I'm sure that you are sick and tired of....

[HollowSoul]

FX loop questions.......but trust me when I say that i'm just about ready to trade in my Triple Rec in for a Line 6 vetta II...
Ok....let my get started with my question, about my FX loop.
Does anyone but me really like this thing?
I have tried--and tried--and tried--and failed miserably with different kinds of effects, only to realize that as soon as i place ANYTHING in the FX loop...the sweet mesa tone...disapears!
I am an effects junkie!! Delay-Reverb-Flanger-Tremolo-ect
however when these are placed in the FX loop, the triple's overall volume/drive/gain seems to drop by 1/4....So to compensate I raise the levels.....result...
as you know when you up the gain in the triple's you get HUM! SERIOUS HUM...
So basicly my Q is....how does one fix this? I know you can go to a tech and have them ?? switch the loop from series to parallel?? or is it vice versa??
A buddy of mine suggested that i just run every thing into the main input...
and although with some effects that would work, but not all.

Now...if i told you what my current set up is....you would reach through your computer monitor and strangle me....but i'll tell you anyway...

guitar------Boss GT8----mesa input (channel 1 only)
with this setup i'm using the triple as a PA for the Boss GT8...
I know...I know but it's either that or trade it in for a line 6 :roll:

I wanna be able to run effects...is that too much to ask?

here was my "last" costly mistake that i made in my quest for effects + tone...

TC Electronics G-major (in FX loop)
DMC Ground Control Pro (to control G-Major)
Axcess Elecrtonics CFX4 Control Function Switcher (to allow Ground Control Pro to switch Triple's channels through G-Major)

end result????

Boss GT8 using mesa as a PA??

So in closing, does "modding" the fx loop actually solve this problemb???
Or is it Mesa's intention to "run raw only"
Or am I just an Idiot...
TIA

 

[parsky1]

First off, you don't want to use crap fx. Although most of the stuff you apparently tried should be fine, minus the GT-8 . Use true bypass effects when you can, and keep buffered effects to a minimum. Second of all you need to have good clean power running to your effects pedals. First off get a regulated 12V adapter, instead of the wal-mart junk that puts out 11-13V depending on what time of the month it is. Are you using a power conditioner? This will clean up a lot of the hum in the AC lines going to your amp and pedals.

www.furman.com, at least get the M-8
www.fulltone.com, sells a nice regulated adapter that puts out 12.00V, no more no less(make sure you get the correct polarity for the center pin).

I doubt switching to parallel will help much. Typically you need to play with the fx send level on the amp and play with the volume on the effect itself.

If you are using single coil pickup on your guitar they will pick up florecent light hum, when you turn the guitars volume down does the hum go away?

 

[HollowSoul]

First off, you don't want to use crap fx. Although most of the stuff you apparently tried should be fine, minus the GT-8 . Use true bypass effects when you can, and keep buffered effects to a minimum. Second of all you need to have good clean power running to your effects pedals. First off get a regulated 12V adapter, instead of the wal-mart junk that puts out 11-13V depending on what time of the month it is. Are you using a power conditioner? This will clean up a lot of the hum in the AC lines going to your amp and pedals.

www.furman.com, at least get the M-8
www.fulltone.com, sells a nice regulated adapter that puts out 12.00V, no more no less(make sure you get the correct polarity for the center pin).

I doubt switching to parallel will help much. Typically you need to play with the fx send level on the amp and play with the volume on the effect itself.

If you are using single coil pickup on your guitar they will pick up florecent light hum, when you turn the guitars volume down does the hum go away?

ok....in lieu of sounding like a noob what exactly is a "true bypass effect?"
are you referring to effects that can be placed before or after the preamp?
It was my initial understanding with effects that with flanger for example...you dont want to "distort the flanger...you wanna flange the distortion" so effecs such as that need to be placed after the preamp.
As far as power go's...yes i allready have a furman and as far as pups i am running EMG 81/85's on both my ax's, however i have had passive pups with the same hum.
I got kinda frustrated last week and went to the local guitarcenter and tried a different rec (think'n that maybe mine had a prob) and all of em had a certain amount of hum at high gain.
all of my cables are good (monster/planet waves ect)
P.S. don't knock the GT8 lol iv'e had plenty of ppl come up to me after the show giving me props on my sound.....(i usually kick the GT8 aside and point to my amp :lol: )

 

[Storm]

I found that no matter what I did when I had the GT-8, my Roadster never sounded good with it attached. I sold it and bought a TC Electronic G-Major which solved all my problems. Mind you the Roadster has a series FX loop and I'm pretty sure the Triple has a parallel FX loop. I find that a series FX loop is far more useable and quiet.

Ciao ...

 

[oneamongthefence]

I have a dual rec tremoverb(it has a parrallel like yours)... and i've never had a problem using my effects loop. yeah.. when you turn it on it takes some balls away. But mesa tells you how to best try to match your sound to how it was before by bypassing the loop on your amp and dialing in your sound on a channel where you'll be playing at... then turn your loop on and raise the fx master, not the channel master. (or something like that. It's in the manuals.) that way your levels of the preamp are the same as they were before you bypassed the loop and you're not pushing more sound to nowhere basically. I have my mix most all the way up and my effects level set to about 9 oclock on my fx loop controls on the back of my amp. I also had to get rid of a couple of my boss pedals because they took control of my sound away from my amps fx levels. once i did all this it worked out great. I have emgs just like you too and the hum is just part of it. although the lights and configuration of power supplies and possibly a noise gate will solve that. good luck man. Its all about personal preference but i would never trade my mesa for a line 6 (not even the vetta) you don't want to trade true tone for the abillity to run effects. just keep working on it and you'll get it.

ps... if you decide to get the vetta...i'll buy your dmc ground control

 

[oyster]

Not to take this too far off topic, but I hope you can solve your issue without having to go to VettaII. take it from someone who knows...I had a VettaII and believe me if you go that route you will always be lacking part of the sweetness that comes from the tube amp. And yes I was a master of tweaking that amp...hours and hours I spent. Vetta may sound good at first blush and best models developed to date, but if you really listen to your tone carefully you will realize it is just not developed to the degree it is with a good tube amp.

For example I believe the richness of tone that I seek has a lot to do with harmonics and complexity. Ever hear your sustain thicken and your sustained note bloom into wonderful feedback? Forget about getting that from Vetta. You will get a pale imitation and approach it, but in many cases horrible sounding shrieking feedback and uncontrollable especially if you use a lot of gain. When I first got Vetta I used quite a few effects but gradually eliminated them to focus on the core sound - this is where it came up short and I finally had to bail.

If that sound isn't as important to you then Vetta will serve you well because it is definitely the single most versatile amp on the planet in terms of effects and effects mapping.

 

[HollowSoul]

Thanx for the help fellas....but for some reason aside from the drop in volume/gain everything just sound's "tin-canny"
Iv'e tried all sorts of various knob positions on the fx loop...
SO...since obviously the fx loop is an entity of the rectifier that has escaped my vast knowledge (or lack of)
what effects do you suggest that can be placed directly in front of the preamp?
I allready have an idea that delay can be placed before or after, but is that it???
Oh! 1 more thing and i can't believe i'm asking this....
instead of the fx loop, can i place effects after the amp alltogether??
example...
guitar-----mesa----mesa out-----effects-----cabinet?

 

[fbomb]

your only other option ,i think would be is to ,if you have a slave out on your amp use that ,but you will need a power amp and additional speaked cab.

 

[eltrain858]

instead of the fx loop, can i place effects after the amp alltogether??
example...
guitar-----mesa----mesa out-----effects-----cabinet?

oooh.. not a good idea...

getting back to your original post, i can't speak exactly for the Vetta, but i agree with everyone else above about trading tube for modeling. i just sold a flextone ii and flextone iii to pick up my Mark IV and it was the best decision i've made in awhile.

i started out with a JCM900 4100 dual reverb half stack, but didn't like having individual fx pedals and couldnt afford a good rack setup, so i traded that in for a new Flextone II (the marshall obviously had a few tolex tears, a loose input jack, a scratchy reverb pot, etc).

for the first two years or so i loved the versatility and compact setup. then i started hating my high gain tone. all i could hear was gritty digital noise, especially when playing chords. i was using the rectifier setting on the flextone all the time anyway, so i sucked it up (got a second job) and bought my Mark IV. fx loop works great, after getting a furman surge protector with EMI/RF filtering, some mogami cables, and actually buying the recommended PSA-120 adapter for my Boss DD-20, i'm almost noise free with no loss of tone going through the fx loop.

have you tried a mark iv?

 

[dogboy131]

The FX loop is junk. Even if you put a guitar cord from one to the other in the loop it robs your tone. Think of open wah pedal in fron of the amp and that is what you get.

Plain and simple. The loop is a travesty and it should NEVER have been okayed at a manufacturing level.

Mesa offer a fix for it for $150 (nice of them to charge us for a defective loop fix). The kicker is I hear the fix robs you of your solo switch etc.

NICE> This is why I am selling my triple recto. Any takers???

 

[oneamongthefence]

well it looks like there's your problem man. sounds like you got a faulty fx loop on your triple. bummer. go trade it in for a dual.(or another mesa) Don't give up on the true mesa tone if that's what you like.

 

[triple rectumfrier]

whats this $150 fix do? make the parallel loops series?