Boss TU3 vs OC2 buffer

[Matt Dean]

I am currently running my OC2 (Octaver) at the front end of my effects signal pathway and am wondering about the buffering characteristics of the OC2 vs my TU3, which I run at the back end.

In other words, do both pedals use the same buffer?

[Matt Dean]

63 views and nobody has an opinion about the buffers in these pedals?

Remarkable.

[MK1]

I'm pretty sure the TU-3 is true bypass, so it wouldn't have a buffer. But someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Matt Dean]

No, the TU3 has both a bypassed jack and also has a buffered jack.

[M Sterling]

Apparently, Boss doesn't have much info out there about what buffers they have used or still do. I would think the most modern of the two pedals would have the more advanced buffer, but this is merely speculation and not based on any solid info.

[Matt Dean]

Well, I'm running my OC2 first in the chain... and I've tried the TU3 first in the chain, and I really can't tell much of a difference.

[mattfong]

I'm not surprised. I could hardly even tell the difference between the bypasses in a true bypass Rat and a buffered bypass Peavey HFD-2 (Rat clone-ish) from the 80s.

[GHI]

In a thread about boss buffers I were telling about a conversation I had with a boss employee who assured me that the buffer in the TU-3 was the same as used in the TU-2. But this other guy, the OP as the matter of fact, seemed pretty sure that there was a new and improved buffer in the TU-3, as well as other new releases..

But anyways, I don't think there is too much of a difference. And IMO certainly not to a degree that should affect the placement of your pedals. Do you not like your OC-2 going into fuzz?

[BullHorn]

I have no idea about this, I just know the TU-3 does not have true-bypass. That's the reason I got the Korg Pitchblack instead...

[Happynoj]

Originally Posted by Matt Dean

Well, I'm running my OC2 first in the chain... and I've tried the TU3 first in the chain, and I really can't tell much of a difference.

If you can't tell the difference then surely it doesn't matter?

[mr.hughes]

Not sure about the quality of buffer - but both pedals (actually all Boss pedals AFAIK) have a 1 M-ohm input impedance - which has helped my upright pickups immensely. Hope that's of some use.

[audiomitch]

The buffer isn't going to make much of a difference in a two pedal setup. All the "tone suck" comes when you have a pedal board full of buffered pedals.

Btw, why do you put your tuner at the end of the chain? Don't you have to click off the OC2 everytime you want to tune? FWIW, I always put my tuner first, then it requires only one footswitch to tune.

[Matt Dean]

Originally Posted by GHI

Do you not like your OC-2 going into fuzz?

My signal processing pathway is Boss OC2>W&C Phat Phuck B>Darkglass B3K>W&C Tall Font Russian>IE Oxide>IE Xerograph>HBE Psilocybe>Boss TU3... so, I guess my answer to this question is: yes.

Originally Posted by mr.hughes

Not sure about the quality of buffer - but both pedals (actually all Boss pedals AFAIK) have a 1 M-ohm input impedance - which has helped my upright pickups immensely. Hope that's of some use.

Thanks, this does help and was exactly the kind of response I was hoping for.

Originally Posted by audiomitch

The buffer isn't going to make much of a difference in a two pedal setup. All the "tone suck" comes when you have a pedal board full of buffered pedals.

Btw, why do you put your tuner at the end of the chain? Don't you have to click off the OC2 everytime you want to tune? FWIW, I always put my tuner first, then it requires only one footswitch to tune.

I put the TU3 at the end of the chain because I put the OC2 at the front of the chain, so I can feed it the cleanest bass signal, which I think improves the octave output.

All the pedals between the boss pedals are true bypass. And, yes I do turn off all my pedals when I tune... it doesn't that big a deal to me.