Effects Loop Bypass - Tonal Improvement?

[Karl Houseknecht]

I've always been a little afraid to try the amp with the loop hard bypassed because everyone seems to rave about how much better it sounds that way. I almost always use some kind of EQ or delay, tremolo, chorus, etc in the loop so I would never want to do without them and was a little scared I might like the bypassed sound better. Anyway, I gave it a shot today just to compare, because I'm curious and can't let well enough alone.

Bottom line: If there's a difference, I can't hear or feel it. Naturally, there's a volume difference (louder) when the loop is bypassed depending on how you have your channel masters set up. Switching back to loop engaged, it was a simple matter of matching that volume with the overall master and it sounded and felt identical.

So, is it simply a case of "louder is better"?

 

[Jiveman]

I understand where you're coming from. Although I know that Mark V is a great amp by itself which has very well-rounded tone without any add-ons, I could never use it without any effects. I don't ALWAYS have an effect on, mind you, but I need ability to kick it in at any time. No matter how great the amp sounds by itself, it does not have, for example, built-in delay. Or chorus. Or whatever. So, I would think it's somewhat pointless to say that it sounds better in Hard Bypass, because for most practical situations, you can't play just by itself.

Now if you're just jamming for fun, sure. If you're recording, you might take advantage of Hard Bypass to get the best possible dry tone, then layer effects later. But for a full-band, live situation, I think whatever tonal improvement there might exist, it would not trump the benefits of the FX loop functionality and flexibility.

Now, I should add that I haven't had a chance to mess with Hard Bypass, and I can't do it now that I live in an apartment. However, I do believe that without the added FX loop electronics, the Hard Bypass mode might indeed sound better (purer). But like I said, the loss of FX loop functionality is simply not worth it, in most cases, in my opinion.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

You're right. It's just not practical to run it with it bypassed. Only way you'd do that is if you used no effects post gain, and who doesn't use at least delay from time to time? But from all the talk, I expected it to sound completely different and somehow magically better (if that was possible) and it just doesn't. Still sounds equally fantastic.