I've recently overhauled my pedal board - previously had tried to be a purist and go with almost all true bypass pedals. On my new board, I have a VS Route 66 at the beginning. The difference is astounding! The buffer in these pedals (and the pedals themselves) are THE business, thanks so much guys!
you said to put it in front, but what if my first pedal on my board is a fuzzface? it's pretty picky about what goes in front of it, which is why it's first on my board.
What If the second pedal (OD, after wah) in my chain has the Pure Tone Buffer in it, but my first isn't true bypass? Will it still help keeping my sound as pure as possible? Or does the Buffer-thing needs to be in front of the chain? I'm really interested in buying a Drivetrain, so I'd like to know how the Pure Tone Buffer works.
Visual sound, you guys are awesome, I have watched all your videos and I love how you have presented the information and shared the knowledge, I am buying some of your pedals asap, thanks for making such great stuff for guitarists...
I'd be more impressed if there were a comparison between Visual Sound's bypass system and the guitar plugged into the amp without the extra 25 ft. of cable. Does the VS pedal really sound the same as the guitar straight in at that point in the chain?
What he is not explaining, however, is that if you have multiple pedals, all of which have a buffer, that introduces its own set of problems. Only one, maybe two buffers are needed in any given situation. True bypass most of your pedals, with a buffer in the front, and maybe another another at the end, dedicated, or not. Now I suppose if your pedals all have high quality buffers that don't alter the tone, you may get away with multiple buffers in the chain. For example, most Boss buffers do alter the the tone. Visual Sounds Pure Tone buffer does not. Long cable runs with just one pedal, that pedal better have a buffer. That especially is true with high capacitance cables such as coil cables and low quality cables. The lower the cable capacitance, the longer the cable can be without using a buffer.
Do you guys put this in all of your pedals? Because I'm looking for a good distortion or overdrive for a rythym tone, then maybe a compressor for lead... anyway, would your Open road be good?
I love the non-commital guy in the front row left! I ordered the Garage Tone Phaser recently and wasn't aware of this feature, I am looking forward to placing it my my pedal chain, I hope it performs the same, should I have it first in my chain? I had an early Jeckyl and Hyde pedal (silver/grey housing) that VS put out and loved it, but ended up having it ripped off. I didn't replace it with another but I miss it. Did that pedal have this feature? thanks
The buffer pedal at the beggining of the pedalboard changes que cutting frequency of the LRC circuit (cables and pick) to a higher value and so the high harmonic notes reaches the amp much more than if it was a true by pass pedal.
As stated, depends on the quality of the buffer. Boss buffers are famous for "dull sound". You can usually get by with one or two without significant loss of tone (in fact, since they have internal buffers, they can actually PREVENT tone loss with long cables, like in this video), but once you add "a LOT" of Boss pedals, they're the problem; one crappy buffer after another is a recipe for a very "matte" tone... Judging from the video, VS buffers seem to be quite transparent though.
If i would have a Wah, and a Tuner, both True Bypass, and followed by a Visual sound pedal like Comp 66, can i still have the same Pure Tone Buffer sound, comparing to the Visual Sound pedal placed into the beginning of the pedal Chain? Cause im about to buy a Visual Sound Pedal, and like the Pure Tone Buffer. thank you
Hello, people at VisualSoundUSA. I have a question: I understand that the Pure Tone buffer produces a low impedance signal at its output (or at least significantly lower than a guitar pickup's). I have a Route 66 pedal, that has (a you say) the Pure Tone feature. Can I use it (with the effect itself off) as an impedance matcher (more or less like a DI) for running the signal directly into my Behringer 1202 mixing board?
Does the Pure Tone Buffer make expensive/shielded/solderless cables obsolete, or will these still add noise and other unwanted interference in comparison to George L's? Or is the difference too subtle to hear?
I have Boss pedals and a Dunlop Wah, going through a Boss pedla board, then into a Mesa Boogie Nomad, whether I use the boards circuitry or bypass the board when I connect the pedals, I notice a loss of tone, I use two 10ft high quality cables, I was considering changing my pedals to the T.C.Electronics that use true bypass, but after watching this I’m now not sure?
What was not explained is that there are good and bad buffers. Tube screamers's buffer's (input and output) are famous to be good ones like a Klon Centaur for example. Put a wah wah pedal, a old fuzz, or a regular boss pedal, and the story will be different.
To the best of my knowledge, buffers are not a destructive component in signal paths. Being a unity gain amplifier which isolates the effective circuit of the guitar (Pickup, volume, tone, cable resistance, capacitance, and even inductance) and sources the new signal power from the battery. Provided that the user is running a signal that falls within tested limits, a buffer should be less lossy than a wire from a bypass would. So there should be no problem with having multiple bypass buffers.
I personally like the tone of long cables with no buffers. It takes a little bit of the highs off and boosts some of the mids. Warms and thickens at the same time. I also don't like what buffers can do to certain pedals in your chain. Sometime using a fuzz with a buffered pedal can be a nightmare.
Is there a problem with having 10-20 buffers in a chain? My friend has a LOT of boss pedals on his pedal board and his clean sound is dull. Is this anything to do with the pedals or will the problem more likely be with the pickups/cable/amp?
This is excellent! Electronically buffered bypass, Pure Tone bypass, makes total sense. Using the term "true bypass" necessarly implies that any other bypass is "false bypass" thus demonizes buffered bypass - a political and marketing trick. Electrical engineers know that "true bypass" is BS. Read Rodger Mayers discussion in Dave Hunters pedal book - pretty much the same info. as this video.
I have an important question - if I put your Garagetone Delay (which has the buffer built-in, right?) in my pedalboard and use a good short cable to and from the pedalboard to the amp, will the tone be more coloured than if I plugged in straight into the amp? I mean there is almost no tone loss with this cable lenght (total of 25 feet /6,5m) and I fear that if I put the buffer there will be too much of the boost in certain frequencies. Please respond asap :) Thanks a lot!
Hmmm, I thought "pedal #1" sounded a lot warmer to start with, but not so much when it got switched back to, but I also thought the strumming changed slightly.
For the stand alone buffer, would one buffer suffice or would 2 be better? I would be placing it at the beginning of the chain, but I wanted to make sure if that was enough or put one at the end, as well. Input would be appreciated!
Good afternoon, I have a question. I'm thinking of putting a VS Comp 66 at the beginning of the effects chain. For this the "PURE TONE BUFFER" I have to be always on the comp 66? or do I need to have it turned off? or simply do not care if it on or off? I await your response, thank you very much.
The signal is buffered all the time (on or off) if your Truetone pedal is configured to use the buffer. The signal is only buffered when the pedal is on if you configure it for true bypass mode.
I love these myth busting audio workshops. I wish I could have attended. It puts the knowitalls on the same page as the idiots. They both are flawed in approach and yet so much the same. Good job on your product. Capacitance is tricky at times.
Of course the buffered bypass will sound better than true bypass when you're following it with 25' of cable. You need a buffer to drive the signal to the amp along that long cable. Not all true bypass are the same, either. There's hardwire bypass which was marketed as true bypass for a long time, but it loaded down the signal. The Visual Sound buffers are good. Unlike some of the classic buffer styles. My 1990's CryBaby's buffer really dulls the tone. I have a buffered wah pedal (I'm using Morleys now, and find their buffers don't sound bad) 2nd in my chain. It drives the signal well through my pedal board. And I use a buffered delay pedal (last in my chain) to drive the signal to the amp. All else is true bypass. Buffers also help deal with 'finicky' pedals like the original OCD which lacked buffers when they are on - those style REALLY will mess with your chain unless you have a buffer helping them 'keep unity'.
OK. but this is clean. clean was never the problem. fuzz and drives are the things that don't agree with buffers! Also, i do tend to just prefer the tone of EQed-out tone suck from cables, to that of buffer, and i thought my buffer sounded best, until i tried a large range of dynamics and couldn't get what i wanted. However: i have an unused TS on my board for the only reason is it kills feedback from a DIY fuzz that needs shorter wires, but i prefer the sound of it without(until i get feedback)
If adding one of your pedals at the front of an effects chain would be beneficial because of the "pure tone bypass", why aren't you making a tuner yet? If it wouldn't affect the natural tone characteristics of the guitar the same way.. say.. a Boss TU3 does, yet still have the productiveness of a buffer - giving your signal juice for the distance it has to travel, you could have the best of both worlds. Unaffected tone + ability to withstand long cable runs. Make a good tuner & I'll buy it.
Does that mean that if i run a v2 visual sound pedal at the beginning of my chain, i can have low quality patch cables, low quality guitar cables and non-true bypass pedals and the tone will still sound like its a guitar plugged into an amp with a 1 foot cable
i have been using the Route 66 and the Jekyl&Hyde dual pedals. Really great sounding boxes. Both have internal noise reduction switch option inside if you need it. I have the one in the Route 66 on for the compressor by set at min. The one in the J&H is off. These are very quiet pedals and the pure tone bypass on the VS is in each pedal and really has to be heard to be appreciated. bar in mind these pedals are OFF this is just signal pass!! The VS V2 series are great tones for the bucks!
I've recently overhauled my pedal board - previously had tried to be a purist and go with almost all true bypass pedals. On my new board, I have a VS Route 66 at the beginning. The difference is astounding! The buffer in these pedals (and the pedals themselves) are THE business, thanks so much guys!
you said to put it in front, but what if my first pedal on my board is a fuzzface? it's pretty picky about what goes in front of it, which is why it's first on my board.
What If the second pedal (OD, after wah) in my chain has the Pure Tone Buffer in it, but my first isn't true bypass? Will it still help keeping my sound as pure as possible? Or does the Buffer-thing needs to be in front of the chain?
I'm really interested in buying a Drivetrain, so I'd like to know how the Pure Tone Buffer works.
Visual sound, you guys are awesome, I have watched all your videos and I love how you have presented the information and shared the knowledge, I am buying some of your pedals asap, thanks for making such great stuff for guitarists...
I'd be more impressed if there were a comparison between Visual Sound's bypass system and the guitar plugged into the amp without the extra 25 ft. of cable. Does the VS pedal really sound the same as the guitar straight in at that point in the chain?
Really like this Visual Sound guy, he's a straight shooter and trustworthy. I'm gonna start collecting all Visual Sound pedals!
What he is not explaining, however, is that if you have multiple pedals, all of which have a buffer, that introduces its own set of problems. Only one, maybe two buffers are needed in any given situation. True bypass most of your pedals, with a buffer in the front, and maybe another another at the end, dedicated, or not. Now I suppose if your pedals all have high quality buffers that don't alter the tone, you may get away with multiple buffers in the chain. For example, most Boss buffers do alter the the tone. Visual Sounds Pure Tone buffer does not. Long cable runs with just one pedal, that pedal better have a buffer. That especially is true with high capacitance cables such as coil cables and low quality cables. The lower the cable capacitance, the longer the cable can be without using a buffer.
Do you guys put this in all of your pedals? Because I'm looking for a good distortion or overdrive for a rythym tone, then maybe a compressor for lead... anyway, would your Open road be good?
I love the non-commital guy in the front row left!
I ordered the Garage Tone Phaser recently and wasn't aware of this feature, I am looking forward to placing it my my pedal chain, I hope it performs the same, should I have it first in my chain?
I had an early Jeckyl and Hyde pedal (silver/grey housing) that VS put out and loved it, but ended up having it ripped off. I didn't replace it with another but I miss it. Did that pedal have this feature?
thanks
The buffer pedal at the beggining of the pedalboard changes que cutting frequency of the LRC circuit (cables and pick) to a higher value and so the high harmonic notes reaches the amp much more than if it was a true by pass pedal.
As stated, depends on the quality of the buffer.
Boss buffers are famous for "dull sound". You can usually get by with one or two without significant loss of tone (in fact, since they have internal buffers, they can actually PREVENT tone loss with long cables, like in this video), but once you add "a LOT" of Boss pedals, they're the problem; one crappy buffer after another is a recipe for a very "matte" tone...
Judging from the video, VS buffers seem to be quite transparent though.
If i would have a Wah, and a Tuner, both True Bypass, and followed by a Visual sound pedal like Comp 66, can i still have the same Pure Tone Buffer sound, comparing to the Visual Sound pedal placed into the beginning of the pedal Chain? Cause im about to buy a Visual Sound Pedal, and like the Pure Tone Buffer. thank you
for non visual sound pedals, should I get a pure tone buffer in front of them, or solder 1M on the input jacks of the non visual sound pedals?
Hello, people at VisualSoundUSA. I have a question: I understand that the Pure Tone buffer produces a low impedance signal at its output (or at least significantly lower than a guitar pickup's). I have a Route 66 pedal, that has (a you say) the Pure Tone feature. Can I use it (with the effect itself off) as an impedance matcher (more or less like a DI) for running the signal directly into my Behringer 1202 mixing board?
Does the Pure Tone Buffer make expensive/shielded/solderless cables obsolete, or will these still add noise and other unwanted interference in comparison to George L's? Or is the difference too subtle to hear?
I have Boss pedals and a Dunlop Wah, going through a Boss pedla board, then into a Mesa Boogie Nomad, whether I use the boards circuitry or bypass the board when I connect the pedals, I notice a loss of tone, I use two 10ft high quality cables, I was considering changing my pedals to the T.C.Electronics that use true bypass, but after watching this I’m now not sure?
The buffer works really well, BUT: if for any reason the pedal power goes down, does the signal pass anyway or there will be no signal at all?
What was not explained is that there are good and bad buffers. Tube screamers's buffer's (input and output) are famous to be good ones like a Klon Centaur for example. Put a wah wah pedal, a old fuzz, or a regular boss pedal, and the story will be different.
To the best of my knowledge, buffers are not a destructive component in signal paths. Being a unity gain amplifier which isolates the effective circuit of the guitar (Pickup, volume, tone, cable resistance, capacitance, and even inductance) and sources the new signal power from the battery. Provided that the user is running a signal that falls within tested limits, a buffer should be less lossy than a wire from a bypass would. So there should be no problem with having multiple bypass buffers.
Each buffer amp adds some noise and EQ. Multiply that by 10 amps and you can get a pronounced bump in EQ and noise.
I personally like the tone of long cables with no buffers. It takes a little bit of the highs off and boosts some of the mids. Warms and thickens at the same time. I also don't like what buffers can do to certain pedals in your chain. Sometime using a fuzz with a buffered pedal can be a nightmare.
Is there a problem with having 10-20 buffers in a chain? My friend has a LOT of boss pedals on his pedal board and his clean sound is dull.
Is this anything to do with the pedals or will the problem more likely be with the pickups/cable/amp?
if i buy one of these pedals with the bypass buffer, can i run the boss noise suppressor pedal without any tone being sucked?
This is excellent! Electronically buffered bypass, Pure Tone bypass, makes total sense. Using the term "true bypass" necessarly implies that any other bypass is "false bypass" thus demonizes buffered bypass - a political and marketing trick. Electrical engineers know that "true bypass" is BS. Read Rodger Mayers discussion in Dave Hunters pedal book - pretty much the same info. as this video.
what should come first Distortion or Route 808? i have HT Distortion X and i want to combined them together does it work? Thank you
@SerterSerter
could somebody answer this question, if i have a pure tone buffer at the start of my pedal chain, should we still have good patch cables
what about garagetone pedals series?do they have this buffer circuit?
I have an important question - if I put your Garagetone Delay (which has the buffer built-in, right?) in my pedalboard and use a good short cable to and from the pedalboard to the amp, will the tone be more coloured than if I plugged in straight into the amp? I mean there is almost no tone loss with this cable lenght (total of 25 feet /6,5m) and I fear that if I put the buffer there will be too much of the boost in certain frequencies.
Please respond asap :)
Thanks a lot!
Hmmm, I thought "pedal #1" sounded a lot warmer to start with, but not so much when it got switched back to, but I also thought the strumming changed slightly.
What is the output ohms from the buffer?
do the GarageTone pedals have the same feature?
For the stand alone buffer, would one buffer suffice or would 2 be better? I would be placing it at the beginning of the chain, but I wanted to make sure if that was enough or put one at the end, as well. Input would be appreciated!
2 is correct. 1 at the front and 1 at the end of your board.
Is there anyway to just by a Pure Tone Buffer instead of buying one of the OD/Delay/etc.. Do all of visual sounds pedals have the pure tone buffer?
You can buy the buffer alone, but all of their pedals have it is them.
Awesome video!!
Good afternoon, I have a question. I'm thinking of putting a VS Comp 66 at the beginning of the effects chain. For this the "PURE TONE BUFFER" I have to be always on the comp 66? or do I need to have it turned off? or simply do not care if it on or off? I await your response, thank you very much.
The signal is buffered all the time (on or off) if your Truetone pedal is configured to use the buffer. The signal is only buffered when the pedal is on if you configure it for true bypass mode.
so should you have a great buffer at the end of your pedal chain or the beginning of your pedal chain?
Both
I love these myth busting audio workshops. I wish I could have attended.
It puts the knowitalls on the same page as the idiots.
They both are flawed in approach and yet so much the same.
Good job on your product. Capacitance is tricky at times.
Depends on the quality of the buffer
does visual sound make a wah pedal? if not, you probably should start.
whats the name of the cable?
thanks
George L
Of course the buffered bypass will sound better than true bypass when you're following it with 25' of cable. You need a buffer to drive the signal to the amp along that long cable.
Not all true bypass are the same, either. There's hardwire bypass which was marketed as true bypass for a long time, but it loaded down the signal.
The Visual Sound buffers are good. Unlike some of the classic buffer styles. My 1990's CryBaby's buffer really dulls the tone.
I have a buffered wah pedal (I'm using Morleys now, and find their buffers don't sound bad) 2nd in my chain. It drives the signal well through my pedal board. And I use a buffered delay pedal (last in my chain) to drive the signal to the amp. All else is true bypass.
Buffers also help deal with 'finicky' pedals like the original OCD which lacked buffers when they are on - those style REALLY will mess with your chain unless you have a buffer helping them 'keep unity'.
OK. but this is clean. clean was never the problem. fuzz and drives are the things that don't agree with buffers! Also, i do tend to just prefer the tone of EQed-out tone suck from cables, to that of buffer, and i thought my buffer sounded best, until i tried a large range of dynamics and couldn't get what i wanted. However: i have an unused TS on my board for the only reason is it kills feedback from a DIY fuzz that needs shorter wires, but i prefer the sound of it without(until i get feedback)
If adding one of your pedals at the front of an effects chain would be beneficial because of the "pure tone bypass", why aren't you making a tuner yet? If it wouldn't affect the natural tone characteristics of the guitar the same way.. say.. a Boss TU3 does, yet still have the productiveness of a buffer - giving your signal juice for the distance it has to travel, you could have the best of both worlds. Unaffected tone + ability to withstand long cable runs. Make a good tuner & I'll buy it.
Tu3 also has a buffer, but it isn't a good one. I recommend Polytune3. Cheers.
Does that mean that if i run a v2 visual sound pedal at the beginning of my chain, i can have low quality patch cables, low quality guitar cables and non-true bypass pedals and the tone will still sound like its a guitar plugged into an amp with a 1 foot cable
No, thank you. Great videos here! I may just have to pick one of your pedals up.
i have been using the Route 66 and the Jekyl&Hyde dual pedals. Really great sounding boxes. Both have internal noise reduction switch option inside if you need it. I have the one in the Route 66 on for the compressor by set at min. The one in the J&H is off. These are very quiet pedals and the pure tone bypass on the VS is in each pedal and really has to be heard to be appreciated. bar in mind these pedals are OFF this is just signal pass!! The VS V2 series are great tones for the bucks!
TBP = Owned
Why would you care about the bypass when the pedal is engaged? When it is engaged the bypass is off...right? Am I crazy? Haha.
Buffer works even when pedal is off
There are no "rules" for pedal placement order. It's a lot of fun experimenting to find out what sounds best to *you*.
There are many rules, sometimes a couple are fun to break