Question about FX loop..or lack thereof

[Radioboy950]

You found an amp you loved (tone to die for, design, build quality, etc), but it doesn't have an effects loop. Would that be a deal-breaker for you?

Say you wanted to put a delay or reverb pedal in front (with the amp's overdrive)...would it sound pretty bad, or does a quality pedal work OK in front?

[kiteman]

The way I see it, in the effect loop the pedal process what the preamp put out and in the front end the preamp process what the pedal put out.

I guess you experiment both ways to see what sounds best.

[Katastrophe]

You found an amp you loved (tone to die for, design, build quality, etc), but it doesn't have an effects loop. Would that be a deal-breaker for you?

Wouldn't be a deal breaker for me... I'd just plug in and play the amp as is. Otherwise, I would just set the amp for a clean tone and plug in that way, using the effects for overdrive / boost.

But, the last two years that I had my amph, I played without any effects at all, other than onboard reverb. My tone used to be highly processed. I learned a lot about amphs, EQ, overdrive (didn't need anywhere near the amount of gain I thought I did), and that it was possible to get a good clean and driven sound out of a solid state amph.

[marnold***]

I can answer this authoritatively: no, it's not a deal-breaker for me. I wanted one, but my JCA20H doesn't have one. The main effects that I use with amph distortion are overdrive (which you wouldn't put in a loop anyway) and delay. I use just a touch of delay to give it some "bigness." Works fine in front of the amph. The only issue I face is that because the amph is so dynamic and the delay is so low, the repeats can actually end up being clean instead of distorted. The overdrive with the tiniest bit of gain takes care of that.

If I were using tons of effects with amph distortion, then it probably would bug me. I don't, so it doesn't. When I'm playing clean, an effects loop is almost irrelevant. The tone of the amph itself sold me on it.

[deeaa*]

I have seldom used FX loops anyway because I hate the problems that entails, need for a rack or something by the amp, power strips, lotsa wires...I rather have a compact pedalboard. If I used a loop, I'd use a multifx unit instead and a midi controller....either case, everything in one place please.

A good amp don't need a reverb either in my book, they just muck up the sound (well Fenders thrive on the verbs but Fenders also suck by and large and you can't record a reverb'd guitar anyway (or it's totally dumb to do it because you can't adjust the verb later in that case, and can't mix the guitar in your face because there's the verb, and can't compress it properly because there's a verb etc.) and delays sound fine in front of the amp, or maybe even better than in a loop for a rock sound, plus again, if you want neat clean delays, it's again stupid to commit them to recordings, much better to add them later on in the studio where you can adjust them to tempo correctly etc.

Depends entirely on what you're going for, I suppose.

[Andy]

I really prefer an efx loop, but as many have said it's not a deal breaker.
it may be the tie breaker tho.

[Ch0jin]

I have seldom used FX loops anyway because I hate the problems that entails, need for a rack or something by the amp, power strips, lotsa wires...I rather have a compact pedalboard. If I used a loop, I'd use a multifx unit instead and a midi controller....either case, everything in one place please.

Err, It's not really that bad now is it? I run a delay, a tremolo and a looper in my FX loop and that entails 2x extra cables and thats it!

All three pedals sit right next to my drive pedals too, so everything is still in one place, no rack, no extra power strip.

[Duffy]

I don't think my Vox AC15c1 has an effects loop and I bought it because I thought it would be a superior amp to the two Classic 30's I had just returned.

It is a supeior amp in my opinion, but I have a Delta Blues to cover the Classic 30 tone zone to some degree.

I have other amps with effects loops that I can use if I want to put effects in the loop or otherwise make use of the loop.

Most of my pedals I run straight into the input of the amp. Lately I have been playing better amps, mostly all tube amps, and have been using only minimal pedals.

On my two main amps that I'm playing right now I am using only two pedals between the guitar and the amps: my Tweaker head has a Bad Monkey tube overdrive hooked up to a Behringer DR600 digital multi form reverb and then into the amp; my Blackheart has a Boss OD-3 overdrive running into a Digitech hardwire RV-7 stereo multi form reverb and into the amp.

These amps both are great fundamental amps and don't require a lot of other effects to enhance their sound. They sound great alone. Most of the time I bypass the overdrive and just use a little reverb, which I think fills in the sound well.

I wouldn't let the absence of an effects loop be a deal breaker unless I had a good reason to need the loop. If I had a good reason to need a loop I would make sure I got an amp with a loop, unless I had other options, amps, etc.

[deeaa*]

Err, It's not really that bad now is it? I run a delay, a tremolo and a looper in my FX loop and that entails 2x extra cables and thats it!

All three pedals sit right next to my drive pedals too, so everything is still in one place, no rack, no extra power strip.

Does it mean you have three cables and a power line from and to the amp from the pedalboard? Hm...yes it'd be better that way I guess...and not too bad at all.

As it is I have 2 power lines to (9V and 6V) and two lines from the pedalboard already, so I need three 3 wall sockets for the amp & effects. Been thinking about adding a power strip at the pedal board so I could reduce to just one power line and the guitar lines to amp, but there's not much room on the pedalboard.

If I added stuff in a loop, it'd currently become 4 guitar lines to and from the amp plus the power...yeah, that'd become too much of a hassle.

I guess I just like simplicity in matters like this, my pedalboard already seems like a ridiculously complex thing for my needs :-)

[FusedGrooves]

It would be a very serious issue for me.

Not all that experienced with Fx loops. I have been using Multi Fx units for a long time now. When I shifted to the ME-50, plugged straight into my old Peavy 30W practice amp it sounded terrible at any sort of volume. Practicing at lower volumes was fine but increase volume even just by a few notches and it was terrible!

Then I bought the Marshall 100W stack which has the Fx loop and I've used it since....at all volumes sounds great, no issues or clipping with it ever.

Just recently my Bro in law bought a beautiful AMPEG combo which does not have the Fx loop, when any pedals are plugged in (even just a loop station RC-2 - he bought my first looper when I upgraded to RC-50) its very very noisey, take out all pedals and just plug guitar straight into amp and it sounds great.....he likes his Fx though so this is somewhat of a problem.

I've been playing for well over 20 years now so should probably know more than I do with regards to tech stuff but I'm sure you'll get an answer here!

Short answer from me would be yes, I would have to think V.long and hard before buying an amp without the Fx loop only due to my past experiences OR an alternative in how pedals are connected/chained etc to stop any unwanted noise.....there's probably heaps of ways around it surely??

[Ch0jin]

Does it mean you have three cables and a power line from and to the amp from the pedalboard? Hm...yes it'd be better that way I guess...and not too bad at all.

As it is I have 2 power lines to (9V and 6V) and two lines from the pedalboard already, so I need three 3 wall sockets for the amp & effects. Been thinking about adding a power strip at the pedal board so I could reduce to just one power line and the guitar lines to amp, but there's not much room on the pedalboard.

If I added stuff in a loop, it'd currently become 4 guitar lines to and from the amp plus the power...yeah, that'd become too much of a hassle.

I guess I just like simplicity in matters like this, my pedalboard already seems like a ridiculously complex thing for my needs :-)

Yup you got it. I only have one power line though at 9V so I'm lucky.