diy buffer - long

[whitewave]

Every five years quite everything we knew about guitars and tone is changed by the last Holy Grail of sound.

Now it's the moment for true bypass and buffer in front of fxs chain.
My signal goes through a diy TB Orange Squeezer, a modded-to-be-TB GCB-90 wah, a modded-to-be-TS808 TS9 Dx, an Ibanez PT-9 Phaser and I'm waiting for my new delay, an old Arion SAD-1.
The three last effects are not TB, so I'm planning to build a looper for them.
 Before doing it I'm going to do an A/B box in front of of the chain: for going to a tuner muting the signal to amp, and to house a simple buffer.
First of all, which buffer could you suggest to me to build? GGG's ones?

Then, here in Italy everyone got crazy for a buffer sold for 130$.  It has no pots, but a 3PDT.
Is it possible to build up a buffer that worth so much money?  Are there available more complex ones than AMZs?
 Why could I need to bypass a buffer?  

Thanks a lot.

[hilbi]

I'm into building buffers at the moment.

So far I built the amz mosfet boost/buffer and the amz super buffer. I think they are both excellent buffers.

Currently i'm using the amz super buffer, it is first in my chain (built in my Vox Wah) and i'm very happy with it.

It is much better the a total true bypass path of 40ft of cable and it beats every boss/ibanez style pedal for buffering qualities.

[amz-fx]

Is it possible to build up a buffer that worth so much money?

Not for guitar use...

Are there available more complex ones than AMZs?

Yes but there is not much to be gained by the more complex circuitry because of the limited frequency range and inherent distortion in guitars and guitar amps.

Why could I need to bypass a buffer?

You should not need to bypass it but having the switch in the box gives you added flexibility and options.

regards, Jack

[whitewave]

Thanks a lot.  As I imagined, that 130$ seems too much for such a simple aim.

Which one of your buffer could you suggest to me to build?

Using it in front of 2 true bypass pedals (maybe 3, BSIAB2 seems the distortion I need to complete my set up), and 3 non-TB pedals could cause some problems?

I heard positive feedbacks about using buffer in front of non-TB effects too.

[amz-fx]

Which one of your buffer could you suggest to me to build?

Build the Super Buffer...  it will do the job and has a lot of options for experimentation.

http://www.muzique.com/lab/superbuff.htm

regards, Jack

[hilbi]

The super buffer would be my suggestion too.

I created this vero layout for it, wich is verified. In case you find it usefull.

[petemoore]

Well I just 'stamped' out a small Jfet buffer board.
 Signal passes but is attenuated more than acceptable...sounds ok through a Fuzz or whatever, too much volume drop though.
 Super Buffer it is unless there's something smaller that'll beef Impedance and have little or no volume drop.
 Nothing can be 'done' for the Jfet Buffer I suppose...it's wired right...tried a different J201, and did  not note difference.

[petemoore]

20 min. 4558 basic Opamp buffer...sounds like unity to me !!
 I can't imagine whappened to my tone last night except cables...had a good 50'' of them going...can't find my other 15'' monster cable and used a 25'' RS 'clearsnake'...whoops only Fuzz that sounded half way decent was the BMP, FF and Tonebender sounded like POOP...usually they sound thick, full, saturated.
 So the long cable/capacitence thing has me figureing out 'how'...
 Haven't quite got it except when using FF or TB, keep the lines as short as possible.
 I like running the EZ Vibe first and it was over by the power supply, so I had long cable > EZ Vibe >long Cable > FF > SHcable > TB > Long Cable amp...as long as the EZ vibe was on it sounded great.
 I'll be going back to a 15'', to pedalboard, [EZVibe has PS line so it's on the pedalboard] short cables between, then long to the amp.
 I'll be putting this buffer in a very small enclosure, and hook it on the guitar strap, that should do the trick anyway.
 I managed to get good sound, just no guitar rolloff action using FF or TB that I'm used to and use so much...looks like I'm learning again.

[hilbi]

I put the super buffer in my Wah, enough space there  

just my 2 cents.

Need to test a 5532 in the super buffer to see what that does.

[vanhansen]

20 min. 4558 basic Opamp buffer...sounds like unity to me !!
 I can't imagine whappened to my tone last night except cables...had a good 50'' of them going...can't find my other 15'' monster cable and used a 25'' RS 'clearsnake'...whoops only Fuzz that sounded half way decent was the BMP, FF and Tonebender sounded like POOP...usually they sound thick, full, saturated.
 So the long cable/capacitence thing has me figureing out 'how'...
 Haven't quite got it except when using FF or TB, keep the lines as short as possible.
 I like running the EZ Vibe first and it was over by the power supply, so I had long cable > EZ Vibe >long Cable > FF > SHcable > TB > Long Cable amp...as long as the EZ vibe was on it sounded great.
 I'll be going back to a 15'', to pedalboard, [EZVibe has PS line so it's on the pedalboard] short cables between, then long to the amp.
 I'll be putting this buffer in a very small enclosure, and hook it on the guitar strap, that should do the trick anyway.
 I managed to get good sound, just no guitar rolloff action using FF or TB that I'm used to and use so much...looks like I'm learning again.

Wow, you use short cables.   15" and 25" ?  You shouldn't have an capacitence problems.  Sorry, had to go there.    I think you meant 15' and 25'.  " = inches, ' = foot.

[petemoore]

Dohhf... " ' " is what I meant to type...lol.
 On your feet or on your knees...

[Albert Kreuzer]

Anybody remember the Stonehenge scene in "Spinal Tap"?  
(the stage decoration should have been 18' tall...)

Cheers,
Albert

[mr_doyle]

Is it possible to build up a buffer that worth so much money?

Not for guitar use...

Pete Cornish or Steen Skrydstrup make buffers that are way more expensive, and worth every penny for many pro guys.

D.

[amz-fx]

Pete Cornish or Steen Skrydstrup make buffers that are way more expensive, and worth every penny for many pro guys.

Cornish pedals, for example, are used by pros because of their heavy duty construction and reliability, and worth the expensive to them for road use.

regards, Jack

[waldo041]

pete, you can try one of these buffers.

http://www.caesound.com/cgi-bin/cae/info?bufPreamp

i cloned my original from these guys and put it in a stompbox and seem to allow pretty long cable use with no signal loss. i ran about 70' of cable to include an effects loop and thru the loop a GGG tubescreamer and a mutron III and had no problem. just a suggestion. oh yeah and this buffer is like $49 minus shipping and meant to go in the guitar. hope this helps. peace, waldo

[whitewave]

Cornish pedals, for example, are used by pros because of their heavy duty construction and reliability, and worth the expensive to them for road use.

regards, Jack

Only?  I never tried them, but who did it, tells about the best sounding pedals on earth.    But how could you spend 800$ on a simple fuzz?

[petemoore]

I checked out Pete Cornishes site. Comes right up with the prices, no deal about it, IIRC they pop at you so you can see right away what's up with the pricing.
 I was looking at some of those devices he 'conjures up'. Very sophisticated, I didn't see anything like it around elsewhere, not only does he really know exactly what he's doing, it looks as though he could provide professionals with superior performance.
 Just turning the knobs, and hitting the switches on the type of stuff we're building, then reading about PC pedals...I started thinking about the English stuff I'd owned [Raleigh Bicycle etc...amps guitars].
 Looking at the PC site, I thinki I'd sure like to try something like that...then observing the construction, circuit complexity, PS Issues etc. etc. and all the other etc.s, the thinking strays towards more of...wow I wish I 'just had' THAT !

[Satch12879]

Pete Cornish or Steen Skrydstrup make buffers that are way more expensive, and worth every penny for many pro guys.

D.

Don't forget Mario Marino at Axess-Electronics.  His BS-2 is like the defacto interface for TONS of pros.  I mean Eddie "I can play cello better than Yo-Yo Ma" Van Halen has like 3 or 4 of them in his current live rig.  Supposedly these things are so hot that players are swearing on them before they'd swear on their mothers' or kids' lives.

But how could you spend 800$ on a simple fuzz?

I think "simple fuzz" is a slight understatement in this case...

[Doug_H]

Only?  I never tried them, but who did it, tells about the best sounding pedals on earth.    But how could you spend 800$ on a simple fuzz?

If I spent $800 on a simple fuzz, I would believe it was the best sounding pedal on earth too.

No offense meant to your friend, or to anyone who buys expensive gear. I'm just pointing out that when you  spend a lot of $, there is a tendency for you to want to justify the expense in your mind. It's a normal reaction, and we all do it.

My wife & I bought an expensive van a few yrs ago. It is top of the line and we justified the expense by believing it will depreciate less and have lower maintenance costs than other less expensive models. Over time we'll see if that plays out as true, everything is a gamble.  But to us, it was worth it.

So in the end, if it is worth it to you, or to your friend, then it is worth it. No one else can make that determination other than you.

Doug

[whitewave]

Build the Super Buffer...  it will do the job and has a lot of options for experimentation.

http://www.muzique.com/lab/superbuff.htm

regards, Jack

Thanks Jack, I completely trust your advice.  But since I'm a beginner I was wondering that your IC buffer on GGG is simpletr to me.  I can buy the PCB, and it's very simple to build.
Does the Super Buffer soun better?

Do you have Super Buffer PCBs to sell?

Thanks a lot.