Does a DI box affect vintage fuzz/wah pedals?

[DaxLiniere]

Hey gang,
We all know that using a buffered pedal before certain vintage fuzz and wah pedals can (usually) negatively affect the sound of the fuzz or wah, but is that also true when an active DI box with a passive thru is being used?

In other words, if a guitar is connected to a vintage fuzz/wah pedal which is in parallel* with an active DI box, will the signal be affected? (impedance match, etc.)
*the 'link out' socket of most DI boxes is literally a parallel connect to the 'guitar input' socket.
If so, is there any particular DI topology which could avoid or minimise this?

I'm building a switcher device which is intended to not affect the signal in any meaningful way. The idea being that the output of the device (1 in, 5 out (but only one at a time)) is essentially identical to the input (from the guitar), to enable it to be able to be used with abovementioned vintage fuzz and wah pedals.

(Same goes for a buffered tuner output which I'd also like to include.)


Thanks for reading this far, I look forward to reading the forum's sage advice.

All the best!
Dax.

 

[DFischer]

The higher the input impedance of the DI, the less it will effect the interaction with the guitar and fuzz pedal. But note that even quality DI's have a great range of input Z. The Countryman 85 has an input Z of 10Meg, while Radial's J48 has an input Z of 220K. Is 220K enough? That's probably a function of your ears and the fuzz/wah that you are using. 10Meg probably won't have any effect under any normal circumstances.

Also be sure that the guitar output is truly parallel to the input. The Bo Hansen DI is an awesome DI, but the guitar out is buffered and probably wouldn't play nice with a fuzz.