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True Bypass: How important?

How vital is true bypass to you?

  • Absolutely essential

    Votes: 5 7.1%

  • It is a weighty factor in my pedal-decision process

    Votes: 14 20.0%

  • It's nice, but not completely necessary

    Votes: 40 57.1%

  • Not at all

    Votes: 11 15.7%
  • Total voters
    70
343 Salty Beans

343 Salty Beans

Jan 24, 2006
905
4
#1
I'm just wondering.

Yesterday, i was experimenting with my different pedals. I noticed how much different my tone is when I put my non-true-bypass pedals in my chain. For instance, when I throw a danelectro psycho flange in the chain, it really messes with my tone. I don't mind the boss bypass system too much, as my first effect was my ME-50B, but I'm afraid I'm becoming a pedal snob :rollno:

How do you feel about it? Also, how do you feel about the Boss bypass system? Do you feel multiple Boss pedals in your chain seriously affect your tone?
 
#3
to me, it's not that important... i don't really care about it when i'm playing live. no one in the crowd is going to care as much as i do. in the studio... i generally don't run through my entire board all the time. so really... it's not that important to me.

that being said, it is important for my effects to have good bypass. that is, i'll gladly use true- or buffered-bypass pedals, as long as my tone isn't completely killed by the pedal. for example, the MXR dynacomp has a terribly noticeable effect on the bypassed tone. so it's out. now, if i reallyREALLY like the sound of a pedal, i'll figure out a way (with a looper or something) to get it into my chain.
 
#4
I voted "not completely necessary" because I'm not really fer it nor agin' it! I have a unique approach to the problem in my pedalboard that combines the two.

But, some issues I have with true bypass are;

1. The engineer in my says that fragile signals must be well buffered. Active basses are ok, but passive basses can suffer major tone-suck caused by the drastically altering impedance's in fully true-bypassed systems. It's what I call "tone blow", the flip-side of tone suck! Let me explain;

Say you've got a subtle pedal, like a light chorus or something. When you switch it into the circuit, you might find the high impedance of the buffer changes the behaviour of the pickups noticeably - either by allowing the pickups to produce a stronger signal (hence potentially causing a jump in volume) or by allowing more high frequencies into your system (altering your tone or potentially causing hiss.)

2. Here's my impression of me changing my true-bypass effects setup in between songs:
POP... WHUUUMMP... THUD...

'nuff said.

As for "importance"... well, I don't think it really should be thought about in a subjective context; It's important to some, but not to others. The 'important' things are - to understand that it's not all flowers and fairy dust, there is a down side to true bypass - and to make your own mind up when you know all the facts.

The Boss system is still pretty good comparitively, but yes, multiple pedals in series will suck tone.
 
#5
Right, I would pick a really-well-designed buffered bypass over a hard-wire bypass; but I would pick hard-wire bypass over a crummy tone-sucking circuit. I can admire boutique builders like Barber who make a point of explaining that they have put a lot of work into creating a buffered bypass that works better than true bypass, in spite of the TBP fashion.
 
#7
I agree that it only takes one cheap pedal to degrade your signal chain. I run 11 pedals and three are not true bypass. using a looper to compare the sound of my signal chain with all pedals out (direct) or with all pedals in line but turned off, the results are a lot more subtle than one might think.

There is a slight drop in volume but no real perceived tone loss. My non true bypass pedals include two Boss pedals and a Dunlop 105Q wah. None of them do much damage to my sound.

I bought a true bypass looper but in the end, found it to not be needed in my chain.
 
#8
For the TBP pop, I can put in a pulldown resistor (which believe it or not, is a .02 cent component a lot of manufacturers just don't include), so I'm not too worried about it.

From what you said (which makes a lot of sense), my bass being passive probably has a lot to do with it.
 
#10
I no longer will play without a good buffered bypass pedal in my signal path...I only play basses in passive and was trying out many different overdrive pedals for a time- My original favorite being a modified Tubescreamer with a buffered bypass. I played through both a modified Rat and a Xotic BB preamp at different times which both did awesome OD/Distortion, but the loss of treble was very noticeable when the effects were switched off. The only way around it would be to boost the high end on my amp or cut it on the pedals....or just to keep the Tubescreamer in the chain- which is what I do, plus it kicks ass anyway!

As far as Boss pedals, I found their effect on tone to be very noticeable in a bad way when AB'ed with a clean signal- they actually seem to thin out the tone a bit it seems like- even their tuner pedals! My Planet Waves tuner is true-bypass, but since engaging it doesn't affect tone (like an overdrive or other effect), I think it's optimum for a tuner to be true-bypass.

Karl
 
#12
I dont mind to much live, but in the studio its not too much of a problem either cos our tech/producer has a technique with me that when recording we jut run clean bass into a Manley Tube DI. Then he duplicates the recording, runs it through my pedalboard, then into the DI again, then i just stand there without my bass, stamping on my pedals when ever i need them.
 
#14
jetpackbassist said:
to me, it's not that important... i don't really care about it when i'm playing live. no one in the crowd is going to care as much as i do. in the studio... i generally don't run through my entire board all the time. so really... it's not that important to me.

that being said, it is important for my effects to have good bypass. that is, i'll gladly use true- or buffered-bypass pedals, as long as my tone isn't completely killed by the pedal. for example, the MXR dynacomp has a terribly noticeable effect on the bypassed tone. so it's out. now, if i reallyREALLY like the sound of a pedal, i'll figure out a way (with a looper or something) to get it into my chain.
Click to expand...

Exactly the same way I feel. I've got buffered and TB pedals on my board. They're all in a network of TB loopers anyway, but the particularly bad pedals (like the Original Mu-Tron, and Bass Micro Synth) have their own dedicated TB loops.
 
#15
Most of my pedals are true bypass, which is a plus, but I do have two non-TB pedals - my Morley Power Wah and my EHX Bass Micro Synthesizer. My only requirement on the issue of bypass is that the bypass is good. I like a mix of TB and quality buffered pedals to maintain a strong, clean bypassed signal.

The Power Wah has an amazingly clean buffered bypass, which is a plus for maintaining a good signal. I can make full use of my amp's clean and overdrive channels without a tonal or volume compromise.

As for the BMS, I haven't noticed any bypass issues, although you do have to have the unit powered on to get a signal through, bypassed or not. Is the dreaded BMS bypass issue a feature of older units, or am I just missing something that will show up with further testing? :hmm:
 
#18
343 Salty Beans said:
For the TBP pop, I can put in a pulldown resistor...
Click to expand...
Sadly that doesn't always work and is sometimes an intermittent solution.

Vic Winters said:
I've made 2 true bypass looper pedals, and I never get a pop when I switch either on or off.
Click to expand...
Pure luck. Plus, a TB looper (I'm assuming it's passive) is one thing, but add in some active circuitry - as in an effect - and you'll definitely have problems.
 
#20
Actually, there's other things that can be done, assuming the pulldown doesn't work. If its LED pop, the solution is more complicated. but about 75% of the time, the pulldown will do the trick.

A question: is the tech21 BDDI true bypass? I don't see it listed on any site, so I have to assume it's not. And mine won't be always on like most people's. Just curious.
 

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