Looper problem

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praisegeetarman

Member
I have 2 questions for the community.

1. Anyone notice a tone loss when putting a looper block in the preset and it's engaged? Noticeable difference in tone to me.

2. This one is related to the previous problem. Since I experience a tone loss I would like to leave the looper block bypassed when not used. Problem is the bypass button in the looper mode on the MFC will not reengage it. I can easily do it from the front panel, but really need it on the floor controller. It also will not work when setting a IA button to looper in standard mode.

Ideas???

thanks in advance,

Keith
 
Tone loss in the recorded stuff or in the normal guitar signal?

I haven't experienced this and it makes no sense why there would be tone loss since it is digitally inserted...

Can you elaborate a bit?
 
Mix is how loud the loop is relative to the real time guitar. Level affects both when the block is engaged. I generally set mp the level of most effect type blocks, including the looper, to 2dB. I just match the volume with any block engaged and bypassed, making sure my final volume is the same either way.
 
When you're playing, you're not just hearing your amp. You're also hearing the acoustic sound straight from your strings. That's a bright and plinky sound. The tone loss you're hearing when the looper is playing is the loss of that acoustic sound. If you turn up to gig level, I'll bet that "tone loss" disappears.
 
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It's probably either a volume discrepancy or the phenomenon that Rex mentions above. Try adjusting the output level.

The Looper literally just copies samples to memory and then plays them back. It'd be like saying there's tone loss when you copy a wav file from one computer to another.
 
Chris@KatsuKuriMedia said:
Tone loss in the recorded stuff or in the normal guitar signal?

I haven't experienced this and it makes no sense why there would be tone loss since it is digitally inserted...

Can you elaborate a bit?
Click to expand...

Sure. It's tone loss even when it's not being used. It is altering the tone even when it's not in looper mode or playing back. All the time unless it is bypassed.

Also, no one has responded to the problem I'm having with the bypass not working from the floorboard. Still not working. Is anyone else having this problem?

thanks,

Keith
 
praisegeetarman said:
Also, no one has responded to the problem I'm having with the bypass not working from the floorboard. Still not working. Is anyone else having this problem?
Click to expand...
Your problems may be related. If you can't toggle bypass on the looper with your pedal board, then your pedal board isn't doing what you want it to do. Likewise, if engaging the looper affects your tone, then your rig is doing more than just engaging the looper.

  1. Describe the tone loss you're hearing.
  2. Post the patch.
 
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Agreed, please describe "tone loss" - mids gone? Volume lower only? Bass and treble lower?

For your bypass problem, you mentioned "standard mode" - what does that mean?
 
Chris@KatsuKuriMedia said:
Agreed, please describe "tone loss" - mids gone? Volume lower only? Bass and treble lower?

For your bypass problem, you mentioned "standard mode" - what does that mean?
Click to expand...

Both problems occur in any patch I put the looper in. It is placed at the end of the signal chain.

The tone loss could be mostly volume. I know that this can be adjusted, but why should it have to be? The looper should be set up transparent. It's just odd to me that one would have to worry about the looper block messing with the tone of a patch that it is placed in.

When I talk about "standard mode", I am referring to when the MFC is not in looper mode. In looper mode there is an assigned IA button for bypass/engage. It will not engage the looper when it is saved in bypass. It doesn't even change the color of the indicator light on the MFC. The only way I can get the looper block engaged is from the front panel. I have even tried to assign a IA button to the looper block when in standard mode (not looper mode) and this will not bypass/engage the looper block either. I have literally put hours into trying to find what is wrong. Since no one else has reported this problem I assume I am the only one.

Any ideas about what I should try next?

thanks,

Keith
 
Ok I understand more.

I feel that the looper block isn't changing any tone, just volume. I usually change the level setting for chorus, delay, reverb and other similar blocks, including the looper, to +2 to +3 dB. I don't know why I have to do that, but I know when i do, the level with the block engaged is the same level as the block bypassed. It's something about effects being in series vs parallel...

Try bumping up the level in the looper block a bit and see if that solves your tone problem.

As for the block not bypassing from the MFC, on the Axe press the I/O button then page right over to CTRL. What is the number value listed for Looper bypass?
 
The first order of business is to get the level issue sorted out. Bump up the Level parameter until your levels are the same as when the looper is bypassed (I'm guessing 3 dB will do it). See if the tone loss goes away.

The looper defaults to 0 dB level and 50% mix, which would cause a reduction in volume for both the playback and straight-through signals. The idea is that both signals combined would then be at the same level as the original.
 
Chris@KatsuKuriMedia said:
Ok I understand more.

I feel that the looper block isn't changing any tone, just volume. I usually change the level setting for chorus, delay, reverb and other similar blocks, including the looper, to +2 to +3 dB. I don't know why I have to do that, but I know when i do, the level with the block engaged is the same level as the block bypassed. It's something about effects being in series vs parallel...

Try bumping up the level in the looper block a bit and see if that solves your tone problem.

As for the block not bypassing from the MFC, on the Axe press the I/O button then page right over to CTRL. What is the number value listed for Looper bypass?
Click to expand...


Here it is.

LOOPER BYPASS PEDAL

No number. It says PEDAL
 
That's the problem. It's set to respond to the Pedal jack on the Axe.

Set it to 33, the default.
 
Set the looper bypass to 33. Still did not work. Decided to try to delete the looper blocks and re-install them in the patchs and save. That worked. Not sure why it worked this time, but it did. Thanks for all your help.

Keith
 
Something must have been set weird for the modifier of the bypass parameter then. Glad it works now.
 
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