Effects: in front or in the loop?

[Closed Eye]

Where do you guys put your effects?

Do you stick 'em all, regardless of type, right in front of the amp?

Or do you put your delays, modulation, and whatever else in the effects loop?

Or do you do a little from column A and a little from column B?


...I used the loop for awhile because I was afraid of signal degradation but I didn't like how I sounded. So I stuck the effects back in front of the amp without worrying about signal degredation because, eh, I like how the effects sound in front of the amp and how the amp sounds with the effects in front it.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

If I'm using the amp's distortion, the modulation, delays, and reverbs go in the loop. Stuff like wah, overdrive, whammies go in front.

If I'm using a clean tone from the amp, and getting all the dirt from pedals, it all goes in front.

 

[baritone]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

You get the most realistic sound of you put the delay, chorus, and reverb in the loop. Vibrato, flanger, EQ, phaser, and others can go either way. Auto-wah, wah, compressor, overdrive/distortion/fuzz, pitch shifter, synth, octave, are best in front of the amp. There is a lot of room for experimentaion, but when synth and pitch shifting effects are placed later in the signal chain, they are more likely to glitch; there is nothing harmful to the equipment when this happens, but the notes become obscured a little.

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

Loops...a thing of endless pain!

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

My basic rule of thumb is to compare it to a pedal board. If it would go after the distortion pedals, it goes in the loop.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

I have a homebrew FX looper. I can run it in the loop if I want to, But i perfer to go right into the amp.

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

Straight thru the front :bigthumb:

 

[JohnnyGuitar]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

I used a Zoom multi effect in the loop... it sounded good only there... I don't use it anymore and what I use which is a Big Muff (rarely) and a Wah- goes befor the amp...

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

The general rule (and also what I do) is:

Gain-based effects in front. These include boosts, drives, distortions, fuzz, volume, wah, EQ, and generally anything that boosts or cuts the signal in some way.

Pitch-based and time-based effects in the loop. These include chorus, delay, reverb, flange, phase, trem, or anything else that is not a gain-based effect.

The main reason for this is that gain-based effects aren't designed to handle the level coming from a loop send, and won't respond in a predictable manner. That's not to say you will get crappy tone if you put a distortion pedal in the loop, but it will definitely not behave as the manufacturer intended. Pitch and time based effects don't really care much what the level is, so they're ok in the loop.

 

[LesStrat]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

Front. Don't got no 'fects looper.

 

[Kac]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

everything in front.

 

[daemon barbeque]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

Whammy ,wah ,eq and drive in front ,all modulation and reverb stuff into loop!

 

[ericmeyer4]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

All of my pedals so far come after the distortion... so I'm gonna say loop.

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

i have two different setups and i follow both ways of applying effects.....When i use my amps different channels for clean and distorted sounds i only use some chorus, delays and reverbs through the loop......

When i use the old way of doing things and get all my distorted sounds from pedals i place all my effects before the amps input.

 

[Brow]

Re: Effects: in front or in the loop?

My main amp doesn't have an FX loop, so all infront