New to Pedals. Assist with connection to amp

[LostInSauce]

Hi All,
I've been on this forum for a while now andd was hoping some of you might be able to answer a question for me regarding running effect pedals to my amp.

I've never been big on pedals. In the past I've owned two (at the most) at the same time (normally a chorus and EQ). I was in my local guitar store and finally tried an MXR M80 and MXR envelope filter. I was floored by the M80; not just with the effect and the distortion channel; but more about what happened to my tone and the whole "Why haven't I tried one of these sooner" thoughts.

Anyway, I have a Carvin BX500 that has a tube preamp and an effects loop. Do I run the M80 through the front or would I run it through the effects loop?

Thanks all.

[mtshaw315]

I run mine in front of my Carvin rig.

[Jared Lash]

The effects loops on most bass amps are for things run at line level (primarily for rack gear) and pedals are designed to be run at instrument level. So plug your pedals into the amp input rather than the effects loop.

[RickenBoogie]

+1 bass into pedals into amps main input. Win.

[LostInSauce]

Three folks advise the same thing... thanks so much yall.

[LostInSauce]

I'm looking at this again. Should my signal flow be laid out as such:
Bass>Tuner>Distortion (Digitech Bass Driver)>EH MicroPOG (Octaves)>MXR M80 DI (also with distortion channel)>MXR Envelope Filter>Bass Amp Front Input.

Again, I'm totally new at this; so thank you in advance.

[cheapbasslovin]

In the end, the sounds you want will determine the order. Two things stand out to me:

The DI wont include your envelope filter if you want to use it for FOH.

Distortions usually had a more pronounced effect for me after pitch effects (POG). Distortion before the pitch effect wasn't worthless, I just found it less useful than after.

It looks good either way, especially if you have a specific sound that works best dirt>octave.

[mtshaw315]

I run my POG and filter first, then distortion, then DI, and tuner last.

[Liv3rman]

Yep tuner last for me too. The 'tuner must go first' myth is BS.

[Quall of DUTY4]

You should get a zoom B3.I use it mainly for delay, phaser, chorus, and tuner. I also use the SVT setting on "ultra lo" to warm up my solid state amp As for the effects loop, I wish amps never had them. They over complicate things, and they don't make a difference anyway.

[AndyLES]

Why should he spend more money rather than get the best out of what he already has?

And effects loops are easy to use. RTM.

My advice on signal path:

Bass > Tuner (gives you the best pitch tracking/accuracy, and allows you to mute the sound going both to the FOH and the amp) > Pog (octave fx like a clean, uneffected signal for the most part for more accurate pitch tracking) > filter > distortion (filter and distortion should be experiemented with...depending on the properties of each one, you may find running them dist. > filter works better. THIS is where I'm non-absolutist) > DI (send everything both to FOH and amp).

[Downunderwonder]

Originally Posted by LostInSauce

I'm looking at this again. Should my signal flow be laid out as such:
Bass>Tuner>Distortion (Digitech Bass Driver)>EH MicroPOG (Octaves)>MXR M80 DI (also with distortion channel)>MXR Envelope Filter>Bass Amp Front Input.

Again, I'm totally new at this; so thank you in advance.

Bass tuner octave distortion1 envelope, m80/DI, amp.

Gives your octave a clean signal to track, lets you DI all effects, option to envelope a distortion or distort envelope.

You might like to look into f-deck HPF to avoid octave down sub range hitting your speakers.