Little Black Buffer buffer buffer!

[jugglindan]

Haha, yes, it's the Buffy font (or rather a free interpretation). I have been rewatching Buffy while building pedals in the evening. It works because I know the stories so well I don't need to pay too much attention. The mock decal just had the letter B but I switched to "Buffer" when printing the decals. "Buffer the Capacitance Slayer" was too much text to fit nicely. I might try for that if I ever redo the finish.

I only have one buffered pedal and it's too far along the signal path. Plus my patch cables are a motley assortment. Even a long chain of true bypass pedals can mess with the signal a bit. Before building this I did an A/B test - guitar direct into amp vs guitar through pedal board with everything off.

I wonder if I can measure my lead capacitance with my multimeter? ...

[jugglindan]

Ok, I measured some of my leads:
cable from guitar to pedal board: 51pF/ft, 9.8ft so 500pf total
my old patch cables: 73pF/ft
some new ones I haven't installed yet: 81pf/ft

Ouch!

But at least I have a buffer

[Andy40]

I need to do this. All my pedals are true bypass

[McCreed]

Good stuff JD!

I used to think the cable capacitance thing was a load of tone snob hooey until I did the same A/B test... and wow! I immediately bought a buffer!

And once I started measuring the capacitance of my various (and pre-historic) cables... lots got the plug chopped off and cable chucked in the bin. This is also when I decided making 100% of my own cables was the best option.

Here's a great video by Canadian guitarist Pete Thorn (great player btw) that demonstrates the effect cable length has on tone.
The best part is the result is shown electronically (?) not just by the human ear.

[jugglindan]

Thanks for the video link. I like Pete Thorn, he has a great way of explaining technical topics from a guitarists perspective. That's the longest I have seen his hair though!

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[jugglindan]

Just did a bit of minor surgery to this pedal. The tagboard layout called for a 470r current limiting resistor for the LED. I thought that was a bit low so used a 680r. But the LED was still far too bright. Desoldered and replaced with 2k2. Now it's just right.

Also found this video from That Pedal Show. It's pretty much the same as the Pete Thorn one, but longer, slower, and with more detail. I like how they start with a description of a guitar tone control and then use that to explain the effect of signal chain capacitance.

[jugglindan]

And this pedal is done. It now has a permanent home as first in line on my board.

[jugglindan]

How do you know when a buffer is working?

All your EQ settings are now too bright.

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[McCreed]

How do you know when a buffer is working?

All your EQ settings are now too bright.

I presume you've done A/B testing. I would imagine "chalk and cheese" comes to mind .

I was bowled over by the difference when I was running my Boost 'n' Buff. A real eye opener.

[jugglindan]

I presume you've done A/B testing. I would imagine "chalk and cheese" comes to mind .

I was bowled over by the difference when I was running my Boost 'n' Buff. A real eye opener.

A/B testing (direct to amp vs through bypassed pedals) is why I built the buffer. But my amp EQ was set for the pedal board and now I am rolling guitar tone back 50%.

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