Volume pedal in FX loop

[Phillip Leggett]

Hey everyone, I have a Hilton pro volume pedal and although it’s known to not really colour your tone, I still hear it. I just tried the pedal through the FX loop of my Quilter Toneblock 202 and it certainly brings out the clarity.

Does anyone else use this method? What would the pro and cons be?

Cheers!

[Ian Worley]

I think the only real drawback is the extra cabling that it requires. It definitely does sound a little different. I've tried this with my Tone Block 202 and Telonics pedal, and testing the different voicing settings on the 202. I assume the difference is simply because the amp's preamp section is receiving a steady input signal level so that coloration doesn't change, vs. the normal arrangement with the effect of the variable input gain from the VP ahead of the preamp. The tone produced from the preamp is also affected by input impedance. Active volume pedals are also buffers, they output a low impedance signal that is not affected by longer cable runs. The effects loop itself is low impedance, but plugging a high impedance steel guitar pickup directly in the amp's input might sound quite different than a buffered signal; longer or lower quality cables will begin to degrade the signal, which may or may not suit you. In any case I would want my reverb and delay downstream of the volume pedal, which the 202 accommodates with its built-in reverb downstream of the effects loop. There's no right or wrong here, it's just personal preference. Overall I like the tone and response with VP and effects ahead of the preamp better.

[Phillip Leggett]

This is great thanks so much for your input!

[Dave Hopping]

I always used the "Pre-EQ/Pedal" patch on my NV112 and Session 500. Made it a breeze to run gain-based effects straight in and time-based effects thru the F/X loop; everything sounded clearer and there was no high-end loss from pulling back on the VP. Peavey had a great idea with that setup and I wish other builders had done the same!

[David Wren]

I know everyone is different.... but I've found if I use a FX loop for my volume pedal, it diminishes the effects of my other FX tones (reverb, delay, overdrive, ect...).

So, after trying both, I go from guitar to my FX unit, to my VP, to my amp... works for me

For background I use a Line 6 HX Stomp unit for my FX.

[Fred Treece]

David,
It does matter where your FX Loop sits in the signal
path, as Ian Worley commented

In any case I would want my reverb and delay downstream of the volume pedal, which the 202 accommodates with its built-in reverb downstream of the effects loop.

If all of your effects are coming from the Line 6 and you are running it straight to the front of your amp, then putting the VP in the FX Loop will not have the desired effect of splitting gain-based fx from time-based fx. So it reduces all the effects equally.

Even if you run the Line 6 into the loop, you would need some way to integrate the VP into Line 6 signal chain so you could choose to place it after the preamp but before the verb and delay.

If an amp has both an fx loop and built-in reverb, the reverb is most likely going to be placed after the preamp.