Can I use a patch bay to manually swapp effects loops?

[Lucy Diamond]

Hi folks, I have a slight issue here.

I have 4 heads and a combo amp that I use all the time and I'd like to be able to use one set of time based effects in the loops.

I don't really have a problem plugging and unplugging the effects into the loop of the amp they need to go into but I was wondering if a patch bay would make it easier.

I'm talking about using one amp at a time and not switching anything.

Would there be ground loop issues?


Thanks folks.

Let the wise-crackery begin


EDIT: So, just to be totally clear I want to:
1) Plug all the effects loops from 5 different amps into the back of a patch bay.

2) Be able to manually plug my time based effects chain into whichever amp loop I want to use from the front of the patch bay.

Can this be done...safely

[TwilightOdyssey]

Re: Can I use a patch bay to manually swapp effects loops?

That is what a patch bay is for. So, yes.
Just mKe sure you have it normalized properly for your application.

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Can I use a patch bay to manually swapp effects loops?

That is what a patch bay is for. So, yes.
Just mKe sure you have it normalized properly for your application.

Thank you man. I just needed to hear it.

Roger that...normalized. Gotcha.

\m/,

There's a Samson at Sweetwater that has Normalized, Half Normal and Thru mode. I downloaded the manual and it sounds like Thru Mode is the answer to daddy's dreams because it is essentially just turning several sets of cables into a bunch of female ends.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Can I use a patch bay to manually swapp effects loops?

Yeah, I always hated that term normalized......probably because I'm not normal. LOL

But, I've been neglecting a good piece of gear I own....a patch bay that's sort of extinct from my studio needs.

I've been meaning to turn it into an input for amps, with a selection of amps wired to it, with the option of feeding those amps to a couple speaker setups. I need to dig that thing out of my storage unit, and find all the cabling I need in my crates of cables. haha I'm so lazy when it comes to wiring that up, because I can simply plug into a different head in 2 seconds and move a speaker cable to that head. The patch bay should be my friend.

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Can I use a patch bay to manually swapp effects loops?

@gearjoneser

Yeah man...I'm kinda in the same boat. The front inputs I can just switch. (In fact...I have an amp switcher) The loops are CRAMMED up against a wall and I have heads on top of heads so it is a royal pain to get back there.

I SHOULD probably just settle down with my Road King and my Fender Blues Deluxe but I just need a little strange once in a while and I never know when the mood will hit.

[ratherdashing]

Re: Can I use a patch bay to manually swapp effects loops?

Any full normal or thru-only patch bay will be just fine.

Full normal is the most versatile, and most commonly used in studios. It will enable you to set up a default connection if you want. That's how I'd do it if I were you.

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Can I use a patch bay to manually swapp effects loops?

Any full normal or thru-only patch bay will be just fine.

Full normal is the most versatile, and most commonly used in studios. It will enable you to set up a default connection if you want. That's how I'd do it if I were you.

Thank you I'll try it when I get it. The Samson I'm looking at has the normaling switches right on the front so I can play around.

EDIT: I just noticed you are a Game of Thrones fan \m/, I'm 200 pages into the 3rd book and I need to bang the rest out before Season 4 starts.

[ratherdashing]

Re: Can I use a patch bay to manually swapp effects loops?

Thank you I'll try it when I get it. The Samson I'm looking at has the normaling switches right on the front so I can play around.

EDIT: I just noticed you are a Game of Thrones fan \m/, I'm 200 pages into the 3rd book and I need to bang the rest out before Season 4 starts.

Basically, in full normal the top row of jacks on the rear panel are connected to the corresponding bottom row jack when there's nothing plugged in to the front panel.

So if you think of the front and back panel jacks in one "column" as being a circuit, here's what it looks like in full normal:

A   B
    |
C   D

A and C are the front panel, and B and D are the rear panel. When there's nothing plugged in to A or C, B and D are connected. This is nice if you have a connection that you want to leave in most of the time, while still allowing for the possibility of patching it in other ways.

In full normal, if you make a front panel connection, it breaks the default connection and makes a new connection from front to back. So, let's say we plugged a cable into jack A:

A---B

C   D

B is now connected to A instead of D.

Same goes for the bottom row:

A---B

C---D

If, for example, you had an amp that you used most of the time, you could connect its effects send to B, and your pedal board input to D. In the next column over, you'd connect the pedal board output to B and the amp effects return to D. If you do this, the effects would be connected to your "main" amp by default. If you wanted to change amps, you'd use a patch cable on the front panel to break the default connection and hook things up however you want.

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Can I use a patch bay to manually swapp effects loops?

I can't see the white boxes that say "code"

[ratherdashing]

Re: Can I use a patch bay to manually swapp effects loops?

I can't see the white boxes that say "code"

That's because Seymour Duncan's forum template messed those up. Sorry. Drag your mouse over them to highlight, or go down to the bottom left of this page and switch to "vB4 Default Style"

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Can I use a patch bay to manually swapp effects loops?

That's because Seymour Duncan's forum template messed those up. Sorry. Drag your mouse over them to highlight, or go down to the bottom left of this page and switch to "vB4 Default Style"

Gotcha thanks.

It's all gonna come to me better when I have the unit in front of me (no mom jokes )

As soon as I start plugging stuff in, I'm gonna be like "Ooooooooh...duh."

Thanks man.