software

I have a pedalboard that I built (just plywood with pedals held on with elastics but IT WORKS) and all the pedals are quot;true bypassquot;.
The pedals are : Vox Wah (I modded it for true bypass), Fulltone Fulldrive 2, Line 6 Modulation Modeler, Line 6 Delay Modeler. Not a lot of gear actually.
They are connected with Evidence Audio solid core high resolution cable.
Why then do I still lose tone when I go through these effects? Plugging straight in sounds much better. Clearer but not just brighter.
I like the tone options I can get with these pedals however. I would love some advice from any pedal veterans out there.
Can the Line 6 stuff go into an effects loop? Thanks so much! - Rob

It could be one of many problems. Three pop into my mind though. My best guess is that number 2 is you, but that's just a guess.

1) Your cable, while good, I have never used. When running long lengths, even the best cable has some line loss. The best I've used is George L's, but yours may be 110% ace, I don't know. Try an A-B test with some cables if you have any doubts. Buffered bypass stuff may cause a little loss themselves, but they provide a buffer amp to prevent large losses over long cable lengths. So sometimes they are the lesser of two evils . . . depends on cables and length though.

2) The quot;true bypassquot;. Many things can be problems here. Often the way the pedals are advertised implies true bypass, but not always true. Check by turning all pedals quot;offquot; and removing power from each of them. If they are TRUE bypass, you still have sound when they are powerless, but off. Also, the wires and connectors in the bypass circuit of each pedal may not be up to the spec of your audio cable, and using a whole bunch of these effects is causing your problems.

3) Your power. Power can often effect your rig a great deal. If you use batteries, different batteries will have more quot;cleanquot; power. Duracell are good. Those cheap Danelectro batteries that music stores sometimes have are not. If you're using adapters, those can be really bad. The BOSS power-source for example, is wretched. Adds noise, and sucks clarity from any pedal. The Voodoo Labs or Godlyke power-all are both pretty good. Look into this as well.

Also, you can use Line 6 modellers in the FX loop. Test them in the loop and in front of the amp to see what is best. I don't know if any of this way new to you, or helpful, but I'm hoping it was of some use.

True bypass doesn't prevent the capacitance of the cables (between pedals and pedalboard to amp) and the jacks from sucking tone.

With most amps, the MM4 and DL4 would sound better in the loop.

I believe the Line 6's have a true bypass option and buffered bypass. With buffered, the delays can trail off, after you click it off. In true bypass, it cuts right off.
Honestly, those Line 6's, especially the delay, are tonesuckers, and honestly I don't even know which mode mine are in now. I have a pedalboard.com dual loop box, which sends my signal through both Line 6's and the other button sends a one way signal to my tuner, for silent tuning. Loopboxes are great, because you can setup the FX or combinations before a song, then use one button on the loopbox to bring them in and out. I like it much better, when the L6's are on the back of my board, and I can just use one button on the front of the board to bring them in.....eliminates the tap dance.

Thanks all for the help. It was great info and Singlecut - I did A/B the cable with some Canare cable and the difference was huge in terms of brightness. That may not necessarily be good I guess. I was told a long time ago that the Modelers wouldn't work in a loop but I never got around to trying them (lazy). I am going to l;ook into the power adaptors too because they may be the problem (part of the problem at least_. Thanks again!- Rob