Radial Engineering: Big Shot PB-1 Buffer and Boost Pedal

Radial Big Shot PB-1, power boost buffer circuit pedal
Cost: $180 MSRP: most on-line vendors $140

I pondered over the benefits and confusion of pedal board buffers and the issues of true by-pass pedals verses buffer circuit pedals for some time.
There is a lot of confusing yada out there concerning all of it.

If you run a chain of pedals in order to get an array of tones to be versatile then you no doubt wonder what is better to have, true by-pass wired or buffered pedals. Well the simple truth is too many of either is not optimal for your chain and trueness of tone.

There is also a questionable quality of differing buffering circuits, obviously one is not going to get the quality and component build of a specialty designed buffer pedal verses a lower priced buffered pedal that is not true bypass. What is the effect on your signal, too many buffers just tend to dampen and clamp your true tone which sounds to me like a bad compressive effect like your signal is being padded and loaded losing its real response and dynamic. The classic "tone sucking" pedal effect before the on-set of true by-pass wired tech.

Having all true by-pass wired pedals does not save you from loading problems and the loss of the true dynamic response and bandwidth of your real guitar tone. For every 1ft of cable, or a set of jacks your signal has to pass through it can degrade and load your signal. Despite you might have true by pass wiring all that distance still loads. The high end buffer makes everything after it virtually invisible to the signal and the low impedance change allows for significant cable runs without signal loss, very useful if you have a fairly long cable to your board and another running to the amp(s). Even the best of cable, the most top of the line, is still a matter of pushing the signal down a long path of transmission and resistance. A good high end buffer will help even the best of designed boards and high end cable rigs.

Just FYI, the low impedance signal from the buffer poses no effect on your sound from pedal to pedal it merely enhances its bandwidth potential. Most pedals have no problem with the low impedance signal. Most pedals work and sound better, more responsive. Exceptions to the rule can be old vintage fuzz units and some wahs.

Running all buffered pedals, like a chain of little Boss, amounts to a lot of buffers that are not high end and while you may not notice with the coloring of the pedal when it is on, your basic true guitar signal and tone is just being lost. Not all buffers are created equal, by any means, ever hear the phrase “that pedal is a tone-sucker” well that is the result of a not so great buffer and the guitar signal routing through the pedal circuit even when off.

What is optimal? A sandwich design of a good quality buffer front of chain, followed by true by-pass pedals, then a buffer end of chain. The end of chain buffer may or may not be needed. I have never been one to really like using noise reduction pedals, they just clamp and gate on the signal so unnaturally, some better than others of course. One should try to solve the noise floor before using a NR pedal. Uber high gain of course induces noise floor but if you work to have that as optimal as possible, there is less to worry about. If you like and run a series of buffered pedals like Boss or perhaps an older model Whammy, you can opt for the various mods or use some of the by-pass loop switcher pedals out there. At any rate the Radial up front will help restore and enhance the quality of your tone.

I opt to get my board as quiet as possible with the noise floor down as low as possible. I attain this by using high quality isolated power supplies, avoiding ground loops (I run an amp-in and a amp-loop chain, do not cross power supply feeds to each line, the result is a nasty ground loop hum).

I went to all by pass pedals pretty much by chance as the better pedals I started using were true bypass designs. Running like 8 pedals in my amp in chain, all true by-pass but one, I worried over signal load. So I thought I’d try a specific designed buffer pedal made just to provide a super high quality buffer circuit for the guitar. I came to 3 possible choices the Boost&Buff-MI Audio, the Radial PB1 and several units by Lehle, very high end studio quality. (Also the Wampler buffer pedal, if you can find one, Carl Martin, JHS and Barber make good buffer circuits). The Carl Martin has 2 buffered loop options, expensive but unique and quality.
here's few examples
Buffers / Effects

While any of these would have served the cause, I ended up picking the Radial PB1 just easy to get from my usual vendors, almost getting the Lehle Sunday Driver. All (3) pedals offer a clean boost circuit as well. I wanted the pedal mainly for the buffer circuit and the boost was merely a plus, there if needed as a further option.

The Radial PB-1 pedal is an extremely well made pedal, just top shelf quality. The buffer circuit is as good as it gets. And the clean boost is foot switched and a super transparent class A non coloring clean boost, adjustable up to 15db of clean boost via the pot on the back and footswitch on/off. The buffer effect is of course, always on and functioning once plugged in. The unit also has a dampening pot adjust to buffer down the high end of the guitar should it be too much upon using the buffer. Radial suggests to match the tone with your guitar straight into the amp. I tend to use mine full up with all lift on the guitar signal, I control the overall tone further in my chain or at the amp, normalizing the tone, and taking full advantage of what this pedal does for your true tone.

The effect on the tone was apparent when plugged first in chain, you could virtually hear and feel the lifting of all loading off the guitar. It did not color or change the tone, just increased the bandwidth response coming off the guitar. Now some old vintage effects may not like the buffer signal which drops the high impedance of the guitar signal to a low impedance which allows extreme distances of cable and pedals with no cap loading. It pretty much renders what comes after it visible to your tone and one can hear the difference in a low quality buffer circuit to this puppy right off. Another thing that got me about this pedal is that it is just so heavy compared to pedals similar in size as to be a real noticeable difference. That is one hefty well made pedal, hard to believe the weight is just the box metal. A really nice pedal, top shelf buffer circuit and excellent power boost.
The effect on your chain is positive and enhancing in quality of tone. One of my pedals was not true by-pass, but a high voltage real tube circuit and having that tube buffer last in my amp in chain seemed to work perfectly for the ideal buffer, bypass, buffer chain layout.

The use of a clean boost is functional both before or after overdrives and gains and can also overdrive the front end of the amp with a clean push signal. It’s all good. I wanted the buffer effect and that works best before the pedal chain. I prefer to keep my wah before the buffer as some pedals like to see the normal high z from the guitar. Might not make any difference but before seems to give me a better wah sound and the buffer soaks up the sometimes over bearing wah boost, especially if my compressor is not on.

The clean boost is there as a plus if you might like to boost up the guitar signal before it hits the chain to perhaps hit a drive a little more or a gain pedal or just the amp front end. I seldom use it but I find even if I have my Compressor on and a clean or overdrive tone it can bring in just that little bit of “11” to push the tone over the top. The boost is a 100% discreet class A circuit known for reduced noise, improved phase response and smoother even harmonic curve. The buffer makes a difference and this is a great pedal if you want a top shelf stand alone buffer pedal. If you run a chain of true by-pass you will like the difference.

FYI, this is NOT a battery driven pedal you must use a power feed, mA draw is low and voltage in only 9 so not much of an issue if you already use a decent quality power brick.

From the Radial Website:
“With the PB1, noise is reduced while performance is augmented. Long cable runs are finally possible. And when you hit the boost, you get smooth clean control like you never though possible. The BigShot PB1 is likely the finest guitar power booster ever made."
"The Radial BigShot PB1 is a combination power booster and buffer designed to provide exceptional sonic performance for pedalboard users in a compact and simple package. It provides 15dB of boost, accessed using a guitar pick via a rear-mounted recessed control that is protected from foot stomp damage.
Unlike class-B preamps found in most pedals that color the tone and give buffers a bad name, the BigShot PB1 features 100% discreet class-A circuit topology for the utmost in sound quality. Class-A circuits are preferred due to reduced zero cross distortion, improved phase response and the resulting smooth Bessel curve of evenly cascading harmonics. This is augmented with Drag™ control, a variable load correction circuit that lets you dial in the perfect impedance to match the original tone and feel of your guitar and amp combination.”