fx pedals without true bypass

[megalo]

Ive read a few posts on other boards about people complaining about pedals without "true bypass" like the BOSS pedals. I never really gave it much thought. Since ive installed my new duncans ive never just plugged my guitar in directly, i usually have it running through my pedals first.

Well i decided for fun i would record myself playing clean picked chords and strumming once directly into the mixer and then with once with my metalzone inbetween turned off.

I was shocked when i listened to it. I always figured the difference would be nominal, boy was i wrong. Not only was the sample with the metalzone inbetween much louder it was way more trebley and brittle. The clip with nothing in between sounded much warmer and natural.

What gives! Why would they build pedals this way? It just seems well... stupid.

meg

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: fx pedals without true bypass

Well try to run a 7-10 m cable straight into your amp.....bye bye topend and clarity...
True bypass is not all it is claimed to be, anyways the Boss/Ibanez and others alike use a buffer....they are also not build alike, some buffers are better than others.
It all depends on how the signalchain is setup, if you have long cables and lots of effects the sound will die out, the signal will weaken due to the highimpedant nature of standart pickups.
So stuffing in a good buffer will restore the signals strength, in other words making it active.
And it is an old discussion....personally I do not like true bypass and passive stuff if the cabling is more than 5 meters, and for some reason static noise also increase.
Then again some cannot live with a buffer.....and others cannot live without.

[Kent S.]

Re: fx pedals without true bypass

Well try to run a 7-10 m cable straight into your amp.....bye bye topend and clarity...
True bypass is not all it is claimed to be, anyways the Boss/Ibanez and others alike use a buffer....they are also not build alike, some buffers are better than others.
It all depends on how the signalchain is setup, if you have long cables and lots of effects the sound will die out, the signal will weaken due to the highimpedant nature of standart pickups.
So stuffing in a good buffer will restore the signals strength, in other words making it active.
And it is an old discussion....personally I do not like true bypass and passive stuff if the cabling is more than 5 meters, and for some reason static noise also increase.
Then again some cannot live with a buffer.....and others cannot live without.

+1 my Danish friend, Roland could lighten up on the coupling caps a bit though, I guess it's their idea of eliminating any low end mud. I must agree that any detractions gathered from the buffering process are well worth it when longer cable runs are used ... like you said, true bypass with longer cables ... not nearly the definition of a buffered signal in the same light.
Then again, the true reason for true bypass was like the early crybabys (like one I still have set up this way), when switched off the circuit still remains attached to the input loading it down by providing another resistive path to ground ... so even the true bypass thing was done for a reason other than cabling, and fets do that just as well. The claim to fame of true bypass is, it's simple and dependable, although noisier, both from an electro-mechanical point of view, as well as an EMI/RFI point of view (although that's really more of an individual design issue there).
If someone is running short cables, a small combo, and two or three pedals, then TB is probably the best way to go.

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: fx pedals without true bypass

Yep the wah wah's and a few others where the good reason for the different bypass.
And as Kent pointed out, it is good for small clubbing or gigs using short cables.

[megalo]

Re: fx pedals without true bypass

that makes sense, i didnt think of that. It would be nice if most pedals had a switch that you could go back and forth between the buffer and TB and then everyone would be satisfied. For people who dont need that much cable length (wich is probably alot) it just seems silly to use something that makes your tone sound worse (or at least coloured in some way) after spending all kinds of money on gear to make it sound better! and from what Kent was saying it sounds like it would be pretty easy to add that option too.

meg

[aleclee]

Re: fx pedals without true bypass

that makes sense, i didnt think of that. It would be nice if most pedals had a switch that you could go back and forth between the buffer and TB and then everyone would be satisfied. For people who dont need that much cable length (wich is probably alot) it just seems silly to use something that makes your tone sound worse (or at least coloured in some way) after spending all kinds of money on gear to make it sound better! and from what Kent was saying it sounds like it would be pretty easy to add that option too.

That would probably cost more than using a "good" buffer in the pedal.

Buffers aren't necessarily bad but most cheapo ones aren't so hot.

[DirrtyCraig]

Re: fx pedals without true bypass

Buy a VHT Valvulator. Its the answer to this problem. Takes your guitar signal from hi to lo impedance and makes up for all pedal tone loss and then some.. Most Pros with pedal boards use something like this.

[Maggot]

Re: fx pedals without true bypass

Buffers are not created equal - I can hear a difference w/ each of my pedals plugged in but turned off, but with some, including a Guyatone Mini-OD and and Arion Stage Tuner I can hardly hear the difference. With something like a Vox Wah, it becomes a real problem. Boss pedals don't have the greatest bypass for whatever reason.

The ideal is supposed to be that all of your pedals are true bypass except for the one at the end of your chain, which makes up for the loss of highs due to the cable length, but lots of people like long cables and don't need the highs. Blues great Albert Collins used a 100-foot cable and had highs that could take you ear off. The cruddy coiled cable is a minor, but audible, element in the Jimi Hendrix tone.

[Mincer]

Re: fx pedals without true bypass

the line 6 DL4 can swich between true bypass and non...i usually leave it in the 'non' positions so the delays trail off when I switch it off..a neat effect.

i never cared much if a pedal was true bypass or not- I use shorter cables and just a few pedals. if I like what a pedal does to my sound I use it.

[Thames]

Re: fx pedals without true bypass

Buffers are not created equal - I can hear a difference w/ each of my pedals plugged in but turned off, but with some, including a Guyatone Mini-OD and and Arion Stage Tuner I can hardly hear the difference. With something like a Vox Wah, it becomes a real problem. Boss pedals don't have the greatest bypass for whatever reason.

The ideal is supposed to be that all of your pedals are true bypass except for the one at the end of your chain, which makes up for the loss of highs due to the cable length, but lots of people like long cables and don't need the highs. Blues great Albert Collins used a 100-foot cable and had highs that could take you ear off. The cruddy coiled cable is a minor, but audible, element in the Jimi Hendrix tone.

+1.

I dont like the TB on the Crybaby/Vox pedals. And I dont care too much now about TB on other pedals. The only pedal w/o truebypass I have is a guyatone delay at the end of the chain. I'm using a ****load of efx and I dont have too much time to worry about TB or not. Most of them are all TB, but I adjust my amp's tone controls accordingly. I can get great sounds anytime.

I use EQ/tone controls to adjust my sound, not switches.

[Mr Wolf]

Re: fx pedals without true bypass

I just use as few pedals i can. I havent looked too far into buffer circuitry and true-bypass, i just keep things simple for now.

[FretFire]

Re: fx pedals without true bypass

i never cared much if a pedal was true bypass or not- I use shorter cables and just a few pedals. if I like what a pedal does to my sound I use it.

Signed like a M-F'er haha. If I had to choose between a pedal that sounded great that isn't true bypass, and one that sound good and WAS, I'd go with the first one hands down.