Do i need a buffer for my pedal board?

[alvinkubi]

Hi all,


I've been reading about buffer and boosters.. so not too sure if need one, need bros to advise me.

Here is my pedalboard:


TC Polytune -> Modtone Lemon Squeeze Comp -> Love pedal amp11 -> Pedal tank booster -> OCD v4 -> Boss DD5 -> JWS Volume knob

I use a 6 ft from Vol knob to any amp and a 9 ft from poly tune to guitar.

Any advice? Should i get one and where should i put it?

 

[carboxymoron]

If you plug your guitar straight to the amp and compare it to through the board, is there any treble loss that can't be compensated by just adjusting the amp slightly?

Your DD5 is already buffered, and if you have any other pedals always-on like the comp or a drive, that's essentially the same.

 

[zesn]

I find the BOSS buffers useless.
I still lose treble frequencies that can't be replaced on the amp.

 

[alvinkubi]

[i have yet to try the guitar atraight and amp and comparing to the board.

my comp is on all the time. the love pedal amp11 as well.

when you say buffered, means i do not need a buffer or worry about tone loss?

QUOTE=carboxymoron;1229173]If you plug your guitar straight to the amp and compare it to through the board, is there any treble loss that can't be compensated by just adjusting the amp slightly?

Your DD5 is already buffered, and if you have any other pedals always-on like the comp or a drive, that's essentially the same.[/QUOTE]

 

[joshuanick]

I think what he meant is that there is a buffer in the boss pedal that will help in getting back the tone that you might habe lost through the long cables and maybe the volume knob too. You may need a buffer if you really think it's necessary.

 

[mightyboy88]

Hi all,


I've been reading about buffer and boosters.. so not too sure if need one, need bros to advise me.

Here is my pedalboard:


TC Polytune -> Modtone Lemon Squeeze Comp -> Love pedal amp11 -> Pedal tank booster -> OCD v4 -> Boss DD5 -> JWS Volume knob

I use a 6 ft from Vol knob to any amp and a 9 ft from poly tune to guitar.

Any advice? Should i get one and where should i put it?

A buffer will definately help in improving your tone, as for whether it is worth the additional pedalboard space and the price to get a dedicated buffer, thats for you to decide

A simple buffer, or even the boutique buffers, are based on simple circuits. I have built a few buffers myself and the cost for materials should be around 10-15 dollars.

I feel that a more practical approach to using a dedicated buffer unit would be to use a buffered bypass pedal straight after your guitar. This would enable you to achieve a similar effect of having a buffer pedal without the loss of pedalboard real estate and increasing the need for an additional power line.

The best buffer is an onboard buffer, which is located on your guitar. This allows a low impedance signal to flow through your 9ft cable, which will help reduce signal losses through the cables and the subsequent pedals in the chain, especially if they are not true bypassed. Active pickups actually have this advantage over passive pickups, as their preamp also buffs the signal. The disadvantage is the need for batteries to be installed in your guitar itself

 

[carboxymoron]

A buffer will definately help in improving your tone

Unfortunately, this isn't objectively true 100% of the time.

Anyway, considering the OP's comp and drive are always on and it's really not that big a board we're talking about, I'd say the benefit-to-cost/space ratio of an additional buffer will be very minimal. I'd rather spend the money on some nice patch cables.

 

[gunihoon]

Do a simple test -

1) Plug ur guitar direct to your amp and play. Then plug through your board, all effects off, and play. If you can't hear a difference, then you don't need a buffer.
2) If you hear a difference, then go thru the different pedals of ur board to isolate which pedal is doing the tone-sucking.
3) Like the posts, if u are running an always on pedal like EQ/Comp, then u likely wont need a buffer unless u are running very long cables or the placement of ur pedals is before something with great tone suck (e.g. lousy pedal/volume pedal). Is ur EQ always on?
4) It could also be due to the cables u use.

My own experience:

Tone-suckers are typically the volume pedal and lower-end pedals and some pedals with their own buffers.
My EB JR Volume pedal was killing my clean tone when I compared direct and bypass pedals. I placed my TC Chorus w/buffer before my vol pedal (which was 3 last in chain before my delay/reverb) and it solved my tone problems.


My 2 cents.

 

[mightyboy88]

Do a simple test -

1) Plug ur guitar direct to your amp and play. Then plug through your board, all effects off, and play. If you can't hear a difference, then you don't need a buffer.
2) If you hear a difference, then go thru the different pedals of ur board to isolate which pedal is doing the tone-sucking.
3) Like the posts, if u are running an always on pedal like EQ/Comp, then u likely wont need a buffer unless u are running very long cables or the placement of ur pedals is before something with great tone suck (e.g. lousy pedal/volume pedal). Is ur EQ always on?
4) It could also be due to the cables u use.

My own experience:

Tone-suckers are typically the volume pedal and lower-end pedals and some pedals with their own buffers.
My EB JR Volume pedal was killing my clean tone when I compared direct and bypass pedals. I placed my TC Chorus w/buffer before my vol pedal (which was 3 last in chain before my delay/reverb) and it solved my tone problems.


My 2 cents.

great tip !
i did a comparison last time between the clean sound of my "bypassed pedalboarded" signal chain and straight guitar to amp sound and i was shocked by the loss of fidelity

 

[subversion]

guitar- straight to- amp = best