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Post by kldonegan on Jan 13, 2007 20:16:59 GMT -7
With all the discussion about True Bypass vs. Buffers, I've been doing my own research, ad more importantly my own listening. The big problem that I notice with my rig is that the tone seems to change when I have pedals engaged, particularly the amount of high end that the amp sees. When I kick in an overdrive (usually a Fulldrive II, a pedal not generally noted for its massive amounts of high-end...), the top end gets fizzy and buzzy... it's not that way with all the pedals off. I want to use a very neutral pedal DEAD LAST in my signal chain. I'm thinking that this will allow the amp to see the same impedance, capacitance and EQ all the time. Hopefully, this would allow me to EQ the pedals to the amp, not vice versa. The RC booster seems like a good choice. I've played it a bunch and really like what it adds to the signal. Any thoughts? Love to hear your opinions. Thanks.
-Kris
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Post by Hohn on Jan 15, 2007 1:17:22 GMT -7
IMO, the hotter the input signal, the better- especially with a Z with an EF-86 in V1.
It's pretty rare that your input signal is too hot. An RC or two should do just the trick you seek.
jmo
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Post by mudskipper on Jan 15, 2007 8:41:18 GMT -7
With all the discussion about True Bypass vs. Buffers, I've been doing my own research, ad more importantly my own listening. The big problem that I notice with my rig is that the tone seems to change when I have pedals engaged, particularly the amount of high end that the amp sees. if you mean even when they are bypassed, the signal seems a little brighter and lacking the low mids, yes i've noticed it. i didn't know FD2 was known for "massive amounts of high-end." do you move your tone control down past the noon point? is there a particular reason you want it in the last position? RC would be able to help you maintain a similar EQ than before but if you want capacitance AND impedance, RC will NOT do it as far as i know. you want to correct your load, you can get a Dragster from Radial (the Tone bone folks) to do that. tonebone.com/tb-dragster.htmi don't know what you'd do to tweak the capacitance. you'd want to measure the current capacitance to start with and take it from there. i don't know how many buffered bypass effects you use but it's far easier to throw those in a bypass/loop box to get them out of the signal chain than to use another devices to "correct EQ, load and capacitance. you step on a footswitch and the buffered stuff is gone. RC is a good pedal and i love it, though. it's got a nice EQ section and is reasonably quiet.
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Post by mudskipper on Jan 15, 2007 8:43:48 GMT -7
IMO, the hotter the input signal, the better- especially with a Z with an EF-86 in V1. It's pretty rare that your input signal is too hot. An RC or two should do just the trick you seek. jmo i don't mean to be a nay-sayer in any way but i have run into situations where the frontend of amps are getting hit too hard. the sound would get splatty and the bottom end would get overly squishy and fart-y.
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Post by kldonegan on Jan 15, 2007 11:23:14 GMT -7
I think I need to clarify a bit... I'm running a board full, and I mean FULL of True Bypass pedals. When you engage a true bypass pedal, the output impedance changes, and that results in more high end. My amp's input "sees" the total capacitance of guitar --> cable--> pedalboard --> cable when all the pedals are off, but that changes when you engage a pedal in the signal chain. Most pedals have a low impedance output... a buffer... and with a bunch of true bypass pedals you're turning that buffer on and of constantly. What I want to do is leave a pedal on all the time, so the amp sees a consistent output all the time... that way I won't get such a treble shift. This would allow for less treble at the amp, resulting in less hiss and background noise. I'll try it anyways... just wanted to ask. And, for mudskipper, I said that the Fulldrive was not an inherently bright pedal. Mike Fuller likes a darker EQ. Thats why it was surprising to me to get such bright and fizzy tones from that pedal.
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Post by Hohn on Jan 16, 2007 1:50:25 GMT -7
I can get bright and fizzy from my FD2, but it was surprising to me as well, because I had to really try to do that to get it. I agree that Fuller tends to eq a little on the dark side.
I agree with mudskipper that you CAN hit a front end too hard. Itt's just not that common unless people are getting silly with output levels using every pedal as a boost. Again, this has a lot to do with the amp as well, not just the pedals. My point is just that it's easier to tame a strong signal than to beef up a weak one, if you have to choose one.
jmo
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Post by mudskipper on Jan 16, 2007 7:50:29 GMT -7
i would recommend that you install RC (or similar) at the start of your EFX chain and that you leave RC on all the time so that the entire length of signal path is buffered. your signal should travel/survive much better. the gain control of RC is more like a "girth" control in the low mids, so you have a good handle in that area as well. if you don't need to tweak the EQ of your base tone, then something like BC-2 from Axcess would be a good alternative. but the important thing is that you buffer your signal at the beginning of the true-bypass EFX chain.
i tend to agree with you on this, Hohn.
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Post by jzguitar on Jan 16, 2007 10:17:58 GMT -7
I keep my RC first in line and keep it on most of the time as a line driver/buffer. All of my pedals are true bypass or in bypass loops, and I can hear a big difference when everything is off and I turn the RC on and off. The tone can get a bit dull while traveling through all of the patch cables, switches, etc... The RC seems to solve this. MXR has a Bradshaw-designed buffer/booster now - I think it's only around 100 bucks or so. I saw one on John Mayer's board at the AMA's and his tech said it was working well.
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