Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

[CondeZL]

I tested my whole rig individually because I found A LOT of hum when I plugged guitar > buffer > fuzz > amp but everything's perfect. I had the buffer inicially plugged in due to my cry baby sucking tone as usual. What can I do? I tried a boss pedal turned off instead of the dedicated buffer but I had the same issue

 

[CondeZL]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

I had already removed the cry baby and the boss TU-3 from the chain when I took the picture. I was running everything on the daisy chain except the wah wah on a battery

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

The daisy chain could be a potential source of some noise. Some pedals just need their own isolated power supply.
I would plug one pedal in at a time until you find the culprit.

That said, fuzz pedals are picky. They don’t always play nice with other pedals in the signal chain. Try the buffer in a different spot (after the fuzz) and see if that helps.

 

[CondeZL]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

The daisy chain could be a potential source of some noise. Some pedals just need their own isolated power supply.
I would plug one pedal in at a time until you find the culprit.

That said, fuzz pedals are picky. They don’t always play nice with other pedals in the signal chain. Try the buffer in a different spot (after the fuzz) and see if that helps.

I tried a bunch of things
1) I tried plugging different power supplies. It didn't make any difference.
2) Placing the buffer after the fuzz will reduce the hum significantly, but not completely, plus it won't help reducing the tone sucking produced by the wah wah pedal.
3) Unplugging the guitar and leaving just the buffer and the fuzz on helped me noticing some white noise is being added by the buffer, which I didnt feel without the fuzz.
4) Plugging either the fuzz or the buffer (but not both engaged at once) will produce pleasing results. I realize I need the buffer after my Cry Baby and I need it before fuzzing.

I contacted the manufacturer directly and he didnt give me technical explation (impedance, these things). He mentioned it could be either the cables or the fact I'm using an audio interface / reaper, but i'm having abnormal input levels when placing with that configuration, even when I'm not touching the guitar (when buffer AND fuzz are engaged).

Update: I tried my Boss TU-3 in instead of the buffer, so Cry Baby > Tu-3 > 70's fuzz. Helped with the tone, did nothing the buzz. Placing the buffer turns this pedal unplayable. Should I place a noise gate around the buffer?

I swapped the Fuzz 70 with a Boss Turbo distortion with all controls on 12 o'clock, so GUITAR > BUFFER > TURBO DISTORTION > AMP. It's dead silent.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

If you are serious about wah and Fuzz Face, you’ve got to do this....

-Wah must be True Bypass with a Fuzz Friendly Buffer. This is not a buffer like in a Boss, etc. it isolates the sweeping impedance from the Fuzz Input as well as drives the cable afterward when it’s engaged. (Fulltone, Xotic, Teese, mod your current wah, etc.)
-Move the stand-alone Buffer after the fuzz
-Put them both on battery, then introduce the daisy chain one at a time just to make sure it’s not adding ground noise

The wah part is a big change, but after I switched to a Teese, the wah/fuzz thing all fell into place.

 

[ThisDyingSoul76]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

My experience is buffers choke fuzzes. They need to go before the buffer. This means either modding or replacing your wah as Darkside suggested or making a compromise by putting the wah after Fuzz.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

depending on the fuzz, they usually dont like to have anything before them. guitar->fuzz->everything else->amp

 

[CondeZL]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

Damn... I don't quite feel I wasted money because I still can use those pedals separatedly yet I wanted them together; despite the hum, the wah > buffer > fuzz chain sounded really tasty.
My fuzz is a Fulltone 70's clone, because the original was too expensive to me plus I like to support local manufactures. I'm kinda digging this fuzz territory but I wasn't aware of any issues

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

Yeah, it’s annoying but glorious.

Serious, mod your crybaby for True Bypass, then add this:
https://www.foxroxelectronics.com/FoxroxWahRetrofit.html

 

[CondeZL]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

Yeah, it’s annoying but glorious.

Serious, mod your crybaby for True Bypass, then add this:
https://www.foxroxelectronics.com/FoxroxWahRetrofit.html

thanks. I'll see what I can find here (outside US)

 

[jeremy]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

old school fuzz is a quirky thing. my sunface (always running on a battery) is now acting up with a bunch of pedals unless they are on a power supply... no idea and dont have time to sort it out before my gig. fuzz is cantankerous sometimes

 

[CondeZL]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

well.. I'll be trying my pedals at someone else's place. If I'm still not able to fix this, I'll be returning the buffer and getting a new one from another manufacturer. it's good, it works, but it doesn't fit for my needs

 

[jeremy]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

at least with the fuzzface, no buffer before it is a good thing. it kills the goods you get from the fuzz, gotta guitar->fuzz for that

 

[devastone]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

As has been said, as a normal rule, fuzzes don't like buffers in front of them. You can experiment with a wah before and after it, and yes, I do suggest true bypass.

If only Jimi knew he did it all wrong, but he didn't have the interwebs around to tell him about the sins of non-TB, that he really needed a buffer in his chain, and that coily cables were high capacitance, oh the calamity his tone has wrought upon us all...

 

[CondeZL]

Re: Should a buffer before fuzz cause hum?

thanks for all of your time. I guess I'll just have to live with that. My tuner won't be the first pedal in the chain anymore haha