Visual Sound: Myth Buster #1: True Bypass

[arifreeman]

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?

[oatstao]

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.

[LetzBeaFranque]

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.

[Geepsterr]

@LetzBeaFranque This video demonstrates very well. Absolute perfect sense in theory and in practice: However once you have one good buffer up front or right after a true bypass pedal you are golden even with several pedals following the buffer . Even with 50 ft cord running to your amp still bright. Oddly I used to like the sound of my 61 Strat into about 30k load took some edge off . A buffer in the guitar is nice before a 10-20 k volume like EMG does , don't like their pickups

[timmy47]

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.

[VisualSoundUSA]

@timmy47 You can put it after the FuzzFace, but you ought to modify the FuzzFace with a true bypass switch to eliminate the tone suck from that pedal.

[carlsanders371]

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

[carlsanders371]

if i buy one of these pedals with the bypass buffer, can i run the boss noise suppressor pedal without any tone being sucked?

[VisualSoundUSA]

@carlsanders371 YES!

[MrSkAtEfReAk12]

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.

[VisualSoundUSA]

@MrSkAtEfReAk12 I hope you got this question answered by a call or email to our office. (We don't monitor YouTube all the time (sorry!) and we try to let the community answer a lot of questions.) The Pure Tone buffer needs to be at the beginning of the chain in most cases, but it really depends on whether the pedal(s) in front of it are tone suckers or not. If you have an old-school wah pedal like a VOX, it's gonna be a tone sucker. But if it's a modern pedal, it might not be bad at all.

[ForeverSoul]

Hi just wondering..for the pure tone buffer effect..do I need to place one of your pedals BEFORE all other effect? or does it matter where i place them on the chain? or like in the middle? because i have a KORG TB tuner (supposedly) currently placed on the first in the chain.

thanks

[VisualSoundUSA]

@ForeverSoul PureTone at the beginning of your signal chain is the best place for it.

[Saladzingers]

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!

[Exploduer]

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

[scizor000]

What is the difference between using this buffer in a chain opposed to using my SD-1's buffer in the chain, because all buffered pedals are supposed to drive long cables such as this one does, am i not right?

[gpiad]

what about garagetone pedals series?do they have this buffer circuit?

[VisualSoundUSA]

Thanks for the question.

Yes, the GarageTone pedals have our PureTone Buffer in them, as do all of Visual Sound's pedals...

VS

[kceovaisnt]

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.

[SerterSerter]

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?

[carlsanders371]

@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

[VisualSoundUSA]

It's still a good idea to use quality cables, including patch cables, in order to have the best signal, low noise, sturdy construction, etc. Do you need to spend hundreds of dollars on cables? ...that's pretty debatable, but you make the call on that one. If your budget doesn't include new cable and you've got "cheap" stuff now, the Pure Tone buffer will still make a huge difference.

[sipsop]

I own a Rout 66 V1... is this also equipped with the Pure Tone Buffer? Or does that only count fot the V2?

If the V1 does not have the PT buffer, then what is it equipped with?

[VisualSoundUSA]

All VS pedals have Visual Sound's exclusive Pure Tone Buffer!

Thanks...

VS

[Frysian1972]

Maybe a 'silly' question but, I have a booster buffer pedal, 2 visual sound pedals (jekyll & hyde (old model), + route 66 (new model) and a boss FRV pedal.

All those have a buffer.

What is the effect of several buffer stages in a pedal chain?

[rodwyr]

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!

[sonicsmainman1]

Can I make a suggestion?

If you guys do make a stand alone tone buffer pedal, could you make it with a send and return loop on it with the input and output jacks please? Like what they do on the Boss NS-2. That way it buffers pre and post effects. It would be a hell of a lot better that buying two buffers for both ends of my board.

[jotakabe13]

Have you guys thought about just making your buffer as a stand-alone toy for folks to put at the front of their pedal train? Seems like it would be a killer tool to have around.

[VisualSoundUSA]

Thanks for your question... we actually did have a stand alone buffer back in the late 90's. That was discontinued as we put them in all our pedals. But in the very near future, Visual Sound will be opening up a Custom Shop where the PureTone Buffer, as well as many new unique and very cool ideas will be produced for people to purchase on our online store. We are very excited, so be sure to watch our website for news and details about our new Custom Shop!

Visual Sound

[sonicsmainman1]

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?

[boujtube]

Thanks so much to the Visual Sound team for putting this together ! It's been a great resource for us to share with other guitar players on our worship teams...I've been a big believer in high impedance to low impedance buffers for some time and this has helped me help other guitar players setup and configure their pedal boards for the cleanest signal possible ... our worship leader was really happy to fix his volume boost problems with his true-bypass delay pedal !

[cinzons10]

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

[VisualSoundUSA]

Yes! Because your first two pedals are True Bypass, then the Puretone buffer can handle everything that follows it. So, yes, it should be fine!

Thanks...

Visual Sound

[bobbydigital85]

Man, I told my buddy about this video and he went out and got the route 66. A buddy of mine wants to sell me the Jekyll and Hyde pedal but its a older version. Could I send it to VS to get updated to the same specs as the new ones?

[VisualSoundUSA]

@bobbydigital85 Sorry, but the new circuit boards don't fit the old housing, so we couldn't do that.

Visual Sound

[ericohman]

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?

[VisualSoundUSA]

@ericohman Just use a VS pedal as your first in the chain and it will take care of it. All our pedals have our Pure Tone Buffer in them.

Visual Sound

[CarvinTone]

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!

[Euphoriaman]

hm interested stuff

[SRVstratman]

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?

[VisualSoundUSA]

Thanks SRV...

Can't buy the buffer in a box as of yet... and yes, all VS pedals, including Garagetone, have the PT Buffer!

Visual Sound

[SRVstratman]

No, thank you. Great videos here! I may just have to pick one of your pedals up.

[guitardbucket]

Great stuff.  So I have to ask, with your buffering system, if the pedal loses power, will it still pass the signal like a true bypass pedal will?

[rixills]

does visual sound make a wah pedal? if not, you probably should start.

[RezaMatix]

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...

[divehater]

TBP = Owned

[aksrv]

whats the name of the cable?

thanks

[VisualSoundUSA]

George L's

You're welcome!

[maubahia]

Does these loopers have only 3 jacks? They look like A/B boxes...

Thanks!

[rixills]

so should you have a great buffer at the end of your pedal chain or the beginning of your pedal chain?

[VisualSoundUSA]

A good buffer at the beginning of your pedal chain will take care of everything following it... long cables, patch cables, tone-sucking pedals, etc.

[superstringbender]

Great series of videos, and I love VS's products, especially the H2O. I purchased it months ago and it has become a permanent part of my sound; I use it clean and on my dirty channel, for everything from contemporary Christian to blues, funk and hard rock.

[njslim]

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?

[bigmuffpi335]

Lots of guitarists use more than 1 effect pedal, what happens to your bypass tone when 4 or 5 buffered pedals are in line?

Useful video, thanks!

[pfeifferpedals]

Another great video. Thanks for enlightening us all.

[beabbong]

Awesome video!!

[VisualSoundUSA]

Thank you for the question. The RT66 has 1 buffer that is always active, whether the effect is off or on. Your signal is always buffered.

Visual Sound

[zomgzomglawlawlawl]

great job. appreciate the busted myth! now just to convince people...lol

[dishwax]

Great service to the world! Next topics should be on guitar construction (set vs. bolt-on, pickups/magnets, 'vintage' vs. new, etc. Until someone debunks the BS, everyone's an expert, right?-- suckers!

[dishwax]

This comparison and the other one on op amps have been sorely needed for years. There is so much nonsense out there about guitars and associated products/techniques that Weil could spend the rest of his life debunking and scarcely cover the subject. The next topics should be on tonewoods and pickups, set necks vs. bolt-on, and treated vs. non-treated strings. Until then, everyone's an expert, so lap it up, suckers!

[officialjosebernardo]

Thank you so much for doing this video.