FX Loop in the Road King

[sean106alcon]

Hey guys new to the forum, but old man at the ESP forum

Anyhow, I love my Road King head. Using it through two 2X12 extension cabs and am having difficulties understanding how to hook up the FX loop.

I have a Boss Chorus pedal I have running through one of the loops. It is always on channel one and none of the others. Meaning whe ever I go to channel one, the watery chorus sound is there. Now when I press the FX buttons they light up but nothing happens. So how can I hook up the pedal so that I can use the buttons to turn her on and not always on chanel one. Also if you can explain what I need to set the mix at, (newbie to FX loops) meaning, 0-100% etc.

I also want to add a Delay pedal to my channel four for soloing. Any help I would appreciate.

Sean
http://www.myspace.com/nycseanstl

 

[Red Barchetta]

You likely have the loop switch for that individual channel set to "on". that's why it's always there. Which loop are you using? The series or the parallell? I usually set my levels in the upper range of the marked normal areas...


RB

 

[sean106alcon]

Not sure, I am confused on how to use loops. I dont see where it says series or parellel. The chorus pedal is plugged into the send 2 and return 2

What do I need to plug it into so that the foot switches will work to tunr the loop on? Down the road I want to add a delay and use the foot switch to turn it on and off. Thanks for the reply!

 

[tele_jas]

Loop one is the series and loop 2 is the parallel loop. I'd run the chorus in the series loop (loop 1) for better results, but it may actually be better in front of the amp, have you tried that? Make sure you set the FX toggle switch on the back for that FX loop (on all channels) is set the same on all channels.

Try that and see if it works.

 

[Red Barchetta]

I agree on everything tele_jas said. The parallel loop works best for delays and reverbs in my opinion. If you are going for a Tom Scholtz of Boston sound (chorused overdrive), run the chorus in Loop 1. If you are just gonna use it with your clean sound...run it in front of your amp.


RB

 

[sean106alcon]

Hey thanks guys, I think I will do that. Just run it infront of the amp.

Now when I get a delay pedal, what would be the best config? and which loop?

 

[Jeff Courtney]

I run my delay through the series loop and am happy with it there. However to answer your question about the loop. The switches on the back for the FX loop (On/Off) are there so you dont need to stomp the pedal. For example, if you always want a chorus in the parrallel loop on channel 1, then set the switch that says Loop 1 to on. If you dont want it ALWAYS on, then set it to off, and you can turn it on and off for any channel anytime. If the switch is turn to on, the pedal will not work for the particular channel the switch is flipped to on. I hope that makes sense.

 

[Red Barchetta]

I run my delay thru the series (loop 1) as well. Works just like if you have it in line in front of the amp, except the amp overdrive (preamp) is before the delay, resulting in delayed distortion. Delayed distortion= good, distorted delay= baaaaad.


RB

 

[sean106alcon]

yeah I just wanted to take advantage of the King commander and use the two FX buttons to turn Delay and Chorus on and off instead of the pedals. I guess you can't really do that can you? Thanks

 

[Red Barchetta]

yeah I just wanted to take advantage of the King commander and use the two FX buttons to turn Delay and Chorus on and off instead of the pedals. I guess you can't really do that can you? Thanks

Sure you can do that. Just run the chorus in the series loop, and your delay in the parallel loop. Set the wet/dry mix on your delay all the way wet, and control the amount of fx with the parallel loop level knobs. (12 o'clock to 2 o'clock is a good starting position for those levels)

All we were saying was that you didn't HAVE to run the chorus in the loop. but if you want to do it to clean up stage clutter...just follow the above instructions.

RB

 

[sean106alcon]

Thanks guys! I just got my Boss Delay pedal today. I will hook it all up this weekend and based on your suggestions and post some feedback and possibly have some further questions.

So far the Road King has been the best amp I have ever owned. I love the clean on it and I also love the variety of tweaking you can do to achieve your tone. I know some people hate tweaking but I actually love it. I used to own a rectoverb at one point and a dual recto and those were both great amps. That is what lead me to test out and buy the Road King. The previous products impressed me enough that having the flexibility of 4 channels was a huge factor, and changing tube configs was also.