True bypass loop with adjustable in/out levels - why doesn't this exist?

[dannybuoy]

I have a few pedals that suffer from one of the following issues:[list]
[*]Volume drop or boost when enaged, but no volume knob on the pedal to sort it (e.g. Mini Q-Tron, Phase 90)
[*]Pedal sensitive to input levels, e.g:
[list]
[*]My Mr Black Fwonkbeta only triggers properly with reasonably high output bass
[*]My COG T16 sounds much fatter with a more consistent tone with a slight clean boost before it
[*]Various overdrives don't react well to high output basses
[/list]
[/list]
I want a simple true bypass loop pedal that has a gain trim control on the send and return. Does such a thing exist?

[dodge_bass]

I'm not sure.
I've gotten round this issue by having a clean boost pedal wishing the FX loop either before or after the pedals.
I've had issues with:
EHX Enigma
Cog T16

And in both case a volume pedal before / agree has helped.

Poultone do a clean boost in a tiny enclosure
Southampton Devices do a dual boost and fx buffer in a tiny enclosure.
I have a COG clean boost too.
All excellent.

[DanEly]

Pretty sure the GigRig G2 does this?

Edited August 19, 2016 by DanEly

[dannybuoy]

[quote name='DanEly' timestamp='1471589000' post='3114153']
Pretty sure the GigRig G2 does this?
[/quote]

At £749, I don't care what it does!

A little 1590A nano box with one footswitch and a couple of mini pots would be ideal. Maybe if there's enough interest and it's a common problem for everyone, someone like Tom at COG or Max at SFX could get on the case and do a small production run?

[Musicman20]

Boss ES-5 is probably the cheapest option I can think of! It's not cheap.

However, the sheer depth of the ES-5/8 is very interesting.

[Johnny Wishbone]

I had the same problem, so I built a bypass loop with a clean boost in it. Then I found that some pedals didn't like the boost before them (distorted the input) so I ended up putting the boost after the return to balance the volumes, which seemed to work better for me. YMMV of course.

I suppose you'd almost be better having one loop with the gain on the send and one with the gain on the return, but then it starts to get a bit fiddly. It is surprising something like this isn't already in production as I would have thought it'd be a common problem for those of us using loads of pedals.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Johnny Wishbone

[AustinArto]

Max at SFX would be a good person to call.

[dannybuoy]

Yup, I've been thinking of contacting both Tom and Max for a quote to see what they come up with. I do prefer the aesthetic of the COG pedals however.

[Tech21NYC]

This is a common problem with these type of true bypass setups. Your are still getting signal loss with all that cabling and jacks etc. Plus many effects when engaged have inconsistent outputs. You would think an effect is low impedance when engaged but many effects use a pot after the circuitry which loads down the circuit. In short your impedance is shifting all over the place and hence the volume and tone differences.

In a Bradshaw system he has two buffers, one at the front of the chain and one at the back so your effects always see the correct impedance. A lot of the better switching systems allow you to run certain pedals without a buffer and others with. I think this is more an issue for lead guitar than bass unless you're using some vintage type fuzz with a passive bass. Also the better switching systems use relays instead of a hard bypass switch. The new Boss switching system looks pretty cool in that it can also reroute the order of the effects.

[Johnny Wishbone]

[quote name='Tech21NYC' timestamp='1472741509' post='3123832']
A lot of the better switching systems allow you to run certain pedals without a buffer and others with.
[/quote]
That would be great for my Woolly Mammoth clone. Sounds great by itself, absolute crap with anything at all in front of it. Rather than figure out some convoluted wiring/looping to get round the problem I just ditched it and replaced it with something that behaves "properly"!

[mcnach]

Does it need to be true bypass?

I've used the Boss LS-2 for the purpose you describe for years.
I started because the EHX micro Q-Tron has a noticeable volume boost and that was the envelope filter I used at the time, and using an LS-2 allowed me to tame it. I no longer use that pedal, but I still keep an LS-2 for when I have difficulties with loud/quiet pedals. It seems to work fine.
There are other similar pedals with more features (polarity switch?) but I'm not sure any of the ones I know are true bypass, and the LS-2 works well in my hands and it's cheap.

[dannybuoy]

That solves the issue of output levels from the pedal, but the main reason I want this is to fix the input levels into the pedal, e.g. an envelope filter that needs a boost before it to make it useable with a quiet passive bass.

[Dood]

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1472907322' post='3125265']
That solves the issue of output levels from the pedal, but the main reason I want this is to fix the input levels into the pedal, e.g. an envelope filter that needs a boost before it to make it useable with a quiet passive bass.
[/quote]

I'd also like adjustable input gains too as there are some dsp pedals that have no input gain. It'd be nice to use this sort of loop to attenuate the input but then have 'make up gain' on the return.

[Dood]

[quote name='AustinArto' timestamp='1471626012' post='3114626']
Max at SFX would be a good person to call.
[/quote]

Funnily, I do have a block diagram schematic for such a pedal that I have been planning to contact Max about. I can't see anything else on the market that has the same options so 'going custom' is the only way.