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Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

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  • Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

    Hi all,

    I was gonna write it to the other thread... But it was closed.

    Anyways, regardless of whether or not the audience will notice and all... Here is a simple question: Which ones are those pedals that have good buffers when off.

    Lemme start:

    - Boss TU2: I think its buffer is good. I have been using it in my gigging board like, I dunno, 20 years maybe more in gigs rehearsals. And Korg Pitchback is much better as tuner I think, the only reason I keep that TU 2 is its buffer. I can hear a difference in an AB test done at home in silence (comparing the same setup with that TU and without it).

    - EHX Soul Food: That is also good. Did the same test with that pedal instead of TU-2. (Of course, its buffer set according from inside the pedal.)

    - Boss DS-1 was bad. On that same board. Then, I just did the following: 6 feet guitar cable, into a true bypass loop pedal that I did for myself and that DS-1 placed in its loop, followed by a 20-24 feet guitar cable into Fender Blues jr. I was really surprised to see Boss DS-1's buffer was real bad you know. I was kinda expecting it to sound better after all, because of the additional 20-24 feet cable. Soul Food and TU2 did great in that test of mine.

    These two, Soul Food and TU2, are basically the ones I know. Hence, the thread!

    What are other non-truebypass pedals that have good buffers? The cheaper the better!

    B
    FaceBook; SoundCloud; Barlo's Blues; Barlo Digitalized; Soundclick!;

  • #2
    Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

    I expect this thread to go well.

    My only crusade/hill I’ll die on is hating the old half bypass of MXR, electro harmonix, etc.

    On an interesting note, the Boss tuners are all a little different. My understanding is that the TU-2 has a 1M input impedance (pretty standard) and people became accustomed to it. The TU-3 has a 1.2M input impedance and some people have noticed it’s brighter than the old one. The TU-3W brought it back to 1M and added a true bypass option as well.

    Also, the DS-1 is around 470K, so that might account for your difference in taste. I bet after another buffer you won’t notice anything but as first in line you will.

    Here’s an interesting article I just found...
    Oh no.....


    Oh Yeah!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

      I don't own any budget pedal brands but I can say that the most buffer issues I've had is with a few EHX pedals
      “For me, when everything goes wrong – that’s when adventure starts.” Yvonne Chouinard

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

        Visual Sound(or Truetone), Digitech hardwire series, are a few that are maybe cheap now that have had good buffers, TCE stuff as well. Joyo, Mooer is acceptable as well.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

          This is something interesting to me, as I don't use a ton of pedals, but there are usually 5-6. I honestly have never considered their buffers, or that my tone might suffer because of the buffers or cables. I use decent stuff, production, not boutique, and it is always good to me.
          Administrator of the SDUGF

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

            The mooer pedal I took apart was true bypass, not buffered.



            I have two pedals with buffers in them that I use:
            - Boss BD-2 (purchased used some time in the '90s
            - Seymour Dunacan Deja Vu (switchable buffer/true bypass)


            Neither of them effect my tone enough to be a problem.



            Oddly enough, the absolute worst buffered pedal I've ever used was a very old boss PSM-5 master switch/power supply. You would think that given it's only job was to act as an effect loop the buffer in it would be ok . . . but just using that pedal alone there was a significant difference between having it between me and the amp, and plugging straight in.
            Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

            Originally posted by Douglas Adams
            This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

              Originally posted by Hank- View Post
              Visual Sound(or Truetone), Digitech hardwire series, are a few that are maybe cheap now that have had good buffers, TCE stuff as well. Joyo, Mooer is acceptable as well.
              +1 for Visual sound

              Their cheap Garagetone line Oil Can Phaser is still the only truly transparent buffer I've come across.

              Worst have been DD-5 in front of amp (it added almost like very faint digital shimmer on the top frequencies, pretty awful with dirty amp) and EHX POG; with which the coloraton is actually purposeful and doesn't really sound bad at all. I read somewhere they wanted bypassed tone to be not too different of dry tone passing through the effect.

              On the other hand, POG did make horrible mess when followed by Korg buffer: Made weird broken noises, whine and flutter when off, and on; low octave and blend function did notnwork work at all.
              Last edited by Jacew; 05-21-2020, 02:30 PM.
              "So understand/Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years/Face up, make your stand/And realize you're living in the golden years"
              Iron Maiden - Wasted Years

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

                Click image for larger version

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                WAZA Hell???
                I live in Northern New Hampshire, we shoot the things we don't understand here???

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

                  Originally posted by Nostalgic Distortion View Post
                  [ATTACH=CONFIG]104973[/ATTACH]

                  WAZA Hell???
                  Check that out, I mean what more do you need? Other than another DM-2W of course...
                  Oh no.....


                  Oh Yeah!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

                    Originally posted by Hank- View Post
                    Visual Sound(or Truetone), Digitech hardwire series, are a few that are maybe cheap now that have had good buffers, TCE stuff as well. Joyo, Mooer is acceptable as well.
                    I was under the impression that Mooer and Joyo's were true bypass.

                    B ???
                    FaceBook; SoundCloud; Barlo's Blues; Barlo Digitalized; Soundclick!;

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

                      Originally posted by PFDarkside View Post
                      I expect this thread to go well.

                      My only crusade/hill I’ll die on is hating the old half bypass of MXR, electro harmonix, etc.

                      On an interesting note, the Boss tuners are all a little different. My understanding is that the TU-2 has a 1M input impedance (pretty standard) and people became accustomed to it. The TU-3 has a 1.2M input impedance and some people have noticed it’s brighter than the old one. The TU-3W brought it back to 1M and added a true bypass option as well.

                      Also, the DS-1 is around 470K, so that might account for your difference in taste. I bet after another buffer you won’t notice anything but as first in line you will.

                      Here’s an interesting article I just found...
                      http://stinkfoot.se/archives/3736
                      Cool!

                      First in line... That's what I am talking about. Having a good buffer as the first kinda saves the others as well. But you know how it is, once I start nitpicking, I gotta try them and see if they are alright!



                      An addition...

                      Boss DD7 had a decent bypass as well. I forgot in my original message! It could very well be something to do with input impedance. If so, it is a very easy fix.

                      B

                      PS: Having read the info in the link, the section "There’s more to it than that" (that referring to the input impedance) is hell of a great read! Thanks! I wish they were to include the good Boss pedals vs. the bad ones...
                      Last edited by dr.barlo; 05-21-2020, 04:55 PM.
                      FaceBook; SoundCloud; Barlo's Blues; Barlo Digitalized; Soundclick!;

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

                        Originally posted by PFDarkside View Post
                        Check that out, I mean what more do you need? Other than another DM-2W of course...
                        Are they ever going to make WazaCraft BF-2/HF-2 flanger??
                        "So understand/Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years/Face up, make your stand/And realize you're living in the golden years"
                        Iron Maiden - Wasted Years

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

                          BOSS! Can't say I've tried them all but I've never had an issue with BOSS bypass tone. Currently using PH-1r, SD-1w, BD-2, GE-7, DM-2w and TU-3. Sounding good to me!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

                            Originally posted by PFDarkside View Post
                            Check that out, I mean what more do you need? Other than another DM-2W of course...
                            That board has:
                            - delay
                            - 2 choruses
                            - 3 distortion pedals
                            - 1 tuner

                            Not very versatile (or usable for me).


                            I'd keep the BD-2 and tuner if building a board. Maybe the DM-2, but would have to see if 800ms is enough delay length for me. What more do you need?
                            - fuzz
                            - phaser
                            - univibe
                            - flanger
                            - tremolo
                            - wah

                            . . . and maybe reverb depending on the amp used.


                            :P
                            Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

                            Originally posted by Douglas Adams
                            This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Non-TrueBypass pedals with good buffers

                              Originally posted by Jacew View Post
                              Are they ever going to make WazaCraft BF-2/HF-2 flanger??
                              That seems like a man obvious next step since they are doing BBE based pedals. The HF-2 is a really cool pedal.

                              Originally posted by GuitarStv View Post
                              That board has:
                              - delay
                              - 2 choruses
                              - 3 distortion pedals
                              - 1 tuner

                              Not very versatile (or usable for me).


                              I'd keep the BD-2 and tuner if building a board. Maybe the DM-2, but would have to see if 800ms is enough delay length for me. What more do you need?
                              - fuzz
                              - phaser
                              - univibe
                              - flanger
                              - tremolo
                              - wah

                              . . . and maybe reverb depending on the amp used.


                              :P
                              I know... but seriously you can get a lot done with that board.
                              Oh no.....


                              Oh Yeah!

                              Comment

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