Is it just me, or do effects loops do something to the tone

[EricJohn]

I swera when I put a delay into the effect loop of the Mesa Dual Rectifier, something happens to the tone. I love using delay but HATE the way it sounds in front of the OD channel and don't like the tone when it's running through the loop. Any suggestions?

[mygolfcart123]

 

I swear when I put a delay into the effect loop of the Mesa Dual Rectifier, something happens to the tone. I love using delay but HATE the way it sounds in front of the OD channel and don't like the tone when it's running through the loop. Any suggestions?

 

 

 

Well that may be what you hear on your amp, but I use a Line 6 X3 live through the effects loop on my Mesa Boogie 2x12 lonestar and it sounds great! I use the 4 cable method which only uses the effects of the X3 live and leaves the modeling out.

 

Tone is subjective.

[DaveAronow]

Run a seperate line out with just your dry signal and use a mix of the dleayed sound and your dry sound as your over all sound.Your tone will still be colored by the delay sound, but there will be enough of the original sound left for your ears to grasp onto and keep you happy and inspired.

 

Or, run a seperate line out of the wet sound, effects after amp, and just mic your dry speaker sound live and, once again, mix it all together before you send it on its way.

[FourT6and2]

Every effects loop will alter the sound at least somewhat. Plus, add in the tonal alterations caused by the pedal itself. No way around it.

[IamBurnout]

Run a small mixer in the loop, to keep your dry signal separate from the delay line, and mix the delay (full wet) back in.

[bengerm77]

the effects loop on my ultra 120 SUCKS. I though I was being clever by putting an EQ pedal in the loop to boost my solos. I spent the next several weeks tweaking my amp's EQ trying to compensate for the tone loss. Finally I had enough, and ditched the whole idea. I am now dedicated to not ever using an amps effects loop ever again.

[lp_junkie]

Stompboxes were designed to go into the front of the amp, the effects loops are more for pro level gear.

 

So yeah the effects loop and stompboxes tend to suck tone on most amps.

[notjonahbutnoah]

Bbe delay sounds fine in the loop of my nomad. Maybe just roll back the mix control on the amp.

 

In my nomad's manual it says to set the effect's mix to maximum, and then find your sweet spot with the amp's. Wet/dry control for the fx loop. I've tested in front, using the delays mix, and then the manual's method. The latter does souund the best. It's because its sennding as little through the loop as possible.

 

What delay are you using? What kind of cables? How long are they? What kind of sound are you going for? Do you use a battery or power supply?

 

The answers to these questions could have some bearing on your predicament.

[BryanMichael]

 

Stompboxes were designed to go into the front of the amp, the effects loops are more for pro level gear. So yeah the effects loop and stompboxes tend to suck tone on most amps.

 

 

+1

That said, you could add a buffer to your fxloop chain and it might help.

 

like the VHT Valvulator maybe.

[steve_man]

Not a big fan of effects loops, either.

[FourT6and2]

The best loops I've ever used were on a Framus Dragon and on my VH4. The Dragon's loop (and I assume the same for the Cobra) were super transparent and didn't change the sound/feel of the amp at all.

 

Diezel loops are also super awesome. The VH4 has three (or four) different ways to run your effects. Out front, in the individual channel inserts, switchable parallel loop or the serial loop. Run the parallel full wet and you have a switchable semi-series loop. The Herbert has a switchable (i.e. totally out of the signal chain) serial loop as well.

 

And most amps nowadays have tube buffered loops. There shouldn't be a need to ad an external buffer to a loop unless you're running a {censored}-ton of devices that are true-bypass. Otherwise, every pedal that isn't true-bypass will already buffer the signal.

[EricJohn]

 

Bbe delay sounds fine in the loop of my nomad. Maybe just roll back the mix control on the amp. In my nomad's manual it says to set the effect's mix to maximum, and then find your sweet spot with the amp's. Wet/dry control for the fx loop. I've tested in front, using the delays mix, and then the manual's method. The latter does souund the best. It's because its sennding as little through the loop as possible. What delay are you using? What kind of cables? How long are they? What kind of sound are you going for? Do you use a battery or power supply? The answers to these questions could have some bearing on your predicament.

 

 

Using a Boss DD-6. Cables are 15 footers, so that's 30 foot worth of cable. Since I do both guitar and vocals, I like to have the pedalboard right at the base of the mic stand. I like to use the delay for both guitar solos and Edge-type textural stuff.

[lp_junkie]

some of the more modern amps have the ability to set the loop for unity gain so you can match your effects chain to the required signal level.

 

Lots of factors go into what works and doesn't.

 

I just skip the loop and put all the stompboxes into the amp input.

[notjonahbutnoah]

Sounds like a modest setup, just play around, like these dudes say, they're all different.

 

Your pedal has a buffer already, perhaps that's coloring your tone. Maybe put the delay out fron and play with it off, then try taking the delay out of the chain and see if it"s the culprit.

[jak83]

How are you setting your levels? Recto loops can be finicky on whether or not you're using the effect full wet and adjusting the mix on the amp, or vice versa. My DD-5 is the only pedal I can get away with running in my loop and not having the mix maxed out, with everything else (EQ, modulation) I have to max it or my signal just gets destroyed.

[onelife]

I don't know if this is the case with your amp, but my Mesa Boogie Subway Blues actually has solid state buffers for the effects loop. If I don't use the loop, the signal path is all tube - if I do use the loop it passes through the buffers.

 

The way I use it is to take a signal from the amp to the effects and then back into a small Fender amp.

[brandass]

Interesting to hear about the reasons for the tone suck from the loop. I've tried some EQ fixes and such, but haven't gotten it to work better than just feeding the front end, so I'd given up on loops. Might revisit with this new info - thanks!

[Metalrulez]

Anything you add to the signal chain is going to have an effect(no pun intended) on tone.

[Mr_GoodBomb]

Different effects go different places. Are you trying to modify the sound of the dry guitar, BEFORE the pre-amp and it's added color/gain, or are you trying to modify the sound of the pre-amp before it hits the power section?

 

From my experience, here's some examples of what works best where...

 

Overdrives - pre-amp (effects loop)

Fuzz - either, many prefer between guitar and amp

Delay - between guitar and amp

Reverb - pre-amp (as if it's a part of the pre-amp, rather than the guitar sound)

Wah - between guitar and amp

EQ - pre-amp, unless there's something specific about the instrument's sound you want to modify

 

Granted, some people don't bother. Between the two bands I play bass in, there are three guitarists, and they have either never owned an amp with an effects loop and therefore never tried it, or they've just never messed with it. I'm currently trying to convince them all that, because they used overdrives, some effects would sound better in the loop than between the guitar and amp.