Is it OK to use the "send" only of the effects loop?

[Darius2301]

Hi all!

I have an Express 5:25 and right now I have a tuner connected to the "Send' of the effects loop and nothing connected to the "Return." This seems to be working just fine, but I want to make sure that I will not damage the amp in any way by doing this.

Thanks!

 

[Don]

E-mail Mesa/Boogie and ask them. They'll give you the correct answer.

 

[Darius2301]

E-mail Mesa/Boogie and ask them. They'll give you the correct answer.

Well you know I was on their website, and looked at the "Contact US" section and did not see an e-mail address. I suppose I could call their tech support. I thought that this might be an obvious question that someone here would immediately know the answer to...

 

[MusicManJP6]

I don't see a problem with this as long as you don't hear any tone degradation.

 

[soundchaser59]

If I plug a cord into my Send jack, the sound cuts out completely. I assumed this is because its a serial loop. Why are you getting sound if you dont come back in to the Return jack? What am I doing wrong?

 

[EtherealWidow]

Dude, sound chaser. For some reason I still get sound out of mine. Granted, the amp was turned down all the way, but I could still hear sound coming from the speaker. I don't understand that at all. Maybe I should try turning it up more and maybe I won't get a volume increase from the speaker, but simply a bigger signal going into the sound card/PA/whatever. I don't know. It's just that you'd think that with a serial loop there would be NOTHING going to the speaker at all, like you said.

 

[soundchaser59]

Well, now that I think about it let me be more precise..... when I did that I had two cords plugged in, one in the Send and one in the Return, but with no pedal connected. I vividly remember this because I busted my brain open for a good long minute trying to figure out why I was not getting any sound. Then..... "DOH!".....I have a broken path in the fx loop. Plugged the pedal in and had my sound back.

I'll test it again tonight (forgot last night) and let you know if I'm still stupid or if my IQ has gone up a couple points.

 

[stephen sawall]

It well not hurt anything .... it is just the preamp out.

The problem is you do not want anything but the output of the guitar going into the tuner to make it work best. Before any effects and amp. It is just a bad idea to have it in the loop.

 

[Old BF Shred]

It well not hurt anything .... it is just the preamp out.

The problem is you do not want anything but the output of the guitar going into the tuner to make it work best. Before any effects and amp. It is just a bad idea to have it in the loop.

I agree...I have had poor results using a tuner in the loop. Seems to throw off the accuracy.

In fact I have a L6 POD that I use in the loop, but when I do, the tuner will not work accurately. Straight from the guitar seems the best way.
Good luck

 

[tmac]

I seem to remember that there was some bleed through the FX loop circuit on mine. At some point in time I tried to use the send as a preamp output. Dont remember if I had to plug a disconnected cable into the FX return or not to disable the sound from the speaker. To get a decent level from the FX send, I turned up the Master, but noticed that there was some sound coming out of the Express speaker. Around speech level when the master was at maximum, if I remember correctly.

- Torquil

 

[edward]

Hi all!

I have an Express 5:25 and right now I have a tuner connected to the "Send' of the effects loop and nothing connected to the "Return." This seems to be working just fine, but I want to make sure that I will not damage the amp in any way by doing this.

Thanks!

As others have mentioned, you're perfectly fine doing this. Since you're not going back into the Return, all you're doing is taking a "tap" out of the amp's signal chain, like sticking a straw into a stream, while the rest of the signal continues down its merry path unaltered. No harm nor effect on tone AFAIK.

BTW, I never thought of doing this ...good idea as it keeps the original signal unmolested. I've got to go try this out; thanks.

Edward

 

[ifailedshapes]

Hi all!

I have an Express 5:25 and right now I have a tuner connected to the "Send' of the effects loop and nothing connected to the "Return." This seems to be working just fine, but I want to make sure that I will not damage the amp in any way by doing this.

Thanks!

As others have mentioned, you're perfectly fine doing this. Since you're not going back into the Return, all you're doing is taking a "tap" out of the amp's signal chain, like sticking a straw into a stream, while the rest of the signal continues down its merry path unaltered. No harm nor effect on tone AFAIK.

BTW, I never thought of doing this ...good idea as it keeps the original signal unmolested. I've got to go try this out; thanks.

Edward

I do not recommend doing this. While it will do no harm to your amp, your tuner will be more accurate if fed a signal from your guitar as opposed to your preamp.