MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
Last week I posted a pretty cool pickup mod for a Strat, the Phat-O-Caster Mod. I got this mod from Waylon McPherson Guitars from New Zealand.
He's got a Youtube channel with lots of pedal, guitar and amp mods. Check it out!
This build report is for another one of his projects that sounded interesting and I had the (very minimal) parts already lying around. (I used a repurposed enclosure for the prototype). Here's the link to the Anti-Buffer project video from McPherson.
In a nutshell the Anti-Buffer nullifies the effects of having a buffered bypass or buffer pedal after what comes after it in the chain. Why, you may ask, would a die hard buffer guy like me need something that reverses the benefits of a buffer? Well, because certain pedals don't play nicely with buffers, notoriously fuzz pedals.
I've built a ton of fuzzes that I really can't use without changing my rig to accomodate having it first in the signal chain. Depending on the fuzz circuit having a buffer can be a minor inconvenience with eq'ing out some harshness to downright unusable. This is why this pedal caught my attention, and also because it's a stupid simple solution.
Essentially it uses a 10k/600ohm transformer to "simulate" a guitar pickups output impedance and has a volume and tone control on it that simulates your guitar volume and tone controls. Thus, the fuzz pedal thinks it has a guitar plugged into it as opposed to a buffered signal.
I didn't have the exact same transformer he used, I had a 10k/10k tranny. But since this build only uses the primary side of the transformer, it "should" be the same affect as using the 42TM019 that he uses. In any case, I ordered a couple of the right ones when I re-build this into a real pedal. I'll be adding an LED indicator as well when I do even though the circuit itself is completely passive.
The circuit also uses a C500k pot for the volume control, I only had a C1M so there's a parallel resistor on the pot.
I recorded a demo showing how it works with a Sandspur Ge (Analogman Surface Ge) and a CopperClad Fuzz. (Mythos Golden Fleece).
I may be doing some tweaking with the circuit when I re-build it, but the prototype works pretty well.
I'm using my Harley Benton Les Paul Junior with a Wolfetone Meaner 90 P90 pickup. Build report here. Man, I love this guitar!
He's got a Youtube channel with lots of pedal, guitar and amp mods. Check it out!
This build report is for another one of his projects that sounded interesting and I had the (very minimal) parts already lying around. (I used a repurposed enclosure for the prototype). Here's the link to the Anti-Buffer project video from McPherson.
In a nutshell the Anti-Buffer nullifies the effects of having a buffered bypass or buffer pedal after what comes after it in the chain. Why, you may ask, would a die hard buffer guy like me need something that reverses the benefits of a buffer? Well, because certain pedals don't play nicely with buffers, notoriously fuzz pedals.
I've built a ton of fuzzes that I really can't use without changing my rig to accomodate having it first in the signal chain. Depending on the fuzz circuit having a buffer can be a minor inconvenience with eq'ing out some harshness to downright unusable. This is why this pedal caught my attention, and also because it's a stupid simple solution.
Essentially it uses a 10k/600ohm transformer to "simulate" a guitar pickups output impedance and has a volume and tone control on it that simulates your guitar volume and tone controls. Thus, the fuzz pedal thinks it has a guitar plugged into it as opposed to a buffered signal.
I didn't have the exact same transformer he used, I had a 10k/10k tranny. But since this build only uses the primary side of the transformer, it "should" be the same affect as using the 42TM019 that he uses. In any case, I ordered a couple of the right ones when I re-build this into a real pedal. I'll be adding an LED indicator as well when I do even though the circuit itself is completely passive.
The circuit also uses a C500k pot for the volume control, I only had a C1M so there's a parallel resistor on the pot.
I recorded a demo showing how it works with a Sandspur Ge (Analogman Surface Ge) and a CopperClad Fuzz. (Mythos Golden Fleece).
I may be doing some tweaking with the circuit when I re-build it, but the prototype works pretty well.
I'm using my Harley Benton Les Paul Junior with a Wolfetone Meaner 90 P90 pickup. Build report here. Man, I love this guitar!
