Re hooking up Alesis SR16 with Boss RC3 into bass head

surfguy13

 I use a Boss RC3 looper a great deal and although it has a few basic drum sounds they are really very basic and the tap tempo drives me crazy.  So, remembered I had my 20/30 year old SR16 in the attic so got it down to see if there was any way I could continue to put the bass through the RC3 and into the amp but somehow incorporate the SR16 too so that I could record loops using the SR16s drums rather than the RC3s on board drums.  T

I realised that this was going to be a little challenging.  The RC3 has 2 inputs, input A and B; A being mono.  I put the bass direct into A on the RC3 and using the 'main right' output on the SR16 connected it to input B on the RC3.  The RC3 has 2 outputs, again A and B with A being mono.  However, the head only has one 1/4" jack input on the front.  So used an ancient stereo Y splitter jack in the amp's input jack and ran 2 leads  out of the two outputs on the RC3 into the two jacks on the splitter.  This actually worked but the volume on the head was reduced a fair bit.  

There doesn't appear to be any way to go direct into the SR16 and then out of that and into the RC3 so I'm a bit stumped; other than midi and I have never used midi before.  However, there are connectivity options on the back panel of the head.  Its a Behringer BVT4500H.  The rear panel has  a Speakon output and also 2 x 1/4" unbalanced outs.  Then 2 x 1/4" jack effects loop (send/return) and also a 1/4" power amp input and preamp output. Finally it has a Line Output with balanced XLR out, ground lift, level knob and pre/post button.  It also has a tuner out.  I simply have no idea if any of the above would allow me to connect the RC3 and the SR16 so that a) I don't have a major loss of volume and b) be able to use the SR16 through the amp and actually record bass and drums via the RC3.

I probably haven't explained this very well but any help would be really much appreciated!  

ICBM

Does simply using the mono output on the RC-3 automatically mix the two loops?

If not you needs something like a Boss LS-2 Line Selector which can be used as a simple 2-channel mixer. You may need to experiment with whether the RC-3 and LS-2 need to be in front of the amp or in the FX loop.

surfguy13

Yes, if I plug the bass into input A of the RC3 and the SR16 into input B and then use the mono output on the RC3 into the main input of the head it works OK but at reduced volume level.  Likewise if I use the stereo outs rather than just the mono output.  No idea why this is.  Using either input A or B on the RC3 and then out from the mono output into the head gives you twice as much volume.

The LS-2 sounds like a really excellent idea and definitely worth a try.  I didn't even know such a thing existed.  I guess my basic problem is that I don't understand how a FX loop works as I've never actually used one so I think I need to have a look at a few Utube clips so I understand it better.  As you say, the LS-2 may work in front of the amp or possibly in the FX loop.  

Thanks once again for some excellent advice @ICBM, really appreciate it.