Effects Loops

[bonzoboy]

I have about a dozen amps and where most of them are older or vintage theydon't have effects loops so consequently only 3 have effects loops.Since I grew up in the 60s and early 70s none of the amps made had effects loops so nobody used them back then.When I got my first amp that had an effects loop (an'84 Marshall JCM 800 4210)I tried out the amp with my effects straight into the instrument input then for curiosity's sake tried for the first time an effects loop. When I played through the effects loop I found that the overall sound seemed to muddy up and the highs were especially not as bright andthe whole thing lacked presence.Ever since then I have given up on effects loops because no matter what the amp's quality or sophistication the effects loops seem to be universally tone robbers.Even my Vox AD 120 VTH with its extremely advanced circuitry can't cut it with its effects loop.

 

So after all that who else shares my opinion on the effects loop topic?

[Ryan H]

I have about a dozen amps and where most of them are older or vintage theydon't have effects loops so consequently only 3 have effects loops.Since I grew up in the 60s and early 70s none of the amps made had effects loops so nobody used them back then.When I got my first amp that had an effects loop (an'84 Marshall JCM 800 4210)I tried out the amp with my effects straight into the instrument input then for curiosity's sake tried for the first time an effects loop. When I played through the effects loop I found that the overall sound seemed to muddy up and the highs were especially not as bright andthe whole thing lacked presence.Ever since then I have given up on effects loops because no matter what the amp's quality or sophistication the effects loops seem to be universally tone robbers.Even my Vox AD 120 VTH with its extremely advanced circuitry can't cut it with its effects loop.

 

So after all that who else shares my opinion on the effects loop topic?

 

The effects loop is generally used for time-based effects (Delays, reverbs, flangers, phasers e.c.t.). Think of it like this. Have you ever placed a distortion/overdrive pedal After your delay straight into the amp? It messes it up, because you're overdriving/distorting the delayed signal. The easy way to fix this is to put the Delay After the distortion pedal. Then you're Delaying the distorted signal, which is what (most) people want. But what if you're using the amp's onboard overdrive channel or you have the gain cranked? Without an effects loop, you Can't stick your time-based effect after the preamp (where a good portion of your distortion comes from). The effects loop is the same, in theory, as placing your time-based effects after your distortion/OD/boost effects.

 

Is your effects loop Serial or Parallel? It makes a difference. Judging by your description, i'm guessing serial.

[duane v]

For me no....

 

To me FX loops are tone suckers

[ChanMan]

I was also under the impression that the effects loop was for delays and the like.

 

Having said that, I am also not an effects loop fan

[cabba2203]

The main thing I use an amp's FX loop for (if it has one) is to put in a Hush or Noise Suppressor. I play with a very hot pushed signal into the front end and on hi-gain amps I've found a Hush in the FX loop and then a noise suppressor in the front on my board quiet any amp down and tweaked correctly won't kill your tone or sustain.

I currently am running a Mesa Boogie Mark IV head, in its FX loop I have a small rack that has a HUSH Super C and a DBX 266XL Compressor. On my board, I'm either using the built in Noise Suppression of my M13 or on my other board a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor. I can palm mute my strings and have super silence for quick chug stops and such setup like this. Without the FX Loop HUSH, it will still be quite when my volume is OFF but I have to use my volume pedal for quick stops as it isn't as quiet without the back end Hushing. So, I like FX loops when I have them but I'm used to years of JCM800 2203 amps that had none and can cope with that way too.

[Ryan H]

A Parallel FX loop is always preferable over a Serial FX loop. In a serial loop, the dry signal and the wet (effect) signal are combined (in Series with eachother). In a Parallel loop, the dry and wet signal hit the power amp separately, which will result in less tone suck.

[Riffster]

I use the loop in my Mesa for time based and modulation effects, works rather well.

 

I don't like the way delays and modulation sounds through the preamp.

 

Lately I have been using the heck out of the effects loop to play silently through headphones using this gizmo

 

[kaleb]

It depends. Most effects loops on "commercial amps" (Marshall, Fender, Vox, Peavey, Carvin, etc), or on older amps (like Bonzo's Marshall, or the older Peavey and Music Man amps) aren't designed very well. The original point of effects loops was to simply place time-based effects after the preamp, which was very important at the time because amps were getting gainer and gainer and the tape echo units we so love were going out and rackmount delays and reverbs were coming into play, and not everyone could afford (or was willing) to have a slave rig with a separate poweramp (like EVH in the 80s) or have a wet-dry setup (like most guitar players in the 80s), or they wanted the gain out of their amps, not pedals (which guys like Alex Lifeson, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and later on, Satriani and Vai, did). Also, modulation units were evolving from the old-school tremolo units, Uni-Vibes, and even the phaser pedals that came about in the 70s, with the many chorus and flanger units that hit the scene in the late 70s (the Roland Chorus Ensemble, EHX Electric Mistress, and the ever-wacky A/DA Flanger are notable mentions), and some people liked the sound of those after the distortion sound. That's basically how loops came to be needed. The loops in the Soldano amps suck, as they were designed in the mid 80s, and Mike has hesitated to upgrade them.

 

Now, higher-end amps, like Mesa and Orange, have very nice effects loops (the Mesa amps have a series fx loop with send/return controls, and the Oranges have very nice tube-buffered loops). And of course the boutique side of things (Suhr/CAA, Cornford, Friedman, Bogner, Cameron, etc, anything that is lauded by 80s rock type hot-rod Marshall freaks, etc) have the nicest effects loops available. But that obviously shows in the price, and you get what you pay for.

 

Smaller amps like Dr. Z, 65 Amps, Divided By 13, etc tend not to have effects loops, as they're designed to take pedals, not kick you in the face with gain stages. And even some high gain amps (I'm referring to Wizard amps) don't have them, but they should. Delay is a crucial effect for me, and I prefer amp gain. But everyone is different!