FX loop and Master Volume, are they worth it?

[Nick]

I have a JTM45 that I built last October. I love it and have become the envy of all my friends since I built it myself. The only problem that I have encountered is that it is not friendly with some effects I use. I'm sure I read this somewhere on here that already stated a plexi usually is not very effect friendly. Anyway, the two effects I'm using are a EH Holy Grail and EH Deluxe Memory Man. Neither of these gave me any trouble before with other amps. The holy grail gives a lot of noise when engaged and the memory man gives a hiss in time with the repeats and delay. My question, is it worth doing the FX loop? Will it solve my problem?

Also, is worth doing a master volume or could I just get an attenuator?

Thanks.

[ThunderOne]

I don't have your boxes nor have I ever tried them out but I remember reading somewhere that their construction makes them static prone. This characteristic might be exagerated to the point of being intolerable with the higher gain Metro amp. Have you tried other similar effects of different makes to see if the problem remains? I dislike FX Loops because they annoy me. And here is my opinion concerning the master volume question: I think you will miss some part of the magic if you don't push your output tubes, so get a good attenuator and find out what the fuss is all about!

[Nick]

Thanks for your input. I ordered a loop kit. If it solves my problem great, if not I can remove it and get a new back face to cover the holes. I did have a chorus that was really noisy in front of the JTM45. I've been reading and the general thought is modulation and time delay effects go in a loop. I've read arguments for both sides on loops and have decided that I need to try it out and see if it's for me.

[thousandshirts]

You're right, that's the best bet. Try it yourself. If it works out poorly, I'd bet you could re-sell that SDM effects card here on the forum in short order.

As to a master volume, definitely order the PPIMV kit. It costs $8 or so, and will definitely let you know what you need to be looking at in terms of volume management. The opinion I hear quite a bit from the PPIMV users here is that using it to knock off 3db or so has a very minimal loss in terms of sound quality. The more you attenuate, the more quality suffers. That being said I've heard some clips from users here that were said to be recorded at room-conversation levels (using the PPIMV) and they sounded simply wonderful. So again, as with the loop, you need to consider the opinions of those here, and then try to make the decision on your own. The attenuators that people seem to like (that is, the ones that almost all users claim to sound good down to a low level) are typically $500 and up. So for $8 I think it's pretty easy to say, just give it a shot.

[OnTheFritz]

Totally agree with thousand about the PPIV-MV.
I've been nothing short of happy with the results of this simple MV mod.
It definitely sounds better when your moving some air and have some volume going on, but guys using attenuators say the same thing.
Difference is, you're not slamming the shit out of your output tubes regardless of the setting like you do with an attenuator.

[Big Mike]

I absolutely am pleased as punch with the lar/mar PPIMV kit in my JTM45 build.

Sounds great, turn it to 10 and it's out of the circuit I believe, but I usually run mine around 1/2 way or so at band practices and such.