fx loop pedal question

[Roger Brewin]

Guys/Gals,
I struggling a bit with some decisions here for my stage set up. I run a Lss and a fairly robust pedal board. All of my pedals are Keelely modded products except the tuner. For the purposes of this question I will list the pedals in order on the board.
Planet waves Tuner
Compressor (2 Knob)
Fuzz head
Blues Driver
Tube Screamer
CE 2 Chorus
Metal Zone
Digitech Flanger (Non keeley)

I was running this pedal board in line with my guitar and in front of the amp. We have been having some stage volume issues and I thought I should explore using the pedal board through the fx loop to better control the impact of the pedals during a set.

I seem to be getting a less than adequate tone when I do this. The compressor really gets muddy, the BD and screamer seem to play havoc with the reverb. It just dosen't sound right.
Should I just be running this type of set up in front of the amp or is there something I am missing using the fx loop? Dialing down the send signal moderates the issues somewhat.

This is my first post here but I have lurked for a bit. I know there is some good knowledge out there. Thanks for your comments.

In advance, I know someone will suggest just to get rid of all the pedals and this is already under consideration.

 

[Dead Moon Rising]

if you have passive pickups, use a buffer and run the pedals in front.

 

[Axxis]

Basically the only things you have their I would personally considre putting into the loop are the chorus and flanger. Distortion/OD pedals almost always sound better in front of the amp and more often than not have unwanted effects in the loop. I myself have lurked around here quite a bit before making an account so glad to have ya.

 

[Axxis]

btw it just hit me but exactly what amp are you using? Does it have a serial effects loop or a parallel? Digital processors like your flanger sometimes really screw with your sound in parallel due to a lag in the signal when they merge back together or something like that. Anywho
check what kind of loop ya got.

 

[JasonE]

The only two of your pedals that you should run through your loop is the Chorus and the Flanger. The reason is that you should never run anything through the effects loop that would increase gain. That means all distortion pedals, wah pedals, boosters, etc. If these two pedals sound okay going through the front of your amp, you may just want to keep everything plugged into the front. Otherwise, split your pedal board and run those two through the back and the rest through the front.

 

[doobchec]

Hey there,
I have a Mark IV combo that i have fallen in love with. The effects loop is one of the many things I like and I have learned of an efficient and effective way to set up my pedal board with the effects loop. The setup is a little complex but my tone remains strong and intact...which is the point of all this, right?
My signal goes like this:
Guitar-Tuner-Boss OD-Tube Screamer-guitar input on amp-effects send out-chorus-phaser-delay-loop station-effects return.
After this I either mike the amp with a SM57 OR go "recording out" on the back of the amp (which by the way Mesa has done an awesome job on the recording out feature) to the mixer/PA. My tone has not been degraded at all and I'm able to switch easily between effects loop on or off, distortion, clean...there is a lot of flexability.
Now, I noticed this was your set up:
Planet waves Tuner
Compressor (2 Knob)
Fuzz head
Blues Driver
Tube Screamer
CE 2 Chorus
Metal Zone
Digitech Flanger (Non keeley)
Try moving your your modulation effects (chorus, flanger) to the end of your chain and moving your distortion (fuzz, blues driver, tube screamer, metal zone) to the front. Now the's the "tricky" part. I would suggest putting your distortion pedals after your guitar THEN go into the amp input. This way the distorted tone gets EQ'd at the preamp, goes out the effects send to your modulation effects and then comes back to the amp with a stronger, clearer signal. By the way, try using the compression before and after the distortion pedals and see what you like best. I prefer compression after distortion but improvising is fun!
Peace, Frank
check out Groove Movement on MySpace/music AND You Tube.