FX Pedals- part 2

This continues the last post on effects pedals. In that post, I talked about the best sequence for various types of pedals and
used my pedal board as an example. In this post I’m finishing up with rest of the FX questions I get.
-WHAT IS A BUFFER?: A buffer changes a high impedance signal to a low impedance signal. This causes less drain on your signal
as it travels through the all of your pedals. This gives you a cleaner sound compared to no buffer, which could make things muddy.
My #2 pedal, the MXR Classic 108 Fuzz, has a buffer switch.
-POWER SUPPLIES: Unless you like buying lots of batteries, you will need a power supply. The cheapest option (if you already have
all of the power adaptors), is to plug them all into a power strip and stick that on your board. However this takes up a lot of
room and can crowd out your pedals. Most players use a power supply, which needs to have enough input options ( pedal voltages,
#/type of inputs, etc.) to handle all of your pedals. It helps if the power taps are isolated (not daisy chained), which helps
when using different types of pedals and the supply should be regulated, which evens out the voltage. I use a Voodoo Lab power
supply, which was one of the first out, but MXR, Strymon and others all make them.
-PEDAL BOARDS: My first pedal boards were boards! I just cut them out of spare plywood, painted them black and used Velcro from
the fabric store to mount the pedals. They worked OK, but it was hard to reconfigure my pedals and the wiring was messy. Now I
use a Holey board, by chemistrydesignwerks.com, and I can use cable ties to mount my pedals anywhere in a few minutes and most
of the wiring is routed beneath the board. It cost $150 though. Lots of companies make boards and I would make a mock-up of all
my pedals on the floor first, to measure the size needed and pay attention the the pedal mounting system, make sure it will
work for your needs.
-MULTI-FX PEDALS: Digital effects are cheap nowadays. For $100-$400 you can buy a multi-fx pedal that has everything plus programming
options in 1 pedal. While you might think I would sneer at these jack of all trades pedals, I actually think they can be quite
useful. It’s a great way to find out how certain effects/combinations sound without having to spend lots of $. Once you find
your favorite effects, you can research individual, higher quality pedals (or you might be totally happy with your multi-fx
pedal and never spend another nickel).
I hope these last 2 posts have helped clear things up a bit. While I am definitely not an expert, I love my spacey sounds and I
have been doing this awhile!