Loop pedal lowering distortion volume... help!

[NicJimBass]

Recently added a 6-loop effects loop pedal to my board. Right off the bat, I loved the ease of use and most everything about it. I did notice, however, that when I activate my Joyo Ultimate Drive, by itself, I have to crank the output in order to get the same volume I would get when I had the pedal in line with everything else. If I activate any other loop, it seems the volume then comes back, and blasts me away. I haven't had time to sit and try the Joyo on other loops, so that could be part of the issue, but I can't figure out why it would be quiet by itself, then super loud with another loop engaged. No other pedal on my board is affected in this way, even when combined. Anyone have any ideas as to what is happening?

 

[sprag]

Make time to try the joyo on other loops and something else on that loop.

 

[NicJimBass]

Make time to try the joyo on other loops and something else on that loop.

I will at some point. Just difficult as my board usually gets buried in the band trailer.

 

[sprag]

If the problem follows the pedal try putting something in front of it in the same loop.

 

[Marial]

What looper are you using?

 

[NicJimBass]

What looper are you using?

It's a Loop Master six channel.

 

[Marial]

Thanks! I'm looking to upgrade from a Ditto.

 

[NicJimBass]

Thanks! I'm looking to upgrade from a Ditto.

Unfortunately, not the same kind of looper. You have one that records and replays. The one I have is six individual effects loops, essentially a true bypass, turning each effect on and off.

 

[Marial]

Unfortunately, not the same kind of looper. You have one that records and replays. The one I have is six individual effects loops, essentially a true bypass, turning each effect on and off.

Ahhhh, yes. Completely different. This more for managing effects loops, rather than layering actually tracks, so to speak.

 

[sunbeast]

Do you normally have some sort of buffered pedal in your chain with the Joyo? Like any Boss pedal for example? I wouldn't expect the difference to be as extreme as you are describing, but the difference between a long chain with a buffer or two and a long cord chain with no buffer can be very noticeable. Also- is your bass passive or active?

 

[NicJimBass]

Do you normally have some sort of buffered pedal in your chain with the Joyo? Like any Boss pedal for example? I wouldn't expect the difference to be as extreme as you are describing, but the difference between a long chain with a buffer or two and a long cord chain with no buffer can be very noticeable. Also- is your bass passive or active?

Here is my board:

Yes, I do believe at least one pedal in my chain (Source Audio Manta) is buffered. Most of my basses are active, and the main one I use is a Peavey Cirrus 5 (18v active). It's been a while since I had the Joyo off my board and plugged in by itself, but when I did, I only had to turn the volume up to about noon, whereas when it's in the loop, I have to turn it to about 4-5 o'clock to get decent volume from it. Theoretically, when I engage the Joyo loop, it should act as though I am plugging into that pedal alone, so having the drop in volume is confusing. May see if I can swap loops with another pedal tonight before the gig and see what happens.

 

[Ben B]

Could the problem be a patch cable in the loop? I had this issue once. My chorus was giving a really thin, weak sound. At first I thought is was the battery. I tracked it down to a cable which was passing the signal through, but just not doing very good job.

 

[NicJimBass]

Could the problem be a patch cable in the loop? I had this issue once. My chorus was giving a really thin, weak sound. At first I thought is was the battery. I tracked it down to a cable which was passing the signal through, but just not doing very good job.

Possibly, but I doubt that would account for the jump in volume when another pedal is turned on.

 

[NicJimBass]

Tried swapping the pedal to another loop. Same result. I guess it's the pedal, but can't figure out why it's doing this. Weird.

 

[sunbeast]

I'm assuming you switched cables too?

 

[Tom Bomb]

If you do hit a wall there, you could try one of these Invalid Link Removed gizmos, if you can fit it in somewhere. You'll certainly get a kick out of it. They also have an Invalid Link Removed that might do it for you too. I don't have either (yet) but they are brilliant switches also incorporating some other bells and whistles that might come in handy.

 

[sprag]

Try chucking a buffered pedal in the same loop as the joyo before it.

 

[NicJimBass]

I'm assuming you switched cables too?

Yes. Simply swapped the pedals between 2 loops... Kept the cables originally associated with the loop attached, so both pedals had cables they hadn't used before. Brought my board home to experiment more.