True Bypass vs. Buffered Bypass Guitar Pedals (Made Simple)

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Today we're discussing the difference between True Bypass and Buffered Bypass guitar pedals. What are the pros and cons of each?
There are some misconceptions about true bypass pedals being better for your tone, but in fact each type has has its own limitations.
I really want to keep this simple, to the point and easy to understand, so we won't be discussing about the impedance signal and all the technical specifications of the pedals design. I like simple.
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- Singular Sound Aeros Looper Gold Edition (get 10% off by entering ANTOINE10 at checkout): www.singularsound.com/product...
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- EHX Micro POG: sweetwater.sjv.io/eK5jjZ
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- Strymon BigSky Plugin: sweetwater.sjv.io/m5J1ky
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Through original ambient music, chordal guitar lessons and tips on guitar pedals, Antoine is looking to educate and inspire aspiring ambient musicians to learn everything about the world of ambient guitar and chordal voicings on guitar.

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

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[@johannmunoz_gtr]

Great English pronunciation brother, I am from Colombia and I can understand your words perfectly. Subscribed

[@CaioJhonny]

I agree!

[@longlivebytor]

I really appreciate you taking the time to get this information out there. It explained a lot and changed my perspective on true bypass pedals.

[@GPaDLA]

Very clear explanation. Thank you! Ive been wanting to know the difference for a while now.

[@marcr-m1941]

Thank you, your video is straight to the point and really helpful!

[@tankpt]

Thank you for the tips Idubbbz!

[@DavidMichael613]

Terrific explanation. Bon travail Antoine! Merci!

[@hcnilsson]

Very well explained, thanks a lot 👏⭐

[@kosmicwizard]

Having a buffer at the beginning and end of your pedalboard is most important.

[@29troub]

Merci Antoine, thank you for giving a very detailed explanation

[@MK-tj5bf]

Amazing explanation, man!!!! Thank you!

[@VexxJam]

Great vid 👍👍 concise and informative.

[@BabylonMister]

I don't want to mess up my new Truetone CS12. Where would I plug my Pigtronix Philosopher Bass Compressor into the CS12 and which cord would I use? The Pigtronix says: "Use with 9-18 VDC Neg tip Power supply." Input: 100 - 240 V; 50-60 Hz / 250mA; Output: 18V _ _ _ 300mA. Thank you for your help!!!

[@chriskoch2465]

Great video, thanks for the info

[@SeanLima]

Thank you for the explanation! Had no clue what the terms were or what they meant lol

[@TakisMasterKey]

Very good! I think it would be important to add that if you have true bypass pedals and at least one of them is on, it buffers the signal! Keep up the good work!

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

Thanks man :) From what I understand, the signal is not buffered on a true bypass pedal, even when it's on. That's the point of making true bypass pedals. Buffers are usually expensive and bump up the prices of your pedals, that's why some companies choose to advertise their true bypass pedals as ''better''. A buffered pedal has the buffer circuit activated at all times, precisely because activating the buffer everytime you step on the pedal would induce a loud noise and would take a small amount of time to be activated, but you need your effect to work in a fraction of a second. If it wasn't a problem, I think every pedal would be true bypass and buffered at the same time.

[@rafsnchz]

It has nothing to do with true bypass or buffered bypass when the pedal is on. Bypass - is the state when the pedal is OFF. For example Earthquaker Devices The Warden compressor is a true bypass pedal, but when it's ON if has an output impedance of

[@ivanbartolelli]

Cool explanation. Thanks!

[@Rob0917]

Ive watched several videos of yours, great stuff 👍🏻 Btw, because I’ve only heard your voice on past videos, I imagined you looked totally different haha

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

Haha, thanks man!

[@racso121]

If I have a buffered pedal but it always turn on like a delay or reverb, it wont change my sound even if I have several truebypass pedals in tje chain before?

[@resisaputra269]

awesome explanation, Antoine!!

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

Thanks! Did you know about this before?

[@christianrodriguez4768]

I have a question? Where is the perfect pocition to put a buffer pedal before or after the pedal Board ??

[@DurvalLacerda]

*Question* I have 10 True Bypass pedals in my board and a Boss pedal laying around in my room. Can I take that Boss pedal and put it in my signal chain just for the Buffer on it? If yes, where do I put it in the signal chain?

[@peppierecords7208]

Why cant i add a DI box just before the amp if long cable is the problem...DI also gonna change the high impedance to low....and then my truebypass should not be noisy.....any suggestion??

[@ligal75]

You can also buy the polytune 3 and set the pedal on buffer mode then you don't need to buy a only buffer separed pedal

[@Helvis23]

Clear and consice. I learned some things.

[@empathysgone96]

Thank you so much! Makes more sense

[@MK-tj5bf]

Question I have only two buffered pedals at the beginning of my chain of 12 petals. They are Morley Little Alligator volume pedal and Morley Bad Horsie 2 wah pedal Are they considered to be a high quality buffered pedals? Thanks.

[@Sauce-Man809]

Great video brother !!! I have a vp jr volume pedal , mini dyna comp , mxr sugar drive , fulltone ocd v2 , ( ima end up buying a Friedman dirty shirley ) a boss ch1 , strymon timeline , strymon bigsky . How would you arrange these pedals? I’m looking for a really clean sound .I’m planning to buy a tuner but still don’t know what to get lol

[@TheBarnaway]

Hello, good video, a question, is it true that playing with a wireless guitar you can put a true by pass at the first place in the chain? (They say that the wireless one has a circuit that increases the signal, hence there is no need for a buffer) thank you very much, greetings.

[@amateurmakingmistakes]

My large pedalboard goes out in stereo, so I have 2 identical buffer pedals at the end, before they get to the DAW. Should I get another identical buffer pedal at the beginning of this chain?

[@jayvsson]

Nice explanation! Would a dedicated buffer at the front of the chain be useless or have any effect if I have 2 true bypass AND 3 other buffered bypass in my chain as well after? (Do dedicated buffered only work when all the pedals as true bypass - or can they be buffered as well?) Thanks

[@warmothgmc]

Well, I went the route of true bypass years ago after my experience with a Dunlop Crybaby, which is not true bypass in the base model. Sounded great when engaged; but, when bypassed it absolutely sucked all the balls out of my tone running into a 100 watt Marshall Superlead half stack. At the time, I was only using the wah and a Govnor overdrive. The loss of signal, tone, and overall “balls” when in bypass was infuriating. So, now most of my pedals are true bypass. I don,t like the base tone of my amps being altered. Just use a dedicated buffer early in the chain for the multiple pedals and cable run lengths and all is well. I just stick a decimator at the end of the chain to tame the noise, especially with the Strat.

[@riswandakafa9750]

so.. a buffered tuner?

[@maxduvall9055]

Awesome, im new to pedals and didn't get pedals based off of what is true and what isn't, I just get the ones I like and as a result I got some from both categories.

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

And that's great! :-)

[@romanslegion7771]

Excellent. Perfect. 👍🏼

[@mydailylife3805]

What do you turn on the buffer on the big sky?

[@gilmouring]

The solution is using a true bypass looper. Only that resolves any issue no matter how many pedals you have and no matter if they're true bypass or not!

[@FLAMENCO961]

Tony Samperi any recomendation?

[@fiatluxmequi3227]

@@FLAMENCO961 mosky loop box

[@thezeek2745]

My TC pedal tuner has a buffer built in. Is this an old pedal of theirs?

[@acdrnn]

Thanks for the great explanation. And i was busy about this case last few days. I want a delay pedal on my board which keeps going the effect after i disengaged. so it may fade out when im carrying on rhytm part of the song. which delay pedals do you advice to me? i have 4 pedals on my board and all are average true bypass pedals( all are dry signal effects like wah, booster, od and comp). and no send return on my amp, just input. Thank you.

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

Thanks for watching man! To help you with your delay pedal, I'd like to have more info... especially what is your budget and what kind of sound are you looking for (pristine & clean echoes or vintage, darker tones)?

[@robby188]

Bravo Antoine, top vidéo. Et très bon anglais

[@CHOPERUS23]

True bypass for modulation effects in the fx loop and doesn't really matter what you put in the front.

[@ivanjesusmusic]

Buffered bypass on big sky is an option?? How you do get that???

[@empathysgone96]

question. what do you know about DC+. apparently my switcher pops pretty loud when I first turn it on and engage a pedal's switcher. as I continue to engage any of the pedals it dies down. ive been told this is an issue with true bypass. do you know anything about this?

[@oscarabellorios]

Any solution?

[@empathysgone96]

@@oscarabellorios yes. Apparently I have too many true bypass pedals. Adding a good buffer in front of the chain eliminated the issue.

[@shawnmann]

Where should the dedicated buffer pedal be placed in the pedal chain? Is it optimal to have one at the front and one at the end? I have a JHS Prestige (marketed as a buffer/enhancer/booster) at the front, and a TC E Hall of Fame 2 at the end. When I switch the HOF 2 into buffer mode, will that be optimal for driving the cable running to my amp?

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

Yes, that seems like the best in your situation!

[@shawnmann]

Antoine Michaud Thank you for that and for your quality content!

[@anthonysthellhammerg4388]

Dude thank you so much just got a wah with the option of both and already hooking it up to a fucking disaster was on for about for 40 min till I found you that would just give it to me in basic fucking English thanks again thumbs ,subbed

[@bill.clifford.59]

I'm sure everyone relies when he said 20 inches and 60 inches about the length of the chords he meant feet!

[@neilgitman]

Spinal Tap Stone Henge lol

[@TigerCarpenter]

no he meant inches. he knows what he's saying man he plays with 20 inches = half meter cable which literally means he is sitting on his amp. this is the best way to get the cleanest sound, eliminate hiss / noise and preserve the high frequencies. so now that you know it, we all should switch to 20 inches guitar leads. that's the way!

[@DADSGETNDOWN]

Sounds like you are saying, one cable longer than about, five feet will suffer in True Bypass.

[@wynandvanreenen2612]

Another con on true bypass is the pop when switching on and off. TC Electronic has a internal toggle switch to activate built in buffer.

[@gigicau6955]

I have a question. I have the Polytune 3 Mini whit Bonafide Buffer integrated. When the pedal is switched to "buffered bypass" and If I disconnect the power cable, I have noticed that I can still hear my guitar. Isn't it supposed that in the buffered bypass the guitar should not be heard when the power is disconnected? I mean this is the standard test for true-bypass pedals, but if the pedal is not in that configuration anymore, maybe it is not a real buffer? or maybe I have a faulty pedal? Thank you.

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

You are right, it should not be happening in buffered mode. Maybe you thought it was in buffer mode, but it was in true-bypass mode? Just make sure with the manual that it's not user error first and that you did not confuse the order of the dip switches. If not, then, I'm not sure what is the issue here :-(

[@gigicau6955]

@@AntoineMichaudGuitar Thank you. The switches are right. I ‘ll contact TC ELECTRONIC

[@adriansommer3078]

Today i get the TU-2 Tuner from Boss. Its a buffered-bypass Pedal. I have seen here on youtube that the pedal should the first pedal in the chain. I have a good signal coming out of my guitar, but after i have only true bypass-pedals. Theres a loss of signal at the end ofthe chain. Is it a good idea to set the tuner after all of my pedals? Thank you very much for the answer.

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

It is never a good idea to put a tuner at the end of the chain. It has nothing to do with buffer or tone, but more for the accuracy of the tuner. Let's say that your tuner is last in the chain and you want to quickly tune between 2 songs in a show. You have 5 seconds. If your overdrives or, worse, delays are still on, your tuner will get very confused by receiving a delayed/reverbarated/distorted signal. It's always better to give your tuner the most unaltered signal and the best for that is to put it first in the chain!

[@camronme917]

Adrian Sommer WAIT! Its important to know that some pedals need to be loaded properly. Fuzz pedals can sound like shit with a lo z input. Buffer after fuzzes but before anything else is the way to go

[@adriansommer3078]

Thank you:-)

[@giannoncene]

I have a Strymon Sunset which can be set as True or Buffered bypass. Which bypass would you recommend?

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

It depends on how many pedals you have and if you already have other buffered pedals on your board. I think I would recommend to set it up on true bypass mode, because I prefer to keep my delays and reverbs on buffered mode (to get the trails when I disengage the pedal... which isn't important for a drive pedal!).

[@giannoncene]

Well I use my Strymon Mobius and Timeline on Buffered Bypass mode, so you're saying it will be unnecessary to use Sunset with Buffered Bypass?

[@RoyceObong-tu3le]

Thank you

[@BarryGrueter]

Cool thanks for sharing 🙏

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

No problem 👍

[@Charlago]

if you only had 2 pedals would it be bad if one was true bypass and one was buffered? I have an Ibanez TS9DX which is true bypass but I wanted to get an EHX Oceans 11 which is buffered.

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

That would be totally fine! You don't have to worry about that when you have a very short signal chain

[@Charlago]

@@AntoineMichaudGuitar I'm going to buy it. Thank you!

[@MrMongo321]

Good explanation!

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

Always first ;)

[@MrMongo321]

😊

[@miggygatchalian7886]

I have like 5 pedals on my chain. All are bypass. Is that okay?

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

Oh yeah, you don't have a long chain, that's ok!

[@FireAwayProductions]

Informative

[@JamesJohnson-hb1me]

Do wireless guitar transmitters work the same as long cables?

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

It's a whole other world, especially if it's converting the signal into digital, which most of good modern transmitters are doing. I don't have experience with this, but I think the principle stays the same, if you have a long length of cables with your patch cables or just a lot of pedals, it would be prefered to get a buffer somewhere in your chain to avoid losing some high end. But if your wireless system modifies your tone too much, it becomes irrelevant to look out for such small details when there's a big thing already affecting your tone a lot more!

[@JamesJohnson-hb1me]

I do not currently have any buffered pedals and my longest cable is only about 20' long. I have eleven pedals on my board and I tried using a guitar cable and a wireless system. I did not notice any loss of tone and both the cable and wireless system sounded the same to me. What I did lose was volume, but just on 1 amp not on both. Ok for me because I am a bedroom player (actually in my office) and I normally have trouble getting the volume low enough, so now I get the chance to turn the volume up to almost 10:00, yay! It sounds really good to me, but I will play more and try to see if I do notice any loss of tone. Thanks! By the way, in case anyone is wondering the amps are tube amps; Fender and Palmer.

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

Thanks for sharing your experience with it!

[@MK-tj5bf]

2:31 Inches? Maybe 20 feet?

[@TimothyBussMusic]

Before I got my HD500X I had a couple of buffered pedals on my board...

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

You got a HD500X? Is that new? :D

[@TimothyBussMusic]

I got it shortly after you went on tour the first time with Mystery...

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

And do you like it?

[@etiennecharbonneau3592]

Dat video edit tho at 0:23 :P

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

Modern edit :-P

[@FilipFellner]

How many is few? 5 pedals?

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

Yes, I would say 5 or less.

[@satinwhip]

You were wise not to want to bash TC Electronic pedals. Many of them (including the tuner pedal you showed) have switchable true bypass or buffered bypass. You might want to do a little more research in the future.

[@spence_the_buffet_slayer]

Good video, but you need to learn the difference between inches and feet!

[@AntoineMichaudGuitar]

spencer roberts I always mix them up, sorry for that!!

[@dwrdyts]

Monochrome Seasons we know what you ment👍

[@klauscottonswab2322]

Honey I shrunk the kids! 🤣

[@kosmicwizard]

It is not good advice imho to tell people to not think about it, as it is very important and should be something people have in mind so they don't spend money unnecessarily.

[@jttcotm318]

Wrong. If the pedal is for-real "true bypass" then there is zero signal loss through the pedal in the off mode. He says you'll suffer signal loss if you have a lot of true bypass pedals, so I can only assume his experience is with pedals marked "true bypass" that were not true bypass. Using a multimeter you can measure both resistance and capacitance to ground at either the input or output jack of a pedal. --> IF true bypass, with pedal switched off: resistance should be infinite; capacitance should be less than 10pF.

[@woosix7735]

An Ideal buffer will NOT alter the signal in any way. none of this "coloration of the tone" nonsense. Of course, real buffers may be not be perfectly ideal, but it still is quite minimal.

[@stevebartos2761]

just passed english class yay

[@nickysassiano5473]

I swear this dude called me last week, one of those phone scam ordeals.. 🤔

[@BluesLicks101]

Wrong.

[@markd4768]

I thought all this new technology was supposed to make things easier? It was better in the 70s

[@user-jk4vu8bs6m]

Чувак тебе не надо так лоб напрягать, а то в скором времени эти морщинки так и будут красоваться на лице уже без напряга, это пипец чувак лечи эту привычку пока не поздно(

[@vihamra1991]

great explanation! thank you.