true bypass
- Thread starter daryl
- Start date
jbarks
New member
Ask yourself, is true bypass really necessary? The FET switching on Boss pedals is already very good and brings down the cost of the pedal. Buffered output also helps to prevent tone-suck if it's done properly. My take on it is that if it doesn't suck tone much, true bypass isn't necessary.
daryl
New member
sorry i was under the impression that no true bypass = suck tone. if one pedal sucks 2% of tone, if you have six pedals it'll be 12%? yeah true bypass isnt necessary if it doesnt suck tone. i remember reading somewhere that boss pedals do suck a lot of tone if you have a few in your lineup is that true?
pardon my ignorance i just want to clarify things cause i want to start buying effects and i dont want to make the wrong choices.
pardon my ignorance i just want to clarify things cause i want to start buying effects and i dont want to make the wrong choices.
not all FET bypass are good... and even the VERY BEST, will suck some tone, may be a tiny bit but lots of pedals adds up like what you said.
Only bother if your ear tells you so....
If you got a long chain, yes, having like 1 pedal at the start with a good buffer bypass to convert your signal to low impedance helps a lot to maintain signal integrity....
Only bother if your ear tells you so....
If you got a long chain, yes, having like 1 pedal at the start with a good buffer bypass to convert your signal to low impedance helps a lot to maintain signal integrity....
IF you have all true-bypass pedals on yoru board you will have a prob also, no too sure on the technical details but u need some sort of driver (buffer) to match you guitar impedance to your amp as you would have a long cable from your guitar to your amp and the impedance difference will be detrimental to your tone. Having a buffer on yoru board actually helps (Boss pedals have fet buffers) or you can get a booster like the RC, SHO chillipicosos and just leave it on to drive you signal. check out pete cornish's site for some info on this. This guy builds racks and pedal boards for pros, David Gilmour's rig is built by him.
www.petecornish.co.uk
www.petecornish.co.uk
embryo
New member
There are many reasons where the true bypass method will work but also just as many reasons where it won't. The main pedals to watch out for is usually the wahs. Hendrix, Clapton, Page and Beck in their heyday did not use true bypass, true but they also had at most 2 or 3 pedals before the amp.
Others like David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, The Edge, Steve Lukather and session giants (I'm an obvious fan btw
use several parellel chains of pedals and rack devices hooked up with a switching system designed by electronic gurus like Bob Bradshaw and Pete Cornish. The reason for this is to replicate the sounds created in the studio in a live setting with all the necessary individual chains of efx combinations. Other ways of improving on the loading tone sucking syndrome included the use of active pickups and preamps on the guitar side of things. However, many situations you do need the input and output buffer circuits so as to make the individual pedals and racks more compatible with devices attached before or after.
Unless one is going the Star Trek mission control route with your pedals it's more sensible and cost effective to just make sure the wahs are true bypassed.
Others like David Gilmour, Alex Lifeson, The Edge, Steve Lukather and session giants (I'm an obvious fan btw
use several parellel chains of pedals and rack devices hooked up with a switching system designed by electronic gurus like Bob Bradshaw and Pete Cornish. The reason for this is to replicate the sounds created in the studio in a live setting with all the necessary individual chains of efx combinations. Other ways of improving on the loading tone sucking syndrome included the use of active pickups and preamps on the guitar side of things. However, many situations you do need the input and output buffer circuits so as to make the individual pedals and racks more compatible with devices attached before or after. Unless one is going the Star Trek mission control route with your pedals it's more sensible and cost effective to just make sure the wahs are true bypassed.
btw, Randolf, about how buffered bypass pedals work with each other...
I realised, guitar Boss CE3 to Morley Bad Horsie 2, there is this irritating addition of harsh treble. If the pedals are seperate (only 1 in chain), there is no more such tonal variations!
I used a looper to do it....
Why is this so?
I realised, guitar Boss CE3 to Morley Bad Horsie 2, there is this irritating addition of harsh treble. If the pedals are seperate (only 1 in chain), there is no more such tonal variations!
I used a looper to do it....
Why is this so?
embryo
New member
This is really an input buffer issue as in the CE3 the input buffer is designed to accept siganls either from a drive pedal or another modulation pedal. Without the input buffer there will high chance the circuits will distort. It's almost like a compression circuit going on there.
Ideally modulation devices unless intended should be post preamp section for them to work with happy clean signals.
I'm not so sure about the Bad Horsie doh.
Ideally modulation devices unless intended should be post preamp section for them to work with happy clean signals.
I'm not so sure about the Bad Horsie doh.
ShredCow said:
spitfire_121
New member
hey i juz found this website regarding the true bypass. for anyone who dosent noe wat true bypass is and for those who catch no ball while reading this thread.
http://www.theguitarfiles.com/guitarfile-print-501.html
http://www.theguitarfiles.com/guitarfile-print-501.html
daryl
New member
Edit: From http://www.theguitarfiles.com/guitarfile-print-501.html
"In summary, this quick experiment with a real world setup has shown that the series connection of true bypass pedals does not result in an excessive load nor does it reduce the quality of the audio signal because of the long cable runs since the capacitive load is much less than previous conjectured. So when you hear the term True Bypass again you will know."
"You know, that's not too bad. The capacitance of all the cables does not add together to produce a substantial load on the pickups. The total capacitance of five jumpers and two 20' connecting cables is really about the same as one of the long cables alone. This is likely due to the fact that the bypass switches in the pedals are breaking up the connection of the cables and preventing the summation of capacitance as one would think would happen. The series resistance and inductance appear to be a sum of their respective values but do not present any real problem to the signal flow."
So I guess having all your pedals true-bypassed is a good thing after all, provided you don't have too many pedals or use excessively long cables.
"In summary, this quick experiment with a real world setup has shown that the series connection of true bypass pedals does not result in an excessive load nor does it reduce the quality of the audio signal because of the long cable runs since the capacitive load is much less than previous conjectured. So when you hear the term True Bypass again you will know."
"You know, that's not too bad. The capacitance of all the cables does not add together to produce a substantial load on the pickups. The total capacitance of five jumpers and two 20' connecting cables is really about the same as one of the long cables alone. This is likely due to the fact that the bypass switches in the pedals are breaking up the connection of the cables and preventing the summation of capacitance as one would think would happen. The series resistance and inductance appear to be a sum of their respective values but do not present any real problem to the signal flow."
So I guess having all your pedals true-bypassed is a good thing after all, provided you don't have too many pedals or use excessively long cables.