When to use an FX Loop?

Bellycaster

andyp said:

Good points there too. I trialled it all tonight and it works well. The extra cables are gonna piss me off though. I've ordered a couple so hopefully I can set it all up then tie them up (gently) to keep it all neat. Turns out I have a wee bit of OCD with cables and power connections being tidy...

I used to have my loop cables bound together @andyp I'm that lazy, it still bugged me :-)

My Trem, Flange and Phaser do sound great in front though, the other 2 pedals are managable shall we say.

I'd be great to have some sort of Wireless System for FX Loops, if it doesn't already exist.

djspecialist

Is a compressor safe in the loop?

ecc83

I know ICBM has warned of possible problems with certain FX in a loop (aggressive EQ boosts?) but I was never told of any issues with Blackstar amps, no special measures or restrictions were ever mentioned to me.

But, all Bs' amps that HAVE loops have, iirc, swichable levels. +4dBu "studio" OL and the more pedal friendly -10dBV and that is a difference of about 12dB so, in practice, if you get the OL right the rest of the amp is likely to be happy. Get it wrong and it will probably sound weak and noisy or gratingly overloaded.

Indeed IC has often mention the "Dark Side" of "our" amps and a bit of EQ boost around 3kHz can liven them up!

If anyone manages to "blow up" a Bstar amp with a pedal in the loop I am sure Northampton would love to know!

Dave.

andyp

Well, I sorted it all out last night (which took 2hrs) but it's working brilliantly and I'm over the moon with the wee DSL, it sounds amazing.

I re-arranged all the pedals, hooked up the new cables and it's all working brilliantly. Love it!

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/andypople/E297D09D-126B-4853-B854-F421D10FD083_zpsm4u1x6it.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/andypople/8F3E5AAC-FC0E-4CBF-A180-A784F73C52A2_zps4hhvxmuo.jpg

http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll62/andypople/3E3E046A-30E9-49C6-A327-6023E25F9450_zpsplwlv1ys.jpg

LordOxygen

Nice,
I have the DSL5C and have been wondering about using the loop, will give it a try over the weekend having read this thread. I've been really pleased with the amp as well, cracking sounds with my soul food and EHX reverb. 

andyp

My Soul food was on all the time using my previous amp but I'm using it less now as the amp sounds great on its own. The Soul Food works brilliantly with the DSL though. I have a wee Mooer Shimverb but am on the hunt for a "better" reverb pedal as it's on all the time. Hall of Fame or MXR seem to be the ones to get.

Bowks

andyp said:

My Soul food was on all the time using my previous amp but I'm using it less now as the amp sounds great on its own. The Soul Food works brilliantly with the DSL though. I have a wee Mooer Shimverb but am on the hunt for a "better" reverb pedal as it's on all the time. Hall of Fame or MXR seem to be the ones to get.

Try and track down a Hardwire RV7

andyp

Cheers, I'll have a look out for that.

thomasross20

Love the mini pedals!! Simple and space-efficient - who needs all the knobs? 
What's the mini-wah like?

english_bob

You can neaten things up nicely with a patchbox for your pedalboard.

I made my own with two loops, one in front of the amp and a second for the effects loop. It's got switching jacks so you can run the whole board as a single loop. It took me a couple of hours with a drill and a soldering iron and cost me about a tenner.

If you don't fancy making your own:

http://www.brightonion.co.uk/patchboxes/

thomasross20

Hmmm so could you use a patchbox to switch in and out a BUNCH of FX? E.g. if I wanted one clock to turn on distortion and delay, I could keep those pedals always-on and click the patchbox button?

andyp

thomasross20 said:

Love the mini pedals!! Simple and space-efficient - who needs all the knobs? 
What's the mini-wah like?

Cheers. It's all I have, I only started playing in January 2015, so these are the ones I've picked up along the way. I have had a couple of others but sold them and these are the ones I ended up using... although, the two homebuilt ones (courtesy of my old man, a TS clone and Purple Plexi clone) never really get used. The TS is working quite well with the Marshall though.

I really like the mini-wah but I don't use it much. It's cool fun to have though. I find it much easier to use than a full size wah pedal, something about the angle it rocks at.

andyp

english_bob said:

You can neaten things up nicely with a patchbox for your pedalboard.

I made my own with two loops, one in front of the amp and a second for the effects loop. It's got switching jacks so you can run the whole board as a single loop. It took me a couple of hours with a drill and a soldering iron and cost me about a tenner.

If you don't fancy making your own:

http://www.brightonion.co.uk/patchboxes/

Thanks, I'll have a look at this. The board annoys me to be honest, it just looks messy to me but it's not too bad. I spent 2 hours that night sorting it out and trying to make it neat but allow it to be slide under the couch and dragged out without tangling all the cables. It seems ok now but if I have to add or remove something it's going to piss me off.