My poor pedalboard is getting to critical mass, gents. I'm very proud of my colorful boxes, but the difference between my dry signal going through the board and plugged straight into the amp is significant. Just an obvious lack of sparkle and nuance when pushing through seven true bypass boxes and one Boss box at the end. I can't go much shorter on cables--12' from guitar to pedalboard and 10' from board to amp.

I've been shopping buffers with simplicity, footprint, and cost in mind and would love suggestions. Here's what I've got so far:

Super Hard On - Awesome but pricey.
Boost N' Buff - Cool but too much OD functionality.
Chili Picoso - Very nice smallness but I can't find it at a brick and mortar to test out.
Lift - Seems great but it's big n' tall n' knobby.
COT - Pricey and I have a hard time supporting the hype.

There's a great thread on here from 2004 all about buffers, so I don't mean to rehash old stuff, but for those of you that use a buffer: do you put in front of your effects chain or at the end?

The pedals you list there are actually boost pedals that can be used as a buffer. But if you just need a buffer, and want the BEST one, check out the Axess Electronics BS-2. Excellent buffer.

H

Ah, very cool--thanks for the rec, Headshot. This is attractive because the only real spot to put this thing is in the middle of my other stuff, thus making accidental knob-kicking and switch-pushing an issue (I get excited and shows and wear blunt shoes.). The BS2 has no such things to toe out of whack--sweet!

The other cool thing, is if you have a pedal train type board you can just stick it underneath since there are no knobs or switches to mess with!

H

Totally. I'm a bit concerned about a few reviews I've read about the BS-2 not playing nice with BF-style amps, but there's really no way to test aside from getting one (which I just did).

I didn't have any issues when I used it with a BF amp. I can't imagine why there would be any. It's a great neutral sounding buffer.

H

Bitchin'--thanks for the help, mate.

Axess BS-2, yep!

If you can solder you could whip one up for just a few bucks.

Having a Boost as a buffer is better than a lone buffer IMO. That way you can send a little more umph to your amp if desired.

How much are you looking to spend?

Well, seeing as it's not necessarily a "fun" purchase, I'd like to stay below $200. I'm going to give the BS2 a try, but will probably end up getting something else to A/B it with, try 'em both, and flip the loser.

Any suggestions?

I'd try the Boost N' Buff, I think--under $200 for sure.

There are a million buffers and boosters for well under $200. Pick up a used RC boost and you will have a little EQ to add if needed.

quote:

Originally posted by dosmun:
There are a million buffers and boosters for well under $200. Pick up a used RC boost and you will have a little EQ to add if needed.

Yep--love my RC. Makes my Maz 18 sound like a 212.

Hmmmmm, so I guess this begs the question: what does a boost/buffer actually do that can't be accomplished by turning the treble and volume up on the amplifier? That's a bit of a devil's advocate question, as I hear a nebulous loss of "mojo" when running through all my pedals... just wondering that that mojo is composed of.

Most of my pedals are true bypass - as I understand it, a buffer gives passive pickups a consistent input impedance to work with; the low impedance output from the buffer helps drive a long cable [and pedal chain] to the amp.

Though it doesn't help my playing at all, it does make me sound better. The only tone sucking is from my playing, not my cable & pedal chain.

I use MI Audio Boost'n'Buff: good buffer, good booster and a good price
I have tested also MXR CAE MC-401, it's nice too.

I love my Doobtone Buffer

FWIW, the Chili Picoso has a buffer output that will run as a buffer even when the pedal is bypassed. It also has a true bypass output as well.
I had one and it seemed pretty good. At that time I was okay with high end loss to the high end that came with the Picoso was kind of weird to me.
They can be had pretty cheap on Ebay, TGP emporium.

Dude, I hear you. a Few things I noticed. I was psyched to go more and more and more true bypass adding more and more boxes. Eventually I realized - Im really compensating for a bunch of lost treble at the amp, adding noise etc. When I switched on my compressor (which, when on, was effectively buffering my signal) my tone seems really bass shy, gritty, and bright! First thoughts: this pedal is really bass shy and bright. Realization: my signal is dull and weak with all the TB pedals and without a buffer.

On the other hand, I was playing outwith my friends and had no tuner, a must on stage. They had a boss tuner for me, and I rand either that or an active a/b box first on gigs. I could not get the ice pick attack out of my notes especially on my solos! It killed my vibe, but I couldn't turn the treble down enough to fix that. Eventually, I realized it was the buffer before my standard overdrive pedal causing a big tonal different than hitting it off a TB's signal as I had been doing outside of gigs.

I also refused to spend hundreds of dollars on a single cable, so I now use george L's and well placed buffers instead of going to all Mogami cable etc and spend the money elsewhere. Long story short, I've concluded that some of my dirt pedals don't want a buffered signal, but otherwise, I want one in my chain, ASAP. I've come to prefer a buffered tone and buffered pedal first makes some of my other pedals run smoother and more consistently (say, my envelope filter), but I make sure they run after my dirt boxes for them most part.

I'm a big fan of smooth lead tone. I'll even say that I prefer my tone with a boss buffer. When I play my amp guitar-->smooth dirt pedal--> amp, I can't tweak it all to sound as smooth as my full rig with the buffer after the dirt pedal. Surely if you can afford a good stand alone buffer pedal or one that is on all the time, or a simple little box built by a local guy, than get one over a boss buffer, but don't be afraid to experiment with all the regualr stuff that's out there, too.

I agree with the above post. Buffers can screw with OD's and fuzzes etc.

But one thing you really want to look out for is to get rid of all those tiny George L cables. The thicker one's are fine. The small pedal board ones really push the highs and mids and leave the low-end rather lame.

They especially do not get along with buffers, the klon in particular hates the small George L's.

Just my .02