Yet another effects chain / fx loop question I'm afraid

[G.D.]

So I currently run my bass direct into a V Amp Pro rack which acts as my pre amp and part of my basic tone, the signal then goes into an Alessis Quadraverb via a send and return fx loop, which gives me the rest of my tone and my basic fx like chorus / reverb /delay etc. Then the signal goes from the V Amp to a power amp and my cabs.

I now want to add a Bass Wah, an overdrive and a Source Audio Envelope Filter to this. Should I

1. Run the bass into these and the output from them into the V Amp and leave the rest of the chain alone

2. Take the fx send and run it into the floor pedals then the quadraverb then the amp

3. Take the fx send and run it into the quadraverb then the floor pedals then the amp

4. Run the floor pedals from an fx loop out of the quadraverb - thereby running two fx loops

5. Something completely different because I clearly don't know what I'm talking about !

Any advice gratefully received (especially point 5)

cheers

GD

[mike257]

I would be inclined to stick them in front of your rack gear, so Bass -> Pedals -> V-Amp

I would always use those pedals in front of my amp rather than in any effects loop, and your V-Amp is simulating the front end of an amp for you.

Also, you generally want tone-shaping effects like that to be in front of time-based effect like reverb and delay - you want the echoes/room sound to be applied to your distortion, not for your echoes and reverb tails to be distorted.

As an aside - on guitar the wah generally sounds better before all your drive effects, but with bass I've found the reverse is true with bass. Always used my 105Q after any distortion pedals. Of course, personal taste overrides any 'rules' with effects placement, so do what sounds best to you!

[cheddatom]

Yeh I would say option 1. You will want to play with the order of your wah/filter/dirt until you find what works, but having these at the start of your chain is probably the best option.