As mentioned earlier, many pedals, particularly those made by BOSS and Ibanez, include a buffer that remains in the signal path even when the effect is bypassed. So, if your first pedal is something like a tuner, compressor, or gain boost that includes a buffer, then you're covered for buffering.

How do I know if my pedals are buffered?

"It's a brash-sounding circuit, but the low-input impedance warms up the tone. ... So, check the input impedance of your fuzz pedals to know for sure if they are 'buffer friendly. ' If the impedance is above 500k, you are generally okay to place a buffer in front.

Are all BOSS pedals buffered?

For this reason, all BOSS pedals include buffer circuits. Of course, top pedalboard designers are hip to this fact, too, and almost always incorporate buffers in the rigs they build, using either custom-made circuits or buffered pedals like those from BOSS.