Do you use effects loop?

[Fishbulb]

If your using 4cm the best thing you can do is some sort of wrap or tubing to make all the cables into one. Color code everything w electrical tape. Setup is much faster. Less mess on the ground, better cable management. The pedal python is great.

I like TechFlex for this type of thing:

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[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I always use the efx loop. Either modeler running preamp captures straight into the return, or 4cm when I can use an amp of which I like the preamp.

For the ability to do solo boosts and/or utilize the global eq alone id always want a digital device in the loop.

 

[megametal7]

I use it….

I have chorus, delay and EQ in the fx loop.

 

[joebloggs]

Modulation and reverb in a tube buffered fx loop. Compression, boost, OD, fuzz in front, going through ABY pedal to 2 amps for a wet/dry stereo setup.

 

[eric.chambers]

I've never owned an amp with an effects loop. Guess I like the old stuff.

 

[Dave Lewis]

I’m a big fan of going straight into an amp but it’s always worth experimenting if you have an effects loop.

 

[david57strat]

Playing through a live amp, while living in a small apartment, is a rare occurrence, these days - especially since I'm not gigging any more (Hopefully that will change in the near future, but the jury is still out. To be honest, I got tired of lugging so much shit around. Even worse, having to pack it up. Before this first board, it was all rack stuff.

When I lived in this room in a house, it was a blast, though :-).

The Ultimate Chorus - loud and clear. Stereo effects loop. Gorgeous clean tone. It mic'd up nicely.

Dirt had to come from pedals, though :|. This ain't a Marshall.

The top row (minus the Grand Canyon, which was not wired up, in this picture, went into the front end of the amp.

Everything else was fed through the stereo effects loop.

That was the ridiculous board. Wouldn't imagine playing through something that involved, at a gig, unless I had some sort of switching system. As you can see, I’m a huge fan of reverb and delay - my favorite effect.

 

[TubeStack]

When I played Marshalls, I never used the effects loop, if there was one. Since I switched to Mesa, I always use it and love it. With my current board, I have wah, two dirts, a phase + HX One in front, with the VP4 in the loop for delays and other modulation (plus switching amp channels and turning amp reverb and/or GEQ on/off via midi).

As @sleewell said, put the cables in a snake and it's no big deal for setup/teardown.

 

[HomespunEffects]

I think some people had a bad experience with effects loop. There are some amps that just don’t have good effects loops. Marshalls have always been pretty good although some have not liked the loop in the Vintage Modern. Their DSL loop is really good. Mesa was pretty crappy when they went to a parallel loop in the Dual Rectifier (non-multiwatt) but that was easily modified to a series loop by changing one wire. The Vox AC30C2(x) effects loop is absolutely the worst. You can’t use an analog pedal in it because it overloads and distorts the effect.

I recently hooked up my Triamp 2 with a 4cm and it’s magical. Such clarity in the effects. It must just be how the loops are buffered.

 

[ChordInversion]

I generally don't use it. Not worth the hassle. If I want post-dirt effects, I use a modeler or I use pedal dirt in front of the effects in question.

 

[Dave Lewis]

Playing through a live amp, while living in a small apartment, is a rare occurrence, these days - especially since I'm not gigging any more (Hopefully that will change in the near future, but the jury is still out. To be honest, I got tired of lugging so much shit around. Even worse, having to pack it up. Before this first board, it was all rack stuff.

When I lived in this room in a house, it was a blast, though :-).

The Ultimate Chorus - loud and clear. Stereo effects loop. Gorgeous clean tone. It mic'd up nicely.

Dirt had to come from pedals, though :|. This ain't a Marshall.

The top row (minus the Grand Canyon, which was not wired up, in this picture, went into the front end of the amp.

Everything else was fed through the stereo effects loop.

That was the ridiculous board. Wouldn't imagine playing through something that involved, at a gig, unless I had some sort of switching system. As you can see, I’m a huge fan of reverb and delay - my favorite effect.

I’ve never thought of using CD towers for storing pedals until I saw this.
I’ve got 15 IKEA white & black ones unopened still stacked in boxes that I can use

 

[newholland]

i use mine for a passive attenuator that makes my amp useful at volumes that won't get me arrested. best ever discovery for a mesa mark.

 

[DrewJD82]

I’ve used it way more than I haven’t.

At this point it would depend on what I’m doing, I’d go into the front end if I were doing Gilmour/classic rock stuff, but for everything else I prefer the amount of control and ‘cleanliness’ of a signal path with all the effects on going through a loop.

 

[david57strat]

loop

I’ve never thought of using CD towers for storing pedals until I saw this.
I’ve got 15 IKEA white & black ones unopened still stacked in boxes that I can use

It's funny that you mention that!

Currently, 17 Ikea Benno towers, that I purchased, used, on Craigslist, for next to nothing, are taking up way too much wall space in our living room, filled with Blu Rays, DVD's and some CDs (The rest of the CDs are in my bedroom closet). I've been collecting these for over thirty years.

I don't use the towers for pedal storage, currently.

I had a plan of transferring all the DVD content to a brick, so I could have them all in one compact digital storage space, and be able to do away with all DVDs, but it never happened. Nice rack drawers are kind of expensive, but I think they would be a better solution for pedals I want to access quickly, while taking up no more space than is already used up by the racks, which are also in my room. I don't plan on getting rid of any of that rack equipment or the rackmount boxes. Maybe for nostalgic reasons, I hang onto them, and some of them can now have a new purpose.

None of those Ikea towers really fit in my current room (which is my studio, home office (of sorts), and sleeping quarters. Instead, any pedals I have that aren't currently mounted on pedalboards, reside in three under-bed boxes (under my bed, or course).

What I'd love to do is utilize some of that unused rack space. I don't think I'll ever be traveling/playing with rack equipment, outside of home any more, and if I do go out to play somewhere, it's all going to be with pedals. Easier on my back LOL.

Among the rack boxes, I have an 8-space Road Ready shock mount case, on casters, and a Grundorf 6-space amp depth case, giving me 14 spaces to work with. I picked many of them up, through eBay or Craigslist, with local pickup, years ago, also at an amazingly low price. The other boxes have stuff mounted in them, but these two are free.

I could invest in seven 2-space rack drawers and store all pedals that aren't mounted on boards (but get rotated on and off of boards, as needed), in those drawers - and still have room for more pedals, without taking up any more space on the floor :-).

I know - pedals are my addiction, but one I can live with.

Then, I could move all (or most) of the pedalboards (5) under my bed, rather than having them strewn all over the floor.

This way, I could get to everything more easily, while not taking up so much space on the floor, with those boards. I only ever use maybe two boards at a time (one for keys, one for guitars).

Or, I could just sell a bunch of pedals.

..............yeah...no, that's not gonna happen.

I've already sold off stuff in the past, only to end up regretting it a year (or five) later.

 

[ctreitzell]

what's the context? playing a live gig and rehearsal? I no longer do either

I use various routing scenarios...typically the only thing I might put in front of a pre amp input is a volume or whammy

To answer the question, I have used the fx loop on some of my guitar amps; not that I have ever had any great amps.

Right now, my most convenient set up that sounds pretty fantastic (which popular opinion assumes sucks) is guitar to Fender CyberTwin SE input> XLR line out > to VHT 2902 > 4 cabs in stereo

The CyberTwin has the worst FX loop I know of (still have to dig in to that and investigate what is actually going on there).

With my more complicated rack set ups; I have a few loop switchers yet the only returns I ever used were in series loops of guitar pres patched through RJM RG-16. Otherwise, I was using sends to split the signal routed thru FX and returned to (line) mixers in a WDW setup.

I did try the loop on my Mesa TriAxis, yet I found the TriAxis loop to not be very sonically good. I tried my Peavey Rock Master, too...and even with new tubes, I found the Rock Master lacking.

I'm not a fan of single amp rigs; multi-amp setups are what I greatly prefer.