True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

[devastone]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

I had one of the switchless ones, I forget which model (95Q?). I thought I had read somewhere that it is buffered. But I could be mistaken.

Also, I replaced it with an Cry Baby Classic (fasel inductor one) which is true bypass. Although they have a different term for it. They call it hardware bypass. But from what I understand they are essentially TB.
Also the Slash is TB, Buddy Guy is TB. There are many more that are too.
But the original Dunlop wah design is indeed not TB, as you stated.

Ah, got it, not familiar with their switchless ones. Yeah, the Classic is listed as TB, I think their hardwire bypass is different, like the original Crybabies, Phase 90s, and Dist +, the signal sees the input of the circuit even in bypass, so it can dull the tone depending on the input impedance of the circuit.

[Van Noord]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

http://stinkfoot.se/archives/3736

[dave74]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

http://stinkfoot.se/archives/3736

Good read. Definitely sheds some light, or I should say treble on the issue.

[Chistopher]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

It is my personal opinion that all guitar pedals should have an internal buffer/true bypass switch inside, like the Soul Food for example.

[Gtrjunior]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

I’m a fan of TB over a buffer. Maybe it’s just my particular amp/setup but even with a buffer I can hear the loss.
Maybe I just have never had a quality buffer?

[dave74]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

It is my personal opinion that all guitar pedals should have an internal buffer/true bypass switch inside, like the Soul Food for example.

That would be ideal. At least more brands are doing it now.

[devastone]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

The bypass on the SD-1s is known to be a little weird, like some bleed through even when it is off so TB isn't a bad idea. I've never noticed it, but my SD-1 is very modded, and I never use it with the gain all the way up (not sure if this is supposed to make a difference). There are some schematics on the interwebs about how to fix the bypass in them to get rid of the bleed, but, like I said, I've never noticed it enough to bother, haven't used my SD-1 in a while either FWIW.

[Van Noord]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

Your signal benefits from a good buffer. Having all TB will degrade your signal.

[jeremy]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

a "good" buffer is fine. my rotosphere has a nice buffer and im happy to keep it in the signal chain. i keep my boss tu2 on top of my amp since i dont like what the buffer does to my tone. the only two other boss pedals i use are the oc2 and sd1, both of which i love but also have them in a true bypass loop to keep them out of the signal chain when im not using them since i dont like what they do to the tone when off. most of my pedals are true bypass but unless im using my big board there are three at most and im usually running two 12' cables with vintage output guitars and vintage style amps so a touch of treble roll off isnt a bad thing. at least 50% of the time im using one (boost) pedal or no pedals at all so i dont have to worry about super long cables or tons of tone suck.

in your case, i would ditch the noise suppressor and get the tb mod on the sd1

[Joey Voltage]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

Well the boss pedals don’t just have a buffer, they have many the signal passes through when off, with some frequency shaping between them even when bypassed. You can make adjustments to mitigate this but it would take working on your own stuff or paying someone to do it.

All in all a buffered bypass shouldn’t don’t anything to the sound, it should only mitigate the effect the extra length of cable coming out of the fx box to the amp has on the guitar. It doesn’t add high end, it just makes sure whatever is coming into it is preserved.

[Van Noord]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

It is very true that signal loss or highend cut can be a desirable trait in some cases. I know this is something Eric Johnson preaches by purposely using long cable lines.

I've recently noticed that using a certain cheaper, 25ft cable into a certain amp of mine really makes it sound a lot better than when I use a 10ft, more transparent, expensive cable.

Something to realize is, there's a difference in sound and feel between squashing high-end frequencies as opposed to simply just turning the treble down...

The former yields a much better result in some cases.

[Chistopher]

Re: True Bypass mod on SD-1, Tell me why not...

It is very true that signal loss or highend cut can be a desirable trait in some cases. I know this is something Eric Johnson preaches by purposely using long cable lines.

I've recently noticed that using a certain cheaper, 25ft cable into a certain amp of mine really makes it sound a lot better than when I use a 10ft, more transparent, expensive cable.

Something to realize is, there's a difference in sound and feel between squashing high-end frequencies as opposed to simply just turning the treble down...

The former yields a much better result in some cases.

That's what the PRS Sweet Switch does, it simulates longer cable runs and actually sounds quite a bit better than simply turning the tone down.