Grateful Dead Music Forum

(Good thing I'm not the type to become embarrassed over asking a dumb question or I'd be embarrassed now! )

Heard back from my luthier - my 2-year's-in-progress Jerrycaster will be finished and in my hands a week from Friday. Yee-hah! Here's my question regarding it.

Some of my amps have effect loops, others don't. My pedalboard is currently a Line 6 M13 (sometimes w/additional pedals, sometimes alone - depends on whether the amp also has channel switching). The M13 allows the user to specify which of its effects run before the amp input and which go into the amp's effects loop.

When I hook up my new axe to the M13 to one of my amps with an effects loop, what's the best way to configure everything?

Thanks!

I would put everything into the guitar's effects loop. The only exception I would make would be if you are running an outboard reverb unit, that might work best in the amp loop. The point to the effects loop is to be able to turn effects on and off at the guitar. So, unless the effect is on 100 percent of the time, that's where it should be. Things like rack delays and so forth can work well in an amp's effects loop, but you would lose the ability to switch it from the guitar and the benefit of having the guitar signal be constant to the effect.

And if there is a stompbox type effect that is on 100 percent of the time, like if you use a compressor or something constantly, then you should still put it between the guitar and the amp. Just plug the guitar's main output into it and then run from that to the amp.

Hope that helps.

Makes perfect sense to me. Thanks!