Pedals - effects loop or in front?

[Seanboy]

I've got a couple pedals that I'm wondering if they go in front of the signal, or in the effects loop... Still trying to learn this stuff. One is a distortion pedal, the other is a delay, what do you suggest? My amp is a Mark III.

Thanks,

Sean

 

[JMMP]

I would try the distortion in front and the delay in the loop.

 

[LesPaul70]

I would try the distortion in front and the delay in the loop.

This.

Although, I wonder, if one already has a MkIII, what on earth do you need a distortion pedal for? That's got to be one helluva distortion pedal...

 

[JMMP]

I use 2 dirt pedals with my mark IV. They do NOT get turned on in channel 3 though. I use them with rhy2 set to a very low gain sound to be able to have the bass set high enough on the clean channel.

 

[Seanboy]

Hey everyone thanks for the help, just one more question, where would you put an acoustic simulator pedal?

 

[MrMarkIII]

Hey everyone thanks for the help, just one more question, where would you put an acoustic simulator pedal?

First.
And yes, I use an overdrive with my Mark III so I can get LESS distortion in R1.

 

[LesPaul70]

Oh yes, an overdrive. I use an OD with almost all of my Mesa amps, up to and including the Dual Rectifier. Not necessarily to add distortion but rather to tighten up the sound (OD gain @0).

But to me, there's a difference between an OD and a "distortion pedal" - a significant one in the quantity if not quality of distortion. An OD (like any of the 1001 different TS808 variants) mostly boosts the amp's natural overdriven sound, and maybe adds a spice of its own, while a distortion pedal offers a distorted sound entirely on its own, like a Rat or Metal Zone pedal. And that's why I wondered why anybody would want to use a "distortion pedal" with a Mark III.

...that said, my current pedal board iactually also incorporates one genuine distortion pedal, a Wampler Triple Wreck, as recommended by fellow Boogie Board members. I'm using it to get faux-Recto sounds out of my Mark amplifiers when I'm too lazy to take my DR head with me to a band rehearsal.