Compressor in an EFX loop?

[jayj]

Hi all,
I'm ditching a lot of pedals and trading it for an amp: the Egnater Renegade.

I am keeping a small pedal board with some wet effects, delay, tremolo, etc. I also have a BYOC compressor that I'm also not selling.

I'd like to not have more than 2 cables to and from the pedalboard if possible, so I'm thinking of running the compressor in the efx loop; whereas I'd typically run it pre-amp. Any thoughts on how well it will work there?

I believe the loop on the Renegade is in series (though switchable on/off), and I'd likely only run the compressor with cleanish sounds.

I'll try it out both ways when I get the amp for sure. Just looking for some pre-amp delivery opinions. Thanks!

 

[V!N]

The PedalSnake might be what you're looking for: PedalSnake.com
One cable with multiple leads and connectors and no cross-talk !

I'm also interested in what people say about hooking the compressor in the effects loop. When you think of it, it makes a lot of sense. When I was a gigging musician and went out to play blues, my pick-attack was my first gain knob, then the volume knobs on my guitar. So compressors in front of the amp really weren't my cup of tea then, but the guy at the soundboard did use compression on my channel so my level wouldn't be all over the place.

 

[gordonm]

Should be fine tone wise. But would you want it all on all the time?



If you want it switchable try one of these TheGigRig Remote Loopy-2

Edit, in fact I would run the the comp in front and mod/delay using the loopy 2 as per the diagram.

 

[jayj]

The PedalSnake might be what you're looking for: PedalSnake.com
One cable with multiple leads and connectors and no cross-talk !

Cool! Very interested in this as it would tidy up my rig a lot and allow me to do preamp and efx loop runs to and from the amp. Thanks!

 

[jayj]

Should be fine tone wise. But would you want it all on all the time?



If you want it switchable try one of these TheGigRig Remote Loopy-2

Interesting. My amp has a efx loop on/off in the footswitch, so I can turn the whole loop off when I want to.

Edit, in fact I would run the the comp in front and mod/delay using the loopy 2 as per the diagram.

Yeah, comp in the front is pretty standard, but I found it works just fine in the loop. If I ever get a wah (or anything else) that I want to run pre-amp, I'll probably move my tuner and comp before the preamp too, but for now it works great.

 

[NoStatic]

Cool! Very interested in this as it would tidy up my rig a lot and allow me to do preamp and efx loop runs to and from the amp. Thanks!

You dont need to spend the money on a cable snake to achieve this- make your own. But remember, cable snake or conventional leads- you are inserting, say, 30 feet of cable between your pre amp and amp.

The loopy-2 is the go. But its farking expensive for a box with a pair of relays in it. But if you have a switchable FX loop, you dont need loopy2 either.

 

[jayj]

You dont need to spend the money on a cable snake to achieve this- make your own. But remember, cable snake or conventional leads- you are inserting, say, 30 feet of cable between your pre amp and amp.

Understood, that's why you can't just use all true-bypass pedals *everywhere*. My DL4 has a buffer that can be enabled all the time if I end up with a lot of cable.

The loopy-2 is the go. But its farking expensive for a box with a pair of relays in it. But if you have a switchable FX loop, you dont need loopy2 either.

Yeah, but the issue there is I have no individual control over pedals. I have a tremolo, a delay, + the comp and a tuner in my loop. The loopy just gives me a way to remotely enable/disable a few fx loops, but not, say, do a tap tempo, or change the tremolo speed.

I'm ok with long efx cable runs as long as a I have a buffer I trust and the rest of the pedals are true-bypass (which I have). Plus the fact that I can easily switch the efx loop off on the amp for pure, unsoiled lead gain, I'm a happy camper.

 

[NoStatic]

No. The FX "loop" (its not really a loop) takes signal either in series or parallel, depending on the design of the amp, after the pre amp, through the FX and then into the power section of your amp. If you take a 15ft cable from the amp send to the FX then back to the amp return, youve put 30ft of cable between your pre-amp and amp. You may or may not want to do that. I dont, hence my interst in loopy2

Your buffer, by conventional wisdom, should go out front, straight after guitar. Some people run them at the end of the FX chain. Mine for instance goes git>buffer>3bypass looper housing various FX>amp. Then a RVB in the amp FXloop.

Why do you have your tuner in the amp loop? Sound like a true bypass box out front might help you

 

[jayj]

No. The FX "loop" (its not really a loop) takes signal either in series or parallel, depending on the design of the amp, after the pre amp, through the FX and then into the power section of your amp. If you take a 15ft cable from the amp send to the FX then back to the amp return, youve put 30ft of cable between your pre-amp and amp. You may or may not want to do that. I dont, hence my interst in loopy2

I understand that. For me I want the controls on the pedals in front of my feet, not back by my amp.

Your buffer, by conventional wisdom, should go out front, straight after guitar. Some people run them at the end of the FX chain. Mine for instance goes git>buffer>3bypass looper housing various FX>amp. Then a RVB in the amp FXloop.

From what I've read, the buffer's job is to prevent signal loss over long cable runs. It would make sense to put it between your guitar and amp if you had long run between your guitar and your amp, or if you had pedals between your guitar and amp.

AFAIK, any pedal that isn't "true-bypass" basically acts as a buffer, good or bad. A bad buffer colors your sound, hence why people either want true bypass or efx loop switching.

Why do you have your tuner in the amp loop? Sound like a true bypass box out front might help you

I put my tuner and comp in my efx loop so I can plug my guitar straight into my amp. My signal chain goes:

Guitar -> amp ->
efx out (optional) -> BYOC Opti comp -> Polytune -> DL4 -> SupraTrem -> efx return


If my efx loop is disabled, I am going Guitar -> amp, and that's it.

My efx loop is about 10' out and 10' back, so 20' additional cable. The efx loop is buffered in the amp, so I'm comfortable with all my efx being true-bypass. But if I end up needing longer cable, I would turn the DL4 off of true-bypass mode so it acted as a buffer on my pedalboard.

As I said before, if I got a pedal that truly should be before the amp (like a wah or OD or something (no more OD's for me, that's why I got the amp)), my signal would be roughly:

Guitar -> Wah -> Comp -> Tuner -> Amp ->
Efx loop (optional) -> Delay -> Tremelo -> Amp

But neither the tuner nor the comp *needs* to be between the guitar and amp, so one loop out for all the pedals works great for me with this setup.

 

[NoStatic]

Well if sounds good, that’s all that matters.

I admire your efforts to keep your signal chain clean. A couple of observations from a fellow signal chain Nazi.

-not all stomp box type effects will work well in all FX loops. You can get impedance mismatches and level issues.
-Most pedal type FX are designed to work in front of the amp.
-Pedal buffers, like Boss say, exist to serve that pedal, not your signal chain.
-A signal sucking pedal is still a signal sucking pedal in your FX loop.

I used to use amp FX loops much more, but I gave up on the cable run between the board and the amp send/return for the reasons we are talking about. Ive found that a TB loop arrangement out front works better, as generally unless something is switched in via that loop, its simply git>buffer>amp. There is really only two considerations- does it sound OK, no signal loss- and does it “work” from a utility point of view. Your ears are your friend. Me, I’d think about losing that cable run in the FX loop and going TB in front of the amp. Good luck.