The Truth About True Bypass
Vložit
- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- Is true bypass truly tremendous for tone?
Or are buffers basically better?
Let's discuss the pros and cons of each in order to reach a sound conclusion
Visit TC Electronic for more information on the Bona Fide Buffer:
www.tcelectronic.com
Watch in HD for best picture and sound quality!
Get 10% off your purchase at www.dragonshear... with this exclusive discount code: CSGUITAR10
Join the discussion at:
/ csguitars
www.plus.google...
/ csg_scotland
/ colincsg
www.csguitars.c...
Contact:
colin@csguitars.co.uk
Great explanation.... Buffer demos are always difficult to produce and it is difficult to get the point across. Well done!
Colin, TC Electronic has a Buffered Bypass Mode on a lot of their pedals. Pretty much all the big pedals with Toneprint have it, including that Sentry Noise Gate. Just unscrew the back and flip the dip switch that's close to the power in jack.
+Tman5645 Ah, so that's what that does.
Good info.
+Tman5645 That's really really helpful cheers.
+CSGuitars Oh yea btw Collin if you see a pedal with momentary switches it is a JFET bypass mechanic with buffers and so pedals like TC electronics, Boss, Behringer are JFET bypass that use buffers
Well hell, that's really handy to know!
@@ScienceofLoud what language do you speak? i know it is not english, but it sounds familiar and i can understand about half of what you say.
I just gained 2 IQ points and it only cost me 8 minutes of my life.
+Loebane Right? This guy's vids are so straight to the point and easy to understand, unlike all the other channels on youtube
If only it worked like that
You already had the 2 points of IQ others that skipped after 10seconds did not have. Being open to being educated proves this philosophy
It cost me even less because I watched it at 1.25 speed
You can still understand colin at increased speed?
Not really a guitar player but I find your videos fascinating.
Love your videos Colin! As a hobby guitarist studying to become an electrician I've found your videos incredibly helpful! Explaining not just what various things are doing to our sounds, but the electrical processes behind it, happening to create all these lovely effects and tonal adjustments. It's really changed my approach in handling settings, to a way where I now know what options are desirable for certain situations, why they are desirable, and also how to achieve them. It's a really great way to be more in touch with the gear I use! Keep up the great content and many thanks from New Zealand!
Congrats on getting this featured in TC Electronic's latest newsletter!
+Jokrono It is? I've not seen it yet.
I might drop them a wee message :)
+Jokrono It is? I've not seen it yet.
I might drop them a wee message :)
+CSGuitars Yea, it was the top feature on their 20th of May email newsletter, above even Johnny Hiland
Excellent video, as always. So many people are scared to death of buffers and insist on true bypass only without really understanding what is going on. Thanks for posting that.
your channel is keeping me sane (and educating me) during pandemic lockdown. THANKS
First time i saw this guy's videos i thought "man i will never understand a word..."
but let me tell you, there is no other channel out there that gives you everything so straight up and simple +his own perspective on these topics...
much appreciated!
Just FYI, a number of TC Electronic pedals have the option to be buffered bypass. There are dip switches inside that will allow you to choose between true and buffered, although I imagine that the Bona Fide is likely the best sounding buffer they've produced.
This was a truly great vid, very informative and well done. I particularly appreciate the side-by-side demos of long and short cable runs. Even for people who don't need to know about true-bypass vs. buffered circuits, that's incredibly useful, and I've never seen it more clearly explained and demonstrated. Thanks!
So..that is why I have a Boss NS2 on all my Pedalboards...bufferd bypass..no worries...god damn...I learned sooooo much from you channel..my whole musical-gear-life changed..thx Dude
I've done rack kit for 15 years and not really messed with anything other than a metal sound. Bought a small valve combo a few years ago to play about with at home. Just bought an EHX Crayon as I was looking for a mid boosting pedal and found the crayon did the metal TubeScreamer thing as well as well as being a useful distortion in its own right. Was great in the shop with short cables. Ran straight into needing a buffer when I got home.
Awesomely clear and concise, just like all of your videos. I don't play as much as I used to (or as much as I should, to be honest), but I love your videos for how straightforward and clear they are. Keep it up, man, you're doing a good and necessary work here.
I was number 1000 like ... So proud,... But it was only because of how good this demo is, thanks
Another great video Colin. It would be good to quantify what makes a 'good' buffer and what makes a buffer less good.
I'd suggest something like:
Frequency: 80-18kHz +/-0.5dB
S/N>80dB
input impedance >1M
output
I'd be very interested to see your process and results.
This would be an important resource.
+Keld Ampworks Yes please! :) I would love to see results. What will you be using to measure the db's from the output?
+Telebasterd Audio Precision gear for the audio tests, simple oscilloscope and fixed resistance method for the impedance checks. Not got round to it yet though, I'll dig out my DS-1 and make a start next week and post the results on. facebook.com/KeldAmpworks/?ref=hl
Great info. The new TC Polytune 3 contains the Bona Fide Buffer as well (two pedals in one) First in my signal chain.
Thanks for really explaining buffers and getting into how to properly run one.
Amazing video, man. Noting like an A/B audio test to prove a statement.
Great video explanation! I just pulled the buffer from my crybaby and wow what a difference! I'm glad to know it's not a cure all though. Thanks for sharing!
Great stuff Colin. I was aware of a lot of that information but you're the first person that I've seen actually demonstrate it. I didn't realize that the difference was that noticeable.
dude you are really good and informative. thanks for not being boring
Another wonderful method of avoiding tone and high end loss through my varied pedals was to make a Boss Noise Suppressor the only pedal between guitar and amp. With all other pedals running through the NS's send and return. The Spectrum Amalyser on my studio showed an identical result when compared to going straight into the amp. Was thrilled!
Scientifically, longer cables are the exact same as rolling down the tone control. I’d much prefer turning down a knob and having the option of bringing up the treble than my hardware limiting the high end.
thanx for the information,love the easy to understand way you bring it,with a really cool accent! ,i have seen a lot of you're video and they thought me a lot as a biginner/wannabe musician ,keep m coming plz and greetings from hoorn ,the netherlands
I don't even play guitar. I just come here to hear his voice.
Legend
wow CZcams has been so good to me today. Learning so much. Thanks Colin!
As someone who doesn't know a ton about gear, I really love these videos. Can anyone recommend a wah pedal that isn't a tonesucker?
+Joe Nitrate Just a get a normal CryBaby and either adjust the EQ on your amp to compensate or convert it to True Bypass. Colin has a video about how to do this - it won't cost you much and isn't hard. I'm a total fucking pleb with a soldering iron and I've done mine.
+Joe Nitrate It's not exactly what you're looking for, but it's usually possible to add a true bypass switch to a pedal. This is a pretty common mod for wah pedals, and it's a full true bypass system - not just some "kinda" true bypass thing. You could do it yourself (It's not super hard to do, and there are loads of tutorials online, including one from the mighty csguitars himself), or you could pay for someone else to do it. The parts themselves are really cheap, the labour might be a bit more expensive - luckily I had a mate studying electrical engineering, so he did it for me for free.
Good advice gents, thank you
I have a video playlist of pedal modifications, which includes a demonstration on how to make a cry baby true bypass.
It's an older video, but it still checks out.
+CSGuitars speaking of which, I have the Dimebag Darrell signature Crybaby. It already has 2 LEDs (one to tell me whether the Wah is on or off, another for the boost), but would your True Bypass mod work on the artist signature Crybabies as well?
Succinctly and brilliantly put. Well done.
Thanks, this is an excellent video. It really helped clear up some mental fuzziness (removed some impedance you could say...) I had about these frequently used terms.
Loving that Fossboard ;) Thanks for the clear, informative video!
Yet another thing I learned today. Thanks!
Guess what, you've just gained yourself a new subscriber! Well done man! I love how well produced your videos are, and perfectly explained, with loads of evidence! Keep rocking!
So that's why my playing lacks treble. I have a 25 ft cable running to a distortion pedal, and another 25 footer running from there to the amp. Such a simple fix to such a pain in the ass problem.
EragonSuperM Run shorter cables lmao
do you like to collect post or pop by the neighbors mid riff?
I'll be honest I was really surprised by quite how much difference the cable length made to the tone. Not to mention the addition of the wah pedal and the buffer in the chain. Great vid as always Colin I look forward to seeing what you come out with next.
So glad to see, as you described it, a Physics based discussion on bypass. You should consider getting an Oscilloscope and Signal Generator, too. Although, for Guitar frequency range, test tones from a PC or Phone will cover the spectrum required.
Thanks again, and greetings from Australia (far away from NAMM, Sadly)
I have an overdrive pedal made by Airis, it is buffered bypass and adds nice tonal quality even when bypassed. Especially noticeable on the clean channel.
I feel like you could have also mentioned bypass systems where a section of (or even the whole) the pedal chain is bypassed, but I guess that can be very specific, I dunno.
Awesome video man, keep 'em coming!
Literally feel smarter since i saw this video... Thanks!
From readings online, the magic number for cable/cord footage is 18.5 feet. That is the length where the cable has enough resistance by itself to effect tone. It's basically a matter of math. If you used a 20+ foot cord from guitar to the 1st pedal or the amp itself, you lost some highs in the tone with that section of cable. Mathematically, let's say you have a 5 pedal chain with 6 inch patch cables in between, that's 4 patches at 6 inches or 2 feet of cable. Then there is the true bypass or buffer to add in for each pedal as it applies. Is that 2.5-3 inches for the mini pedals widths ? Add another 5x 3 inches for the tethered chain and the pedal board itself is 3.25-4 feet of equivalent cable length. You'd have to run a 3 foot cord from the end of the pedal chain to the amp, 10 feet from the front of the pedal chain to the guitar to stay under 18.5 feet. Most instrument cables are 5 feet, add a 10 footer and also that 3.25-4 foot pedal chain and you get 18.25-19 feet. The larger full size pedals get you to high level tone loss in that chain of tone & effects.
Buffering is better in that regard, because a buffer stores the highs and passes it on. But let's say you go with a 20 foot section after the pedal chain to the amp ? You just lost that buffered effect in the pedal chain.
I use a 10-20 foot section after the pedal, 10-20 feet from guitar to pedal chain. I jave 4 pedals so we'll call that 2.75 more feet. Where I put the 20 foot cord has me over 18.5 feet, Buffered pedal makes no difference for what signal strength & tone that I lost. I think if I went 10/10/3.25 feet segments, then buffered pedals make sense.. Because the tone is preserved in 10-13.25 foot segments. Cables by their very nature degrade signal, inch by inch, foot by foot. You'll be able to tell that difference more noticeably after 10-12 feet. Those pre-manufactured sections of cord are conveniently measured lengths for a reason.
Thanks for your videos. Your work helps me a lot in developing my pedalboard. Keep up the good work!
I personally like running long cables to kill some high end. It's a trick i learned from Warren Haynes on some rig rundown I saw years ago.
Excellent explanations & demo. Warren Hayes of Govt. Mule supposedly uses a long guitar lead as part of his tone, presumably for the capacitance/LPF. BTW The Bare Knuckles Mule pick-up tries to reproduce his tone and, to my ear, is the best pick-up sound I have come across. Of course, many guitarists use wireless rather than long leads now.
Leaving your guitar cable coiled up, like you did, is also called an 'inductor', which kills your high frequencies, as well. Use only as much cable as you need. If you have too much cable, don't roll it up, spread it around in a random pattern behind your amp to reduce inductance. Try it. The results are as pronounced as the experiment you just performed. A long time ago, I learned this lesson when our band was using 100' speaker cables on small stages, coiling the excess cable and wondering where all the high frequencies from our PA to speakers were going. When we shortened or uncoiled the cable, the high frequencies came back. Good video.
I just got a Bona Fide and plugged in between a chain of 6 pedals (true bypass and boss pedals as well) and placed it right in the middle of the chain. Sounds good right before the tremolo and delay. It's quite bright.
Just when I think I'm starting to understand this stuff I find this video... now I'm intimidated again
Similar boat. So apparently we need a buffer between our looper bypass switchboard and our guitar. That’s my take away.
Another very helpful video, many thanks. I have a Behringer reverb pedal that should have No Bypass printed on it!
This is the second video I've seen from you and I must say... You are genius and a god. Thank you
This is why I run my Blackstar HT-Metal first, really good buffer in it, it does colour the tone slightly but I find the way it does so really useful. It seems as though the EQ is still slightly on even after being turned off meaning there isn't a really drastic tonal shift when I turn it off.
Good job on this video. I would say the buffer isn't the only thing that's missing from their lineup. Still waiting on a trem. :)
Didn't hear too much difference between the Bona Fide and the MZ, but damn the Crybaby really degraded the tone.
I find I get more clarity running my crybaby through my fx loop. I had wrestled with the tone suck having it going through the front. Something to try
@@SuperThetarget i converted mine to true bypass its pretty easy should be some videos on it somewhere
Very interesting indeed, definitely learned some things.
Put your crybaby in your fxloop (if you have one). I’ve been doing that for two year and it opens up your sound a long more. I enjoy that setup
Nice work Colin.
Almost to 100k subs, that was fast. I remember 16k not to long ago. Congrats Colin!
Thank you.
Seems like it's taken forever to me, but then I do judge my self worth by watching numbers slowly increment on a screen. These last few thousand are going to be torture.
Although this video exposes a lot of truths we all need as guitarist, in my humble opinion, the best way to show the cable capacitance is playing guitar clean meaning undistorted. Other than that - great video!
Great job Colin! Love yout videos, cheers from Portugal
u r awsome... first guitar guy that talks physics... u r goin 2 quench my knowledge thirst... thx pal
I just realized how much this dude looks like macaulay culkin
oh my god
Except far more healthy
Excellent explanation.
Thank you very much for your explanation
Great video mate! Thanks for the tips.
This is why I loved the old vht valvulator.
Have that first in you chain with a decent amp with a tube buffered fx loop and your done, simples.
I can vouch for the Bona Fide buffer and have 6 on 3 rigs. I run from guitar to stage pedals, mostly od's then to a rack with all the rest that are bypassed and manually turned off/on so they are not always in the loop. I noticed a nice bump up in volume,treble and overall tone with one after the floor pedals and one after the other effects and before the amps.
Also worth mentioning than when you use a looper switch true bypass on the pedals isn't as important as when they are chained directly together since the looper will take over most of the bypass function.
As buffers I use the one from the Sentry before looper and Mimo after, going straight to an amps clean channel only.
nice vid man! perfect description ie; capacitors etc.!
Interesting vid (amongst many others of you). I suspected my Crybaby was altering my sound quite a bit (mid tone junkie) and chucked it away for that. I was never able to pinpoint the real problem, but this vdeo made it perfectly clear. I suspect that this is the reason why I don't prefer to use pedals, although there's always one for boosting the signal or for quite specific sounds (HM-2 e.g.). Great Work! Love the accent btw!
Really Educational Video dude, well in, i learned a few things !
Really well done video man!
Excellent video, very informative, I learned a lot from it, thank you!
keep up these great videos you offer something heaps different to the other guys especially when it come to explaining gear and tone, but its also a fun channel. :) all the gain scoop the mids haha half my friends right there.
That was a very useful video, thanks a lot!
That first riff reminds me of Hocus Pocus by Focus.
Great video. Point clearly made!
Nice one Colin.
i read somewhere a couple of years ago a article stating that albert collins used extremely long cables because of the tone.
one story goes that he once during a solo left the gig, went next door ordering a pizza, came back and got it delivered to the stage... i don't know if it's true or not but i find the story so funny. That is one good reason to have long cables!
also, when you have a cable winded up, it becomes a coil, creating it's own magnetic fields interfering with the tone, so i suggest you also try this with straight cables, seeing what difference it will make. :-P
Physics! True, real, veritable. Veritas.
The universe is defined by rules. You have just demonstrated your knowledge about these rules.
Thank you. I like your opinions about musical theory too.
you should do a vid on your opinion of the perfect metal tone. no expenses spared, any and all equipment you need to make your opinion of the perfect metal tone
Very informative. Thank you!
This video shows that most people do not need a buffer, because they are only running about 30 to 40 feet of cable altogether. (old Imperial measurement system)
My board has a separate true bypass switch bar with LED indicators that help a lot. I made it using Carling SPST foot switches and Omron DPDT relays.
My final pedal in line is a Boss NS-2 which has a buffer, so I am set if I ever have a situation where I need over 50 feet of cable between my board and my amp(doubtful).
Fantastic video, Colin! Keep up the great work! Quickly becoming one of my favorite gear channels! \m/
Great explanation of an oft misconceived subject.
Is it weird that I like the sound of longer cables or the tone sucking of the cry baby more than a buffered or direct signal?
Not really to be honest. If you like a tone with less high end then that would make sense as it just cuts them although i would imagine that it would sound better just cutting the high ends on the amp with a good buffer as opposed to bad buffer plus high ends on amp if that makes sense?
+Calum Stout Yes it can definitely be done on the amp or by rolling down the tone knob too. I do like a fairly bright tone, but more focused in the upper mids. The longer cable just cuts some of the harsh pick attack out and lets the warmer chewy mid range come through more.
The tone sound that you prefer is always the best tone. So it's not wrong to like the reduced treble that the cry baby gives you. I don't personally like that tone with my playing, so I hook up my rig differently to preserve the high end.
The tone sound that you prefer is always the best tone. So it's not wrong to like the reduced treble that the cry baby gives you. I don't personally like that tone with my playing, so I hook up my rig differently to preserve the high end.
+DomSchu its fine, but thats not really the problem here, and its a bit of a disappointment that he didn't mentions that in this video; a buffered sound should sound just like your guitar plugged in an amp. but the thing is any pedal turned on will have that buffer effect anyways, so if you like your high end rolled off tone from your long cables but if you turn on a pedal it will be way too bright. so having a buffered all across the board is better, so that you can just roll off the high end on your amps EQ and have an even signal all across your pedals.. was i clear? its kind of hard to explain
Great video, super informative!
First of all you got a really great channel there. I love your vids, i can still learn from your guitar philosophies although i Play for more than 35 years (Perfect example is your vid about to set up gear with all the guitar volume and tone turned down a bit to be able to regulate up and down and not only to attenuate. I somehow knew this of course, but i never viewed it in that simple way which is totally logic :P) I also did a lot of modding to guitars and gear like you do, to know how to work with electronics is part of my Job and was a Hobby of mine since my youth.On True Bypass: Recently i really think about true Bypass for all pedals (aquiring some pedals who offer true bypass Feature to replace those i usen which don't). One thing about true Bypass: it allows the "working together" of the Input tube of a tube amp directly with the guitar if all effects are switched of. The second Advantage aspect true Bypass should reduce noise which all active buffer stages add to the Signal otoh the lower impedance provided by the buffer stage might reduce susceptability to external noise .A disadvantage of true Bypass otoh might be it could cause switching Pops depending on the Quality of the Switches.Sorry for my english which might not be perfect, since i am no native Speaker, Keep it up you really know what you do there!
Really good video, bru. Really helpful.
hey dude your like the guitar scientist dude. you dont play as badass as other guitar channels but ive learned much more useful info from your vids
If you already have a TC Electronics pedal you can change the pedal to use a buffer inside the pedal! I use my Corona Chorus as a buffered pedal because my rig sounds better that way.
Very well done! Thanks!!
Dare I say stoner rock intro Collin? Auto play got me and I looked up and here I am. Good stuff.
In all reality- The Guitar, the amp, the pedals, are on the Player- What they wanna sound like- what tone they want- And you don't always have to spend a lot to sound good- SOMETIMES lol my pedals I currently have are Boss NS-1 and TS9DX Tube Screamer running through a BlackStart HT 60 2X12 Combo 3 channel My gain is low, and It still sound like a beast, but then I can flex my tone more, sine the gain is real high i can tone that down, and get some good mids out of it, with the touch of bass and high ends- I mainly play a Gibson Les Paul Classic with 57' humbuckers- I really never cared for bypass or buffers- I like some organic effects and sounds-
Thank you. Nice video.
I like the muted non-buffer sound.
Thanks! Great info!
Thanks !! That was very clear and informative !
Great video!
Back when playing in a band I never really thought about cable length and the effect on the signal. We had a bunch of cables we soldered up ourselves, 10-20m+ in length to give us plenty of slack to play with wherever we gigged. Fuck me the difference you've shown between 3+3 vs 20+6+3 is so pronounced. Luckily I was at least playing bass, so at worst maybe the strings sounded a few weeks older than they were ;)
What I have noticed that some of the folks that I work with have low level guitar outputs. They use boosters to increase the signal. Then buffers to balance the whole mess. Then true bypass. Me I use Boss and MXR. I am okay with it. I don't use much Drive or Distortion.
TC Electronic pedals typically have a dip switch to enable buffered mode.
Nicely explained and demonstrated.
I'm wondering about the so called simulated bypass.