Buffer vs true bypass

True bypass routes the signal around the circuit when the pedal is off, so the pedal is electrically absent. A buffer keeps a small always-on amplifier in the path that presents a high impedance to your guitar and a low impedance to everything downstream. Buffered is better for long cable runs and worse in front of a vintage fuzz. Most boards want at least one buffer, early.

True bypass is marketed as an upgrade and it is a trade. This page is about which side of that trade your board is on.

01What a buffer actually fixes

Guitar cable has capacitance — a few hundred picofarads per meter. That capacitance, combined with your pickup's inductance, forms a filter that rolls off high frequencies. The longer the cable, the more top end you lose, and the effect is entirely real and measurable.

A buffer's output impedance is low — TC Electronic publishes 100 ohms for the BONAFIDE buffer in the PolyTune 3 — which means it can drive that capacitance without the roll-off. Everything after the buffer is effectively immune to cable length.

A board full of true-bypass pedals adds all the patch cables plus both long cables into one continuous run, so the total capacitance is the sum of the lot. That is where a fully true-bypass board loses top end, and it is why the choice matters more as boards get bigger.

02 — The shortlist

One of each, and how to choose

#	Product	Best for	Price
01	BOSS TU-3 Chromatic Tuner Buffered bypass at the front of the chain, driving everything downstream.	A buffer where a buffer belongs	$103.99 · Check price $109.99 · 5% off #ad How we’re funded · price as of October 18, 2026
02	No photo Korg Pitchblack Chromatic Tuner +/- 1 cent accuracy with true bypass, so the tuner is out of the path when off.	True bypass where a buffer would break something	Check price #ad How we’re funded
03	EarthQuaker Devices Plumes Relay-based switching that is true bypass without the mechanical switch's pop or wear.	Relay true bypass, which is the modern answer	Check price #ad How we’re funded

Rows link to the full write-up further down this page. Prices come from the live price layer only — where there is no live figure the button reads “Check price” rather than showing a remembered number.

03The comparison

01

BOSS TU-3 Chromatic Tuner

A buffer where a buffer belongs

The number20 mA normally, 80 mA in High Brightness mode. Buffered bypass, published by BOSS.

A buffer is most useful early in the chain, because everything after it benefits. A tuner is almost always first, which makes a buffered tuner the most efficient place to put one.

The TU-3 also has a DC OUT jack that powers a small number of other pedals, and a mute function that is the actual reason to own a pedal tuner rather than a clip-on.

It is the wrong pedal in front of a vintage fuzz, for exactly the reason this page exists. Fuzz and buffers covers that case.

Published specifications for the BOSS TU-3 Chromatic Tuner

Tuning range	C0 (16.35 Hz) to C8 (4,186 Hz)
Accuracy	+/- 1 cent
Modes	Chromatic, Chromatic flat x2, Guitar, Guitar flat x2, Bass, Bass flat x3
Bypass	Buffered bypass
Current draw	20 mA; 80 mA with High Brightness mode on
Jacks	Output, Bypass, DC IN, DC OUT (powers other pedals)
Weight	390 g including battery
What it does not do	+/- 1 cent is fine for a stage tuner and not enough for setting intonation — that is strobe territory. Turning on High Brightness quadruples the current draw, which matters on a shared supply.

Specs from BOSS TU-3 specifications. We have not used this unit.

$103.99 · Check price

$109.99 · 5% off

#ad How we’re funded · price as of October 18, 2026

No photo

02

Korg Pitchblack Chromatic Tuner

True bypass where a buffer would break something

If you run a vintage-style fuzz and need the tuner first for its mute, this is the swap that fixes the conflict without rearranging the board.

Korg publishes +/- 1 cent accuracy, four meter styles including a strobe-style display, and a DC output for powering other pedals.

True bypass is not free: with no buffer anywhere and a long cable run, you will lose top end. That is the cost of the choice, not a fault of the pedal.

Published specifications for the Korg Pitchblack Chromatic Tuner

Accuracy	+/- 1 cent
Display modes	Four meter styles including a strobe-style display
Bypass	True bypass
Power	9 V battery or a 9 V DC supply; DC output for powering other pedals
What it does not do	No polyphonic mode. True bypass means no buffer, which is a feature if your chain already has one and a problem if it does not.

Specs from Korg Pitchblack product page. We have not used this unit.

Check price

#ad How we’re funded

03

EarthQuaker Devices Plumes

Relay true bypass, which is the modern answer

The number10 M ohm in, 100 ohm out, 25 mA. Flexi-Switch relay bypass.

A mechanical 3PDT switch is what most true-bypass pedals use, and it is the part that wears out and the reason some pedals pop when switched.

Relay switching gets the same signal path with a quieter, longer-lived mechanism, and it makes momentary switching possible — hold for a phrase, tap for a section.

The 10 M ohm input impedance means it loads nothing in front of it, which is the other half of being genuinely transparent when engaged.

Published specifications for the EarthQuaker Devices Plumes

Controls	Level, Gain, Tone (bass left, midrange center, treble right), 3-way clipping toggle
Clipping modes	Mode 1 symmetrical LED clipping, which EarthQuaker describes as more crunch and compression; mode 2 no clipping, a wide-open op-amp clean boost; mode 3 asymmetrical silicon diode clipping, described as more transparency with a looser feel
Circuit	EarthQuaker states it uses JFET op-amps rather than the traditional 4558 IC, with the 9 V supply internally converted to +/- 9 V for more headroom
Current draw	25 mA
Input impedance	10 M ohm
Output impedance	100 ohm
Bypass	Flexi-Switch relay-based true bypass, momentary or latching
Size	4.75 x 2.50 x 2.25 in (121 x 64 x 57 mm) with knobs
Power	9 V DC, 2.1 mm center-negative barrel
What it does not do	No power supply included and no battery compartment. Mode 2 is a clean boost, not a second drive voicing — if you expected three flavors of dirt, one of them is not dirt.

Specs from EarthQuaker Devices Plumes product page. We have not used this unit.

Check price

#ad How we’re funded

04The rule for deciding

1. Do you run a vintage-style fuzz? If yes, nothing buffered goes in front of it. That constraint comes first and everything else works around it.
2. Is your total cable run over roughly 6 meters? If yes, you want at least one buffer. Guitar to board plus board to amp adds up faster than people expect.
3. Is your board mostly BOSS or Ibanez pedals? You already have buffers, several of them, and adding another achieves nothing.
4. Is everything true bypass and the tone sounds dull? That is the capacitance roll-off. Add one buffer, early.
5. Does a pedal pop when you switch it? That is a mechanical bypass switch. Irritating, not harmful, and a relay-bypass pedal avoids it.

05Where to put a buffer

Early, so the maximum length of chain benefits — but after any fuzz. The common arrangement is fuzz first, then a buffered pedal, then everything else. If you have no fuzz, first in the chain is the right place and a buffered tuner does the job for free.

A second buffer at the end of a long board is sometimes worth it if the run to the amp is long, but two buffers in a row achieve nothing extra. This is not a case where more is better. Wah pedals are the category where this choice is least consistent between models that look identical — best wah pedals has the bypass type for each. Tuners are the other category where it decides a purchase: TU-3 vs PolyTune 3 covers one buffer you can switch out and one you cannot. If what sent you here was noise rather than tone loss, the hum diagnostic is the faster route to the cause.