Buffer pedal

Buffer pedal
A buffer pedal is not the sexiest pedal you can buy. Looks can be deceiving though, it can mean a lot to your tone and precious guitar signal. You may have had an effects pedal where as soon as you plugged it in, all the highs disappeared from your guitar sound, even with the pedal off. Or did you use a long cable with the same effect? Then take a look at a buffer.

How does it work?
In short, it means that a buffer leaves your signal intact. You no longer lose highs and no volume when connecting pedals or using a long cable. Signal loss is especially common when using many effect pedals in a row, long cables (which essentially amount to the same thing), or when using pedals with a low input impedance. Wah wahs in particular suffer from “tone sucking”.

Built-in buffers
Some effect pedals have built-in buffers. These can be recognized by the term ‘buffered bypass’. But more and more pedals without one are coming onto the market. Another word for this is ‘true bypass’.