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Vintage threads from the first ten years

do boss pedals have true-bypass?

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11/6/1997 8:43 AM
ben	do boss pedals have true-bypass? Do modern Boss and Ibanez pedals use a true bypass switch? Is it possible to install one? Is the signal path on a digital delay pedal all analogue except for the delay? Thanks.

11/6/1997 9:28 AM
dave chun	Boss, DOD, Ibanez, etc. pedals do not have true bypass. They all use one form or another of FET (transistor) switching. It's cheaper than using a DPDT stomp switch (or a SPDT one, for that matter.)

11/6/1997 11:58 AM

It is possible to remove the FET switch part of the circuit and use true bypass, but it would be hard, if not impossible to fit a DPDT stomp switch in the existing box (though I do have a modded TS-9 that has had it done to it, had to use a lot of electrical tape to keep it from shorting out though).

Boss, Ibanez, DOD, Nobel and others use the FET switch not only because it's cheaper, which it is, but it offers clickless switching and since the signal is always passing though the FET switch it's convenent to use a FET buffer the stablize the signal impedence for effects that follow down the line (older effects can be pretty picky as to what input impedence they will work at, I HAVE to use a DOD line switch pedal in conjuction with my Echoplex in my amps effect loop or the return signal is almost none existant).

-Y.
(wyatt poist)

11/6/1997 1:43 PM

Wyatt is right in his conclusions. It is -barely- possible to stuff some select few DPDT switches into Boss or Ibanez pedals. It is not a pleasant task, and should not be attempted by the mechanically less-enabled.

It is trivially simple to make an EXTERNAL true bypass switch box containing a DPDT switch and four jacks (and nothing else!) that will true-bypass anything, however.

The fet switch has advantages and disadvantages, as Wyatt notes. You do have to be careful about signal impedance. Fuzz Faces sound not so good when fed a buffered signal, as the impedance of the guitar pickups and volume control prevents the input of the first transistor from being overdriven (that is NOT where the FF makes good distortion). Other effects probably don't care.

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