be silly to wire it that way. Come to think of it, if you used a momentary switch and a latching relay then you could have a TB pedal that (sometimes) doesn't pass signal without power.

 

And NiCkMiLnE - there is no such thing as a TB AB. Utterly different concepts.

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I remember reading once about multiple ways to do TBP, only one being the 'true' way.



There are at least 3 ways that make TRUE bypass...

Originally posted by Blungo

I've heard that if you plug a pedal in backwards, remove the battery and it still passes a signal when on, then it's TBP. I think Zvex said it.



This bypass wiring will pass a signal when there is no battery in it, but it is not true bypass. This wiring method was used in the old E-H pedals.

true2.gif

regards, Jack

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