The Steel Guitar Forum

I have a Fender Steel King and a Peavey TubeFex and I would like to use the FX loop on the FSK.
On the rear side of the FSK there are FX Send and FX Return.
Same possibilities on my TF, but I don´t know how to connect. The TF manual doesn´t tell me how to get along. If I do it wrong I might cause some damage on either part.
So if any one out there knows the right way to do it, please let me know.
Regards

You just plug your guitar into the main input and run a cable from FX send to the input of your effects pedal(s) and then from the output of your effects to the FX return socket on the amp.

Don't forget that the FX send will be at line level, not instrument level (generally stomp boxes are designed to work with an instrument level signal and rack mounted affacts at line level although most work fine with either and/or have a input level adjustment to allow both).

The biggest difference is that the FX send is after the tone control settings on the amp and some effects will sound different if given a "tone shaped" signal or if there is some compression in the preamp stage of your amp.

For these reasons, many people have only some of their effects through the FX loop (reverb, delay, etc) and others, wah-wah, fuzz etc straight after the guitar.

The good news though is that, even though the sound may change, you won't do any damage by plugging any effect in via the FX loop so go ahead and experiment.

The TubeFex, having a 12AX7 tube preamp was designed to be connected directly to a guitar and then to a power amp.

It will work in the effects loop as long as you keep the output from the TubeFex at a very low level so you don't overload the effects loop input and distort. But you don't get the full effect of the tube preamp this way.

An option, if the amp has a power amp in is to run the TubeFex between your volume pedal output and the power amp in. Then you use the TubeFex as it was originally designed.

Jack is correct about the power amp in. However, you can also go from the guitar to Tubefex then output of Tubefex directly to the "return" jack.

If you are going to use the send and return with the Tubefex, see if you can shut the preamp on the Tubefex off and just use the effects.

Wouldn't the FX return be the power amp in (bypassing the amp's preamp stage?

If so, just plug the guitar into the TubeFex and the TubeFex into the FX return.