Hans, after many years of this stuff, I've reached a few conclusions that might be worth investigating. But first I'll answer your most burning question:
The pedal you need most isn't a pedal at all, it's a high quality buffer box.
I happen to use the Suhr Buffer, but there are several very good candidates on the market, so don't let me sway you by reference to this one brand.
Tone-suck takes place for a variety of reasons, but one big one is that the signal coming out of a passive pickup is incredibly tiny. By the time it has reached the end of a 20 foot cable it has significantly degraded, especially at the critical high frequency that not only gives treble its brightness, but the higher frequencies also serve to add definition to the harmonic overtones of bass signals. I use a shorter cable to the pedalboard for this reason.
A buffer at the very beginning of a pedalboard (unless you have a vintage style wah, which I'll get to in a moment) preserves the integrity of the signal reaching the pedalboard and maintains the integrity of that signal as it travels through the board, unless you have poor quality, non true bypass or poorly buffered pedals following it. The better and more transparent the buffer, the better your signal as it heads through the various connections and makes its way to the amp.
If you worry about tone-suck, then your first order of business is a buffer, and the tone suck will be prevented, provided that you're reasonably careful in your choices of pedals and cables. Fulltone also makes a high quality buffer in its ABY box, and there are others of course.
You will never hear the effect of a buffer in a youtube clip, so I won't include one. But if you do your homework on buffers, and get yourself a transparent one, you'll hear nuance and subtlety that you will only otherwise hear with a cable directly inserted into the input jack of your amp.
If you have a vintage wah, it doesn't like to be after a buffer. It will need to be first in the chain. A good true bypass one won't take too much away when it's off, and next in line should be a buffer -- unless you have a vintage style fuzzbox, some of which also lose a little tone following a buffer. I have a solution for this, but it involves a true bypass looper and this isn't what you asked for. Modern fuzzes don't mind so much, which is why I use the Fulltone Catalyst when I use a fuzz these days (and there are plenty of good fuzzes out there that aren't really sensitive to the issue of a buffered input; in fact, a vintage fuzz also doesn't like to follow a vintage wah, so the buffer actually helps in that case).
In any case, bottom line -- the buffer will solve your worries about tone suck with what you have in mind.
As good as the KTR buffer is, I think a high quality, separate buffer is a better choice. The buffer in the KTR is designed to work with that pedal, but in no way has the quality of parts that you'll find in a better standalone buffer.
I will also put in a recommendation for the Eventide H9. I really love the Eventide effects boxes, and think they're the most natural sounding of the digital boxes I've had. The H9 combines them into a single box, and adds the functionality of being able to adjust the effects on a computer or mobile device instead of on your hands and knees twiddling knobs, something I find highly inconvenient with a guitar wrapped around your shoulder and neck. The H9's only drawback is one effect at a time, but at least it will be a good effect!
I like the Suhr because it uses premium parts and is made from nicely machined aluminum. It's tiny, has an output for a second amp (I connect my strobe tuner to this output to keep it out of the signal chain) with a phase switch. It's powered by a 9-18 volt standard center pin negative jack. Don't let the large picture fool you, it's TINY.
Finally, I have found that the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power series is equal to or better than anything else out there by virtue of its isolated outputs. Some Voodoo lab models will power a variety of digital pedals including the H9.
Note: there are pedals with electronic bypass circuits that still tend to create a bit of dissatisfaction for me; they seem to take something away from the signal that's hard to define, the result is subtle. And there are also very good sounding pedals (when they're engaged) that aren't true bypass, and that noticeably suck tone when they're off. This is why I use a True Bypass Switch Box, with two loop sends and returns. I stick the offending pedals in these loops, and can switch the whole loop out of the chain when I want. So they're only in the chain when they're on, and take nothing away when they're off. Which is good. Lots of folks make these kinds of switch boxes.
Again, it's a painless way of preserving your signal without tone suck, so you can use as many pedals as you want without suckage.
Les
PS - forgive me for turning this post into a
magnum opus, but the difference between a good buffer and a great buffer isn't easy to hear unless you know what to listen for. Most buffers will preserve the signal's high frequencies. That's a given. A great one, however, will deliver a natural tone and a slightly more three dimensional quality. It's a certain something that is the difference between being vaguely dissatisfied with your tone, and thinking you're having a great tone day. That's the only way I can put it.
Kind of like the difference between a really great magical guitar and a very good one...you can't really explain it, but there's just a certain something there that makes playing the great one a more involving experience.
Slightly vague, I know, but I think you'll hear it and feel it.
![]-[@n$0Ma☩!©](/data/avatars/m/0/675.jpg?1595235761){kind=avatar}
