boss buffers

[Chickenwings]

Are not all created equal.

I might be a nerd and a corksniffer, but i notice a difference in my bypassed sound using an SD1 than a real true bypass overdrive. Its slight, but its there - better or worse? well i guess it depends how long your cable is.

However i definitely notice a big difference when i have my boss CE-3 plugged in. I've modified the pedal so now it sounds like a stereo version of a CE-2 (thanks vasshu for the mod info) and it is a beautiful chorus... nicer than the well regarded voodoo labs chorus.

Trouble is, that bypass sound really loads up my signal. Whatever kind of bypass circuit it has in there, it really is not what i like.
The same was true of my boss super phaser - they bypass was not good at all.

So, my question is this:
Does anyone have any ideas on how to make the bypass sound better on a ce-3 or just general ideas on how to make any boss pedal sound better in bypass? Would it just be a matter of metal film resistors and higher quality caps?

Bring on your ideas...

 

[LReese]

Re: boss buffers

Wasn't there an issue with the SD-1 where a tiny amount of the affected signal came wrought when bypassed? I think I remembered that in the manual of my Analogman mod.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: boss buffers

yeh. but its pretty hard to notice really unless the gain is all the way up. It still sounds better than the bypass on a ce-3. Thing is....all the boss pedals have slightly different bypassed tone depending on the pedal. I'm wonderinh what would be a good way to improve and/all of them?

 

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: boss buffers

yeh. but its pretty hard to notice really unless the gain is all the way up. It still sounds better than the bypass on a ce-3. Thing is....all the boss pedals have slightly different bypassed tone depending on the pedal. I'm wonderinh what would be a good way to improve and/all of them?

I know this is probably NOT what you want to do, but perhaps a simple loop switcher like the Road Rage?
Then you can remove the pedal from your signal path entirely when not in use.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: boss buffers

yeh that would be cool. im thinking simpler really, juts hoping to swap a couple of caps or resistors and get a clearer, stronger bypass on the pedal itself.

 

[MrTondo]

Re: boss buffers

What is it exactly you don't like about the bypassed signal? What is the difference when not having it in the signal path? What exactly changes?

 

[Low_fidelity2100]

Re: boss buffers

I've found the same thing with boss pedals. Some have a really good buffer, others seem to really muddy up everything, and others seem to brighten things up. What I've found works best is to go through all the ones on your board, find which one has the best sounding buffer to your ears (not just boss pedals)...and Put it before all the other buffered/boss pedals you use.

For me the HF-2 (Hi-band Flanger) seems to have the best buffer on all the Boss pedals I use, so I've made it first in line after all my drive pedals (all true bypass). After putting it there, all the other buffers in my chain don't impact the signal in any negative way (not that I notice at least). The TR-2, (analog) CH-1, DD-20, TU-2, DD-6/7, and RV-5 also have good sounding buffers too in my experience. The BF-2, SD-1, DS-1 (newer ones at least), and RV-3 are some of the worst though (again in my experience).

Doing that (in my experience at least) seems to makes the first buffer the one that effects the signal, and everything after seems to make no noticeable difference. I have no idea why really, I'm sure there's an explanation, but I don't know what it is. haha. I'd guess it has to do with the first buffer changing the signal to low impedance, and therefore making every buffer after have less of an impact...But I really don't know. I'm sure someone with more technical understanding of those things will chime in and tell my why I'm totally wrong for thinking that's the reason though, haha.

 

[SongsForTheDeaf]

Re: boss buffers

I had an old Japanese Boss DD-3... When bypassed it turned my clean and distortion tones into ratty thin garbage. I took it out of my chain and my sound was back.

Not sure if mine was faulty or it was just a bad buffer but it has turned me off of older boss pedals. I still use a new Boss Tera Echo and the bypass sounds fine

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: boss buffers

Sometimes the amps input impedance also dictates how some pedals sound bypassed and on...
You could change the filtering and such on the buffer.....

 

[dr.barlo]

Re: boss buffers

I know this is probably NOT what you want to do, but perhaps a simple loop switcher like the Road Rage?
Then you can remove the pedal from your signal path entirely when not in use.

This!

B

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: boss buffers

What is it exactly you don't like about the bypassed signal? What is the difference when not having it in the signal path? What exactly changes?

less treble, less note separation, less level, less bass, less harmonic complexity.

I'm just wondering if i change all the components in a boss pedal to a higher quality/better signal to noise ratio if i can get an improvement, or if perhaps it is the nature of the buffer itself.

I have nothing against buffers per se...unless they make my sound deteriorate noticeably.

i always preferred the buffered output on my sd delay when used in a chain (until the pedal crapped out), and found a noticeable improvement in my tone runnning through a series of true bypass pedals when using either a dedicated T1M buffer or even my cheap morley wah as first thing in line.

So yeah....any ideas about how to improve the buffered sound in boss pedals? A few metal film resistors and sprague caps here and there? or is it a waste of time?

 

[gordon_39422]

Re: boss buffers

Interesting read, thanks for all the useful information. I only have Keeley modded pedals so the bypasses have all been altered to produce amicable line levels and little signal loss... But I truly enjoyed this thread. I never gave thought to any pedal manufacture not trying to design all there pedals with output impedance being close to the same range!