Delay and/or EQ in front of amp instead of loop?

[rjohns1]

A delay in front of an amp can work really well, but you need to adjust the mix to a very low level. One problem you will run into is that if you roll back your volume knob on the guitar, you will lose your delay effect when the amp cleans up. You can counter this with a couple of options, use two delay pedals, and setup one for dirty sound, and one for a cleaner sound, or use a delay with presets, and set them for different situations.

 

[Frankie]

Never had that issue. Both of my delays work clean too.

 

[rjohns1]

Never had that issue. Both of my delays work clean too.

It depends on how saturated your tone is. If you run with just an overdriven tone, your right. But play some saturated lead stuff with the same delay setting, and it is jumble city.

 

[LesPaulopolis]

If you use preamp gain (which is the 'point' of owning a Marshall IMO) analog delay will fart out fast. If you like quick runs, delay in front will ruin it. I can't live w/out and FX loop if I get most of my gain from the head.

Parallel loop is where it's at!!! Every serious guitarist owes it to themselves to try an amp with a parallel loop at high gain. Can you say "epic solo"???

 

[zachman]

Buffering issue perhaps?

Here's what going in the front sounds like:

‪Wampler Faux Tape Echo‬‏ - YouTube

No, it's most likely an issue of correct gain level matching. Line level signals are +4dB, Instrument level is typically -10dB-- BUT pedals typically have an input which prefers a signal around -30dB, so can have issues when run through a loop, as their input can become overloaded rather easily.

If maintaining the amp's core tone is a high priority, post amp/re-amping fx via a Wet/Dry or Wet/Dry/Wet configuration is my preferred method over fx loops.

 

[zachman]

If you use preamp gain (which is the 'point' of owning a Marshall IMO) analog delay will fart out fast. If you like quick runs, delay in front will ruin it. I can't live w/out and FX loop if I get most of my gain from the head.

Parallel loop is where it's at!!! Every serious guitarist owes it to themselves to try an amp with a parallel loop at high gain. Can you say "epic solo"???

Personally, I hate parallel loops, but to each his/her own.

Where it's REALLY at when you want "Epic" is, actually routing your effects in parallel, series, and series/parallel in a w/d, w/d/w, or stereo setup.

 

[Wycked Lester]

just use a good loop and forget about it. If your amp doesn't have a good loop, have one installed. If ya don't want to butcher your amp have the send and return wired into one stereo jack, like a insert on a mixer, and put it in place of one of the speaker outs.

 

[CrispyTone]

I liked the EQ better out front. It added more slippery gain and drove my preamp harder. When I put it in the loop, it made my sound louder with less gain added, and the last thing I need is more volume. I run echo in the loop because I use my head for overdrive. If I use a delay with a boost, I'd run it out front with subtle settings, or I'd run it out front if I use low sensitivity input and a drive pedal in front of the echo pedal.

 

[dcooper830]

I don't like the sound of delay or reverb out front. It muddies up distortion tones.

EQ out front is much more subtle than when it's in the loop.

 

[cicone]

.... EQ out front is much more subtle than when it's in the loop.

Sometimes logic doesn't work, but intuitively, it makes sense to me to shape the tone--EQ it--before it gets to any effects. That's why I tried it and it does sound better than EQ in the loop... to me, anyway.

Sorry for the slight hijack.