true bypass fixation getting out of hand

[thinskin57]

is it me, or are too many people getting overly obsessed with true bypass? the more reviews i read on harmony central, the more convinced i am that people think a pedal is sh$t if it's not true bypass. i wish more people were familiar with pete cornish's thoughts on having too many true bypass pedals in one's signal chain. there's a lot of pro's that have buffered bypass effects in their signal chains. notably mr. "tone" himself, eric johnson (last i knew anyway) with his boss delay pedal, to name just one. now i'm starting to see a lot of guys who use pedals that aren't true bypass and putting them into true bypass loop pedals. come ON! personally, i'll take boss' buffered circuit over doubling the number of patch connections and cables on my board any day of the week. for the record, i use BOTH types of pedals on my board and my tone DOES NOT suck, believe me. i think people need to PLAY more instead of obsessing over whether a pedal "sucks tone" or not. your thoughts?

 

[cvansickle]

This knife cuts both ways. Just because a pedal is true bypass, like One Certain Device I won't name, it doesn't mean that it isn't a shitty pedal. Likewise, plenty of cheap-o pedals, like the old Danelectro food named pedals, sound great when in use.

It's what a pedal does to your sound when it's not in use that makes a difference. I know a guy that has a certain compressor that he uses all the time, never turns it off. He's all stressed because it isn't true bypass.... HELLO??? if it's on all the time, then it's never bypassed!

Trust your OWN ears. If you like how it sounds, then that's all that matters. For the record, everything on my pedalboard is a true bypass pedal because I happen to like how these pedals sound when I use them. And they don't mess with my sound when I don't use them.

 

[thinskin57]

For the record, everything on my pedalboard is a true bypass pedal because I happen to like how these pedals sound when I use them

from what i've read, the only time it's an issue having all true bypass is if you're using long cable runs with a bunch of ALL true bypass pedals. for instance- say you have a 20' cable from your guitar to your pedals, of which you have let's say 5 of and they're all true bypass with 1' cables between each one. then another 20' cable from your last pedal out to your amp. that adds up to nearly 50' of cable. now you've got a problem according to pete cornish. i think he's got a point, and he doesn't make pedal boards for the biggest names in the biz because he doesn't know what he's talking about. i agree with you though- people need to use their EARS and stop buying in to all the true bypass hype. after all, some of the most revered classic tones from live recordings were done with pedals that didn't have true bypass as it wasn't around yet at the time.

 

[thinskin57]

One Certain Device

wait a minute... the OCD?! did i get that right? there- i said it FOR you! LOL ...i feel like the batman to your riddler!

 

[Laskyman]

I dont care if a pedal is true bypass or not, but I *do* care if my guitar signal sounds weaker when the effect is not engaged.....I will stick with the "trust your ears" crowd. If it works for you, then it works for you.

My $.02

Laskyman

 

[carlsoti]

Does anyone know if there's a way to do a "true bypass" mod on the pre-amp of my M/B? I think it's coloring my sound too much. In fact, if there's a way to bypass the power section, too, and run straight to the speaker from the guitar, I'd LOVE to do that. I'll pay... let's see.... a ba-jillion dollars for that mod. (That'd be SO cool.) :lol:

 

[lyman]

Likewise, plenty of cheap-o pedals, like the old Danelectro food named pedals, sound great when in use.

.

yeah, those pedals are good and super cheap. i have the tunamelt tremolo pedal and i think it sounds very nice.

did you see that danelectro just came out with new pedals at roughly the same price point as the food-named ones? they've got a metal case, sturdier jacks, and.......wait for it.........true bypass!

 

[konstantine RK]

ok so didn't that GP article say that if you have a Boss TU2 or a Clean boost at the start of any pedal chain that it would be good for a bunch of tru bypass pedals?

Are clean boosts (like BBE's Boosta Grande") buffer pedals?

Correct me if Im wrong guys

 

[konstantine RK]

ok so didn't that GP article say that if you have a Boss TU2 or a Clean boost at the start of any pedal chain that it would be good for a bunch of tru bypass pedals?

Are clean boosts (like BBE's Boosta Grande") buffer pedals?

Correct me if Im wrong guys

BTW I now have 2 expression pedals but that doesn't factor into this thread

 

[lyman]

ok so didn't that GP article say that if you have a Boss TU2 or a Clean boost at the start of any pedal chain that it would be good for a bunch of tru bypass pedals?

Are clean boosts (like BBE's Boosta Grande") buffer pedals?

Correct me if Im wrong guys

that's a good question. i thought a buffer changes the impedance/resistance rather than provides gain. seems like the end result is similar though.

 

[lyman]

ok so didn't that GP article say that if you have a Boss TU2 or a Clean boost at the start of any pedal chain that it would be good for a bunch of tru bypass pedals?

Are clean boosts (like BBE's Boosta Grande") buffer pedals?

Correct me if Im wrong guys

that's a good question. i thought a buffer changes the impedance/resistance rather than provides gain. seems like the end result is similar though.

 

[Don]

You're much better off using true bypass pedals and adding a buffer if needed.

Certain pedals, like wah pedals, or a full set of buffered pedals, will mess with your bypassed tone. Too many pedals without any buffer is almost as bad.

Several years ago, I modded or replaced all of my pedals with true bypassed pedals and noticed that my sound was still affected when the pedals were bypassed.

It turned out to be caused by really old crappy patch cables.

Recently, I noticed that my guitar got noticably brighter and punchier when I engaged my true bypass delay pedal. It turned out that my old cord between my pedal board and amp wasn't performing like it used to and the unity amp in the delay pedal was just enough to push the signal a little harder which made up for the crappy cord. When I replaced it with one of my other cords it was fine.

Please note that I am note recommending expensive cables, jut not crappy ones.

My point is, that there are a lot of variables besides true bypass to consider, and, as stated above, you need to use your ears.

 

[Don]

Double post

 

[konstantine RK]

I have all Monster cables and one mogami from the guitar to the pedals...

do they have what it takes?

 

[konstantine RK]

I have all Monster cables and one mogami from the guitar to the pedals...

do they have what it takes?

 

[cvansickle]

One Certain Device

wait a minute... the OCD?! did i get that right? there- i said it FOR you! LOL ...i feel like the batman to your riddler!

I'm not naming any names. Don't be so full of yourself.

 

[DeFrag]

I have all Monster cables and one mogami from the guitar to the pedals...

do they have what it takes?

I too have all Monster with 1 Mogami from the guitar!

 

[camsna]

Depends on the pedal.

MOST of the Boss pedals have an atrocious output buffer. They destroy tone when they're off! I'd take the tone loss of 9 inches of extra cable to put it in a bypass loop over the tone suckage of those Boss buffers any day!

But some pedals have good buffers! Like the T.C. Electronic SCF. Or Boss TU-2. So it really depends. But - in general - I prefer to run a dedicated buffer or two (like the Axess BS2) in my chain and use true-bypass pedals and loops. Keeps the tone beautiful from start to finish with no bypassed pedals soaking out all my tone!

 

[MF]

I keep the majority of my effects behind a single bypass loop. Partially because they suck a bit of tone, but mostly because I like being able to switch them all on or off with one simple click instead of tapdancing.

A lot of our songs have passages where i use a combo of delay, chorus and sometimes reverb and eventually i got tired of switching each one on and off individually.

 

[thinskin57]

Don't be so full of yourself

wow, you thought i was serious?! (i WAS about the OCD) the rest was totally tongue in cheek. so to you i say- don't be such a dick ...and an uptight one at that.

i said good day sir!