Why do some amps have effects loops and some don't? And what is it about them that makes them work, do they buffer or something? My amp wouldn't take pedals for shit, everything either sounds like mud or real chimey. I just now decided to use the effects loop and ill be damned, everything sounds great. I kinda wish I hadn't sold a bunch of pedals now. The only ones I'm using at this point are a tuner into a pharoah into a reverb.
all depends on how they are designed. The ones on OR120 and GT120s suck with instrument level pedals since that loop has a huge signal level at a relatively hi-z output. It was not designed for pedals it was designed for stand alone verb units. In many amps the loop has too large of a output impedance and or the level is too large coming out which results in clipping on some sensitive pedals
I had one put into my amp but I just can't get the Eventide Space pedal to sound good with it; almost like I'm running it in front of my amp instead of after the pre-amp. My assumption is that since I'm using power tube distortion that it is responsible for the harshness. Could it instead be that it is not installed optimally? It's a 40 watt tube.
this is where standards are essential. all of industry is based upon standards so stuff is interchangeable between vendors.
IF there is a solidly defined spec for a "X level effects loop", all these questions could be cleared up.
was your loop plumbed in correctly, matching impedance and V/I ranges/max/safety components(like a V clamp or optical coupler etc)
also the effects are held to task by the standard "Do YOU also present yada yada impedance yada to the amp's loop? and so on
nice, an entire essay basically stating " I got nothing" heh
As much as I love to hate the Fender HR/Blues Deville. Their FX loop works really well.
Why do you love to hate those? They are great amps.
I've never really cared for their sound and I fix between two and five of them a week. I've be repairing amps for about fifteen years now. For me it just seems like everyone owns one. Check your closet you may have one and not know it. I was talking with a tech at Fender once who said that they sell more of the Hot Rod series amps then the next top three manufacturer's entire lines.
I've started wearing earplugs when I test them, they sound a lot better that way.
Well if you ever find a working one in your closet that you want to get rid of, I'll be happy to pay for shipping!