Parallel vs Serial effetcs loops

philipnz · Post by **philipnz** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 11:48 am

Does anyone use effects loops in your amps?

Can you only use one effect at a time in a parallel loop?. If you use a delay and a modulation in a parallel loop then you are only delaying the modulated part or modulating the delayed part, yes? Either way both on isn't going to sound very good.

If you had a choice of loops what would you put in what?

Mike_Hosking · Post by **Mike_Hosking** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 11:59 am

i put my chorus through my effects loop in my JCM, so the chorus only goes through the clean channell, leaving the distortion nice and raw, and i only dial the mix knob to half way and it sounds lovely, much better than it plugged in between the guitar and amp, but i dont think youd wanna plug a delay there, wen i plug my delay up i just shove it on the ground after my wah, but i barly play with that, so its just usally the wah on the ground.

Jops · Post by **Jops** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:20 pm

Hey Phillip,

My maverick has a parrallel fx loop according to the manual. I used to run an NS-2, PQ-4, BC-9 and a Headrush all at the same time in the loop and they interacted nicely. I imagine a second delay would effect both the original and the delayed signal. Now you could always buy another Matchless and have a wet and dry rig?

thehenderson · Post by **thehenderson** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:59 pm

None of my amps have effects loops

I just run my stuff straight in - and why not?

stuu · Post by **stuu** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:24 pm

thehenderson wrote:None of my amps have effects loops

I just run my stuff straight in - and why not?

its same reason you can have pedals sounding better in some orders than others. things like modulaters (chorus/flange/phase), delay, and reverbs can sound entirely different AFTER the pre-amp than before it, especially on a crunch channel.... anyone with a discerning ear would avoid putting a reverb BEFORE a high gain distortion, unless theyre getting super-tricky-WOWHOW'DYOUGETTHATWALLOFNOISE. think of the pre-amp as a distortion-pedal/boost/eq device, sometimes they work better in a different place in the chain.

..in saying that, theres nothing wrong with either way of doing it, its a completely subjective issue. i run all my gear in serial and it sounds fine, but mainly cos im lazy. in a perfect world i'd have the necessary 10mins to suss out my rig with the loop... especially as i'm wireless and have to have 2 signal leads going between my board and my amp anyway, it'd make more sense.

thehenderson · Post by **thehenderson** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:27 pm

a ha, I see. I only use overdrives and distortions

stuu · Post by **stuu** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:28 pm

ahh fo sho.

thehenderson · Post by **thehenderson** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:38 pm

Cheers for the info though, I learn stuff every day