All true bypass, and still my signal's affected

[Man In space]

Help me out here ; all of my pedals are true bypass, and still I have a very different sound when I plug my guitar in directly. I've tried every pedal apart, and they all seem to have it. I always seem to have some low mid boost and loss of top end.

I use klotz, planet waves and cordial cables.

 

Ideas?

 

Jan

[sub rosa]

You have a long signal chain with no buffering so you will loose something.

 

As good and desirable as true bypass is, I do feel it is over hyped in some respects. A good buffered pedal in a long chain does wonders to sustain the signal.

[sub rosa]

Ideally if there are times when you are running with all the pedals off you should use a bypass looper which will reduce the overall length of path the signal needs to go through before reaching your amp.

[CS]

Use a pedal with a decent buffer as the last one. Or use a boost pedal set for unity and leave it on. Or use a dedicated buffer.

[Man In space]

I have the SCP, and when I use it either as a boost or a buffer, the signal still is different.

 

thanks,

 

Jan

[trumpus]

 

Originally posted by sub rosa Ideally if there are times when you are running with all the pedals off you should use a bypass looper which will reduce the overall length of path the signal needs to go through before reaching your amp.

 

 

True, but when running with the effects ON, it actually INCREASES the amount of cable! I'd add a buffer!

 

 

 

Use a pedal with a decent buffer as the last one.

 

 

In general, i thought the recommendation was to put the buffer first - thus dropping the impedence of your signal, losing less through long runs. Doesn't make sense to drop impedence after all the cables have been passed through, does it?

 

I think what you are describing is a boost rather than a buffer.

 

I run my buffer at the beginning of my chain, and my boost (my Timmy) at the end for clean boost/EQ duty. Zach's SHO does a fantastic buffer at the beginning of the chain - adds a ton of presence too! If i was still playing live, i'd have kept mine in a heartbeat!

 

Brian

[CS]

I use a Monkey Chubby Chimp and eq the amp with all the pedals but the boost off. I do have a TB loop but dont bother using it much. I also have an EH Graphic Fuzz. The Fuzz can be disengaged and the EQ is good for correcting the sound.

[CS]

 

Originally posted by trumpus True, but when running with the effects ON, it actually INCREASES the amount of cable! I'd add a buffer! In general, i thought the recommendation was to put the buffer first - thus dropping the impedence of your signal, losing less through long runs. Doesn't make sense to drop impedence after all the cables have been passed through, does it? I think what you are describing is a boost rather than a buffer. I run my buffer at the beginning of my chain, and my boost (my Timmy) at the end for clean boost/EQ duty. Zach's SHO does a fantastic buffer at the beginning of the chain - adds a ton of presence too! If i was still playing live, i'd have kept mine in a heartbeat! Brian

 

 

I run a DD3 at the end of the chain. Works for me.

[bieke]

I'd blame the black russian small stone

[Man In space]

Here's a quick clip : first the strat through the chain, then direct into the amp, then the tele through, then the tele direct.

 

bypasstest

 

My lemon fuzz is acting weird too, but when I took it out of the chain, the problem was still there. I'll remove the pedals one by one and report later.

 

Jan

[CS]

Now Bieke has mentioned it, the Russian EH's are not true bypass (?)

[Man In space]

OK, so the Russian Small Stone isn't the culprit.

I moved the SCP as a buffer to the front of the chain, and vwoala, my beloved signal is back again.

 

You would think I was happy now, alas :

 

the Lemon fuzz sound very shrill after the buffer, and if I put it in front, my original signal is affected as in the clip. The Lemon fuzz is true bypass.

?????????????????????????????

 

 

Jan

[sub rosa]

 

Originally posted by Man In space OK, so the Russian Small Stone isn't the culprit. I moved the SCP as a buffer to the front of the chain, and vwoala, my beloved signal is back again. You would think I was happy now, alas : the Lemon fuzz sound very shrill after the buffer, and if I put it in front, my original signal is affected as in the clip. The Lemon fuzz is true bypass. ????????????????????????????? Jan

 

 

Many fuzz pedals do not like having buffers before them.

[freeridstylee]

 

Originally posted by CS Now Bieke has mentioned it, the Russian EH's are not true bypass (?)

 

 

I had one I bought about 2 years ago, and it deff had a 3dpt switch in there. Russian=black w/yellow right? I sold it someone on the forum. I don't think the old green ones were.

[Man In space]

 

Originally posted by sub rosa Many fuzz pedals do not like having buffers before them.

 

 

Ok, but the Lemon is true bypass, so it shouldn't affect the tone if I place it before the buffer, right?

 

And what do people with more than one fuzz do?

 

thanks,

 

Jan

[sub rosa]

 

Originally posted by Man In space Ok, but the Lemon is true bypass, so it shouldn't affect the tone if I place it before the buffer, right? And what do people with more than one fuzz do? thanks, Jan

 

 

Ok, to expand on this, a lot of fuzz pedals don't like having a buffer or effect before them. So, a TB pedal would not effect the fuzz pedal when the TB effect is off. When switching said pedal on the fuzz reacts like it has a buffered pedal on before it.

[CS]

Yep, fuzz pedals 'like' to be first in the chain.

[Jon Hiller]

 

Originally posted by bieke I'd blame the black russian small stone

 

 

I have one of these and I'd agree with Bieke. The one I have changes the sound of my signal/pedal/cable chain a good bit. If it weren't for the fact that I like the sound of the pedal mine would be off the board, and lately I've threatened to kick it off anyway, because of this.

[Jeremy Skrenes]

Get a Visual Sound pedal. They have the best buffers in their pedals.

[Man In space]

As said before, the SS wasn't the culprit : I took it out of the chain and still had the same problem.

 

Jan

[t_e_l_e]

so now the question is, what are pedals with good buffers?

 

1 was the super hard on. what else?

 

and where to put them in the chain, depending which kind of effect it is?

[jeverist]

I would split your chain into several true bypass loops - i.e. don't run through 15-20 pedals, try running through only 3 or 4 at once. Figure out the best way to divide up your pedals, considering that you can get multi on-off or A/B/C/D loopers depending on your needs.