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What's a buffer?  What's an impedance?  What's an internetz? We've all heard about the benefits of a "buffer" and how fuzz pedals don't "like" buffers, right?  Your best buddy insists of having a buffer at the front of his pedalboard-- after his favorite fuzz pedal of course, and even recommends putting a buffer at the end of his pedalboard to "drive his cables" and "maintain his signal strength."  So, the question(s) is/are:  WHY do we want these buffers, and do we even need them at all?  Pop a pop, crack a beer, put on a record and lets'd debunk the...

Steve in New Zealand asks: "Why does my Hardwire Phaser pedal reduce the volume when I turn it on?" Well Steve, there's a number of things that could be happening here. The first thing that comes to mind is how a phaser works. Essentially, a phaser creates a series of related notches in the frequency spectrum, similar to a flanger pedal like the TunnelWorm TZF, but the "mechanical" operation of the effects' are different. In short, what is probably happening here is not a actual reduction in volume, but a reduction in perceived volume due to the frequency response of the...