Buffers, before or after effects

[Dwight Lewis]

Question: I run a 5 pedal effects setup with my goodrich omni vp, (Pedal steel Guitar 19kohm pickup>>Goodrich 500kohmVP>>TC Elec. MojoMojo>>MXR Duke of Tone>>MXR M234 Analog Chorus >>MXR M300 Analog Reverb>>MXR M169Analog Delay>>Peavey Nashville 112). At room volumes, my tone and sound is as sweet as can be. At concert volumes (cranked) seems as though I lose some attack or push. Cables are GL 3FT AND 6FT. Do I need a buffer at the end of my signal into my amp?
Dwight
dwightlewis652@gmail.com

[Fred]

At higher volumes the amp probably doesn't have enough power to reproduce the transient that we perceive as attack. The attack portion of the signal will max out well before the sustained portion. The amp also has something that Peavey calls "DDT compression speaker protection". This may also soften the attack a bit.

More power may be the answer you're looking for. Not to play louder, but to catch the attack of a clean sound without hitting the rails.

[Dale Rivard]

Hi Dwight, Typically, a buffer or preamp is placed in line before the effects. Right after the pickup, even before the volume pedal. It helps recapture some of the clarity that can be lost when using effect pedals. However, I find that when I turn up most amps to a higher volume, the sharpness(brightness) of the tone is even more present. When you say you lose some attack or push at louder volumes, is your sound(tone) also changing? Fred brings up a good point. I have a Peavey, Nashville 112 and have experienced exactly what he describes at extreme volume levels. I now use a Fender Twin Tone Master for live shows and have had the volume on 7 with no issues. If you're playing at very loud volumes, it could be you need an amp with more power(headroom).

[Dennis Detweiler]

I've never owned a 112, but I know a couple of players that had to play through two of them to gain more coverage.

[Patrick Huey]

Question: I run a 5 pedal effects setup with my goodrich omni vp, (Pedal steel Guitar 19kohm pickup>>Goodrich 500kohmVP>>TC Elec. MojoMojo>>MXR Duke of Tone>>MXR M234 Analog Chorus >>MXR M300 Analog Reverb>>MXR M169Analog Delay>>Peavey Nashville 112). At room volumes, my tone and sound is as sweet as can be. At concert volumes (cranked) seems as though I lose some attack or push. Cables are GL 3FT AND 6FT. Do I need a buffer at the end of my signal into my amp?
Dwight
dwightlewis652@gmail.com

Dwight if you are running all of that into the front of your amplifier, I would put one between your steel and your volume pedal and another one between your pedals and your amplifier input.

[Dwight Lewis]

I've played a nv400 with BW 1501 in this sane setting and it really fell in its face at the higher volume.... that surprised me. Which caused me to look at my effects board.....At those high volumes the tone compresses a bit. Sometime it would feel as if there was a noise gate. But I want to switch to a fender twin TM as well.
Dwight

[Dave Grafe]

You don't need a buffer, you need a bigger amp. NV112 was never intended to be used on loud stages unless mic'd and run through the monitors.

[Stew Crookes]

A buffer at the end is unlikely to change much - you're already passing through multiple active stages of electronics with the pedals, so inserting one more (neutral sounding) active stage after the effects shouldn't really do anything noticeable.

I agree that it sounds like you may be running up against the volume limits of what an NV112 can produce and hitting the built in limiter or pushing the speaker. That's the amp I used for years on hundreds of gigs and does sound great but it can't produce as much clean volume as an NV400 for example.