Volume or clean boost pedal as an FX loop volume attenuator?

Concretebadger · Post by **Concretebadger** » Fri May 24, 2013 6:03 pm

I read on a forum thread somewhere that you can tame a loud amp by using a stompbox with a volume control in an amp's FX loop. To test this theory I took my Boogie F50 - which I want to keep as a 'live' amp but will have to make do with as a 'studio' amp until I can save up for a Matamp or Orange - and plugged my Sansamp BDDI into the FX loop. I cranked the loop's FX mix control, slowly brought up the Sansamp's volume knob from minimum...and sure enough, it seems to work.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but any stompbox with an overall 'volume' or 'level' control can do this, assuming its circuitry is able to handle the "preamp-level" signal from the FX loop Send jack. The Sansamp has parametric eq, distortion and other tone-shaping knobs, so I think a passive volume or a clean boost pedal can do the job...as long as it can go from 0 to unity gain. I guess in this situation the simpler the better: ideally it would not colour or distort the sound at all; just reduce what's hitting the power amp stage.

Thoughts?

Brandon W · Post by **Brandon W** » Fri May 24, 2013 8:09 pm

I think that is smart as hell. I'm trying it when i get home!

spirograph · Post by **spirograph** » Fri May 24, 2013 8:25 pm

cant remember the products name, but i saw somat years ago for exactly that. it was a passive volume control (like a guitar volume) n it was in an fx pedal. the idea being that its like a booster in reverse. wish i could remember the name! im sure it somat mike could sort out

George · Post by **George** » Fri May 24, 2013 8:42 pm

yeah you could use one in theory

although it will solve the issue of being able to play at bedroom levels it will sound like it does when you aren't driving the power tubes properly, i.e. weak and wooly, because the effects loop occurs before the power stage. so really it won't make much more difference than the volume pot would, except to bring it down even lower

you need an attenuator if you want to get the sound of cooked tubes at lower levels cos this occurs after the power stage

George · Post by **George** » Fri May 24, 2013 8:49 pm

a good way to use one is if you love your amps breakup sounds but need cleans

have it set by default to high gain, then step on the volume drop to make it clean

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat May 25, 2013 9:08 am

Yo, I looked into this before. Essentially it isn't actually true attenuation in that the proper Attenuators don't do it in that way. What it does do though is make some kind of difference that I think can be useful. I'd say it does allow a little more 'something' at super low volume but it isn't quite the real deal (for reasons George ably pointed out)