True Bypass Thoughts?

[deepblue]

Everyone I know (including myself) wants true bypass in their pedals, gizmos etc...

I want to keep my tone as pure as possible.

 

Having said that...

 

Why arent all guitar pedals made this way?

[The Mick]

if all your stuff is True Bypass than your signal ends up rather week by the end of the chain. You guitar puts out only a small signal as is and the more stuff in the way the weaker it gets. This isn't such a problem with most pedals as the signal is boosted back up as it passes.

[surfpup]

Many pedals that are not true bypass use a buffer circuit to counter this drop in signal - the CryBaby wah for example does this.

[Thundergod]

Actually I don't consider it a factor, if a pedal sucks too much tone I compensate with the amp's EQ.

[Thundergod]

Many pedals that are not true bypass use a buffer circuit to counter this drop in signal - the CryBaby wah for example does this.

 

Same goes for the vox wah.

[RichCI]

All of the pedals I'm currently using with my band are true bypass. Worth noting is that I'm using relatively short length (around 35 feet total) of high quality cables (George L's doesn't lose much in the way of high frequencies - more on that in a minute). Pedals with buffer amps can be a good thing as long as they sound good or you're willing to work with them to adjust your amp and/or the rest of your gear to take that buffer amp(s) into account.

 

The problem I have with pedals that are not true bypass is that they do mess with your tone - sometimes in a good way but usually bad (rolled off high frequencies). So, in that regard, if you're using cables that aren't too great and a pedal with a buffer amp, any benefit you might have gotten from the buffer amp is lost as your tone gets screwed up anyway. So, for me, no buffer amps but using good cables is the least evil.

 

I have an old MIJ Boss Chorus (the lousy one - CE-3 or CS-3 or whatever the model is). I can hear a significant different in my sound just by including in the signal chain and it's not a good change. Conversely, I have an original Diaz Tremodillo pedal (1995) that is not true bypass and I swear to you that my tone with my Blues Jr. sounds *better* just by having that pedal inbetween the guitar and the amp; however, that's not the case with my band setup using my Mesa Stiletto. My 90's Dunlop Crybaby and 200x Phase 90 rob the hell out of my tone just by putting them in the chain and I consider them to be pretty much useless.

 

No matter what your setup is, the bottom line is this: If something is robbing treble between your guitar and your amp, nothing will restore it outside of using an Aphex Exciter or something similar that literally generates high frequencies. You can always roll off high frequencies, but you can not add them if they are not there to begin with. So, that's why, to me, it all begins with using good quality cables that retain high frequencies and avoiding anything that might suck them away.

 

If you're going for some sort of "vintage" tone, disregard everything I wrote and use any crap. Back-in-the-day, nobody gave a crap about any of this stuff; they just plugged in with whatever they had, cranked it up and wailed away. In fact, buy some seriously long, cheap cables (maybe even coiled) that roll off high frequencies and you'll be getting a lot closer to what your guitar heroes from the 60's and 70's were using.

[Riffster]

Some pedals use buffering to "restore" signal and fight capacitance produced by long cables.

 

Loss of high frequencies is the main issue.

 

If you are using all true bypass pedals a cable with low capacitance would be a good match.

 

Here:

 

http://www.aqdi.com/zerocap.htm

[Tim Plains]

Hey blue, I emailed Tech 21 a while ago and asked if my Blonde had true bypass. This is the response I got:

 

Thanks for your inquiry. No, we offer “buffered" bypass, which we feel is superior. "True" bypass always sends your signal through a mechanical switch, which adds capacitance and can rob you of your highs. "Buffered" bypass sends your signal around the switch, so you can run through multiple pedals and long cables, with no loss of tone.

 

Unfortunately, many folks have been convinced that "true" bypass is good because all those vintage pedals from the '60s use it. What they forgot to mention was, "buffered" bypass (like the BOSS pedals' "silent switch") hadn't been invented yet! The only things available at the time were the switches from vacuum cleaners! In other words, it's the circuitry of the pedals that's cool, not the switches.

 

For example, if The Edge from U2, who uses a refrigerator-sized rack full of gear, relied on true bypass switching, he'd lose his signature, "chimey" tone.

 

I believe once people know the truth about true bypass, they won't want it anymore.

 

We have some complicated explanations of exactly how these methods differ on our website, under "Tech Notes". www.tech21nyc.com

 

And it's not just our opinion... if you'd like to see what switching-system guru Pete Cornish has to say, here's a link to an article he published.

 

http://www.petecornish.co.uk/case_against_true_bypass.html

 

Regards,

[RichCI]

I think the parts that are missing from what Tech 21 wrote are:

 

* Instead of going through a switch, you're going through an even more complex ciircuit - the buffer amp - which might be pretty neutral... or not.

 

* The more preamps/buffer amps you go through, the more noise that is introduced. A couple of buffer amps is no problem but if you use a lot of pedals...

 

* Pete Cornish charges MAJOR bucks for his high quality buffered pedals - much more than the average boutique pedal dealer with a web site. Here's his price list in English pounds and a calculator to American dollars. If you can afford rock star prices for pedals, those are probably the way to go but, if not...

[djroge1]

No matter what your setup is' date=' the bottom line is this: If something is robbing treble between your guitar and your amp, nothing will restore it outside of using an Aphex Exciter or something similar that literally generates high frequencies. You can always roll off high frequencies, but you can not add them if they are not there to begin with. So, that's why, to me, it all begins with using good quality cables that retain high frequencies and avoiding anything that might suck them away.

[/quote']

 

So do you run an Exciter or Maximizer in your rig? If so where do you place it in your chain ~ the end?

[Riffster]

Every guitar rig is different.

 

To me, in the end what matters is finding the best sound for your rig without subscribing to a true bypass, passive bypass or buffered bypass philosophy. A mix of things is probably the way to go.

 

Some pedals will color you sound but that is the pedal itslef and its circuitry is not because it is buffered, if it is buffered correctly it will not color your sound.

 

I do know from the amplifier standpoint capacitance is an issue, so having cables with low to no capacitance at all may help, there are a several options for cables that keep capacitance low.

[RichCI]

So do you run an Exciter or Maximizer in your rig? If so where do you place it in your chain ~ the end?

 

I used to run an Exciter a loooong time ago; when I did, I ran it through the effects loop but it can be used either there or before the amp depending on the results you want. The problem with exciters and maximizers is that it's very easy to get carried away with them and everything else ends up sounding "wrong" in comparison. I still have my exciters though (one is a Type E single channel and the other is a Type C2 with Big Bottom) and I might mess around with them again some time.

[SHO]

I agree, buffered outputs are indeed often the way to go. If you're just looking at that one pedal and the quality of the signal coming out of it. The problems with the whole true bypass/buffered output arise when you connect something AFTER those pedals. Be it another pedal, or an amp, some of them just won't play nice with a buffered output in the previous pedal, most often due to impedance issues. In short, the input of that pedal or amp input was designed to "see" a guitar pickup, now sees something entirely different.

 

The easy answer to that is of course to get rid of the amp, pedal, whatever that won't play nice with the modern buffered pedals. Have the amps input and effects loop modded. Well, to most people, and those who have limited funds, it makes more sense to just use true bypass and use the cool gear we already own and love. It's not like you need a buffer after every damn pedal in your chain anyway. And switch capacitance and such is the dumbest reason I've heard for not using them. I suspect the real reason is this. Electronic components are cheap. Next to nothing if you buy in bulk. Mechanical switches of high quality are not so cheap. The laugh is on you.

 

This video from Voodoo Lab (demoing their pedal switcher) has a sound example of what happens when you put a buffer in front of a Fuzz Face.

 

[Riffster]

And as an example you put an Arbiter Fuzz Face, possibly the single most picky-won't-play-nice-in-a-pedal-board pedal out there with a positive ground and everything, for crying out loud.

[SHO]

And as an example you put an Arbiter Fuzz Face' date=' possibly the single most picky-won't-play-nice-in-a-pedal-board pedal out there with a positive ground and everything, for crying out loud. [/quote']

 

Haha! Yeah that wasn't exactly fair, I'll admit.

[Riffster]

Yea, fuzz pedals are picky, some of them apparently sound better right after a buffered bypass.

 

I am actually building my own fuzz pedal soon. I ordered the components just last week.

 

It is going to be true bypass and negative ground with silicon transistors, I hope it turns out good since I am not building it from a kit, I picked the parts myself.

[DrJustice]

..."True" bypass always sends your signal through a mechanical switch' date=' which adds capacitance and can rob you of your highs....[/quote']

I reckon most mechanical switches as used in stompboxes has a capacitance of less than 1pF. That is, less than a few millimeters of instrument cable. Shouldn't make any difference whatsoever to the "tone", unless you have your signal pass through, say a thousand switches or more.

 

While we're at it, such switches probably have around 0.01 Ohm on-resistance. I.e. less than a foot of instrument cable.

 

(The above is not an argument in the switches vs buffering debate, just simple facts)

 

DJ

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[DrJustice]

Just adding that the quote above was from Are Nine's posting near the top. It might be confusing with the "Tech 21" attribution - I used that because it was his words, not Are Nine's.

 

DJ

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[myspace.com/jessenoah]

Yea' date=' fuzz pedals are picky, some of them apparently sound better right after a buffered bypass.

 

I am actually building my own fuzz pedal soon. I ordered the components just last week.

 

It is going to be true bypass and negative ground with silicon transistors, I hope it turns out good since I am not building it from a kit, I picked the parts myself.[/quote']

more info and pictures when you are done building it !

[RichCI]

Fuzzes sound like *** after any pedal (IMO), whether it's a pedal with a buffer amp or one that's true bypass and simply turned on; same thing with treble boosters. What you end up with is a *much* brighter sounding pedal (fuzz or treble booster) which might be good or might be bad depending on what sort of sound you're going for. It's the nature of those particular circuits which tend to be picky about even which type of battery (alkaline or carbon) that you put into them.