At the moment I have a buffer on my board at the front of the chain because I've got a few true bypass pedals on there. So I've got this:
TC Polytune 2
Compressor
Soul Food (set to buffered mode)
Amp 11 clone
KOT clone
Tube screamer
RAT clone
Zen clone
TC Flashback
Strymon Flint (set to buffered mode but it's always on anyway)
So, the Soul Food works well as a buffer near the start of the chain but takes up space because I don't use it that much, and besides I might want to move it in a different position.
As the Poytune is always on the board, I was thinking of selling the TC Polytune 2 and buying a version 3 as it has a built-in buffer.
Anyone use the buffer on this? Any good? Any better ideas? I don't really want to take up more pedal space.
Comments
The TC Bonafide buffer built into the Polytune 3 is excellent. Very transparent, which I prefer over the SF buffer.
If you can free up an extra space by doing this too I'd say go for it.
I'd be tempted to take the soul food off the board (or switch its buffer off, if that's possible) and see whether or not having a buffer at the start of the chain makes any difference.
With the Flint always on you have a buffer at the end of chain so personally I'd be a bit surprised if an additional one made much difference.
The difference between one of them - with a buffer first (like a Boss TU3 or the Polytune 3) - against running a chain of pedals into each other is staggering and definitely worth looking into.
Until recently i always thought a buffer was most ideal at the beginning of a chain but I've since found it interesting experimenting with buffers AFTER drives (and before modulations, verbs, delays etc). I think they react a little differently and for me, are a bit more stable volume wise (especially if there is a RAT involved!).
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
In that respect I thought the Bonafide buffer was even better than the SF, with plenty of chime but without the slight colouration that I thought the SF added.