Where to put a guitar buffer pedal in your pedal chain
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- Опубліковано 16 жов 2013
- In this video I demo the three main places to put a guitar buffer. You can hear the differences in each case with and without a buffer. In some places it makes a huge difference, but it depends on what you want your sound to be.
1) Before a long cord
2) Between two pedals that don't work well together
3) Between a wah wah and fuzz to get rid of oscillations and make them sound better
The buffer I designed and that is in the video is the Clarionix Buffer Pedal.
screaminfx.com/guitar-stompbox...
My main website is:www.screaminfx.com/ where you can find more info and some of the pedals I build.
Thanks for watching and reading all this!
This is the most honest pedal video I have ever seen from someone who could sell me something.
Thanks, I really appreciate this! I wanted to make sure people know there are options and sometimes you don't need to buy anything.
@@Screaminfx_Guitar_Pedals nice.... my favorite aspect of this vid. makes me want to buy yours even more actually
I search all youtube about buffer, but this is the best video i found, that explain what buffer does! Thank you!
I saw a peddle setup for one of the Pink Floyd concerts and David had three pedals, each followed in the chain by a Boss equalizer. Always wondered what he was doing and now I know. Thanks!
What a fantastic video. Thanks for posting.
Best explanation ever! I love that you didn't try to force the product down our throat and casualty stated "I make this pedal, it is a solid pedal built from quality parts. You may or may not need it for your application." - (Not actual quote). Great comparisons. Many thanks!
thank you, yeah I try not to talk people into buying stuff they may not need. Instead, I usually try to find solutions with existing pedals they have. Why spend money on a buffer if you don't have to.
Very informative. Thanks for posting!
Cool sounding fuzz!
I had the same issue I don't have any boss pedals I had an mxr evh phase 90 I put it first then my dimebag wah new model black camouflage then the electro harmonix big muff pi fuzz, mxr evh 5150 overdrive, into a mxr jimi Hendrix vibe to my Marshall code and it sounds great
Mostly fuzz is better to put before wah. It delivers much more of harmonics for wah filtering. Fuzz after wah enhances even freqs that wah supressed before by tuning at another resonantion point. For wah after fuzz then doesn't matter that wah has in older models high impedantion at output. You can put buffer here, after wah. And it doesn't make noise and feedback.
Hmmmm I actually like the cap roll off in some cases Great explanation 👍 Really want to check out your fuzz's soon
Great demo and explanation. Subbed.
I installed it inside the guitar. it kicks ass!
That's where it belongs indeed. Good job.
How?? Please respond
@@Jordan-rb28 Probably he put the circuit and 9V battery somewhere inside the guitar
great video, thanks!
Great video, thank you.
I don't have buffer on my pedalboard. I think I will buy one.
Or can I put a equaliser for boost the loss treble ?
Very good video. Thank you. Question - the cables I have going in and out my pedal board are not really long but I usually have about 10 pedals in between (none is the Equaliser), and not sure which one are true by-pass. I haven't tried one out, but would you think I may need a buffer?
Im looking to get a Shure GLX wireless/tuner, then follow it up with a wah, then a fuzz into the front of my amp. Then put a chorus, flanger, harmonizer, delay, and reverb into my amps effects loop. All pedals will be in the same board, then I'll use three long cables to go from my pedalboard to the amp's front and loop. In that situation, where should a buffer go?
Hi men great video... Does the buffer work if I put it between the guitar and the chain of pedals or its better betwwen the amp and the end of the chain?? Thanks lml
v. good. I have question please about impedences and the use of those true bypass looper router switcher things:
If one uses a looper router switcher with their pedals, how does that affect the impedence going into any single pedal in an enabled loop? For example, if I had a Fuzz Face in one of the loops and it was engaged, and suppose all the other pedals in the other loops were currently bypassed, then how would that affect the impedence going into the Fuzz Face, compared with the guitar lead going directly into the Fuzz Face. Would the impedence be incorrect for a Fuzz Face if is employed in the looper router switcher? I hope the question makes sense. Thanks!
Hello friend, what do you think If I put my Boss noise suppressor first in my chain is it works as buffered?
what do you think about having a few on a board? allso what about puting one in the guitar before the cabel run to the pedal board?
Sorry i’m a bit new to this and looking to learn. My current setup is a telecaster >polytune>earthquaker warden comp>fulltone plimsoul>walrus julia chorus>boss bf-3 flanger>chase bliss gravitas>strymon el capistan>strymon blue sky> vox ac15. i definitely notice a loss in highs when i’m playing through my bypassed pedalboard compared to when i plug my guitar straight into my amp directly. i understand that my boss flanger is buffered but most others are true bypass. where would be an appropriate place to place a buffer to bring the highs back? thanks in advance for any help or suggestions
Where would you put it if a pedal is sucking tone out? Before the tone sucking pedal or after? Thanks I wanna get this!
Very nice!
Is there any chance a buffer pedal can fix the tone loss caused by a multi fx unit in the pedal chain? thank you :)
Thanks, I learned something!!
Thanks! Glad I could help.
i have boss dd3 and ds1 is it count as a buffer :) i never tested both is onmypedalboard
ok to put it second-to-last with my reverb between it and the amp?
great Vid bro, thnx.....
i have cable length 17f/5m before pedals, then i have 8 pedal (have some buffered, some true bypass), then output cable to the Amp are 10f/3M or 17f/5M. so do i need a Buffered stompbox? can anyone to answer my question
Any other examples of pedals that 'don't play well together'?
Hey man, isn't the dial on that buffering pedal a gain knob?
Question: Resophonic Guitar (Dobro) Acoustic rig
How would a buffer interface with a Fishman Aura Image pedal (models different microphone models) that is typically supposed to be the first thing that the Fishman piezo pick up sees in the signal chain?
Buffer before the Aura pedal? Or after? Where in the chain?
Your thoughts and advice is welcomed!
Current path is:
Dobro (Fishman piezo pu)>Fishman Aura pedal>Boss Reverb>BBE Sonic Stomp>Radial PZ Deluxe Acoustic Preamp/DI XLR to PA
Tim Harr I don't think you need one... The Aura should have a good input so you don't need one in front. The output should be buffered so you probably don't need one there either! You might want to try your Reverb closer to the end of your chain...
hi im using my amp effects loop (send return) for my modulation pedals and dirt going to the input of the amp. Can u please advise if it is better if I put 2 buffers from my dirt chain and my modulation chain?, I experience tone suck
thanks in advance
You could probably get away with just a buffer after your dirt section.
+ScreaminFX When you say that the Clarionix can be "tuned back" what do you mean? Is it that the output impedance can be raised?
yeah, you can change the output impedance so that it matches fuzz pedals. I made up a circuit that does a good job for this when I started building fuzz pedals so I ended up making it on its own as the Clarionix.
Hey I have around 11 pedals all in serial and there's an audible difference between the tones I get when I am directly plugged into the amp compared to when I'm going through my pedalboard.
I dont have any wah or fuzz pedals.
The sound gets too bassy and muffled if I use the pedalboard. Can a buffer pedal help?
Absolutely! This is exactly what you need. Put a buffer at the front (I use a TC electronic Polytune3) and at the end (I use a Saturnworks buffer to line drive to the preamp input in my amp). Cheers!
Thank You.
Great video! Does this mean though that if I'm not using a wah or a fuzz, I don't need a buffer between two pedals? Like a distortion and a overdrive turned down low for a boost or a acoustic simulator and a reverb?
Yeah, you probably don't need one. If you get a bad feedback or other problems it may help. Some pedals have impedances that don't match but you'll know because it won't work. With those pedals on, they should be strong enough to drive everything and basically self buffering.
Daniel Willen, if all of your pedals are true bypass, and you have long or curly cord from your guitar to your board and a long cord from your board to the preamp of your amp head/combo. Ideally you would want a buffer at the beginning and another one at the end of your pedal board. Cheers.
Good video but I would add two things to it to make it better. One, add boss pedal between wah and fuzz to show how it's different from your buffer solution and two, do a demo of fuzz going into a wah so we can see if we like that sound or not. Also, tell us the difference between your buffer ie. "fuzz friendly buffer" and a "normal buffer". What does a "fuzz friendly" buffer do to the output impedance of the wah when it's going into a fuzz? How does this differ from a boss's "normal buffer" design? Things like this will make it easier to know why we need your buffer rather than a normal buffer.
Nevermind, I see you did a video about all of these already. Great job on the videos, btw.
Everything about buffers and bypass is always confusing. A buffer simply drops the high impedance guitar signal to low impedance which most pedals can handle and love but some pedals are designed for the guitar high impedance signal and hate it. And yes you can put a high quality buffer in between two pedals that react weirdly, but that may not always work and if a fuzz, becomes subject to each pedal individually.
Any Boss pedal actually has two ALWAYS on B grade buffers in it so using a buffer after a Boss is actually a dual buffer. Maybe it improves the quality of the buffer as Boss is not so great, I try to avoid them if possible. A chain of Boss pedals presents a buffer cascade that just ruins the natural dynamic of the guitar signal. Brian Wampler has a vid where he indicates via proof multiple Boss pedals will degrade your signal. Only remedy is a by pass looper switcher.
I do have a BossWaza Dimension C but that is way down the chain and Waza claims they have updated the buffer. I use an Xotic Super Clean as my front end buffer which just cannot be surpassed. It makes a huge difference even though my rig uses all quality cables.
Not all buffers are created equal no matter what someone says, some are class A quality others not so much. In general an old style circuit fuzz hates a low impedance buffer signal so best they see the guitar signal and buffer after them. Anything in front of a fuzz that is a buffered platform can be a problem, many modern fuzz circuits like Wampler can handle a buffered low impedance signal just fine. In basic thought buffer near front of chain as possible, after old fuzz, I do not buffer before my wah and my wah is bypass. Fuzz is problematic to any wah, many just don't sound very good, the notion a buffer dropping the signal down before a fuzz is always an odd thing. Some pedal outputs present a low level signal output which while maybe not being technically buffered will react badly w fuzz. Some makers like Fuller claim their switchable wah buffer makes fuzz sound OK w the wah but then others will say an old circuit fuzz hates a buffer in front. So really it all depends on your own rig and pedal chemistry, you sort of have to try things and see how they do as all pedals and buffers are very different. We all know Hendrix used a Vox wah because the Crybaby buffer reacted badly w his fuzz. Our tech has improved light years in almost 5 decades and also the number of quality pedals available is uncountable, yet some still have to reach back into the past, so one has to suffer the clash with technology to get them to sound decent (despite they never really did sound that great, most of the time Hendrix live sound was a Niagra Falls of hiss.)
The rule of buffering is that anything coming after the buffer is invisible to loading and capacitance so one buffer does the trick but you often have to experiment where to put or most likely you have a pedal that is already buffering the signal down. Too many buffers can be a worse problem to have hence why true bypass are important. The ideal is a buffer sandwich w true bypass in the middle.
Some players, like Hendrix created a capacitance loading issue on purpose using a long curly guitar cable to pull down the high end on their tinny Strats but there are better ways to EQ your sound and headroom in the 21st century.
That Xotic SCB is great I got one when they first came out It actually has the TS808 chip in it too AND a very EQable control set up with the dip switches
Brilliant video - You should have just a trim pot that you can adjust using a screwdriver to tune the buffer strength, It seems like one of those things you'd always have on and At that setting - And that giant knob doesn't look like It would go well Underneath say a pedaltrain.
Hi! Thanks! I should be able to do that no problem. If your interested or anyone else, shoot me an email and I'll let you know when I start building them.
ScreaminFX are they not available yet?
Callum Murphy Hi, I have been selling the Clarionix tuneable buffers for maybe two years now so those are all ready to go. They have a knob on top and work great with fuzz pedals. I don't have one ready that's internally adjustable yet (no knob). Internal adjustment would make sure the knob position doesn't change once its set. I could make them pretty quick, just need to update a pcb design I made.
Ok i'm fine with an a knob on it so I'm probably going to get one. where can i purchase from (i live in the uk)
Callum Murphy Awesome! I sell them off my website screaminfx.com/guitar-stompbox-and-boutique-pedals/clarionix-guitar-buffer-with-fuzz-safe.htm For international shipping, I usually ship USPS first class which takes a few weeks but is only an extra $20. Please email me and I will send you international shipping options and a link for payment. Thanks very much!
So if I have a boss tuner tu-3 I dnt need a buffer ??
Would you reply please ?
Hi, it does have a buffer in there. Depends where you use it, but if you place it in front it will drive the signal to the next pedal you have on or until one that is not true bypass (circuit has something on even when off like another boss pedal). A quick check would be to see if you like your tone better with and without the tu-3 (make sure to use short cords for the comparison or a true bypass pedal to replace it). Some people like the tu-3 buffer sound and others don't... depends on what you like and your setup. Hope this helps!
hmm, know i know why soooo my folks use the boss tuner, and not so much because its a tuner but because it buffers and it being a tuner is a bonus. lol
same could be said for many boss pedals!
It suffers as working but there are much better buffer circuits if you just use a true bypass tuner. I recommend the new Xotic Super Clean buffer boost at 18v, makes an amazing difference even if you just use it for the buffer and unity boost. I will only use Waza Boss as a rule I stopped using basic Boss pedals ages ago, there are better ways, depends how much you care about your tone.
I have 5 Boss pedals on my board and still have a Db+ starting my board and have a modded Soul Food set to buffer after a wah. I dont use long cables. My longest is 6 fts goin to amps and from wireless. Stereo
Do multiple buffers in one chain cause issues? I guess not if Boss pedals have them and they're quite popular on most pedal boards?
Yes they do. Just because something is popular doesn't mean it is good.
Im new to buffer pedals even after all my years of playing. But I have a question. What if you have a wireless unit, would you still use a buffer pedal?
Sometimes coming off a wireless into a pedal board presents a signal problem, a quality buffer certainly could not hurt. Brian May's guitar tech has shown they mount Brian's classic treble booster on his guitar strap before his signal goes out to the wireless else they could not get the signal right (treble booster was probably designed for a high impedance signal). I do not use wireless but I would say a quality buffer certainly could help the signal feed the pedalboard depends on what pedals and all that.There is a reason why some just cannot use a wireless.
@@paulsguitarstudio126 Ok thanks!
are you making these still??
No matter what a buffer will change tone to a much more digital sound. I have a blues rig and the buffer makes my tone less natural, as it does bring up my low end a tad, its not worth the tone loss. I use about 16 pedals on my board and ive found to just put as much through my 10 channel looper, use as short of cords as possible turn up the low a bit, it will beat a buffer situation any day. Granted if you have no choice for some other reasons, buffer can be useful, just dont like the digital thing it does to tone
I noticed a loss of treble and high end once my pedal board grew to 10. I just plugged into the “bright” side of my amp. Problem solved 👊🏻
I have a Cry Baby 535Q that I think is sucking tone. Should I put the buffer before or after the wah? I am definitely losing high end and my tone becomes very muddy. Appreciate the advice!
+Jason Maltz Hi! I think after will most likely help because it will drive the signal better. The ones I make I usually recommend after. If the tone loss is when it's on though, there is a chance that before will help because it may be loosing signal when running the wah circuit. Please let me know when you decide the best though.
+Jason Maltz Cry babies are tonesuckers. You should concider modding it true bypass.
Great video, however I must point out that the Monster Rock Guitar cable you are using adds its own fair share of treble signal to the path. This is from personal experience. Cheers!
mckevrock Yeah, those monster cables actually have fairly low capacitance which means you don't loose as much signal. They aren't actually adding because they are passive (no active transistors, no battery). Thanks!
ScreaminFX Ah ha.... Good to know!
Do all boss pedals have buffers? I have a Boss Super Chorus!
Victor Brotto yeah, I think most do but you have to check. I just google the name and true bypass. There are always surprises!
Do you recommend more than one buffer? Or, the fact that your can tune the buffer depending on the pedals and length of combined cables should be enough.
Depends why you want to use it. First thing to check is if the pedals you have already have a buffer. Many do or many can drive a cable so you won't need more. On the Clarionix, the tuning part is mainly to reduce the buffer strength, which is really helpful for a low input impedance pedal like a fuzz (you can hear it crack when you put a pedal in front). It will also reduce the treble gain a little.
screamingfx One thing to remember is that the buffers main impact is from its location to the next piece of gear thats on. For instance, buffer - long cord - amp it will drive the cord to the amp. But, buffer - short cord - pedal may not need it at all.
I got a pedalboard with a kable for amp, and the each a kable for fx send and return. where should i put a buffer?
most likely a buffer is the very first pedal in your chain...because it boosts the capacity of the guitar signal...but if you have a complex pedalboard with loads of true bypass pedals you can always switch the buffer around a try the best position..some guys use 2 buffers as first and last box in the chain...but beware if you use a germanium transistor fuzz the buffer has to be behind the germanium fuzz, because germanium fuzz pedals do not like buffers in front of them
great advice! Thanks for posting. I made that tuneable buffer so you can put it in front of the germanium fuzzes...
hopefully you don't need one in the fx send and return lines. If you do, I'd probably start right before the return
In case 3 which is to show how a buffer works in between a WAH and a fuzz, the signal goes as Guitar---WAH---Buffer---FUZZ. In this case, before you turn on the WAH, the signal goes actually as Guitar---Buffer---Fuzz, which is a buffer before a fuzz, why does that "buffer before fuzz" signal sound good then? I hope I made myself clear...
So is it that the off-boss buffer doesn't work well but the buffer you made can do the job? Great video, thx. :D
you have to be careful when you have a long guitar cable coiled up like that because you actually have created a coil I found this out while looking for causes of unwanted signal noise
Do the pedals with a buffer have to be powered with a battery or the buffer works even with no battery or adaptor?
They will all need a battery. The buffer has a transistor in it and needs to be powered. You can think of it as providing more power to your signal but the buffer needs to get power from a battery to do this. The Clarionix I build runs off a regulator Boss style power adapter.
ScreaminFX Thanks for your answer :)
Note that the lack of treble makes for a better overall tone. Hendrix used long cords....
what about latency?
fantastic. great video. :) :) :)
Wow bad ass
Any reason why you didn't just put the Fuzz in front of the Wah?
Is the Wah buffered?
I like the Fuzz after the Wah, I can usually get more Wah Wah effect that way. The Wah is not buffered. There ends up being an impedance mismatch between the wah output and the fuzz input which a buffer can fix as long is it works with the fuzz.
ScreaminFX
Ahh, ok. Thanks for the quick reply :-)
I had that screaming sound between my GCB-95F and a Wampler Velvet Fuzz... Reading the fuzz manual recommends placing it outside/before any buffers.. i.e. the GCB-95F is apparently buffered (not true bypass) - didn't know that when I bought it. What brand/model of wah do you use in the video?
MrMaton01 Hi!, I used a Crybaby Wah, GCB-95, a Boss GE-7 turned off, the Clarionix buffer I build and a prototype germanium fuzz that is now the 1948 Fuzz. Some buffers work OK with a fuzz, others mess it up and make it sound like its dying, which is probably why they just say to place it after.
ScreaminFX Also, here's a video I made about Wah before Fuzz How to Fix Wah and Fuzz Problems - Wah Before Fuzz
ScreaminFX
Hmm, I'm seeing a lot of Mods for GCB-95 (post 1990) to make it true bypass or to remove its Input Buffer (1st stage in the circuit): www.electrosmash.com/crybaby-gcb-95
I don't understand it (impedance difference etc.), but the general 'internet' opinion is that the input buffer sucks the tone out of your signal.
Would removing the input buffer on these Crybaby's change the way a fuzz placed directly after it would react?
Also saw some mods to insert a variable output buffer to the wah so you can dial in the tone - I assume this would be like your buffers variable control?
I have a question and I really need some help with this. My question is... is it enough to have a buffer pedal or two (my boss reverb and tremolo) at the end of my chain to prevent any clarity loss even if there are other pedals in front of the buffer chain? In this case does the boss buffer work even if there are other pedals enabled in front of the boss pedals, or does it only boost the signal for the pedal that is enabled and everything in front of it does not get a buffer? I really have issues to run a boss pedal at the beginning of my chain because it completely messes up my fuzz pedal and distortion pedal because of the impedance and buffer function. I would like to have a buffer pedal at the beginning of my pedal board but is it necessary to have a buffer pedal at the start even if you have a buffer pedal at the end? thanks for any help!
Fendera signal will be boosted from the point the buffer is set. If there is a buffer pedal at the end of chain, the signal loss from all the cables and pedals will still be there. It will help long cable run signal losses from end of chain to amp. Basically, there is no signal loss FROM the point a buffer is set. Hope it helps.
Solution: Don't use shitty pedals like BOSS pedals. Get this guy's buffer because it seems awesome and there ya go!
Thanks! Great advice!
You had me until you said a Boss pedal has a buffer in it, even when not turned on. All of a sudden we need a buffer after a Boss EQ (wait the Boss eq has a buffer built in it) , but now we need a buffer in front of a buffer ?? HUH ??
You just explained my boss od next to my rat box.
i loved that farting though!
I’m on A buffer search.
wah fuzz, not so sure about that, listen to fu manchu? fuzz then wah my friend
Hendrix, Hazel and many more put wah first, then fuzz.
I prefer fuzz then wah, though...
Francisco González Bustamante Depends on the fuzz. And the wah sometimes.
Fuzz sounds like ass before and after the buffer.
Put the Fuzz first then the Wah.
Buffer after fuzz, thats the rule
Yeah, I go wah then ge fuzz then buffered tuner
it sounds sucks because you put the boss pedal before the fuzz on your signal chain...it supposed to be in the first position on your chain
worst cable ever though then
I guess it had a good amount of capacitance! It was a brand new Core X2 . A big part of the problem is that the cable was pretty long and the capacitance really adds up.
Low capacitance cables are ridiculously expensive whereas you can get $20 buffers on eBay that turn any $10 cable into a 0 capacitance cable!
Who the hell uses a 40ft cable?
Your buffer sounds horrible.
Where would you put it if a pedal is sucking tone out? Before the tone sucking pedal or after? Thanks I wanna get this!
+thedonutholes69 First I try before in case the tone sucking pedal has too low of an input impedance causing tone loss. If there is no big difference, then after in case that pedal can't drive the signal through the cables, especially if there is a long one after it.