Help! True bypass wah

[gtrjunior]

Ok....just watched the vid. I understand now. That's actually a pretty awesome gadget! Too bad it's priced more than the actual wah pedal...

 

[gtrjunior]

I have another question regarding non-true bypass Fx.
If I run them in the Fx loop, does it still cause the same tone loss or is that just an in front of the amp thing?

 

[RyanNo3]

Tone suck is tone suck.

If your FX loop is buffered, then it's minimized.

 

[Help!I'maRock!]

I have another question regarding non-true bypass Fx.
If I run them in the Fx loop, does it still cause the same tone loss or is that just an in front of the amp thing?

All true bypass does is take whatever buffer the pedal has internally out of the signal. There are plenty of good buffers out there. The Crybaby buffer is not good. that being said, to answer your question, it depends on the loop. If you have a buffered effects loop then it's not going to matter. Otherwise, you probably have some pedal that's doing the buffering for you. Don't over think it.

 

[gtrjunior]

I hear you. I've never had an issue with any other amps in the past but for some reason my Quickrod is REALLY picky.
Plus, yes I have a buffer pedal too.

 

[gtrjunior]

I just received the wah pedal yesterday. I got the "Classic" wah based on this chart saying it is true bypass.
https://www.sweetwater.com/feature/dunlop/wah-pedals/
The documentation in the wah box says that thenpedal is "true hardware bypass". I'm seeing different answers online.
What's the deal? Is this fucker true bypass or am I sending it to @RyanNo3 for a mod?
I haven't had a chance to hook it up yet....wake and funeral today and tomorrow...

 

[RyanNo3]

I just received the wah pedal yesterday. I got the "Classic" wah based on this chart saying it is true bypass.
https://www.sweetwater.com/feature/dunlop/wah-pedals/
The documentation in the wah box says that thenpedal is "true hardware bypass". I'm seeing different answers online.
What's the deal? Is this fucker true bypass or am I sending it to @RyanNo3 for a mod?

When you get it take the plate off and send a picture of the foot switch.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

 

[Help!I'maRock!]

I just received the wah pedal yesterday. I got the "Classic" wah based on this chart saying it is true bypass.
https://www.sweetwater.com/feature/dunlop/wah-pedals/
The documentation in the wah box says that thenpedal is "true hardware bypass". I'm seeing different answers online.
What's the deal? Is this fucker true bypass or am I sending it to @RyanNo3 for a mod?
I haven't had a chance to hook it up yet....wake and funeral today and tomorrow...

The Classic is true bypass.

 

[gtrjunior]

When you get it take the plate off and send a picture of the foot switch.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

The Classic is true bypass.

Ok I just plugged it in....to my ears it sounded like it was properly bypassed. Here's a few pics. Hopefully I captured what you need to see.

 

[Help!I'maRock!]

Ok I just plugged it in....to my ears it sounded like it was properly bypassed. Here's a few pics. Hopefully I captured what you need to see.

See how there are 6 poles on the switch covered by the ribbon cable? That's a DPDT switch:

This is how you true bypass a circuit.

You may also see a 3pdt switch:

This allows you to add an LED.

 

[shoeless]

If it works bypassed without having a battery or plugged into a power supply, it is true bypass. Buffers need power to operate.

 

[gtrjunior]

If it works bypassed without having a battery or plugged into a power supply, it is true bypass. Buffers need power to operate.

I was just reading about this online....what I read said that yes, the buffer needs power to operate but that doesn't mean that something is true bypass, only that it has a buffer.

 

[Help!I'maRock!]

I was just reading about this online....what I read said that yes, the buffer needs power to operate but that doesn't mean that something is true bypass, only that it has a buffer.

If a pedal is true bypass, that means whatever buffer it has is out of the circuit in bypass mode. A pedal with a buffered bypass always has the buffer in the signal path, whether the pedal is "on" or not.

 

[gtrjunior]

See how there are 6 poles on the switch covered by the ribbon cable? That's a DPDT switch:

This is how you true bypass a circuit.

You may also see a 3pdt switch:

This allows you to add an LED.

I think I got it. When I opened it up and saw the 2pdt switch I thought you were gonna tell me it isn't TB. I saw a YouTube video where a guy took a Vox wah and made it true bypass. It had a 2pdt switch and he replaced it with a 3pdt switch. I thought TB needed the 3pdt switch like the video but apparently I was mistaken. Thanks man!

 

[gtrjunior]

If a pedal is true bypass, that means whatever buffer it has is out of the circuit in bypass mode. A pedal with a buffered bypass always has the buffer in the signal path, whether the pedal is "on" or not.

So the buffer, but not the pedal circuit will be in the signal in buffered bypass. Which depending on you're needs could be a good thing.

 

[Help!I'maRock!]

So the buffer, but not the pedal circuit will be in the signal in buffered bypass. Which depending on you're needs could be a good thing.

Right, but it also depends on the bypass. Get a shitty one, like in the regular old Crybaby or any non-buffered volume pedal, and it's tone suck city. This is how TB became a thing. But buffers are generally better now and there's only a few you need to be wary of. This is also why I don't buy vintage pedals.

 

[gtrjunior]

Right, but it also depends on the bypass. Get a shitty one, like in the regular old Crybaby or any non-buffered volume pedal, and it's tone suck city. This is how TB became a thing. But buffers are generally better now and there's only a few you need to be wary of. This is also why I don't buy vintage pedals.

I'm going to be much more conscious of these things going forward. I appreciate all you're insight.

 

[Help!I'maRock!]

I'm going to be much more conscious of these things going forward. I appreciate all you're insight.

In all my years of guitar, there's only a handful of pedals I've sold because of the bypass. The overwhelming majority are perfectly fine. And I have never felt the need to buy a pedal that only buffers.

 

[shoeless]

I was just reading about this online....what I read said that yes, the buffer needs power to operate but that doesn't mean that something is true bypass, only that it has a buffer.

I guess to be precise, if a pedal passes a signal in Off/Bypass state without power, then it is true bypass. If it will only pass a signal when powered, then it is probably buffered. There are some true bypass circuits that need power too (e.g. a relay circuit), but I think those are somewhat rare.

 

[gtrjunior]

In all my years of guitar, there's only a handful of pedals I've sold because of the bypass. The overwhelming majority are perfectly fine. And I have never felt the need to buy a pedal that only buffers.

I've got an MXR M117 flanger and a phase 90 that aren't TB either. I'm gonna hook them up and see what happens. If I have an issue I'll try my buffer pedal. If that doesn't work I'll look into a TB box if the price is right. Otherwise I'll sell them ridiculously overpriced on Reverb.
One other thing I need to look at too. I have a Musicomlab EFX mkiii switcher that I don't currently have on my board. I need to see if the loops in that act as a TB loop when the Fx are off.