UnBuffer: The Wireless Fixer?

I Found a Solution (I think)

And it Cost Me Nothing!

I’m like a dog with a bone once I get an idea in my head. I can’t just put it down and move on as a rule. Recently I posted about how my Boss WL20 wireless is leaving me unsatisfied with the general tone and operation of my rig, but how I love the convenience of it to the point of going all-out to see if a possible solution is forthcoming.

Well the same day I posted my opinions on the Boss WL20 Digital Wireless I did find a solution – or at least a new avenue to explore to keep hope alive that I can still use my wireless without the empty hole left by throwing my tone away.

The Un-Buffer Squeezed onto the board

Easy access for the Boss WL20

The Concept

I found a very informative website called AMZ-FX that had details of a passive “Pickup Simulator”. There are plenty of details about what it comprises of at the above link, so I’ll let you read up on it there. After getting excited about the possibility that I might still get my Boss WL20 to behave the way I want it to I started planning what I needed to build one of my own.

It turned out that I already had enough spare parts to build a simplified version of the “Un-Buffer” device. Basically what it is supposed to do is fool the next pedal in the chain into seeing a guitar pickup and cable instead of a buffered device, like a wireless receiver or another pedal. The idea for this came about due to how most fuzz pedals are infamous for sounding bad if they are not the first thing a guitar with passive pickups is plugged into. It’s the cause of frustration for many players grappling with working their beloved fuzz pedals into their rigs. It’s also the cause of many players just not bothering to use a fuzz pedal at all, me being one of them… until now.

After my experience with the Lovepedal Amp50 being fussy like a fuzz pedal (although it doesn’t sound or respond like one), it has led me to the point where the solution to one issue (the impact of my rig’s tone and noise levels using a wireless) has got me interested in getting a cheap germanium fuzz (or making one) and getting some of that mojo into my rig… and still use my wireless!

Looks like a boutique pedal!

And it cost me nothing!

The Build

This passive device consists of, in signal path order:

• Input jack
• True-bypass switch
• Two transformers – one coil of each in series
• 250k audio-taper volume pot & 250k audio-taper tone pot / 0.01µF capacitor
• Output jack

I have no idea what the value/measurements of these transformers are. They were cheap imports on Ebay, which I originally got to install in a couple of cheap Chinese knockoff SM57s… They didn’t provide any benefit in that application really, but here they seem to be just the ticket.

Initially I tried just one transformer instead of two and a 0.022µF capacitor for the tone control. If that was all I had I would probably be just as satisfied as it eliminated the noise issue and enabled me to dial out some extreme highs. I decided to try the lower value capacitor and a 2nd transformer in case I was missing out by not trying them! I’m happy with it, especially that the tone control is so subtle I’m never likely to dial out too much top end. I don’t need to touch the un-buffer’s volume control with the wireless.

Simple, if messy, wiring

Well-used, old parts!

As a finishing touch I covered it with some leftover tolex I had from when I built my 1×10 speaker cab. The old enclosure I used had a couple of extra holes here and there from past failed projects and I wanted this to actually look presentable for once.

The Verdict

It was quick to build and how well it works compared to the original design I don’t know, but so far I’m digging the results. It seems to eliminate the extreme high frequencies that exist in the signal coming out of the wireless receiver.

These high frequencies are not immediately apparent in the band mix, but significantly impact the tone and interaction of the pedals on my board as well as push my lead sound over the threshold of my noise gate, even when the guitar is muted. It subtly reduces the level too, so when both pots are on max it’s just a tiny bit attenuated – hardly noticeable, but once you start piling on gain and noisy stuff it really demonstrates the improvement.

It has wiped out the extra noise that the wireless introduces to my rig, meaning that my noise gate stays closed when I’m not playing with the Amp50 cranked! That alone makes this experiment a success.