Do I need a buffer pedal? Where?

[dsouza.b.a]

Hello there. I wanted to seek advice from the experts here regarding a buffer pedal. I think I might benefit from one but wanted to get some input as to where in my chain I might put one. I run from guitar into a large but fairly simple pedal board and then into the front of a Mesa Road King 2 combo. Here is a basic flow chart...

guitar
18.5' cable into Ernie Ball VP Junior 25K Volume pedal (6" cable from tuner out into Polytune 2 mini)
1' cable into Dunlop wah
1' cable into Line 6 DM4
1' cable into Line 6 DL4
3' cable into Line 6 MM4
1' cable into Line 6 FM4
3' cable into amp

I feel my sound right now is OK but it does sound a little flat instead of bright and crisp. I have space left on my board for a buffer. I am looking at the MXR/Custom Audio Electronics MC406 as a small investment but wasn't sure where exactly in my chain I would put it. Based on what I have seen online, possible after the wah before the distortion but wanted to see what others who use buffers have done.

 

[Markedman]

3 foot cable to amp? I don't see the need for a buffer.

 

[MrMarkIII]

Sure, the last one's three feet, but there's 28.5 feet of cable total.
There's no "one" correct answer. The usual place is at the beginning of the chain to pump a hotter signal through all that cable, or at the end of the chain, to make up for loss before sending the signal to the amp.
Whatever sounds best.
Experiment and report your findings here. Get to work.

 

[Markedman]

http://sfguitarworks.com/the-great-cable-myth/
I could post dozens of articles on cable capacitance, they're redundant.
This article explains everything about buffering, your answer is here -
http://screaminfx.com/tech/why-and-when-to-use-a-guitar-buffer-pedal.htm

 

[dsouza.b.a]

http://sfguitarworks.com/the-great-cable-myth/
I could post dozens of articles on cable capacitance, they're redundant.
This article explains everything about buffering, your answer is here -
http://screaminfx.com/tech/why-and-when-to-use-a-guitar-buffer-pedal.htm

Thanks for the link. I will probably mess around with my setup more later this week or this weekend. I have ordered some different patch cables from Hosa which I think will work better than the ones I currently have but am also thinking of reordering the line 6 flow from DM4-DL4-MM4-FM4 to FM4-DM4-DL4-MM4. Not sure if that will do anything about my dry sound but I think it may work better when wet.

Also I when I used to have only the DL4 and MM4 I had them in the EFX loop of my Road King 2 but I kept reading online that they were designed to be at line in level so moved them back to the front. I more recently have read keeping them in the EFX loop could do damage but I have still had some people tell me to put them in the EFX loop.

 

[dsouza.b.a]

I reordered my pedals and swapped out a couple of the patch cables as well to shorter length. Sounds good now, no buffer needed it seems.