Another effects loop problem

[tjjmon]

Lovin' the amp but not the effects loop. When I use the foot switch to make the loop active, it totally kills the tone. It sounds like the cab has been covered with a blanket. It does it with or with out effects in the loop. It's so bad that I can't even use an effects box. I've studied the manual and read everything I could find on this board. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[fjk1138]

Does it affect al channels or just one?

I saw in one of the other posts that using the FX loop may compress the tone a bit. Try raising the Master Vols to 9-12 o'clock and then raise the Output knob as well. You will get better volume and tone out of the channels overall.

Also try raising the effects knob past 12 o'clock -- not sure if that will help, but it's worth a try.

 

[eudaimonia02912]

Replace V6 with a spare tube and see if it makes a difference.

What effects are you using? Do you get this problem if you put nothing in the loop, and just run a cable from send to return? What happens if you use a different cable?

 

[tjjmon]

I think I figured it out. I went through my cables one by one as was suggested. They all checked out fine. It was interesting that I could hear a difference between cable brands. I'm going to experiment with that more later. My effects are an Ibanez CS9 Stereo Chorus and a DOD 585 Delay. One at a time they sound ok. I noticed the delay was a little distorted. When I had them both in the loop, my tone really sucked. I think it is the delay that is causing it as it was the one that sounded a little distorted by itself. I've had both of these for over 20 years :lol: so maybe it's time to upgrade them. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

[nyeguy]

My trusty CS9 sounds like *** through my FX loop as well as my Boss Chorus! These pedals have been with me for 20yrs and always delivered great chorus for me! I think the MkV runs the loop real hot or its in the way its buffered. In my experience, I run my master volume at about 10-11 o'clock and put my ch. Vol at about 8 or 9 9'clock and it helps bring back some of the sparkle and makes it not as compressed. I finally gave up on using chorus and only have my DD20 delay in the loop and it hardly has any effect on sound quality other than the way the repeats decay, which is another story! Sounds like I'm gonna have to spend more money on high end fx units!

 

[screamingdaisy]

My trusty CS9 sounds like *** through my FX loop as well as my Boss Chorus! These pedals have been with me for 20yrs and always delivered great chorus for me! I think the MkV runs the loop real hot or its in the way its buffered. In my experience, I run my master volume at about 10-11 o'clock and put my ch. Vol at about 8 or 9 9'clock and it helps bring back some of the sparkle and makes it not as compressed. I finally gave up on using chorus and only have my DD20 delay in the loop and it hardly has any effect on sound quality other than the way the repeats decay, which is another story! Sounds like I'm gonna have to spend more money on high end fx units!

I sold my DD-20 years ago for that reason. Seems nice enough, but there's something odd about the repeats and they never quite sit right in the mix.

I'm looking at trying an Eventide TimeFactor next.

 

[SteveO]

I'm looking at trying an Eventide TimeFactor next.

The Eventide pedals work very well with the Mark V, I have a TimeFactor and a ModFactor. Set to line level input/output, they can handle a pretty hot signal compared to the Boss pedals I have tried.