IK Multimedia Z-Tone Buffer/Boost or Similar (Variable Impedance Control)

[Joben Magooch]

So, didn’t want to put in a wish list request as it doesn’t necessarily need to be this exact pedal, but I think it’s an interesting little package.

Buffer, couple different boost modes, and a variable impedance control.

To be honest, impedance is a concept that is mostly a magical mystery to me and I won’t pretend to understand it particularly well. But I DO know that when I had a Helix/Stomp, adjusting the input impedance settings could have a pretty dramatic impact on the tone/feel. So the idea of having a controllable output/input impedance in a standalone pedal is kind of cool to me.

Anyone know of any similar products/solutions or know of a way to implement a variable impedance control as a standalone circuit/add-on? Just got me brainstorming some different possibilities and I figured the good minds here could come up with something far more interesting and/or practical than I.

Example (IK Z-Tone)

 

[JTEX]

If you have an inherently very high impedance input stage (discrete JFET, or a FET or CMOS op amp input stage), then the circuit's input impedance is effectively dictated by whatever resistor value you choose to place between the input and ground. Simple as that. You might also want to add a cap in parallel to the input resitor. Something in the hundreds of pF, maybe up to about 1nF or so. Experiment until you're happy.

As for output impedance, it's easy. Usually, the lower the better, except for some specific situations. One such example is when you want to be able to passively sum two outputs (just tie them together and you get their combined output). EMG active pickups deliberately have a not-really-low 10k output impedance for this very reason.