Cornish Buffer

ecc83

Octafish said:

ecc83 said:

The circuit is a bipolar emitter follower with a boot -strapped bias supply to keep the input Z high.

I built several such circuits for front ends to ceramic PU cartridges (discos) but gave up such a complex design when the ubiquitous 28319 jfet became available!

Neither devices actually satisfy one of the definitions of a 'buffer' in that it should be 'transparent' . A TL072 or better IC will.

Dave.

Are you refering to the Cornish or Klon buffer?

Well I Googled for the Cornish and got a schematic that looked right compared to the layout.  I read simple schematics practically instantly after 60 years! Layouts I have to work out.

Dave.

57Deluxe

@jonnygreentrees ; - you missed a trick with your nick should surely be jonnystringtrees ??

Octafish

@jonnygreentrees have you built your Fuzzdog Cornish kit yet? Notice you've already got buffered pedals in your chain, I found the Cornish didn't really make any difference with an EHX buffer already in place.

jonnygreentrees

Octafish said:

@jonnygreentrees have you built your Fuzzdog Cornish kit yet? Notice you've already got buffered pedals in your chain, I found the Cornish didn't really make any difference with an EHX buffer already in place.

been really busy lately, I've finished the build just need to box it up. Will try and do that this weekend!

jonnygreentrees

Octafish said:

@jonnygreentrees have you built your Fuzzdog Cornish kit yet? Notice you've already got buffered pedals in your chain, I found the Cornish didn't really make any difference with an EHX buffer already in place.

Finally got this boxed up and on my board.

It maybe adds an extremely subtle extra presence to my sound but that might just be my imagination. I certainly wouldn't spend £200 on one

Jonathanthomas83

I loved it, and would buy one again if I went back to pedals/amp.

ToneControl

ICBM said:

I haven't seen the schematic, but isn't the key feature of this that it duplicates the characteristics of a typical amp valve input stage perfectly, so it maintains exactly the 'right' sound of a guitar plugged straight in?

By the way, I keep reading the thread title as 'Cornish butter' .

yes, I started thinking about clotted cream 

Wazmeister

Jonathanthomas83 said:

I loved it, and would buy one again if I went back to pedals/amp.

I'm with you mate - loved my Cornish buffer

ThePrettyDamned

jonnygreentrees said:

Octafish said:

@jonnygreentrees have you built your Fuzzdog Cornish kit yet? Notice you've already got buffered pedals in your chain, I found the Cornish didn't really make any difference with an EHX buffer already in place.

Finally got this boxed up and on my board.

It maybe adds an extremely subtle extra presence to my sound but that might just be my imagination. I certainly wouldn't spend £200 on one

Are they really 200 quid? Some people are suckers, surely all it can do is prevent treble loss? If someone wanted something to add a bit more, a clean boost would act as a buffer and add a bit of presence if set a hair above unity and left on all the time... 

english_bob

ThePrettyDamned said:

Are they really 200 quid? 

Define "worth". Does it contain £200 worth of raw materials? Not even close. Is it a wholly original circuit? Experts here say no.

Will the Cornish name help the resale value? Yes, it will. Is it likely to be extremely well built, and good sounding? Yes.

The thing with the Cornish brand is that they started out to cater to top flight professional musicians touring the world and elsewhere, who needed gear that would be resistant to every single kind of electrical interference they might encounter, and impervious to years of abuse by roadies, artists, freight shipping gorillas, stage invaders and acts of God. Not only that, but if by some freak occurrence they did break, someone needed to be on hand quickly to fix them, because you can't cancel arena shows because the guitarist can't get his sound without his special pedal. 

Do you need a pedal that's over-engineered to that degree to play in your bedroom? No. Do you still need to pay for all that if you decide you want one? 'fraid so.

For clarity, I don't own any Cornish stuff and probably never will- I don't need it and I can't afford it. But I can understand what he's charging all that money for (that, and he's making a living from it). More so than with some other builders anyway.

Octafish

ThePrettyDamned said:

jonnygreentrees said:

Octafish said:

@jonnygreentrees have you built your Fuzzdog Cornish kit yet? Notice you've already got buffered pedals in your chain, I found the Cornish didn't really make any difference with an EHX buffer already in place.

Finally got this boxed up and on my board.

It maybe adds an extremely subtle extra presence to my sound but that might just be my imagination. I certainly wouldn't spend £200 on one

Are they really 200 quid? Some people are suckers, surely all it can do is prevent treble loss? If someone wanted something to add a bit more, a clean boost would act as a buffer and add a bit of presence if set a hair above unity and left on all the time... 

That was my conclusion @jonnygreentrees ;;. It does the job of a buffer, but it's barely distinguishable if at all from buffers in EHX/Boss pedals. It maybe adds just a touch more presence/treble to the signal over the other buffers, although I only really could hear this by running it into a fuzz (which you wouldn't normally do anyway) to accentuate the difference. Besides all a buffer should do is preserve the original signal not mess with it. As you say @ThePrettyDamned ;;buy a boost if you want to add something extra. EP boost adds far more for me than any buffer.

I wonder if the big wow some get from the Cornish buffer is because they are comparing it to not running a buffer at all?

jonnygreentrees

Does the Cornish buffer look this cool though?

english_bob

Octafish said:

I wonder if the big wow some get from the Cornish buffer is because they are comparing it to not running a buffer at all?

Having built myself literally the simplest, cheapest buffer circuit I could find (less than £2 in parts IIRC!) and having heard the difference it made to my signal, I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. 

Gadget

ThePrettyDamned said:

Are they really 200 quid? Some people are suckers, surely all it can do is prevent treble loss? If someone wanted something to add a bit more, a clean boost would act as a buffer and add a bit of presence if set a hair above unity and left on all the time... 

Suckers? Who are you calling suckers?

Carlos Santana, Bryan Adams, Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, Sting, Paul Simon,  Eric Clapton, Mutt Lange, Lou Reed, Jeff Beck, Stewart Copeland, Jimmy Page, Dave Murray, Noel Gallagher, Steve Hackett, Brian May, Matt Bellamy, Mike Rutherford, Tony Iommi, Hank Marvin, Joan Armatrading, Greg Lake, Mark Knopfler, John Wetton, Andy Summers, Rick Parfitt, Freddie Mercury, Roger Waters, Alan Holdsworth, Snowy White, Peter Banks, Cat Stevens…

… or just those Cornish owners on tFB?

english_bob

Gadget said:

Suckers? Who are you calling suckers?

Carlos Santana, Bryan Adams, Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, Sting, Paul Simon,  Eric Clapton, Mutt Lange, Lou Reed, Jeff Beck, Stewart Copeland, Jimmy Page, Dave Murray, Noel Gallagher, Steve Hackett, Brian May, Matt Bellamy, Mike Rutherford, Tony Iommi, Hank Marvin, Joan Armatrading, Greg Lake, Mark Knopfler, John Wetton, Andy Summers, Rick Parfitt, Freddie Mercury, Roger Waters, Alan Holdsworth, Snowy White, Peter Banks, Cat Stevens…

… or just those Cornish owners on tFB?

Are you suggesting that being famous precludes being gullible? Don't make me list famous Scientologists.

Gadget

english_bob said:

Gadget said:

Suckers? Who are you calling suckers?

Carlos Santana, Bryan Adams, Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, Sting, Paul Simon,  Eric Clapton, Mutt Lange, Lou Reed, Jeff Beck, Stewart Copeland, Jimmy Page, Dave Murray, Noel Gallagher, Steve Hackett, Brian May, Matt Bellamy, Mike Rutherford, Tony Iommi, Hank Marvin, Joan Armatrading, Greg Lake, Mark Knopfler, John Wetton, Andy Summers, Rick Parfitt, Freddie Mercury, Roger Waters, Alan Holdsworth, Snowy White, Peter Banks, Cat Stevens…

… or just those Cornish owners on tFB?

Are you suggesting that being famous precludes being gullible? Don't make me list famous Scientologists.

No, but are you suggesting the above list are all gullible? Bit of a stretch, don't you think?

jonnygreentrees

What Cornish gear did Freddie Mercury use?

Gadget

jonnygreentrees said:

What Cornish gear did Freddie Mercury use?

A piano pickup  / preamp / mixer

jonnygreentrees

Gadget said:

jonnygreentrees said:

What Cornish gear did Freddie Mercury use?

A piano pickup  / preamp / mixer

shame I was hoping it was a Cornish jumpsuit

aord43

Gadget said:

english_bob said:

Gadget said:

Suckers? Who are you calling suckers?

Carlos Santana, Bryan Adams, Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, David Gilmour, Sting, Paul Simon,  Eric Clapton, Mutt Lange, Lou Reed, Jeff Beck, Stewart Copeland, Jimmy Page, Dave Murray, Noel Gallagher, Steve Hackett, Brian May, Matt Bellamy, Mike Rutherford, Tony Iommi, Hank Marvin, Joan Armatrading, Greg Lake, Mark Knopfler, John Wetton, Andy Summers, Rick Parfitt, Freddie Mercury, Roger Waters, Alan Holdsworth, Snowy White, Peter Banks, Cat Stevens…

… or just those Cornish owners on tFB?

Are you suggesting that being famous precludes being gullible? Don't make me list famous Scientologists.

No, but are you suggesting the above list are all gullible? Bit of a stretch, don't you think?

I imagine it's a case of "I need a buffer, I can afford to splash out on a decent one so get the big name." 
And as someone said above, the difference will be clear when compared with *no* buffer or boost.
But the difference to a cheap-and-cheerful handful of components costing a fiver is probably nothing.