fx loop sucking tone

[cris9288]

i have a problem and i'm wondering if anyone else here has encountered a similar one. I have a traynor ycv50 blue and i'm running an MXR carbon copy in the effects loop.

my fx chain looks like this:

guitar > crybaby> fuzz> dano vibe > amp

my problem is that when i activate my carbon copy the volume cuts very sharply. Not only that, but the tone doesn't sound all that great. It only used to do this when i had my fuzz pedal activated, but now it does it even if i'm just playing clean. I have all the pedals except the crybaby daisy chained with one power supply. I've tried using each pedal with it's own battery, running my carbon copy in the loop w/o anything in front the amp, different cables, etc. the result is the same.

and when i put my delay in front of the amp, it worked fine. anyone have any suggestions?

[Enzo]

OK, just so I understand. Everything else works OK in your loop, only the MXR works poorly, right? SO it is a matter if compatibility between the MXR and the amp loop.

My first thought is a level issue. Your guitar is a relatively weak signal, while the FX loop is usually line level. If the output of the MXR is intended to be at guitar level - as used in front of the amp - it will be real weak when connected to something expecting line levels.

[cris9288]

well actually, i put my cool cat vibe in my fx chain and it really sounded bad as well. The weird thing is that this wasn't a problem before. everything sounded fine in the fx loop and in the last couple of weeks it kinda started going bad and getting worse.

[Don Moose]

If the loop jacks rely on their panel nuts for their ground contacts, is the return jack loose?

Are you absolutely, positively positive it's not the patch cables? (try each one as an 'empty' loop - no FX, just cable)

Hope this helps!

[cris9288]

yeah, i'm pretty positive it's not the cables. i've tried a few of them. i'll try tightening up the nuts if that's the case.

i've actually read through some of the forums and it seems that the effects loop on the traynors suck up a lot of signal. could just be the amp.

the only thing is that it wasn't doing it before, that's what's weird.