30/01/2015
The difference, and truth between true-bypass and buffered-bypass.
What could be better than having true-bypass circuit in your pedals?
I guess this topic has already been discussed before, but in my opinion, there are too much confusion about this, for that's very useful re-discuss it from time to time.
When it comes to preserving the optimal tone, it is impossible to ignore, important aspects such as the way you use to switch the pedals, and the cable you use to connect. This is as important as the source of power you need to turn on the pedals. Take a look to see how works true-bypass circuit, and buffered-bypass circuit.
The true-bypass is the standard in sound quality on the original (clean) signal, against which all others bypasses are measured. This comes into operation when the pedal is off. The entire circuit of the effect is completely disconnected, and the signal passes through the input jack, some wires, some footswitch contacts, until to reach to the output jack. This sounds great in "theory", but there are several practical issues with this approach. In almost all cases, guitar pickups are passive, high-impedance devices with a relatively wimpy ability to drive a signal. Because the signal coming out of a guitar is weak and easily influenced, still either much or little, is still an influence, which degrades the original guitar tone. The degradation that possibly you are going to hear, will manifest by itself as a loss of high frequencies or tone-loss. This is caused when a simple low-pass (treble cut) filter is created with a passive RC circuit. The "R", or resistor, is the combined resistance of all the cabling in your rig. The "C", or capacitor, is the inherent capacitance present in shielded cable. Another issue is that the 3PDT footswitches commonly used in true-bypass circuits are not optimized to switch low-voltage signals like guitar pickups. A better way to accomplish true-bypass is to use a relay, that’s optimized for switching low-voltage signals. Such relays can be quieter, if placed in an optimum location in the pedal that minimizes cable length when the pedal is bypassed.
The other way that pedal manufacturers implemented bypass circuits, is with solid-state. This is often done with FET switching circuits, better known as buffered-bypass or analog-bypass. However, the quality of that buffer can vary greatly depending on the manufacturer, but when the buffered-bypass is done well, this becomes the best method for bypassing a pedal. It provides a robust and relatively silent form of switching. The buffered-bypass has gotten a bad reputation over the years, this is because of poorly designed buffer circuits and mass produced, which added an horrible color to your tone.
So what you can do?
To answer this question, I have practiced a countless amount of research, and testing through oscilloscopes and other types of instrumentation, with true-bypass and the addition of a buffer device in the line, and to my ears, and advice to you is; place a high-quality buffer at the beginning of your signal-chain. This can be in the form of a compact dedicated buffer, a clean boost set to unity gain, or even a pedal with a high-quality integrated buffer. One of the most common examples are the BOSS® pedals. Its buffer circuit solves quite well, but with a slight modification in its circuit, these pedals would make the buffer function even better. Always remember that!...every detail in you equipment is very important for your tone! I hope this information can help you to improve your tone!
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