Effects loop “Low volume jamming?

[historic]

Hi, i read that you can use the effects loop, for low volume jamming? So i figure it acted like an attenuator? Or something like that? So that you could crank and hit the power tubes and drive them more to distort more, then control your volume from the effects loop?

So i hooked up my pedal board to the effects loop, and found that, the amp didnt seem to sound right, it seemed to have lost its ability to Overdrive and get dirty, like it does when i just plug into the front of the amp…?? If i plug into the amp normally, then i can get the amp, really overdriven and saturated, no problem…but the effects loop seemed to clean it up alot, and reduced the sustain …now my pedal board consists of my

Peterson Strobostomp
Boss compressor sustainer
RMC11 Wah pedal
Voodoo octave
Ibanez tube screamer
Marshall Audio Super crunch box
Klon Centuar

Is this the reason why my amp got tamed? I know that normally ,you dont run these drive pedals and wah pedal through an effects loop, but i thought that since this effects loop has an added feature of being used to overdrive or push the power tubes and then adjust the volume lower…i thought that this effects loop allowed these pedals to run through…? But like i said , i would have thought that i would have been able to get even more gain or crunch out of the amp, using the effects loop feature but, again …the amp seemed to sound cleaner, and less sustain…or drive..Dirt…etc….

The amp is a 2019 Splawn Quickrod 100, amazing machine, i just need some help figuring it out

[splawndude]

Hey there,

First of all I'm going to assume your amp has the built in 'Loop volume' control. Yes the idea there is to crank your amp up (possibly with ear protection) to where you want it (as if at a gig) and then use the loop volume to bring the overall volume coming out of the speakers to a reasonable level. This is because Splawns do not have an overall master volume.

My Splawn is an '08 but I have a volume box in the loop along with some of my pedals. I have the front panel volume on 12 noon and the loop volume at maybe 8 out of 10 (or 80%).

The pedals in my loop MXR EQ - Boss Noise Suppressor (x pattern) - MXR Chorus - MXR Delay - Hardwire Reverb

I have to say I don't have a ton of tone suck. A little? Maybe, but not much. Not enough to worry about.

Personally, I would take all of your pedals out of the loop and try again. Maybe the Boss Comp and the Octave pedal could stay for now.

Tuner - Wah - OD pedals - Amp

I have no idea which of yours are buffered vs true bypass but that may affect things as well and you can also mess with the +4/-10 db setting that I actually have forgotten all about. I never touch it and can't remember which is which for that.

[historic]

Yes its a 2019 QuickRod 100, it has the loop volume, im not sure about the true bypass nature of the pedals, but i think the MI Audio super crunch box is true bypass, the RMC 11 wah is as well, the Peterson strobostomp , has the option of true or bufferd?

But anyway, is it the case ,that to take advantage of the effects loop as a , lower volume jamming method, that i have to basically use effects that would normally go into, an effects loop?…theres no way to just, say..plug the guitar in back there right?

Anyway , what i noticed was that using the effects loop. Caused a loss of gain…and seemed to make the sound more clean and BIG…Fat…

If i simply plug into the front of the amp however, and turn the Gain all the way up, and turned the volume to Zero, then it would give me low ..low volume with lots of gain, and crunch, but at bedroom ..,Late night volume levels…thats another thing i noticed was that…i still have volume, with the Volume turned down to zero, but the Gain maxed out on the drive channel..Normal?

[splawndude]

I see.

I had the Crunch Box for awhile. Cool pedal. Definitely belongs up front though.
The loop volume in back can be used without effects pedals plugged in.
Try it with just the octave pedal in the loop.
Put all other pedals out front.
Keep the guitar plugged in the front.
Yes, you can hear the guitar if the gain is maxed and channel volume is on 0.
Have fun!

[historic]

Awsome thank you for that, but i do need at least one pedal to use the loop correct? For the hookup?

I couldnt just bridge the effects loop send and effects loop return, with a pack cable could i?

[splawndude]

I don't think you need to have anything in the loop for the loop volume to work.
I would put your octave pedal in the loop like I said.
I've put patch cables in loops of other amps but not my Splawn.
Let us know what you think.

[historic]

Well im actually thinking if getting rid of that Voodoo octave, thats why i asked, about simply patching the effects loop,im not really into octav pedals.This one is an Octave/Fuzz and im not into the sound of the fuzz as well in general

I dont see any info, on any Splawn amps with the effects loop simply patched, so i am just afraid to damage my amp

[splawndude]

Feb 11, 2022 21:11:57 GMT -5 historic said:

Well im actually thinking if getting rid of that Voodoo octave, thats why i asked, about simply patching the effects loop,im not really into octav pedals.This one is an Octave/Fuzz and im not into the sound of the fuzz as well in general

I dont see any info, on any Splawn amps with the effects loop simply patched, so i am just afraid to damage my amp

I see. Didn't realize that pedal was a fuzz too. Maybe it should go out front too or in the classifieds like you said.

You won't hurt anything if you patch the FX loop with a cable. If anything it might improve the tone.

Here is volume box in the loop. It is the only thing in this pic. This weekend I will try the patch cable only thing but I guarantee you will absolutely not hurt anything.

[historic]

Awsome thank you, what is the volume box box for?? Is that a way of adding a 3rd stage to the low volume thing

[splawndude]

Feb 12, 2022 13:35:51 GMT -5 historic said:

Awsome thank you, what is the volume box box for?? Is that a way of adding a 3rd stage to the low volume thing

No, it is just adding a master volume control or more volume control by putting that in the loop. It is the same thing as the built in 'loop volume' control that Scott added to his amps awhile back. So like I was saying above, you crank the amps channel volume up (12 noon in my case) to get the power tubes working harder and then bring the overall volume down to reasonable levels for your ears (8 out of 10 in my case). Does that make sense?

So for me it goes Amp FX Send - Volume box - EQ - Chorus - Noise Surpressor - Delay - Reverb - Amp FX Return.

PS: Not to be confused with a post phase inverter master volume (PPIMV) which is different - but we don't need to get into that.

PSS: I just did the patch cable thing only in the loop and it was fine.

[historic]

Yes that does make sense, thats cool…

Im going tk setup my effects loop, sometime today and see how it sounds this time without the WaH and all the overdrives going through the loop, witch last time made the amp lose alot of its GAIN..Saturation

I figure that the effects loop , since its allowing me too push the power tubes, would increase this

[gtrjunior]

I only run my delay, reverb and time based fx in my loop. Take out any drive pedals, compression expression pedals etc and try again.
Or just hook up the board in front of the amp like you would any other amp without an FX loop. Then on the back panel make sure the fx loop button is engaged and then use the k on the raise/lower the volume as desired.
It’s a great feature.
And as Splawndude mentioned, the tone suck is minimal. I really don’t notice it at all tbh.

[historic]

Ok, but if i plug the pedal board into the front, then engage the effects loop button, nothing will happen correct?? Doesnt the effects loop need to be completed,

Your post didnt come out clearly

[gtrjunior]

It’s been a while since I went through what you’re going through but iirc, the fx loop needs to be engaged in order for it to function as a volume control regardless of whether you are running pedals through it.
Don’t quote me on that but I “think” that’s how it works.
Maybe it would be an easier experiment if you just plugged your guitar straight in without the pedalboard and then tried the loop volume thing. Then afterwards you can start adding in your pedals.

[splawndude]

Feb 16, 2022 20:44:57 GMT -5 historic said:

Ok, but if i plug the pedal board into the front, then engage the effects loop button, nothing will happen correct?? Doesnt the effects loop need to be completed,

Your post didnt come out clearly

The FX Loop Volume Control should work whether there is something in the loop or not.

One way to find out. Try it.