Wally’s Archon thread brings up the topic of effects loops, which I agree are great for some players, though I jokingly refer to them as the spawn of the devil due to the noise, impedance-matching issues, and level-matching problems that many loops have.
I like putting my effects in the front of an amp, where they lived from time immemorial until the 80s, when some mad scientist or other got the idea to add a circuit between preamp and amp. There’s no right or wrong to this, of course. It’s just a topic for discussion and nothing more!
I found ‘em cranky back in my rack days, and amps where they can be switched completely out of the amp’s circuitry (one of my current amps is a Mesa with that feature) has proven to my predictable satisfaction that the amp sounds more like what I wanna hear without the loop. And YMMV, of course!
I have heard (but not personally used) the Two-Rock version of the Dumbleator, a tube device designed to improve an effects loop; if I was an effects loopist, I’d find one based on the improvement. But that’s an aside, since it’s not coherent with my amp strategy.
Now, the main reason I don’t use a loop has nothing to do with any of the above; I just like what happens when my effects all go into the front of the amp. If I felt differently, of course I’d use the loop. After all, you do what works for your situation!
How do you feel about effects loops?
I like putting my effects in the front of an amp, where they lived from time immemorial until the 80s, when some mad scientist or other got the idea to add a circuit between preamp and amp. There’s no right or wrong to this, of course. It’s just a topic for discussion and nothing more!
I found ‘em cranky back in my rack days, and amps where they can be switched completely out of the amp’s circuitry (one of my current amps is a Mesa with that feature) has proven to my predictable satisfaction that the amp sounds more like what I wanna hear without the loop. And YMMV, of course!
I have heard (but not personally used) the Two-Rock version of the Dumbleator, a tube device designed to improve an effects loop; if I was an effects loopist, I’d find one based on the improvement. But that’s an aside, since it’s not coherent with my amp strategy.
Now, the main reason I don’t use a loop has nothing to do with any of the above; I just like what happens when my effects all go into the front of the amp. If I felt differently, of course I’d use the loop. After all, you do what works for your situation!
How do you feel about effects loops?