Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

[Guitarist]

Hola comprades, I am wondering about pedalboards in general and the guitar signal along its way. If one were to run all true-bypass pedals (say about 6 pedals), with 21' of cable from the guitar to the front of the board and then 12' leaving the board and entering the amplifier's input, would there be sufficient signal loss?

If it would be wise to place a buffered pedal or two in the chain, disregarding pedal type, typically where would you place it if you wanted to preserve signal strength?

Also, I seem to remember people praising the Boss buffer. Others say it's a huge tone sucker. Please point me in the right direction for a good company with good buffers.

Feel free to say whatever's on your mind as long as it is benefitial to the topic. We all want to learn!

Thanks for your help in my struggle!

 

[some_dude]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

Hola comprades, I am wondering about pedalboards in general and the guitar signal along its way. If one were to run all true-bypass pedals (say about 6 pedals), with 21' of cable from the guitar to the front of the board and then 12' leaving the board and entering the amplifier's input, would there be sufficient signal loss?

Enough that you can hear. Hell, I run a 10ft cable into one TB pedal, then 20ft of cable into the amp and I can hear the difference. That said, I prefer the sound of my guitar going through 30ft of cable that I do when I plug directly in with the 10ft.....the treble bleed suits my taste.

If it would be wise to place a buffered pedal or two in the chain, disregarding pedal type, typically where would you place it if you wanted to preserve signal strength?

First inline, though some pedals (wah and germanium fuzzes) don't like being used after a buffer, so put them first if you have them.

Also, I seem to remember people praising the Boss buffer. Others say it's a huge tone sucker. Please point me in the right direction for a good company with good buffers.

All buffers impart a certain tone on your sound. I don't mind Boss buffers, but I don't like what happens when you run through more than one of them.

http://www.axess-electronics.com/ - check out their BS2.

Also, consider the quality/capacitance of your cables. If you're going through the trouble to TB and buffer everything, it'd be a shame if your cables were sucking alot of your high end out.

 

[B2D]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

BOSS makes buffers? Where?

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

....doh...
It is a tiresome discussion at best, get what works for your setup or setups, they both have their pro's and con's, mostly what really is troublesome is varying impedances, and how pedals reacts to different amps, there is no right or wrong there.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

People all have thier own ideas on what sounds *best* when it comes to a *pure* signal path.

I'm a true bypass nut, but I like 20' guitar runs. I only have one pedal in my signal that isn't true bypass, the Demeter Tremulator, but it's a very low impedance buffer, so it can be used to boost those long signal runs.

I think your logic is along the same as mine Guitarist. screamingdaisy pointed out the Axess BS-2 and from what I've gathered, it is by far the best buffer out there. I'd have one on my board if my Tremulator didn't do something extremely similar.

 

[B2D]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

Sorry to hijack, but where is the best place to put a buffer like that? Before all the pedals? After the pedals? In front of the amp or in the effects loop. In ANY of those, where exactly is it to be positioned?
Or is this one of those things you have to experiment with and see what sounds best?

 

[Brow]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

It makes sense to me to put a buffered pedal towards/at the start of the pedalchain. This way, the signal is boosted up before it hits the rest of the e
pedals

 

[B2D]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

It makes sense to me to put a buffered pedal towards/at the start of the pedalchain. This way, the signal is boosted up before it hits the rest of the e
pedals

But will that boost/impedance level carry over through all the pedals?

 

[some_dude]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

But will that boost/impedance level carry over through all the pedals?

If they're all true bypass, yes....provided they're off.

Once you turn one on, that pedal's output impedance takes over the the rest of the signal chain.

Sorry to hijack, but where is the best place to put a buffer like that? Before all the pedals? After the pedals? In front of the amp or in the effects loop. In ANY of those, where exactly is it to be positioned?

Anywhere it sounds good to you. I would say the ideal spot would be right after the wah and fuzz, someone else might say something different.

The effects loop is technically buffered by the preamp, though I've heard of people using buffers in there too.

Or is this one of those things you have to experiment with and see what sounds best?

Huge yes. Some people love the "improvement" to their tone when using a buffer. Some people dislike the "degridation" to their tone when using a buffer. Both people could have identical rigs, but a completely different tonal goal.

One trick you could try is to play your guitar through your whole pedalboard, then unplug and use a 5ft cord strait into the amp. If you like your tone better with the 5ft, you might like a buffer. If you prefer your tone as it was before, you might not like a buffer.

As I mentioned before, I like the sound of my axe going through 30ft of cable. Santana is noted for using 50ft of cable.....tone is subjective, particularily when it comes to the subject of cables and buffers.

 

[B2D]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

^^^ Thanks, SD. That was the best answer I could've hoped for.

 

[Guitarist]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

Thanks!

 

[Guitarist]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

I just ordered the BS2. Thanks again guys!

 

[wildstar]

Re: Pedalboard Questions! NEED HELP!

Great thread - helpful information. Thanks!