True Bypass: How important?

[The BurgerMeister]

so how can you tell what pedals are tru bypass and what aren't, are there brands that are always one or the other?

if a pedal is TrueBypass, you'll know. trust me. the manufacturer will say it in big letters that are all shiny and bright. and then they'll make a point of bringing it back up in the pedal's description.



and Beans: the tech21 pedals are NOT true bypass. but they've got the good buffer.

 

[tplyons]

I believe it's more hype than anything. Sure a true bypass is great, but a good buffered bypass can be better. If it sounds good on, and sounds good off, I don't care what kind of bypass.

 

[The BurgerMeister]

If it sounds good on, and sounds good off, I don't care what kind of bypass.

well put.

 

[343 Salty Beans]

I believe it's more hype than anything. Sure a true bypass is great, but a good buffered bypass can be better. If it sounds good on, and sounds good off, I don't care what kind of bypass.

I agree, but my rig seems to be very sensitive to any changes in the chain. I put my Godin Freeway 4 through the effects to an SWR LA15 (the new, white-circle-in-a-square model). The amp is VERY sensitive to any changes in my bass's onboard electronics (which are passive, but bloody LOUD). It's also sensitive to any changes in EQ, period. I usually run it flat (all knobs 12 oclock), but depending on the band situation, I sometimes boost mids to 2 and cut bass to 10. So when I put a badly buffered (or buffered, period) pedal in the chain, suddenly the sound is just OFF when AB'd. My bass/amp combo is a real golden chain....it sounds good almost any time. I just don't want to sully it with bad bypasses. And I don't really like the big old looopers, despite the fact that they would work well. I know I'm ********.

 

[Spencer!]

Here's some interesting reading regarding true bypass: The truth about true bypass

 

[seanm]

One thing I really prefer about true bypass pedals is that if the battery or the power supply dies, I can switch it off and still have signal.

That said, when I do use effects, I quite often use a BDDI which is buffered. I also have been know to use a Boss pedal or two. So I don't really worry about how it is bypassed. If worse comes to worse, I can use a loooper to switch it in/out.

 

[Shoewreck]

As for me, at least one pedal in chain (preferably the first one) must have active (or buffered) bypass or no bypass at all (I guess it's a nice option). If not, your passive pickups will work into a very long cable when you're clean. If you've gone active there's nothing left to worry about - just stay true.
Tone sucking is an issue. A good buffer is so simple and cheap - I wonder why some manufacturers still either don't make these or install sucking ones.
So my choice would be having at least one good buffer and then some true bypasses.

 

[niftydog]

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.

Fact is that everything from my homemade boxes (complete with the LED pop mod) to my expensive TB pedals still pop despite the magical 2 cent component panacea!

Here's some interesting reading regarding true bypass: The truth about true bypass

And here's some more "truth"... and some Invalid Link Removed