ShortScale.org

A friend took a look at my pedal chain and stated that I should probably get a buffer because of the number of pedals I'm using (9, soon to be 10). Supposedly, it preserves the sound of the guitar better as it moves throughout the chain and I have noticed some of the treble being lopped off when running through effects. Do you guys recommend a specific buffer? Is there one that's relatively inexpensive that does the job?

plaidbeer wrote:A friend took a look at my pedal chain and stated that I should probably get a buffer because of the number of pedals I'm using (9, soon to be 10). Supposedly, it preserves the sound of the guitar better as it moves throughout the chain and I have noticed some of the treble being lopped off when running through effects. Do you guys recommend a specific buffer? Is there one that's relatively inexpensive that does the job?

are all your pedals true bypass? if not which ones aren't as these might already be buffers. Any boss pedal will do really but Tim makes Klon Buffers that are supposed to be good, take a look in the classified/his website

Yeah Klons are great. Also, a Boss pedal at the front of your chain (tuner etc) will take care of it.

Or a Korg DT10.

My current chain is this:
guitar--EB VP Jr.--Woof! Boost (friend's homebrew)--You Dirty Rat--OD-3--Bass Big Muff--Magicstomp--Starcaster chorus--VD400--Nova Repeater--Sony rack reverb--amp.

I've read about the DT-10 here, but I have a clip-on tuner.

As for which pedals are true bypass or have buffers, from what I've read, these have true bypass: You Dirty Rat, Muff, Sony rack reverb

These don't: OD-3, Nova Repeater, Magicstomp, Starcaster chorus, VD400

With a lot of pedals in you chain you would want a buffered pedal at the beginning AND at the end ideally. Also, I've heard a lot of people complain about the EB volume pedal causing high end loss. I just put input and output buffers on a friend of mines and he said it made a huge difference. Might think about that as it would add a buffer at the beginning.

Edit: I should add that too many buffers in your chain can destroy your signal. Also, the buffers in the beginning and end of your chain need to be well designed ones. There are pedals out there that have crappy buffers.

TC make some of the best analog>digital>analog converters you'll find in a stompbox, BOSS also make a solid fet buffer. Not heard aout the starcasters bypass. The behringer, while great pedals, I have had bad results with their bypass/buffers. I've also stopped using my VP Jr because the 250k passive pot in the middle of the chain, I wasn't using it enough to make up for the losses.
Record you guitar to your amp, then through your bypassed pedal chain and listen to te differece.

A good pedal has a high input impedance (so it takes the most of the signal in) and a low output impedance (low so it travels through longer cable runs easily)

The Starcaster just switches inputs and has the output always connected. That's about as far as I got into really tracing it as it was a CE-5 clone but doesn't have the flip-flop switching. I did a few mods and was done with it.

Related question since some of you have suggested adding a pedal tuner that has a buffer--what do you recommend between a TU-3 and the DT-10?

I've been using an Intellitouch PT10 (clip-on) and have become so frustrated with it I wanted to throw it out the window a few minutes ago. I'm convinced that it's not that accurate because right after tuning, things sound slightly out of tune and it never ends. And I just changed the battery, too, so I know it's not the battery. Thing just pisses me off.

You really can't go wrong with a DT10.

DT-10 gets my approval, although there's nowt wrong with the TU-3.

Korg tuners are great. If you want a pedal tuner you can't go wrong with the DT-10, but if you like clip on tuners - as I do - korg make the AW-2 which is amazing, it works with any instrument that needs tuning and is really accurate. I've tuned a small orchestra using mine and it was accurate. Plus the calibration function was easy enough to use to allow my jazz band to tune to the middle c of the rather out of tune baby grand our drummer owns.

I'd advise the AW-2 or the DT-10.

A floor tuner sounds like a good addition for convenience and buffering. I have a TU2 which I've always sworn by but I tried out a DT10 recently and really liked it. I don't know if there's a difference between the TU3 and TU2 though. Go for whatever's cheapest used off ebay.

I think the secret's out about the DT10's buffer because they're not that common on the used market and they aren't going cheaply. I did spot a DT-10BR (same unit, just black, I guess?) that was $70 new and that's about the same price as the used DT-10s I've seen to this point.

update: Bought a new DT-10BR for not much more than the used ones are going for. Thanks, everyone, for the input.