Fargen Owners - Tube Buffered Loop Question/Issue

[bbaug14]

My Fargen has a tube buffered loop with an on/off switch and level control. For some reason, no matter what I do I can't get it to sound good/right. With several different pedals that have worked fine in my other amp's loops, there are some issues with the Fargen. What I'm hearing is that when the loop is engaged and no pedals are on, their is a significant change in tone. A lot of top end is lost and a lot or gain is lost. Basically has a muddy blanket effect. I've tried multiple tubes (12ax7 and 12at7) but no luck.

One thing I considered was the cable run. I run a 25ft cable from both send and return. I thought perhaps there isn't a good enough buffer in the loop. So, the next thing I tried was putting a boss pedal (SD1) right at the send of the amp (3" patch) between the send and my first actual pedal (MXR 10 Band EQ). This took care of the blanket effect when the loop was on and no pedals were engaged, but when I engage my EHX Chorus, the muddy blanket is back.

Does anyone here have any suggestions or have you seen this with your Fargen or another amp? I'd really like to get the loop working for my solo boost and chorus/delay at a minimum.

 

[FourT6and2]

You might need a buffer on the send run and the return run of cable.

 

[bbaug14]

You might need a buffer on the send run and the return run of cable.

Would they need to be close to the amp inputs of the loop (send / return) or on the pedal board before the 25ft runs back to the amp?

 

[FourT6and2]

You might need a buffer on the send run and the return run of cable.

Would they need to be close to the amp inputs of the loop (send / return) or on the pedal board before the 25ft runs back to the amp?

Hmmm... good question.

I would experiment with the various ways. Send buffer before the cable run (so close to the amp). Send buffer close to the board (so like the first pedal on your board is the buffer). Return buffer as last cable on the board. And return buffer close to the amp. I'd think the return buffer would probably need to be the last pedal before the long cable run back to the amp. But that's just a guess.

You could contact Fargen. Or maybe someone at Rack Systems who could give you advice. I don't know a whole lot about setting up boards/racks/cable runs/buffers. I'm just guessing here.

One thing to try would be take your pedal(s) and hook them up to the loop using short patch cables right from the amp and see if you get the same issue. If you do... then the long cables aren't the problem. It's the pedals. If the loops sounds good with short patch cables, then you know the problem are the 25-foot cable runs.

 

[bbaug14]

Good thinking. I'll try all the different hook ups. I hope the buffer in my SD1 and Metal Zone are good enough. I may have to try my Soul Food as that buffer is excellent. Ugh.

 

[FourT6and2]

Good luck!

 

[bbaug14]

Well, I've come to the conclusion that the EQ with a buffer at the send works great. The EHX Neo Clone on the other hand just isn't working. No matter what combo or position of buffers I tried it was still a tone suck and volume drop when engaged.

 

[threadkiller]

My Fargen has a simple passive loop and I had high end loss and volume loss with certain pedal effects. Currently using digitech hardwire pedals in the loop and they work pretty good. I get a little bit of loss but not major. I think this loop runs at a higher signal level than most foot pedals can handle and really requires a rack unit or something with input and output trims....which kinda defeats the purpose of a small combo in my mind if I have to carry a rack around. The loop is really my only complaint with the amp. A buffer might fix your problem. I doubt the cable throw is the big issue. You need effects that can handle the signal level.