MXR Wah Bypass problem

[Hank-]

Hey guys, I have the MXR MC-404 wah. I love everything about this wah, but I'm not getting a true bypass sound out of it when turned off. It's sorta draining some of the energy out of the guitar for lack of better description whenever it's part of the signal chain between the guitar & amp. I compared it with my turbo tuner & ehx memory boy, both of those do not behave the way this one does when bypassed(they are both true bypass btw). It's got tiny components inside it, so modifying it can be a drag or maybe impossible. The manual does says it's true bypass, so perhaps mine is a lemon.
Maybe something like removing some resistors from it (like on the 535Q) may fix the bypass problem?

I googled the issue & found two threads related to it. One on TGP that got turned into a fight & the other on some bass forum, but nothing useful so far. I guess I could build a true bypass looper for it, but still I was wondering if something could be done inside it to fix it up.

Anyone else notice this with theirs?

On a side note, anyone try comparing a Wilson Rippah-Q wah to this?

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: MXR Wah Bypass problem

404 has true bypass. its all good. Mine is 100% does what its supposed to do.
but even true bypass means you are running through some extra wires etc. Anything in your chain (including a long cable) will affect the signal that eventually makes its way to your amp.
You can notice it with any true bypass pedals if you use a few of them in a chain.
In some cases putting one buffer at the start or the end of the chain can actually sound superior to a row of true bypass boxes.

 

[Hank-]

Re: MXR Wah Bypass problem

Hey, yup I'm aware of the buffer for large pedal chains or long cables. I have a digitech df7 which I don't use at all. I tried putting it last after the delay & it helped regain the loss of low & high frequencies but there was this compressor like effect by having it in the chain last before the amp's input(pedal turned off ofcourse but power supplied or the buffer doesn't work, meaning no signal passes through it).

I sat all afternoon yesterday a/bing the wah and the others one after another. I have planet waves american stage cables with me. It's strongly noticeable when it's the first or only pedal the guitar is going into, comparing back and forth with the tuner or delay alone, the wah strikes as the odd one out. As soon as I include it in my chain I can tell something has changed, or rather decreased. I get the same result with it running into my LC30 or GT10. I'm amazed the gt10 has an extremely non-sucky input and outputs.

Have you a/b'd it with another true bypass pedal alone running straight to the amp's input, with nothing else in the amp's loop?

I've been listening/ watching videos of it & can hear the effect similar to what I'm getting with mine. I think it has creeped into my psyche now :banghead: