The question is how much faith do you put in true bypass when considering pedals?

I am considering a bit of a reno for the pedal selection. I had a bunch of cheap pedals that weren't as nice as I would have liked but money don't grow on trees. So I have a few bucks and was looking at a couple of new pedals and just wondering what stock most have in true bypass and is it an important consideration when you purchase pedals?

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

It's total hype. Cord quality and length are more important. I'd rather use a good buffer to make up any signal loss.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

If you're using one pedal and short cables? Definitely want true bypass.

Anything else? Definitely at least one buffered pedal. I went down the 'everything must be true bypass' route for a while, and just wasn't aware of how muddy my tone was getting, other than a strange nagging sense of dissatisfaction with my sound.

Popped a borrowed Boss delay in my chain when my true bypass unit failed one night, and bam! Everything suddenly became clear and full of life again, and I cut through the mix nicely. After a bit of careful A/B comparison, it was pretty obvious where my tone was disappearing - all my true bypass pedals must have been adding about ten unbuffered feet to my cable length!

I now use shorter cable runs and a mix of pedal types, and couldn't be happier.

The problem for me always seems to be the wah pedal. No matter what wah I use it seems to kill all tone, does anyone else find this to be true?

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CREDO ELVEM IPSUM ETAIM VIVERE

Yep. That's why my signal chain is usually a high quality 15 foot cord connected to my guitar.. I get all my grit from my amp and my guitars volume control. I only use effects when it's really, really necessary. Wah is one of the most overused pedal out there. I chuckle when I see a player with a million effects on his board. Usually, unless it's buffered, all you'll get is asstone. But then again, you can usually adjust your tone controls to get some of it back. I just hate fighting with pedals. You can get a true bypass wah kit from BYOC that's a drop in with a Crybaby. There are also instructions on the internet on how to mod a wah to be true bypass.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

I've posted this before but I think this is a good explanation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOBn75-WN30

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My ability to spell is in direct proportion to the amount of coffee I've had.

Yeah Matt, you did post that before and it never gets old. Les Paul fought tooth and nail for low impedance pickups in the LP guitars, but on one would listen. The couple times I saw Les, his rig was quiet as a mouse, his signal was pure and his tone was beautiful. He also had all kinds of stuff on his board. Don't buy into the hype. There's nothing wrong with pedals. At one time I had lots of them, then one day I woke up and thought, do I really "need" them or just "want" them. I found with my Twin I needed them because the amp was just so clean at 100 watts I could get no dirt if I wanted it. When I went back to lower wattage amps, I found I didn't really "need" them any more and my playing and my tone improved by 100 percent. Effects can become a crutch and an overused redundant crutch at that.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Here is another reference to check out too. I think Screamin Armadillo gave me this one.

http://www.petecornish.co.uk/case_again ... ypass.html

Yes, Screamin' Armadillo did...

Thanks for posting it...I was about to go find the link again.

True bypass is a myth and a scam, UNLESS you're using just one pedal...and even then, it is a barely audible difference. A good set of cords will do you more good than all the true bypass in the world.

I have a lot of effects (but I use them judiciously, rarely turning on more than two at a time)...everyone comments on how "organic" (unprocessed) my tone is...and only a couple of my pedals are true bypass.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals