Mk V:25 FX loop tone suck

Hi. I'm running several FX pedals in the loop of my Mk V:25 (E-H Memory Boy and Line 6 DL4 delays, TC Hall of Fame reverb, Boss CE 5 chorus). I think I am getting tone suck which might be caused by clipping in the pedals from the line level send of the amp's FX loop.

Is there a solution to this problem, other than ditch the pedals for rack mount gear? I've thought about some kind of send/return box that I could put between the amp and the pedals that converts the series loop into a parallel loop, with a blend control. If it had the ability to convert the amp's line level signal into an instrument level signal, then back again--that would be perfect.

It sounds like the sort of think that Radial might make, but I haven't found it.

Thanks for any suggestions and help from those of you who might have dealt with the same issue.

Hi Robus. Can tell you that Ive had and Boss ME-5, a Nova multi fx, and a flashback delay pedal running through that loop with zero problems at all. (seperately mainly but different combinations of boss/nova and the flashback) So I'd start to suspect the Line 6 or the EH maybe...or cables maybe.

Robus said:

Hi. I'm running several FX pedals in the loop of my Mk V:25 (E-H Memory Boy and Line 6 DL4 delays, TC Hall of Fame reverb, Boss CE 5 chorus). I think I am getting tone suck which might be caused by clipping in the pedals from the line level send of the amp's FX loop.

Is there a solution to this problem, other than ditch the pedals for rack mount gear? I've thought about some kind of send/return box that I could put between the amp and the pedals that converts the series loop into a parallel loop, with a blend control. If it had the ability to convert the amp's line level signal into an instrument level signal, then back again--that would be perfect.

It sounds like the sort of think that Radial might make, but I haven't found it.

Thanks for any suggestions and help from those of you who might have dealt with the same issue.

Click to expand...

Your problem is NOT the Mark V.
The series loop on it is very high quality.
If you have a tone suck issue its one of your pedals or cables.
Line 6 and Boss pedals are infamous for tone suck :mrgreen:

I would have assumed the mini versions of the V would have a better FX loop than the big boy V. (meaning one that is instrument level compliant vs line level). The 90W version I cannot use the Line 6 DL4 or the TC Flashback in the loop as I would get considerable compression due to overdriven input buffer stages caused by a line level FX loop on the V. Not sure what the smaller wattage variants of the V are using for the FX loop signal attenuation format.

One way to find out if there are issues, remove one of you effects to isolate which one is causing the issue. If they are on hard bypass it may be a cable issue. If all of your pedals in the loop are getting compressed when turned on, it may be the V:25 is like its big brother and it is using line level not instrument level. I do not have the Mark V variants so I cannot confirm this. JP-2C, TC-50, RA100, and the Roadster all work great with the pedals I cannot use in the Mark V:90W loop. (I only have two that do not work with the V: TC flashback, Line 6 DL4). Not too long ago I found the Ebtech LLS2 on sweetwater but have not bothered to get one as I am using Strymon products now and it is not needed. I have copied a link for your reference it that helps. Anyone have experience with the LLS2, chime in and speak your mind on it.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LLS2

Have you tried reducing the send level from the amp FX send level knob? Sorry if it was tried or mentioned but I didn't see where it was mentioned.

I would second that on lowering the SEND LEVEL setting. I discovered a issue with the wet signal of the Flashback X4... it was way less on the Mark V compared with Rectoverb and TC-50. Turning the SEND LEVEL down to maybe 11 or 11:30 (pointing the dial to about where the little rounded CCW arrow starts) gives a more balanced wet to dry level. I'm not sure why it affects the relative volume of wet to dry (maybe some kind of saturation of the X4's input is going on because of the "line level" signal on the Mark V).

Mace