Effects Loop. Volume Loss HELP!!!

[jkazam]

Hey guys,

I just switched to a new pedal board (GatorPro with Power G-Bus 8) and added a compressor (aphex punch factory). I also recently added my boomerang to the loop.

There is significant volume loss now (when all the effects are off) and i have to turn my amp head all the way up now.

Any Ideas how to solve this problem?

Loop is:

Bass -> Boomerang - Cry Baby - Boss Phaser - little big muff - aphex punch factory - boss bass synth - mini Q-tron - EBS octave -> Amp

I would rather the boomerang at the end but it adds way too much noise. The Rang has a separate power source.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

[meev992]

the "level" knobs on your pedals?

[jkazam]

none of the level knobs are low and adjusting them doesn't do anything.

i don't think this should matter anyway. the level of the pedals shouldn't have an effect on the volume if the pedals are off.

[bongomania]

Standard procedure: eliminate each variable one at a time until the problem is revealed.

[RickenBoogie]

Does you amp have an fx loop? I found that using the loop sometimes is the way to go.

[jkazam]

yeah it has a loop. i tried it briefly yesterday and seemed to be the same deal. i'll fiddle with it more again. thanks for the suggestion

[JanusZarate]

Placing them in an effects loop is not a good idea - most of these pedals will not work well in the effects loop of your amp, and you'll get distorted sounds instead.

Adjusting the Level knobs on your pedals DOES make a difference. If your clean sound is quieter, the answer is obvious - adjust them so everything's at unity gain.

Now, if you're comparing the sound and volume of your bass plugged directly into your amp, to the sound of the bass going through the effects chain into your amp (all effects turned off), then it's a different story. In that scenario, I spot a few culprits:

Bass -> Boomerang - Cry Baby - Boss Phaser - little big muff - aphex punch factory - boss bass synth - mini Q-tron - EBS octave -> Amp

Those pedals in bold aren't known to have great bypass systems. The Crybaby pedals in particular are known to cause some tone and volume suck. I don't know anything about the Boomerang's bypass quality, so I can't comment on it.

The easy fix for that is a true-bypass loop pedal; it can remove all effects in the loop of that pedal completely from the signal path, as if they were never there.

I should also mention that you should expect a minor difference when running 50 feet of cable + effects, as opposed to running some short 10 foot cable from your bass directly to your amp...

[four2oh]

Originally Posted by MysticBoo

I don't know anything about the Boomerang's bypass quality, so I can't comment on it.

The Boomerang has a gain knob on the back to bring it from instrument level to line level (so works great in either the fx chain, or in a fx loop from your amp). I have had no issues of volume drop or noise when using the boomerang in any setup.

[niftydog]

Originally Posted by jkazam

Any Ideas how to solve this problem?

Take it back to a configuration that is working by removing the new equipment, then add the new stuff back in one at a time.

You've taken the patented "Mybusters Scientific Approach" where they see that an experiment fails, so they change 15 variables at once and run it again, just so they have absolutely no idea which one of the 15 made all the difference.