For maximum efficiency, ICs pack thousands of transistors inside a very small package to produce tremendous gain. The most common is the use of an integrated circuit (IC) while the second is more of an old-school discrete class-A approach. There are two general camps when it comes to buffers. The Switchbone V2 is a feature-packed ABY pedal that also features a third output to allow switching between up to three amplifiers without noise. This type of switching requires the signal to be buffered. The Twin-City employs electronic switching while the Switchbone employs a series of photo-electric chips (optocouplers) that ramp up and then ramp down the signal in a controlled fashion in order to eliminate the hard contact. The benefit to using active switching with a buffered circuit is that it allows the electronic engineer to manage the signal to eliminate noise. The BigShot ABY is a true-bypass ABY switcher. The noise is most noticeable when using high-gain amps. This is due to the hard contact that is created when the footswitch is depressed and the internal relay is called into action. The downside with true-bypass pedals is that they tend to produce switching noise. The concept here is that a true-bypass pedal will relay the original sound of the guitar without any buffer or loading on the pickup which could alter the clean tone. Pedals that completely remove the effect circuit from the signal path are known as true-bypass pedals. The Twin-City and Switchbone are active ABY switchers. A buffer not only drives the signal further without noise, but the capacitors in the signal path also block noise that may be coming from the amp from bleeding back into the guitar. The BigShot ABY is a passive ABY switcher.Īctive switchers employ a buffer or unity-gain amplifier to lower the impedance to reduce susceptibility to noise and manage the electrical signal. When running two amps at once, the signal going to each amp is reduced by half, like a simple Y-jack cable. Some tone purists prefer passive switchers as they do not color the guitar signal in any way. There is no ‘buffer’ or electronic amp inside the ABY to manage the signal. ![]() ![]() Passive ABYs are simple switches that divert the guitar signal to one amp or the other. Passive ABYs do not require any power to make them work while active ABYs must be powered like most other guitar pedals. The BigShot ABY is a compact passive switcher.ĪBY pedals generally come in two categories: passive and active. The Radial BigShot ABY is a true-bypass ABY switcher that toggles or combines two guitar amplifiers in phase and without hum & buzz caused by ground loops.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |