Basauri
Diamonds x Guitars deal with Paul
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2016
- Messages
- 373
First of all I want to say that this is not intended as a "true bypass vs buffered bypass" topic.
Compared to a straight signal, guitar > cable > amp, there's a clearly audible sound quality loss when you have a pedalboard (let's say, eight true bypass pedals) in the chain. That is a fact. Therefore, you NEED a buffer.
From here, recently I have started a quest for the closest-to-straight sound buffer. I understand that plugging my guitar directly to the input of my amp, tubes reacts with my pickups in a concrete way, and placing a buffer in the chain (a transistor or an op-amp acting as an impedance matching element) makes a different reaction. That's why I'm saying "closest" instead "perfect" buffer.
So far, here are my experiences:
- RYRA The Klone built in buffer (aka klon buffer clon, an op-amp): high end loss, low and mid-low bump, headroom and dynamics loss.
- BOSS TU-2 built in buffer (a transistor): same high end, low loss, dynamics loss.
- Ge Fuzz face on with guitar volume on 8 (electronically is a transistor acting as a signal amplifier): same highs, same dynamics and headroom (maybe even an enhanced feeling). This is the closest, I could end the quest here BUT, the problem is that this applies to clean sounds. Obviously when a fuzz is on and you attack hard, theres distortion, so the quest goes on.
I'm waiting for a Pete Cornish clone buffer. It is said that is the closest, but i'll let my ears decide. I'm thinking about trying the Mesa Stowaway (good reviews), the TC electronics Bonafide and maybe the BOSS TU-3w.
If returning them is available, trying them is free of charge
Have you experimented with buffers before? What are your experiences?
Compared to a straight signal, guitar > cable > amp, there's a clearly audible sound quality loss when you have a pedalboard (let's say, eight true bypass pedals) in the chain. That is a fact. Therefore, you NEED a buffer.
From here, recently I have started a quest for the closest-to-straight sound buffer. I understand that plugging my guitar directly to the input of my amp, tubes reacts with my pickups in a concrete way, and placing a buffer in the chain (a transistor or an op-amp acting as an impedance matching element) makes a different reaction. That's why I'm saying "closest" instead "perfect" buffer.
So far, here are my experiences:
- RYRA The Klone built in buffer (aka klon buffer clon, an op-amp): high end loss, low and mid-low bump, headroom and dynamics loss.
- BOSS TU-2 built in buffer (a transistor): same high end, low loss, dynamics loss.
- Ge Fuzz face on with guitar volume on 8 (electronically is a transistor acting as a signal amplifier): same highs, same dynamics and headroom (maybe even an enhanced feeling). This is the closest, I could end the quest here BUT, the problem is that this applies to clean sounds. Obviously when a fuzz is on and you attack hard, theres distortion, so the quest goes on.
I'm waiting for a Pete Cornish clone buffer. It is said that is the closest, but i'll let my ears decide. I'm thinking about trying the Mesa Stowaway (good reviews), the TC electronics Bonafide and maybe the BOSS TU-3w.
If returning them is available, trying them is free of charge
Have you experimented with buffers before? What are your experiences?