Compressors and fx loops...why not?

[nevusofota]

Does anyone run a compressor in the loop? I see most run it in front of the amp, usually right after the guitar or tuner. I would like to place it in the loop for two reasons, add a volume boost to my 5153's clean channel while adding some mild compression. It won't be used on the dirt channels. I'm currently using a GE -7 but it's noisy and I would like to kill two birds with one stone. Will this work? Any reason to not put compression in the loop? Which pedal compressors would work best for this application? Thinking of trying the Mooer and the Xotic SP, mainly for their small footprints. TIA

 

[HilltopExplosion]

I have a Maxon compressor and ran it in the FX loop of my EVH 100 watter... just for S&G to see what would happen. It was real hard to tame the volume, even with the compressor level on low. It was more like a master volume, it would give a monster amount of volume boost. . But when I ran it in the loop of my BE100, since it has a return level adjustment, it gave great sustain. I guess it depends on the amp.

 

[nevusofota]

I have a Maxon compressor and ran it in the FX loop of my EVH 100 watter... just for S&G to see what would happen. It was real hard to tame the volume, even with the compressor level on low. It was more like a master volume, it would give a monster amount of volume boost. . But when I ran it in the loop of my BE100, since it has a return level adjustment, it gave great sustain. I guess it depends on the amp.

This may work then because I am looking for a significant jump in volume on the clean channel. A well documented issue with the EVH 50 is the tremendous volume drop when switching to the green channel when you run a low gain setting.

 

[HilltopExplosion]

Cool man! I hope it helps!

 

[nevusofota]

Does this pose any negative effects on the amp itself?

 

[Dave L]

All the big racks of the 80s and 90s had a compressor after the preamp - mostly for typical clean sounds but sometimes as a limiter on overdriven tones - and it works like a charm if you get the levels right, which I suspect is the problem with a lot of these pedals when compared to the rack stuff. A pedal in the loop won´t sound the same as a pedal in front of the amp, though.