Concerned that plugging all those stompboxes may be decimating your guitar‘s tone? It’s a valid concern; many can color the sound or sap tone or output level. (We’re talking about when the pedal is bypassed and the dry, “unprocessed” guitar sound is heard.)
So how many stompboxes can you run before there’s a tone problem?
The answer is, as few as one, as many as, well, many!
The only way to tell how a pedal is affecting your tone when bypassed is to compare the sound with your guitar plugged straight into the amp to the sound when passing the signal through the bypassed pedal. Try your pedals individually, to hear if any of them are causing tone loss. Then try various combinations and orders of pedals to hear if tonal differences increase or change. Finally, compare your guitar’s tone when plugged straight into the amp to the tone when passing through your entire effects chain.
So, what do you do if there’s a noticeable tone problem when your guitar runs through bypassed pedals?
Tune in tomorrow for the thrilling conclusion to this discussion in “How Many Pedals? (Part 2)”!