I've never used my FX loop...am I missing out?

dougjonez

I tends to simply think of it as a way of abstracting the amps preamp section into another virtual "outboard" unit.  In other words, it simply allows you to put the preamp in the chain wherever you want it (things before the preamp are plugged into the instrument, things after the preamp are in the loop) - so you can think of your preamp as a "dirt pedal" in this case

bear in mind, it does NOT change the order of the contribution of the power amp and speaker those are still going to appear last (there are options like micing and applying effects such as delay to the mic signal and running that to console)

There are some fx loops that allow for parallel signal routing (the loop's effects are parallel to the straight amp signal for a wet/dry type system) though this tends to be more common in bass amplification

Personally (and this will vary WIDELY, so I'm not saying it's a better system), I tend to try to get my tone as early in the signal chain as possible and then special effects are applied to that.