SimonGrounsell

Hi all,

If I run my guitar straight to the amp, will it sound different if I run it to an effect pedal, then to the amp? if I have the effect switched off of course.

My amp is a Belcat vintage v35rg 35w and my guitar are a epiphone les Paul standard and ibanez 170dxl

Thanks , Simon

ProphetToJables

It depends on the quality of the pedal, if its $20, it may buzz and hum like crazy.

__________________

Dave_Mc

maybe

try it both ways to see

__________________

james4

if the pedal is true bypass then it'll sound the same, assuming all the connections are good

if the effect has buffered bypass (like a BOSS pedal, for example), then it *should* sound the same, though the build quality and buffer style can play a part. In most cases you won't be able to notice a difference, unless it's a super low-end pedal

__________________
Wiring your guitar?

Dave_Mc

(a) nope. true bypass won't affect your tone inside the pedal... but it won't do anything to help with long cable runs, and with long cable runs (especially with cheaper, high capacitance cables) treble roll-off can be noticeable.

(b) yep, in theory the buffer should help with the treble roll-off i mentioned in (a), but as you said, that's in theory and assuming a well-designed buffer. also sometimes too many buffers can interact (or buffers with slightly less than unity gain, like the boss ones i think) and start to have a cumulative effect on your tone. one (good) buffer will most likely help things, but whack 5 together and all bets are off, kind of thing.

That's actually why I like true bypass- while a lot of the claims about it are BS ("not affecting your tone" being one), at least its drawbacks are easily rectified. if i'm suffering from too much treble loss because all my pedals are true bypass, all i need to do is buy a good buffer and that should sort it.

From what i hear, the same should be true with half-assed bypass too (but then it sounds not so great if you don't use a buffer).

__________________

Woffelz

Depends on if the pedal is buzzy/hummy or not and it it's true bypass or not. The first one speaks for itself. If it's true bypass, the signal will be weaker.

__________________
Your beliefs are only valid when they correspond with my own.

Twitter
Youtube
Soundcloud

SimonGrounsell

Thanks , this all makes sense one of my pedals is a better quality true bypass pedal it's just a blues distortion pedal so I'm playing it with a bluesy tone before switching it on anyway and the second isn't a true bypass pedal but the second pedal isn't a a true bypass but it doesn't change to much to worry a out replacing it.

MaggaraMarine

My MXR Micro Chorus is true bypass and the treble roll-of was so clearly noticeable that I don't really use it at the moment (and I like my clean tone without chorus too, it's not necessary effect for me any more). I think some day I'll buy a good quality buffered bypass pedal (Visual Sound GT Oil Can Phaser, any experience?) and my problem is solved.

And if the pedal is true bypass, it's true bypass. There is no bad or good quality true bypass. Because then it's not true bypass. True bypass means that the pedal doesn't have an effect on your tone when it's off. But of course if you have a long cable, you will lose treble. I had two 7.5 meter cables and it sounded so dull compared to a 3 meter or 7.5 meter cable alone. And I can't notice almost any difference between a 3 meter or 7.5 meter cable. I think it also depends on how sensitive your amp is. On my Microcube I think I wouldn't have noticed any difference between long and short cable but on my Laney VC30 it feels like everything matters a lot more.

__________________
My motto: Play what the song needs you to play!

Gear:

Charvel So Cal (MIJ)
Digitech RP355
MXR Micro Chorus
Laney VC30
Tokai TB48

Dave_Mc

yeah i mean the basic gist of it is, if you don't notice any difference, it doesn't matter.



i guess you could argue that the quality of the wiring inside the pedal (and the amount of wire used) and the quality of the switch might very slightly affect things. But that's probably massively overthinking it to the extent of missing the wood for the trees, lol.

but yeah definitely guitar seems to be a "weakest chain in the link" kind of thing... there's no point in worrying about something minor if you have something far more important wrong. always fix the weakest link first. Granted, once you do, that previous minor problem might be much more noticeable.

__________________