Questions about send return loops

Atom ant

Well-known member
I have an attack decay, and spent all day trying different pedals in the send return loop. Holy Schnikes what a good day.

My question is this- is there a way to set a pedal or pedals in the send return loop, that you can still use in the regular signal chain?

When I turn off the attack decay, it goes to bypass, and the pedals in loop cant be used. Is there a way to get the pedal in the loop to also be a part of the singal chain outside the loop?

Am I being clear?

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
I feel like you should be able to accomplish this by using a two loop switcher connected backwards.

(Pedal connected to the IN/OUT, the two locations you want it in your chain connected to FX LOOP A and FX LOOP B)

Ideally you'd want a switcher that supports A or B switching, rather than allowing both loops to be active simultaneously.


You could build something that bypasses the Attack Decay and simultaneously moves your pedals out of the loop with a single stomp...
 
Last edited:
I feel like you should be able to accomplish this by using a two loop switcher connected backwards.

(Pedal connected to the IN/OUT, the two locations you want it in your chain connected to FX LOOP A and FX LOOP B)

Ideally you'd want a switcher that supports A or B switching, rather than allowing both loops to be active simultaneously.


You could build something that bypasses the Attack Decay and simultaneously moves your pedals out of the loop with a single stomp...
 
What might one build that accomplishes this? I think the attack decay just became a mainstay on my board. The low tide and the deflector in the loop of the attack decay? Oh man….so good. But I dont want to give them up just for that.
 
I think I see what you’re saying….nope, I don’t. I need to draw it out to wrap my head around it.
 
I think I see what you’re saying….nope, I don’t. I need to draw it out to wrap my head around it.
Yeah. Same.
But also, need more info.
Do you want the loop pedal in the same position as the attack decay?
Also. Is this a diy AD, or a vintage unit you are willing to sacrifice to your whims? Or a unit you want to stay unmodified?
 
Yeah. Same.
But also, need more info.
Do you want the loop pedal in the same position as the attack decay?
Also. Is this a diy AD, or a vintage unit you are willing to sacrifice to your whims? Or a unit you want to stay unmodified?
Its an ehx AD, not really willing to sacrifice.
To clairify-
I put a deflector in the send return loop of the attack decay.
I’d like to be able to use the deflector outside of the loop, while keeping its position on my board, and not having to fidget with re routing patch cables.

The issue is, when I turn off the AD, the deflector is no longer useable, because its outside the signal chain.

I guess the easiest thing to do would be have two deflectors, but i’d like to have a few pedals in the loop, and that adds up quickly, and takes twice the space.
 
Man this is a really interesting brain workout, trying to figure out how I would do it. Hopefully Robert can tell us the answer because it sounds like he has it figured out.

loop_diagram.png
If I understood correctly, this ugly Paint diagram is basically what you want to switch between? The Deflector being green and AD being black. But I can't figure out how to do it easily with a two loop switcher, or with a custom thing (without doing some relay trickery).

The difficult part is you want to switch between GI -> ADI and ADS -> DI, and GI -> DI (where GI is Guitar Input, then Attack Decay Input and so on), which is fine with a loop pedal - GI to input, DI to output, and put the loop to ADI and ADS so bypassing the loop switches Attack Decay in and out.

But you need two such pedals, basically, one for the input side and one for the output side, if you were to do it like that. I'm not sure a two loop switcher is enough by itself, you need 8 inputs and outputs if you were to do it like that, by my count. You could maybe do a custom pedal which is two effects loops that are controlled by one footswitch, would a 4PDT be enough for that, or would you need relay trickery?
 
Look at the DEFX Tatiana. It has an overall bypass but the loop is activated by a momentary switch so so long as you have the pedal on, but don’t press the momentary, the pedal in the loop remains “in the chain.
 
So, I read the manual.


IMG_2520.jpeg


Return Bypass: optionally, you may enable return bypass. In this case, while in Bypass, the signal present at the RETURN jack is sent to the OUTPUT jack. This form of bypass is digital. When Return Bypass is active, while in Bypass, the Harmonix effect is not output on the SEND jack even if Harmonix is active.
RETURN BYPASS MODE
  1. Press and hold POLY and PRESET 3.
  2. Press and release the BYPASS footswitch. Release all buttons.
  3. The Status LED blinks rapidly to indicate Return Bypass is enabled.
  4. Perform steps 1 and 2 to disable Return Bypass, Status blinks slowly.
 
Look at the DEFX Tatiana. It has an overall bypass but the loop is activated by a momentary switch so so long as you have the pedal on, but don’t press the momentary, the pedal in the loop remains “in the chain.
This thing looks cool, even if it doesn't do what I’m looking for!
 
If nothing else you could maybe look at the schematic of the Tatiana and see how it separates the loop OR figure out how to break the feedback part of the loop to get the functionality you are looking for
 
Back
Top