Are Carl Martin pedals true bypass?

[Young Angus]

Particularly the Carl Martin Hot Drive'n'Boost.

I took my other guitarist shopping today for pedals to replace his Behringer tone sucking concoction. He's already got a Jimmy Hendrix wah (which is fine for now), a Voodoo Labs chorus, and a Behringer tuner pedal (but wait, there's a way around that one )...and he's probably going to go for the Carl Martin Hot Drive'n'Boost and a T-Rex Comp Nova compressor. And getting back to the Behringer tuner, there is a clean out in the Carl Martin pedal which I'm assuming you can run into a tuner at the same time as the other jack does it's thing (I'm hoping anyway)...that way the tuner won't mess with the tone.

Anyway I waffle on way too much, this thread is to find out if the Carl Martin pedal is true bypass or not :smack:

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Are Carl Martin pedals true bypass?

Yes absolutely, and Rid and Theodie are working on a joint project which is a true bypass overdrive/pick up that is build in a bigsby tremolo bridge.

 

[More-Gear-Than-Skill]

Re: Are Carl Martin pedals true bypass?

I could be wrong here... Rid's your man for the final word...I've always thought that a good way of testing for true-bypass is, take out the battery and unplug the power supply. If the effect still lets your straight signal through, then it's, err, bypassing truely. By the way, buffers can be your friend though, but that's another story.

This could be hogwash, Rid?

 

[Axl H]

Re: Are Carl Martin pedals true bypass?

Nope its not Trooo-flypass.

Rid dislikes it, trust me have had long discussions about it.

The day I hear a CM effect suck tone is the day, where I will jazz.

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Are Carl Martin pedals true bypass?

No, if I remember correctly, there is very good reason why not. From what I understand, true bypass is another one of those tone myths that is actually a load of rubbish.

 

[claytonc]

Re: Are Carl Martin pedals true bypass?

No, if I remember correctly, there is very good reason why not. From what I understand, true bypass is another one of those tone myths that is actually a load of rubbish.

+100

 

[jeremy]

Re: Are Carl Martin pedals true bypass?

when i saw this thread i was expecting to see a huge long post by rid.

true bypass has its place but it isnt for every situation. if you use multiple fx and or long cables a buffered pedal is a good thing

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Are Carl Martin pedals true bypass?

"A" buffered pedal is a good thing, 5 buffered pedals before you even hit your tube front end can be a bad thing. Also all buffers aren't created equal. So the one or two tone suckers in your pedal board are taking your high quality quality buffered bypass units with them. Personally I can't stand the tone and feel of any of the pedals I own when off. I have some Japanese stuff, Taiwanese modded and stock, and actually one of the better sounding units when bypassed is the $15 Tubulator.

The only thing I don't like about the true bypass "movement" is that it implies that if everything is bypassed you have a "better" or "truer" tone. This is usually true, but if you're passing through multiple pedals with 20 feet of cable on the front end, and another 20 feet heading back to the amp, then you're passing through 40 feet PLUS the signal length as it passes through the pedals themselves. That has it's own tone sucking ramifications, but they're not due to the pedal, they're due to the unbuffered cable travel.

My best case scenario is something like the Pickup Booster, or other pedal that has an excellent quality buffer at the front of the pedal chain, and true bypass on everything thereafter. The problem of battery drain or the power cable coming out is now eliminated. If it's something like the Pickup Booster, it's true bypass anyway, so if you're playing with it on all the time (set to minimum volume so it's more of a signal conditioner) and ALL the dc power goes out, you can even TB the Booster too, and just hit your amp through the 40ft of cable.

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Are Carl Martin pedals true bypass?

CM pedals are not true bypass, they use buffers. But they will in no way suck the soul from your tone, whether on or off.

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Are Carl Martin pedals true bypass?

CM pedals are not true bypass, they use buffers. But they will in no way suck the soul from your tone, whether on or off.

Actualy, the Rock Drive and the not designed by Rid pedals :bigok: , are not my cup of tea when on...

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Are Carl Martin pedals true bypass?

:eek13: :firedevil :laughing:
Most certanly not tb!!
None are...yet, the octaswitch loopswitcher can set to either buffered or just relays only.
Anyways no HDB's are tb, they all use high to low impedance setups, and the myth about more buffers ruining the signal, is also something of an annoyance to me...but never mind
I use a whole chain of buffered pedals, and I prefer that alot more than anything else.
Only real oldschool stuff like fuzzfaces, old wahwah's and such, are best the way they are, as it is a whole different universe!
And our pedals runs at +-12v...it has a swing at 24 volts, the LF347 OP-Amp is a nice warm and slightly fatbottomed thing, and we use that as impedance changer, that gives us what we like as bypass here in our little corner of the world, want different, buy something else, loads of options
We do how we like it, others do it how they like it...there is no rules!
What HDB is it???
The org and MKII's are not working well unless the amp is a good one, they do not give much help, but in the right setup they are pretty useful in the whole mix!
My fave of the HDB's is the MK3.
Niels