FX loop and footswitch issues.

[blackout01]

Greetings everybody!

I am 1/2 asleep so please forgive grammar and punctuation mistakes.

I got my hands on a DR 3 Chan SOLO head back in August from a friend of mine. He owed me some money going way back so he just gave it to me. I have had pretty good luck with this head since then and have been quite happy with what I have found. I am a simple guitar player with a simple sound and do not really use a lot of pedals. I know some types of pedals you keep in the fx loops and others you keep in front of the amp. I only own 3 pedals to be exact, BBE Two-Timer, MXR Phase 90 and a Boss FB2. The boss is for some boos and a kick *** feedback option. I know you do not put a boost pedal into the fx loop so please do not go off on me.

I normally just run these pedals in a chain out of the front of the amp and call it a day. I was reading the manual for the head and wanted to try the proper FX loop. I know the gain structure is supposed to be better and just everything sounds better so I just went ahead and hooked it up.

Now onto what I found:

I only hooked up the phase 90 for testing reasons.
I turned the knob on the back of the head from "Bypass off" to "footswitch" and put the mix and level knobs both at about the 1'oclock position kicked on the FX button on the footswitch and it does not do jack squat. No sound effects from the p90 at all.

When I turn the knob to channel 1,2,3, or "loop on" it works just fine and I played around with the mix knob for awhile and I can hear how it scopes out the p90. Pretty cool so far but my main worry is WHY does it not work whilst having it on the "footswitch" option? When I engage the FX button on the mesa footswitch the light is a very dim red color, so dim that you need to look twice to make sure it is on.

Perhaps this could be causing the problem? if anybody has had a problem like this before please speak up. I am looking to get this to function as attended. I can live using the "loop on" function but if all it takes is a tweak to get it running right then please let me know.

-Aaron

p.s.

Sometimes when I switch to chan 2 on the footswitch a small "pop" sound will come out of the speakers. Same result on two different speaker cabs. Perhaps the switch is slowly dying?

 

[domct203]

Welcome to the Forum.

Good news is that since the amp works with it's rear panel selector, it is most likely fine.

This is possibly a bad or incorrect footswitch cable, or in the footswitch itself.

How many pins does the cable's connector have? I don't recall what my '01 3-Ch Triple had so hopefully someone else will chime in for that.

As far as the channel 2 pop, that is a normal senerio with these amps, especially noticable at low (bedroom) levels. What works for most Recto owners to minimize this is to cycle through all the channels a few times before switching out of standby, ending on the orange channel (ex. switch 1-3-2-1-3-2).

Have a look thru the Rectifier FAQ here:
http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=54097

Lots of good info.

Dom

 

[blackout01]

update:

The pedals sound weaker when plugged into the FX loop. I can hook them up front and then hook them around back in the FX loop and its is a night and day difference. Even with the MIX/Volume knobs on the back of the amp turned up all the way.

The footswitch or cable really does not matter at this point if the pedals sound weaker when connected to the loop. Well at least I do not know how a bad cable or footswitch can mess up the signal strength produced by a switch on the back of the amp.

Footswitch = nothing at all from the FX loop
Chan 1 = weak
Chan 2 = weak
Chan 3 = weak
Loop on = weak

Bypass loop and all pedals hooked up in front of the amp = strong and normal.

What the heck mesa?

 

[jbird]

I know the gain structure is supposed to be better and just everything sounds better so I just went ahead and hooked it up.

This assumption would be wrong to some purists! I do believe the manual states that with the loop "hard bypassed", you are able to hear the amp in all it's raw glory, or something to that affect! My experience coincides with this...Much more clarity and dynamics w/o the loop! YMMV!

 

[Authorized Boogie]

update:

The pedals sound weaker when plugged into the FX loop. I can hook them up front and then hook them around back in the FX loop and its is a night and day difference. Even with the MIX/Volume knobs on the back of the amp turned up all the way.

The footswitch or cable really does not matter at this point if the pedals sound weaker when connected to the loop. Well at least I do not know how a bad cable or footswitch can mess up the signal strength produced by a switch on the back of the amp.

Footswitch = nothing at all from the FX loop
Chan 1 = weak
Chan 2 = weak
Chan 3 = weak
Loop on = weak

Bypass loop and all pedals hooked up in front of the amp = strong and normal.

What the heck mesa?

How do you have your channel masters set? Output control? The concept of Unity Gain is whats important here - you have to be sure you are getting an adequate signal to the loop (which is derived from your channel masters) - then maintaining that signal by using the input/output level on the fx unit, and balancing the fx return signal with your output control. If you send a weak signal to the loop, that is the signal that will go through the fx unit and back into the amp. The mix and level controls on the back of the amp are only for fine tuning the signal - what really matters is getting the send level correct with enough channel master level. Thanks!