FX loops: Your opinions please

Charlie4

So I'm thinking of having an amp built for me, in the vein of a Little Walter. Those amps are oh so tasty but a lot of coin.
This, to me is tonal heaven:

=

Enough drooling, back to the effects loop. ?

This is what I'm looking at regarding the loop.

• FX send Volume control?
• FX send pre or post Volume?
• FX return with volume control?

Anything else I forgot about?
Opinions please. 8)

Gearhead

?
Rather than giving answers, lemme ask a question: what do you want to put into this effects loop?

I only have a rack effects machine in the loop, which has an input volume as well as an output volume. In that case, you don't need either of those three knobbies you ask about. If you don't need them, don't put them since they will take extra amplification stages which cost money.

Charlie4

I'm by no means Jimi Hendrix so I won't be using a 1000 different effects. I'll probably use an OD/boost/fuzz pedal, delay/reverb, volume pedal and maybe some other modulation effects here and there.
That's pretty much what I could think of. Basically the way the lad in the aforementioned video used it.

That tone is so pure, I'd try and add as little salt as possible, maybe for a different taste? ?

Gearhead

Cool, but what I was asking about is: which pedals exactly, and: do they have volume knobbies? If you must still buy then I'd recommend leaving out the fancy stuff on the amp and selecting only pedals that have a volume adjust of some sort.

Charlie4

Oops, my bad.
At the moment I'm only using a Fulltone OCD, maybe an MXR smart gate and occasionally I'll throw in a Vox Tonelab. I'm really NOT too clued up on effects. :-\

AlanRatcliffe

You sure a 50W amp will be right for you? They're not really suited for most venues, let alone home practice.

If you're using it as a clean pedal platform, you would use most effects up front, especially drives, boosts, dynamics and most modulation. Even delays and reverbs can work if you're not driving the amp hard.

If you're planning of driving the amp, time-based effects will go in the loop. I really don't like the idea of instrument level loops - as GH says, they add in too much circuitry, which is counter productive with most boutique-type amps, where simplicity is often the key to good tone. Leave it line level and use line level effects.

Volume control is part of the preamp, if it only comes after the pre (regardless of whether it's pre or post loop), then it's a master volume, which is a different animal.

Charlie4

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: You sure a 50W amp will be right for you? They're not really suited for most venues, let alone home practice.

If you're using it as a clean pedal platform, you would use most effects up front, especially drives, boosts, dynamics and most modulation. Even delays and reverbs can work if you're not driving the amp hard.

If you're planning of driving the amp, time-based effects will go in the loop. I really don't like the idea of instrument level loops - as GH says, they add in too much circuitry, which is counter productive with most boutique-type amps, where simplicity is often the key to good tone. Leave it line level and use line level effects.

Volume control is part of the preamp, if it only comes after the pre (regardless of whether it's pre or post loop), then it's a master volume, which is a different animal.

Thanks Alan, I'll definitely keep that in mind. Regarding the wattage, it'll be in the 20-30W range. Like you mentioned, more than that is probably overkill. For me the balance lies in enough clean headroom but not so much that it's impractical when overdriven.