Buffer question for pedal board

[bcbeak]

I'm in the process of rebuilding my pedal board (based on a SKB PS-45) an plan to throw MANY pedals onto it and am building in three tiers. Q?:

First .. I have read that placing a buffer between the guitar and pedals will help signal flow and reduce tone suck. Do I need one at the end of the pedal board as well? Never used one. Any brand recommendations?

Second .. I have been searching for extremely low profile patch cables to connect the pedals together. I had been using a custom Planet Waves kit, and some old Ernie Ball 1/4" Couplers .. but there seems to be too much wasted space, so I just picked up a few Hosa 6" angled patch cables (CFS-107) that have very small profiles. Any comments good or bad on these .. or better recommendations .. before I buy a dozen of them?

[vjf1968]

First, get rid of those couplers, they could damage your I/O jacks on your pedals.

Second, If you like the Planet Waves then stick with them and just get another Pedal Board Cabling Kit and use the right angled plugs. They are easy to repair if there is a connection problem and they are solderless. Ditto for George L's

Third, those Hosa cables are cheap and of not very high quality. Some people use them and if they like them then more power too them. IMHO I would rather spend the extra cash and do it right the first time.

Here is a photo of my pedal board, you will notice the fuzz pedals off to the left. I am using the Planet Waves and have had no problems.

http://www.tdpri.com/telephoto/data/...edal_boars.JPG

As for the buffer question, you are going to have to experiment with that. Are you using a effects loop on your amp?

[modernartmuseum]

Warwick patch cables are decent or Lava

[Tonemonkey]

There are always more questions:

How anal are you re: tone? Honestly!!
How long are your cables ie Guitar to pedals and pedals to Amp, and are they decent cables?
How many pedals will you be using and are they TB'd?

I run 10ft of PWs into my PB (4 / 5 pedals all tb) 15/20 ft into my amp. No tone suck no need for a booster/buffer.



The long switch is just an A/B Fx Lp etc

Not the tidiest PB admittedly, but I'm always fannying around with it!

The red cables are George L's.

[Pinball_Wizard]

Originally Posted by bcbeak

First .. I have read that placing a buffer between the guitar and pedals will help signal flow and reduce tone suck. Do I need one at the end of the pedal board as well? Never used one. Any brand recommendations?

Well after the signal goes through a pedal the impedance may change, so depending on what pedals you have it might be beneficial to have a buffer at the end as well. Try it out and go with your ears.

Boss probably has the best buffer within a pedal, Ibanez has a good buffer system as well, never had experience with Ibanez pedals though.

the average boss pedal will have less "tone suck" than 10 ft of cable(distinguishable, and the improvement in signal preservation goes a long way). Boss buffers are rarely a bust, although with the huge popularity of the brand you eventually read about the less than one percent that occasionally get a lemon.

there are DIY pages that talk about building your own buffer, can be found on google.

[dalandan]

1. first, how many pedals are we talking about?

a mix of buffered and true bypass pedals can make life easier by not having to use an extra buffer pedal/s.

2. George L's i think saves space. most of the tidy boards i've seen use these.

btw, i don't endorse any brands. :)

[Tonemonkey]

Originally Posted by dalandan

2. George L's i think saves space. most of the tidy boards i've seen use these.

And some of the untidy ones!

[KokoTele]

I haven't seen a connector that uses less space than a George L right angle connector.

[dalandan]

Originally Posted by Tonemonkey

And some of the untidy ones!

don't be too hard on yourself tonemonkey! :) your board is pretty good.

IMO, there are some REALLY bad ones out there. funnily enough, i don't have a pedal board of my own. :)

[czech-one-2]

well,the 'clam shell' connectors are much flatter than the george l's connectors. you know,those round,flat connectors with two small screws to tighten the lids together.
i'm in the process of making my pedalboard cables with george l's cable soldered to clam shells.