Using Utility Pedals to Fix Tone Suck
Dan Epstein
Pssst — come here for a second. Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you.
What would you say if I told you that there was something you could add to your pedal board right now that would immediately improve your guitar tone? And what would you say if I told you that it’s just a “set it and forget it” kinda thing — it requires no dialing in or even much in the way of conscious thought, because it doesn’t have a footswitch or control knobs?
What? You’d say I’m high? Whoa there, pal — let’s not cast unnecessary aspersions, or say anything we’ll regret later. I’m only tryin’ to help you out here.
But okay, yeah, you got me. I am high — high on EarthQuaker Devices’ new Buffer/Preamp and Buffer/Splitter utility pedals, that is. And I could honestly stare all day at their trippy black and white op-art graphics, but that’s neither here nor there. What’s more important is these little rectangles take up precious little in the way of pedalboard real estate, all while helping your guitar maximize its sonic potential.
There’s nothing fancy or complicated about them; as I mentioned before, there are no knobs to turn, no footswitches to step on, no internal trimmers to tweak. You just place the Buffer/Preamp or Buffer/Splitter on your board, power ‘em up with a standard 9 volt DC supply and plug ‘em into your signal chain, and they’re instantly ready to help you combat that dreaded scourge known as Tone Suck.
Yes, I said Tone Suck. It’s okay; you don’t have to be embarrassed to talk about it. Tone Suck is something that we’ve all suffered from at one time or another; it’s an issue that even the most legendary guitar heroes have had to grapple with. Because ever since the 1960s, when guitar cables started getting longer in order to give musicians greater freedom of movement onstage, guitarists have noticed that lengthier cables typically result in duller sound. This is basically because the longer the cable is, the higher its capacitance will be, which in turn translates into a greater roll-off on the high end of the audio spectrum.
This is why treble boosters were so popular among British guitarists of the 1960s and 70s: the combination of dark-sounding tube amps and long curly cables that they used often resulted in the high end of their sound going completely MIA, and treble boosters helped restore the bite to their attack. (These treble boosters also inadvertently helped birth heavy metal by overdriving said amps into heavily distorted territory, but that’s a delightful story for another time.)
But even if you don’t use anything longer than a 10-foot cable, Tone Suck can still plague your sound like an uninvited guest that refuses to leave, especially if you have multiple stomp boxes crammed onto your pedalboard. Don’t believe me? Let’s try a little experiment…
Go ahead and plug your guitar directly into your amp, and play it completely clean for a little bit. Sounds great, right? Okay, now plug your packed pedalboard into your amp, and your guitar into your pedalboard, without actually engaging any of the effects. Does your clean tone sound noticeably duller and weaker when you’re playing through the pedalboard? Then, my friend, I’m afraid you are indeed suffering from Tone Suck.
And this, frankly, could be for several reasons. The majority of pedals made these days are either true bypass (i.e., containing a hardwired input-to-output connection that’s completely removed from the signal chain whenever the pedal is deactivated) or buffered bypass (i.e. containing a 1 to 1 amplifier that remains in the signal path whether the pedal is active or not, like a delay or reverb where the “tails” continue to be audible even after switching it off). Daisy-chaining a combination of true bypass and buffered effects can wreak havoc on the top end of your tone; then again, so can an all-true bypass lineup, which potentially puts you at the mercy of higher capacitance. And while an all-buffered pedalboard seems like the obvious solution, not all buffers are created equal — and cascading multiple buffers of various quality levels can actually lead to both high and low end roll-off.
If you’re a guitarist who favors vintage or vintage-style effects, that can create a whole other issue, as well. Germanium fuzzes are notoriously temperamental creatures, but especially so when there’s a buffer placed in front of them — which means you typically want to place those pedals first in the chain, right after your guitar. But even then, the circuitry of these pedals combined with the rest of your signal chain can still create capacitance issues that will diminish the majesty of your true tone.
What’s to be done about it? Well, pal, I’m glad you asked. Remember those EQD Buffer/Preamp and Buffer/Splitter utility pedals I mentioned earlier? They’re just what the tone doctor ordered, and they will have your guitar sounding fat and sassy again in no time flat.
The Buffer/Preamp is easily the simplest device in the entire EQD line: It contains one input jack, one output jack, a 9 volt DC power supply, and a little red LED light to indicate whether or not the device is powered up. But there’s beauty in that simplicity, especially when you put this little baby at the end of your signal chain. Once in place, the Buffer/Preamp’s high 1 Mohm input impedance and low 100 ohm output impedance will straighten out whatever capacitance-related jankiness might be ailing your tone, giving your pickups a new lease on life. And while I tend to think that the Buffer/Preamp sounds best at the end of the signal chain, you don’t have to take my word for it — try placing it between different pedals and listen to the results. (But for best results, you probably should put it after any germanium fuzzes on your board.)
But the Buffer/Preamp doesn’t just vanquish Tone Suck; in addition to restoring any high end loss, this device contains a nifty little preamp that lends a subtle-but-noticeable depth, warmth and presence to your tone, whether you’re using single coils, humbuckers or both. Even with just the Buffer/Preamp between your guitar and amplifier, you can totally hear (and feel) the difference.
But what if you’re the type of guitarist who plays with a stereo set-up, or uses two different amplifiers to achieve a unique tonal blend? How can you get in on some of this tone-affirming action? Well, once again, I’m glad you asked. Because the EQD Buffer/Splitter works the same exact magic as its simpler sibling — only with two inputs instead of one! Just station the Buffer/Splitter at the end of your signal chain, run a separate cable from each output to each of your amps, and revel in the sonic goodness that results. (Don’t be put off by the fact that “Preamp” isn’t part of its name; that preamp oomph is still very much present and accounted for.)
So take it from me, pally — say hello to the Buffer/Preamp or Buffer/Splitter, and say goodbye to Tone Suck. Whether you’re playing live with a band, practicing by yourself, or tracking in the studio, you’re gonna be really pleased with the big difference these little devices can make. You can thank me later.
Dan Epstein is an author, editor, journalist and guitarist based in New York's Hudson Valley. He writes about his latest musical obsessions at Jagged Time Lapse, and songs from his latest musical project The Corinthian Columns can be found at corinthiancolumns.bandcamp.com
