Question for pedal boarders. Front end versus Fx Loop?

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romanianreaper

romanianreaper

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Hey had a question for you guys that use a bunch of pedals into an amp. I have a pedal board full of pedals and most of them are drives, boosts, etc. but there are a few with effects. I know that it is better to put effects into the effects loop versus the front end. My question is do you guys run all of the pedals into the effects loop or just reverbs, delays, etc.? I'm wondering how to run my pedal board when I get an amp soon and was curious if you guys basically have two lines runnin.

Thanks for the help!!
 
I put delays and reverbs in the loop but I prefer chorus in front. I don’t run anything else on my board as far as other modulation.
 
I do:
In the loop - EQ followed by all time based effects (delays, reverbs, chorus, etc...)
In front of amp - Boosts, compressors, OD’s and EQ type effects
Noise gate varies, but either last before the front of the amp or first in the loop.
 
In front: Wah, boost, overdrive, fuzz, distortion, phaser, flanger
Loop: EQ, delay, chorus, reverb
 
I have and use just a few pedals.. overdrive, 7 band eq and sometimes a boss dd3 delay- all going straight into the front of the amp. I want to try a friedman buffer bay to see how that might improve my tone but its not that off from plugging straight in without the pedals.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies! Crazy, it is something I never thought about much. I am picking up a Supro RK1970 soon and was watching a demo of it and it mentioned what was plugged into the front, into the loop, etc. Since I just threw a pedal board together I kept thinking "well, what do people do when they have to run it that way?". Makes sense now.

I guess I'll rearrange the board a bit. LOL
 
Front end - wah, phase, flanger, vibe and now chorus. For years I ran my chorus in the loop but now, much prefer it in the front. For me, it's more responsive and sounds better with gain.

Loop - Delays, Verbs, Trem

EQ's - depends. If I'm shaping my guitar eq, front end. If I'm shaping the overall, loop. Or using it as a lead bump in the loop as well.

Boosts - I've run them both ways. Front end to boost and push the amp a bit. Loop for a nice lead bump, like an additinal volume pedal.

Drives - front end.
 
jabps":wjoxq942 said:
Front end - wah, phase, flanger, vibe and now chorus. For years I ran my chorus in the loop but now, much prefer it in the front. For me, it's more responsive and sounds better with gain.

Loop - Delays, Verbs, Trem

EQ's - depends. If I'm shaping my guitar eq, front end. If I'm shaping the overall, loop. Or using it as a lead bump in the loop as well.

Boosts - I've run them both ways. Front end to boost and push the amp a bit. Loop for a nice lead bump, like an additinal volume pedal.

Drives - front end.
Click to expand...

Thanks man! Yeah, I think eventually I might need to get a noise gate pedal too to harness some of the gain. Not too bad just one pedal but as I add boosts, etc. it can get noisy.
 
I'm using a noise gate and reverb/delay in one pedal in the loop. In front I have a Klon type pedal, a Savage Drive, Digitech drop and tuner plus I use the key input from my zuul now. I did have an EQ in the loop but my new amp doesnt need it so I took it out but I was using a mxr 10 band eq for tone shaping plus volume control. The digitech drop has been the only thing I've kept since starting back playing two years ago.
 
Both....delays and reverbs into the loop. Wah, compressor, and drive in the front. Sometimes I throw a Helix fx or H9 in the loop too. Occasionally I'll throw the H9 in the front just because I like the phaser and flanger in front of the gain devices.
 
I think you've got the idea now but I will just reiterate and then share a recent pic of my budget board for visual aspect. It is budget in the sense that I don't have expensive or exotic pedals - just the basics to get the job done.

I recently got an MXR A/B pedal (the square grey box on the 1st row) so I could maximize my 'front end' pedals. So the guitar input goes in the Wah > Bad Monkey > Phaser and then the MXR can split that to either the front end of the Splawn or the Recto OR BOTH :yes:

Then the loop comes on the second row with chorus > delay > eq > reverb > Boss Loop Station > loop return on amp. Right now I'm running the loop on the Rectoverb but it is easily switchable to the Splawn. The Loop Station is the red one on the far left of row 1 (ran out of room / lots of fun but have not had time with it)

I use a OneSpot adapter that powers 9 pedals.

wVnqyH9l.jpg
 
Thanks everyone, all good info here! Keep it comin!

BTW, I know some of you mentioned it but as far as a Noise Gate goes, where is the best position to put that? I would think the last pedal in the chain going into the front of the amp would be the best since those have the most noise. Some mentioned putting it in the loop. I was just curious of the different scenarios.
 
romanianreaper":2lpdoqrn said:
Thanks everyone, all good info here! Keep it comin!

BTW, I know some of you mentioned it but as far as a Noise Gate goes, where is the best position to put that? I would think the last pedal in the chain going into the front of the amp would be the best since those have the most noise. Some mentioned putting it in the loop. I was just curious of the different scenarios.
Click to expand...

First pedal In the series loop all preamp noise is also mitigated, far more noticeable with high gain.

I couldn’t live without my loop. Time based stuff sounds like crap IMO before a high gain preamp.
 
I have never used an FX loop even once. I understand why they are useful, but I like my FX all coloring each other, and getting dirty.
 
I really like having delay in a loop if possible. When it’s in a loop and you roll your guitar volume down, IME the loop delay becomes more noticeable, so if you’re running an always-on slapback type delay, it gives the cleaner tone a really pleasant shimmer.

When the delay is out front and you roll the guitar volume down, the delay just gets quiet IME.

It’s also clearer in the loop, but there certainly are delays out there that will give you reasonably clear repeats even in front of a very overdriven amp.
 
The key is to find what works best for you. You have heard every scenario already above.

My only beef is that I hate delay going into dirt. Delay for me has to be in a loop.
 
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