Long effects chain.....

[fenderiarhs]

i am using a quite big pedalboard which consists of 13 pedals with all the negative effects this has on my guitar signal (treble loss, e.t.c)Most of them are boss pedals and the first pedal is a boss cs3 which has a buffer.....so my signal starts buffered.

I was given an old version of the axess electronics buffer BS2 (you can see it in this url under the voice products) http://www.axess-electronics.com/
and unfortunately it is not working but i will try and fix it (the opamp must have been damaged). What i would like to ask is if there will be any improvement in my tone by using infront of all my pedals this buffer or not since there is already a boss buffer (the one on the Boss cs3 pedal) at the start of my signal chain.

 

[scottish]

Re: Long effects chain.....

honestly im surprised that you are noticing a pronounced negative effect on your sound. my buddy plays in a band around bars in my area and both guitarists in that band use big boards.

they use almost all boss pedals and probably a few more than 13 pedals...they both have great tone. one plays a strat and one plays a prs, go figure

as for using a signal buffer...i think it would have more effect using it in the middle of your chain since you already have a buffer at the start. this just seems logical to me, i dont actually have any concrete experience with this so i could be way off.

i also could be wrong about this, but i thought most if not all boss pedals have a buffer

have you tried EQing your amp once the signal has been processed through all the pedals?

 

[James Rock]

Re: Long effects chain.....

You could look at getting one of the radial things (dunno what they are called) that you plug into before your first pedal that negate the effects of a buffer which are suppose to give you the plugged straight into amp feel as well as being able to use a long chain with a buffer.

 

[Robert Delahunt]

Re: Long effects chain.....

I say simply use something other than a long effects chain, for what it's worth. Just my 2 cents.

 

[millsart]

Re: Long effects chain.....

You have a few options

1) Get rid of a few effects, I can't imagine how you'd need 13 effects pedals at a given time on your board

2) Buy some effects pedals with true bypass

3) Simply EQ your rig differently to make up for it, I highly doubt anyone in the audience is going to be able to hear the difference live anyways

4) Buy a few true bypass loopers.


Personally I'd go with option #4 myself because not only would it work wonders, but it wouldn't require you to change anything and involves minimal cost.

My putting a few bypassed loops in your chain you can not only reduce the "tone suck" of a long chain but also achieve very cool sidechians that will allow you to kick in several effects at once without needing to tap dance around hitting a bunch of pedals

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Long effects chain.....

If you're looking for a good bypass looper I can recommend the ones sold here: http://www.loop-master.com/

 

[ErikH]

Re: Long effects chain.....

Remove the CS-3 from the chain and then listen to it. For some reason, I seem to recall the CS-3 being a tone sucker even though it is buffered bypass like all other Boss pedals.

Even through that many pedals, with the buffers in there, your signal is getting pushing sufficiently throughout the chain but expect some drop. The only place I'd probably but an outboard buffer is at the very very end. That'll help with keeping the signal up back to the amp. Even though the last Boss pedal would do essentially the same thing, having that extra there with as many pedals as you have going isn't a bad idea. There's still some signal loss regardless.

True bypass isn't the end all be all either. Having some true bypass pedals or loops on your pedalboard isn't a bad idea, but you still need a buffer to keep the signal pushing along back to the amp.

The looper idea is a good one if you want to go that route. Just keep the Axess buffer at the very end before the cable back to the amp and you'll be fine. That buffer is worth getting fixed.

 

[baritone]

Re: Long effects chain.....

Re-EQ-ing is a good idea. With so many pedals layered up like that, the main issue is the frequency response, and the solution can be that simple.

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Long effects chain.....

i do try and compensate by some eq from the boss ge7 but that's one more pedal to switch on/off.......

So you think it would be better to use the buffer at the end of the chain.......?

 

[ErikH]

Re: Long effects chain.....

i do try and compensate by some eq from the boss ge7 but that's one more pedal to switch on/off.......

So you think it would be better to use the buffer at the end of the chain.......?

Yes, most definitely at the end. Also, make sure the pedal with the highest input impedence and lowest output impedence, aside from the buffer, is at the beginning. Your typical Boss overdrives and Ibanez Tubescreamers do a fine job here. But that buffer at the end, through all those pedals (buffered or not), will keep that signal strong back to the amp.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Long effects chain.....

I'd get some bypass loopers and maybe a good quality buffer (like MI AUDIO Buff and Boost) to go before the chain of bypassed (with loopers) pedals if the true bypass sound has too much affect on tone (shouldn't if you use one looper with mulitple loops compared to multiple one loop loopers. As said above www.loop-master.com should have what you are looking for in the loops department.