Tone suck from effects loop?

[davidonn]

Hey guys, I have a 5:50 Express (not the 5:50+) and I have a question about the effects loop and possible tone suck. Can pedals suck tone when placed in the effects loop, or does tone suck only occur with pedals placed in the front of the amp?

I have a couple of older modulation pedals that I want to use in the loop that I’m guessing are not true bypass (Ibanez DDL20 Delay III and DOD FX65 chorus.) Anyway, I know the ultimate test is to plug in and use my ears, but I wanted to see if anyone had any first hand experience and/or knowledge of this. I'm considering buying a true bypass looper to remedy this, but not sure if there is a point if pedals run through the effects loop are not susceptible to tone suck.

 

[Newysurfer]

Hey guys, I have a 5:50 Express (not the 5:50+) and I have a question about the effects loop and possible tone suck. Can pedals suck tone when placed in the effects loop, or does tone suck only occur with pedals placed in the front of the amp?

I have a couple of older modulation pedals that I want to use in the loop that I’m guessing are not true bypass (Ibanez DDL20 Delay III and DOD FX65 chorus.) Anyway, I know the ultimate test is to plug in and use my ears, but I wanted to see if anyone had any first hand experience and/or knowledge of this. I'm considering buying a true bypass looper to remedy this, but not sure if there is a point if pedals run through the effects loop are not susceptible to tone suck.

Tone suck issues are generally unrelated to whether pedals are placed in the loop or up front imo.
Most important issues contributing to tone suck imo are
- whether pedal is buffered or true bypass.
- if buffered - the quality of the buffer part used. This varies greatly from pedal to pedal.
- total cable lengths used in the setup - longer the cables the more transmission loss will occur.
Should try to keep cable length to < 20m :mrgreen: