Mark V Footswitching FX and Tuner

[Gunner]

If I leave my delay pedal and tuner on all the time and switch them on and off with the footswitch, won't this wear out the pedals quicker? What's the advantage of switching the FX with the footswitch? Does it take the pedals completely out of the circuit, thus providing a purer tone? My tuner is true bypass so I could leave it in-line with the guitar and tune with a mute that way but if I use the tuner out of the amp, it's just one less thing in the signal path. Any thoughts on this stuff from folks that have had a chance to go out and gig with their Mark V and pedals?

 

[sted]

The less you have in your signal chain the more your tone is preserved mate, true bypass or not, hence why the MV is provided with a tuner out.
The best place for your modulations, delays and such is in the effects loop, by switching your loop in and out you are using the amp as a switch to bring in all your effects at once and then completely bypassing them still within the amp circuitry, gives you the best option for running pedals and preservation of tone, your MV is worth a lot of money and even the better boutiques out there wont have better components in them for transferance of analogue signal.
I only use a wah in front of the amp and can tell straight away that it has an effect on the tone, you got to ask yourself that in the heat of battle live, will anyone even notice though! I doubt it mate.

 

[Jimi D]

I leave my FX loop on all the time... why? Because I'm using an M9 in the loop for all my mod and delay effects, as well as a volume control... I like to use my guitar volume to control crunch/tone, and a volume pedal in the loop to control stage volume, so my FX loop is never off...

That being said, I still run my PitchBlack tuner on my pedal board in front of the amp... Now that I've switched to the Mark V for live, I only use one drive pedal, so I've only got my tuner, a Budda Wah, and my Full-Drive 2 in front of the amp - no worries... I tried using the tuner out on the amp with a TU12 placed on top of the head the first time I used it live, but I had to turn around to see the tuner - I ended up frantically trying to get tuned up between songs and the needle wasn't tracking cleanly and by the time I realized the Full-Drive was on, we were starting into the next song! :lol: So now I'm keeping my tuner down at my feet where I can see it...

 

[babow2]

I use a pedal snake type cable bundle to run lines from my pedal board to the amp, etc... I have my Korg Pitchblak tuner on my pedal board, but run a line from the tuner out on the amp to the tuner on my board and switch it in/out using the amp footpedal switch. Same with my Lexicon FX- through the FX loop and in/out switched as needed. I let the amp do the work.

 

[SteveO]

If I leave my delay pedal and tuner on all the time and switch them on and off with the footswitch, won't this wear out the pedals quicker?

Any additional "wear" would be negligible. Turning the pedal on and off with it's own switch will cause more wear-and-tear on it than leaving it on all the time.

 

[Gunner]

Bottle Rocket, if I understand you right, when I switch the effects in the loop off using the Mark V footswitch, is it the same as not having them in the loop at all, thus preserving the signal more?

 

[eudaimonia02912]

Bottle Rocket, if I understand you right, when I switch the effects in the loop off using the Mark V footswitch, is it the same as not having them in the loop at all, thus preserving the signal more?

When you switch the loop off, the signal does not go through the loop. So, there's no degradation of tone, which normally would result from the signal having to travel through extra cables, pedal circuitry (including whatever buffers they have, etc.) You can also hardwire bypass the entire effects loop circuitry by a switch on the back, but then loop doesn't work at all.

I keep an MXR stereo chorus, Hardwire Delay, and TC Electronic Nova Reverb always on in the loop. When I want to use those sounds, I turn the loop on; otherwise it's off. (I tend to use all three pedals at the same time, or not at all.) I do keep some pedals in front (2 boosts, a wah, a noise reducer, and a phaser), but I don't notice a huge impact on tone. I have a few pedals (a Morpheus Droptune and Whammy IV) that do suck tone when off, so I only put them on the board when I'm actually using them.

 

[eudaimonia02912]

If I leave my delay pedal and tuner on all the time and switch them on and off with the footswitch, won't this wear out the pedals quicker?

Any additional "wear" would be negligible. Turning the pedal on and off with it's own switch will cause more wear-and-tear on it than leaving it on all the time.

This is correct.