Need help... recording swells with looper... volume pedal, FX loop

[JoshuaLogan]

Alright, I'm a little confused right now.

 

I've been planning on getitng a 25K ernie ball jr. volume pedal to use in the effects loop of my amp for volume swells with delay, and I realize this will work just fine for playing the actual swells, BUT when I started thinking about it.... if I ever wanted to loop the swells with a looper.... would it still work?

 

I'm confused because I would have the volume pedal and delays in the effects loop... and I am not so sure that the looper would get that same phrase information as it would if you used it in front of the amp and had a volume pedal adjusting the volume straight from the instrument....

 

I'm thinking either:

 

A. It will not work the same no matter what and the looper won't pick up on it because it won't "hear" any difference coming from the "SEND" of the effects loop since this is raising/lowering the volume of the amp itself.....

 

or B. it WILL work, but ONLY if the volume pedal is BEFORE the delay and delay before the looper.

 

I was trying to work it out in my head, but I just can't figure it out. :confused:

 

It wouldn't be a problem for doing swells, but it would be nice to be able to "record" and loop swells with the looper... and I don't want to have two separate volume pedals...

 

Can anybody explain this to me? Zachman, maybe?

 

I need some help

[marcher5877]

It all depends on where your volume pedal is. If the volume pedal is before, then your looper would 'hear' the swells and thats what the loop would be.

 

If your volume pedal is after your loop pedal, then you would have to swell the loops. If you did not, the pedal would hear the signal from the guitar and no swell

 

I would recomend putting your volume pedal before the effects loop and your loop pedal after the preamp (in other words, inside the effects loop)

 

This would give your control of the sound coming from your guitar into the setup. Having your looping pedal in the effects loop would give the pedal a stronger signal because it would be looping your rig (guitar and volume pedal) PLUS the preamp, giving it a more 'honest' sound. But play around with it and figure out what you think sounds best. They are your ears.

[JoshuaLogan]

 

It all depends on where your volume pedal is. If the volume pedal is before, then your looper would 'hear' the swells and thats what the loop would be. If your volume pedal is after your loop pedal, then you would have to swell the loops. If you did not, the pedal would hear the signal from the guitar and no swell I would recomend putting your volume pedal before the effects loop and your loop pedal after the preamp (in other words, inside the effects loop) This would give your control of the sound coming from your guitar into the setup. Having your looping pedal in the effects loop would give the pedal a stronger signal because it would be looping your rig (guitar and volume pedal) PLUS the preamp, giving it a more 'honest' sound. But play around with it and figure out what you think sounds best. They are your ears.

 

 

 

Well I know that part... the reason I originally wanted the volume pedal in the FX loop was because I didn't want to lose treble and gain like you do by having it in front of the amp. The delay and looper are going to be in the FX loop no matter what... would it still work if the volume pedal was in the loop but before the looper? I was thinking it might not work because the FX Loop is after the preamp but before the poweramp, and the volume pedal is actually just raising/lowerng the master volume on the poweramp, so I was thinking it might not work the same even if it was before the looper... but I'm not sure.

 

Also, I need to know this before buying the volume pedal, because you need the 25k ohm volume pedal for use in the effects loop, and 250k ohm one for in front of the amp... so I'd kinda need to know where I'd be using it to know which I need to buy. I'd really prefer to use it in the loop, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to record swells with it on the looper

[gambit]

the preamp is before the poweramp, so a volume pedal anywhere before your amps input or between the fx send and your looper (last in chain going into the fx return) will do swells.

 

you might want to get the correct ohmage volume pedal if its in your fx loop. i think i tried my boss fv-50h in the fx loop once and it sucked tone like a mutha.

[Zachman]

I'm thinking either: A. It will not work the same no matter what and the looper won't pick up on it because it won't "hear" any difference coming from the "SEND" of the effects loop since this is raising/lowering the volume of the amp itself..... or B. it WILL work, but ONLY if the volume pedal is BEFORE the delay and delay before the looper. I was trying to work it out in my head, but I just can't figure it out. :confused: It wouldn't be a problem for doing swells, but it would be nice to be able to "record" and loop swells with the looper... and I don't want to have two separate volume pedals... Can anybody explain this to me? Zachman, maybe? I need some help

 

I understand not wanting more than 1 pedal (I have 3+ a wah). The trouble is that your guitar signal to your volume pedal is likely a Hi-Z signal assuming passive pickups, but the signal coming out of the looper is likely Lo-Z and likely going into a buffered FX loop, in your amp, which will require a Lo-Z, volume pedal. If your amp's loop is series or parallel will present different challenges as well. You are nearing the doorway to what led me to build the monster rig, with the amount of control and flexibility, I was after. Be WARNED, it's a slippery slope. SO, if you go before your amp's input I'd say go with a Hi-Z volume pedal, IF you go in the loop, go w/ a Lo-Z volume pedal.

 

BUT, It's possible that the looper you use will allow for CC messages, in which case you can use a volume pedal as a controller that way, to have MIDI messages CC your mix level in your looper.