True bypass

A switching arrangement in which the pedal's circuit is physically disconnected from the signal path when the effect is off.

The appeal is that the signal then passes through nothing but wire when the pedal is not in use, so a true-bypass pedal cannot colour the tone in bypass. The catch is that a chain of true-bypass pedals adds cable and connection length without adding any buffering, and a passive pickup loaded by several metres of cable loses high frequency. The usual solution is a buffer somewhere early in the chain, which rather defeats the purity of the approach.

Example: a board of true-bypass pedals can sound muddier when off than a board of buffered ones, until a buffer is added at the front.

True bypass

See also