Does a tube screamer with a switchable buffer exist?

guitarblaster

Hey guys, I’m just wondering if anyone knows of such a pedal? The drives I can think of with switchable buffer are all Klon types (because people love that buffer!). Reason is, mon pedalboard has no buffers. But I also use a Fulltone 69 which sounds nasty and trebly with a buffer in the chain. So would need a switchable buffer with an external switch. 

Other option would be to get the Boss Waza tuner, which annoyingly I used to own! 

Thanks!

TimmyO

Didn't one of the Visual Sound pedals offer this? 

NorthernStomps

Magnetic Effects do the Zola, a clean boost with enormous headroom. It has an external switch for a buffer. 

If youre using your Tubescreamer simply as a boost for your amp, it might work.

Looks ace too

ICBM

If you have the 69 before the Tube Screamer, the buffer doesn’t matter.

JDE

TimmyO said:

Didn't one of the Visual Sound pedals offer this? 

The right side of the VS-XO pedal is a TS and has switchable buffer/tbp but the switch is internal, so not what @guitarblaster needs. 

I am assuming you want to stack your TS into the Fulltone?

Adam_MD

You could ask one of the builders on the forum to make you one.  Do you want the option to use the buffer or will it be off all the time?  It wouldn't be a difficult build plus you get the bonus of having whatever graphics/looks you want. 

markr76

The 69' needs to be right at the front of your chain.  Like all ge fuzzes it needs to see the guitars pups to sound best.
I used to pop mine before my wah and tuner. I did have an archer pedal at the time, which has a buffer. It was ok on my rig if it was down the signal chain. In front the 69' sounded as you describe. 

JDE

markr76 said:

The 69' needs to be right at the front of your chain.  Like all ge fuzzes it needs to see the guitars pups to sound best.
I used to pop mine before my wah and tuner. I did have an archer pedal at the time, which has a buffer. It was ok on my rig if it was down the signal chain. In front the 69' sounded as you describe. 

This was where I was going. If your aim is to boost into the fuzz with the TS, whatever you use will sound like arse, as once you turn it on, the signal is buffered. If the TS is going to be placed after the 69, it doesn’t matter whether it’s tbp or buffered. 

guitarblaster

Thanks for the replies guys!

Hmm .. it's weird. I know the accepted knowledge is that a buffer after a fuzz face doesn't matter but with the pedals I've had, it did make a difference! And I wasn't being Eric Johnsony about it!

So, I had a  RYRA klone and a boss waza tuner. These are the only pedals with buffers I've owned.

Placing the RYRA before or after the Fulltone 69 gave me the same trebly sound. The only way I could use the Fulltone 69 and Ryra on the same board was to have it as an always on clean boost, then the Fulltone 69 sounded as expected. 

I experienced the exact same thing with the Boss Waza tuner as well, before or after it spoilt the sound of the Fulltone 69. With the tuner I left it at the start of my board and simply switched the buffer on and off when needed. 

I don't know if those buffers were just unique, is there any possible explanation for it? I've never actually owned a buffered tubescreamer, perhaps those buffers were different? 

Yeah a custom made one from someone on the forum would be a great idea! Something I will consider!

To clarify how I'm using it, I'm using the TS after the Fulltone 69. It's used to boost a Greer Lightspeed for lead tones.

Thanks again for all the wisdom guys. 

JDE

Buffers after pedals can cause issues too. Especially if the pedal before it has a lot of gain, as the buffer can “amplify” it (some of the techy guys on this forum are going to hate me for not knowing the correct terminology- sorry!).

With buffers - As soon as you turn a pedal on, any pedal, your signal becomes buffered. The true bypass/buffered thing refers to when a pedal is turned off. If you’re not using the TS and the fuzz together, but you don’t like the sound of a buffered pedal (not turned on) after the 69, any true bypass TS will work, and will not affect your sound. Why would you want a switchable buffer if buffers seem to react badly with the Fulltone? I’d just have an all-tbp board and be done with it. 
Some pedals just don’t like to see buffered signals - a lot of Lovepedal overdrives sound horrible if there is anything turned on prior to them in the chain, but they can also react if you turn something on further down the chain too. Some Way Huge buffers do the same. Someone smart will be along in a bit to explain why!

Adam_MD

Ive had the same issue with buffers and my OCD.  I either had to use my ocd or klone but couldn't have both so built a klone with a switchable buffer and haven't had any issues since. 

guitarblaster

It’s good to here I’m not alone Adam! 

Thanks the info JDE, honestly that’s was technical enough for me - that sheds a lot of light on it as obviously the fulltone 69 has a lot of gain! 

Reason for wanting a buffer is so I can have a slightly brighter signal/non degraded signal when all the pedals are off. Which I admit is rare. I currently do have an all true bypass board with the tube screamer mini fulfilling the TS duty! 

Sassafras

Never reckoned Fulltone pedals.
Don't understand why they're so popular.

JDE

Ah, I see. If that’s the case then I would look into someone building you a TS with an external switch. Not sure if anyone makes one off the shelf. 
The “purest” way (hahaha) is you could put your whole chain in a loop and switch it in/out as you like, using a looper pedal.
Other option would be a dedicated buffer pedal with an on/off switch at the end or start of your chain. Again, most buffer pedals have no footswitch as they’re designed to be “always on” so you may need to get someone to knock one up for you. 

ICBM

guitarblaster said:

I don't know if those buffers were just unique, is there any possible explanation for it?

It could be that the '69 is like the OCD in having an excessively high-value volume pot last in the signal path - that means the pedal is subject to cable loading from all the following cables, which dulls the tone when it's on. If you have a buffer afterwards, that's removed so the sound will then get brighter. But this isn't strictly an issue with the buffer affecting the tone of the pedal, it's actually the opposite - the buffer is protecting the pedal from the treble loss of the cable.

JDE said:

Buffers after pedals can cause issues too. Especially if the pedal before it has a lot of gain, as the buffer can “amplify” it (some of the techy guys on this forum are going to hate me for not knowing the correct terminology- sorry!).

This really isn't true. The pedal can't 'see' that there's a buffer after it and the buffer doesn't affect the sound of the pedal - it's simply a high-impedance input, the same as an amp. The difference is in the length of cable between the two - if you put the pedal on top of the amp and connected it with a short patch cable, you would get exactly the same result.

guitarblaster said:

Reason for wanting a buffer is so I can have a slightly brighter signal/non degraded signal when all the pedals are off. Which I admit is rare. I currently do have an all true bypass board with the tube screamer mini fulfilling the TS duty! 

The best solution to this is to use a buffer after the '69 and set the amp to give you the sound you want, then it won't change when you turn the pedal on.

Basically, true bypass causes more problems than it solves because it doesn't account for cable loading.

guitarblaster

Yeah a foot switchable buffer would be the dream! But I'm okay with an external button! 

Interesting @Sassafras - Which ones have you had? I've only had the Fulltone 69 and the Octafuzz - I liked the Octafuzz but like the 69 more! It's now a never sell pedal for me - hah I mean, I'm going to all this trouble and causing you guys a headache to keep it on my board!

I'm quite drawn towards a Tumnus Deluxe to fulfil this role! Pros are that it would fit on my board and it has an external switch for a buffer. Cons are - it's not a tube screamer! It might work nice to boot the Lightspeed though.


@ICBM - Hah I've read one of your others posts about the OCD and that quirk! Maybe that is the case with this! Thanks for the input. 

Crazy how complicated this is - definitely leading me to develop an obsession!

Sassafras

Never owned any but I've tried the OCD, Fulldrive, Plimsoul and that red distortion pedal. Didn't like any of them.
I haven't tried the Octafuzz or the 69 but my experience of the others means I don't have much confidence in the brand.

JDE

ICBM said:

JDE said:

Buffers after pedals can cause issues too. Especially if the pedal before it has a lot of gain, as the buffer can “amplify” it (some of the techy guys on this forum are going to hate me for not knowing the correct terminology- sorry!).

This really isn't true. The pedal can't 'see' that there's a buffer after it and the buffer doesn't affect the sound of the pedal - it's simply a high-impedance input, the same as an amp. The difference is in the length of cable between the two - if you put the pedal on top of the amp and connected it with a short patch cable, you would get exactly the same result.

Cheers for the knowledge! So when I used to run a Les Lius towards the front of my chain and then used to turn on my Aqua Puss further down-chain, why did it go all trebly? It didn’t happen with any other pedal combos on my board. Was it just the buffer on the AP doing what it does and the tone of the LL just exacerbating it?

ICBM

JDE said:

Cheers for the knowledge! So when I used to run a Les Lius towards the front of my chain and then used to turn on my Aqua Puss further down-chain, why did it go all trebly? It didn’t happen with any other pedal combos on my board. Was it just the buffer on the AP doing what it does and the tone of the LL just exacerbating it?

Yes. The Les Luis has a crude output with a high-value pot too... it's basically a copy of the Electra Distortion, which is one of the most basic vintage circuits. The pot value is 100K, which is too high and will cause cable loading issues.

guitarblaster said:

Crazy how complicated this is

Only because guitar pedals aren't all properly buffered. If they were there would be no issues whatever...

JDE

ICBM said:

Yes. The Les Luis has a crude output with a high-value pot too... it's basically a copy of the Electra Distortion, which is one of the most basic vintage circuits. The pot value is 100K, which is too high and will cause cable loading issues.


Ah, I see thanks! I’m not very technical. I can’t even type my reply outside of the quotation box....

Grocer_Jack

ICBM said:

JDE said:

Cheers for the knowledge! So when I used to run a Les Lius towards the front of my chain and then used to turn on my Aqua Puss further down-chain, why did it go all trebly? It didn’t happen with any other pedal combos on my board. Was it just the buffer on the AP doing what it does and the tone of the LL just exacerbating it?

Yes. The Les Luis has a crude output with a high-value pot too... it's basically a copy of the Electra Distortion, which is one of the most basic vintage circuits. The pot value is 100K, which is too high and will cause cable loading issues.

guitarblaster said:

Crazy how complicated this is

Only because guitar pedals aren't all properly buffered. If they were there would be no issues whatever...

Oh this is interesting - I have a Les Lius as the last drive before whichever delay I'm using - EHX Canyon (set on trails mode - that's buffered isn't it?), DD5 or Carbon Copy. I haven't noticed anything odd. The Canyon and DD5 have buffers yes? Or is it just SOME buffers?