# Boss GE-7 in FX Loop - Tone Suck Issue



## Mike_Blaszk (Sep 16, 2021)

I purchased a used Boss GE-7 recently and got to put it through its paces yesterday in the FX Loop on my Mesa Dual Rectifier Multi-Watt. To my surprise, the pedal very obviously sucks tone from the amp when the FX Loop is on without the pedal even being engaged. In comparison, I don't experience the same issue when I have all of my other pedals in place without the GE-7 hooked up. Any recommendations to help fix this issue? Is this normal for the pedal and should it be placed in front of the amp instead?


Note: My FX Loop was run as follows -

(Send) --> ISP Decimator II G-String (also run into the front of the amp after my Boss TU-3 as per the manual) --> Boss GE-7 --> TC Flashback Delay --> (Return)

*Usually I run my Southampton Pedals Utility Knife in place of where I put the GE-7 in my FX Loop without issue and the FX Level is set to 'Normal'


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

Buffered bypass on the GE-7 is the most likely culprit. Solution, graphic eq with true bypass?


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## Mike_Blaszk (Sep 16, 2021)

CathodeRay said:


> Buffered bypass on the GE-7 is the most likely culprit. Solution, graphic eq with true bypass?


If I have to sell/trade it, its not the end of the world. Just wanted to make sure that I'm not doing something wrong on my end to make this thing work.


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## Gibby339 (Oct 10, 2020)

How old is the GE-7 (was it made pre-1997)? And how are you powering it?


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

Same tone suck with the pedal bypassed or engaged but with all the sliders set flat (in the middle of their range)?

Is the fx loop a series loop or parallel with a mix control?


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## Mike_Blaszk (Sep 16, 2021)

Gibby339 said:


> How old is the GE-7 (was it made pre-1997)? And how are you powering it?


It was made in December 2007 and is powered by my Truetone CS12.


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## Mike_Blaszk (Sep 16, 2021)

gtrguy said:


> Same tone suck with the pedal bypassed or engaged but with all the sliders set flat (in the middle of their range)?
> 
> Is the fx loop a series loop or parallel with a mix control?


Same tone suck with pedal bypassed or engaged (with sliders flat) as long as the fx loop is turned on.

Its a series fx loop with a send level knob.


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## Gibby339 (Oct 10, 2020)

Mike_Blaszk said:


> It was made in December 2007 and is powered by my Truetone CS12.


If you run it on a 9V battery, does it sound any different? 

The older GE-7's required 12V, but yours is new enough that it should be 9V


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## Mike_Blaszk (Sep 16, 2021)

Gibby339 said:


> If you run it on a 9V battery, does it sound any different?
> 
> The older GE-7's required 12V, but yours is new enough that it should be 9V


I can give it a shot when I have the chance.


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

Something like this would likely solve it.









MXR® SIX BAND EQ


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## Mike_Blaszk (Sep 16, 2021)

CathodeRay said:


> Something like this would likely solve it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Ya I was looking at that lol


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

Mike_Blaszk said:


> Ya I was looking at that lol


+1 for the MXR


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## ricky_b (Feb 15, 2016)

I put an MXR 10 band (M-108) on my pedalboard a couple of years ago just to try out. It's still there today! It's a great EQ although a little wider than the Boss one.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

I use the Source Audio digital eq. It's nice to have presets. I think it's buffered but I don't have any issues with it.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

1) The power source for the GE-7 - battery or brick - won't matter.
2) The input and output buffers of the GE-7 are always "on", whether in bypass or not. This is true of ALL electronically-switched pedals, Boss or other.

The issue would seem to be the compatibility of the amp's loop and the properties of the pedal's buffers. That poor compatibility, introducing "loading" of some kind, could be at the Send OR the Return, or possibly both.

The other curiosity I just learned about the GE-7 is that it uses a pre-/de-emphasis strategy to control any noise resulting from all that circuitry. The always-on input buffer pre-emphasizes the treble, and the always-on output buffer de-emphasizes treble by the same amount. Unless something has gone amiss with the input buffer, such that you only get de-emphasis, I can't see this as contributing to the tone-suck.

The output buffer looks like it shouldn't post any issue, but the input buffer might. The amp's Send sees a 10k series resistance at the input of the GE-7. If you have another Boss pedal, or can borrow one, try it out in the same loop and see if the suck is still there. Since Boss pedals pretty much all use the same input buffer, then that might be the issue.


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## Mike_Blaszk (Sep 16, 2021)

mhammer said:


> 1) The power source for the GE-7 - battery or brick - won't matter.
> 2) The input and output buffers of the GE-7 are always "on", whether in bypass or not. This is true of ALL electronically-switched pedals, Boss or other.
> 
> The issue would seem to be the compatibility of the amp's loop and the properties of the pedal's buffers. That poor compatibility, introducing "loading" of some kind, could be at the Send OR the Return, or possibly both.
> ...


So that same day I had a Boss DD-2 in the loop without any issue. Ill give it another shot on the weekend though. I'm going to try it by itself in the FX loop in case its having a bad interaction with another pedal and play with the amps chanel/master volume(s) and FX send level. If that doesn't work, I'll give it a shot in my Mark V:35 FX loop.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Are you bypassing the loop on the amp? if you do, you will have no solo or master volume; when you bypass the loop with the switch on the back of the amp, the Channel, master controls become the final output controls and this will alter the drive and tone of the amp.


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## Mike_Blaszk (Sep 16, 2021)

Paul Running said:


> Are you bypassing the loop on the amp? if you do, you will have no solo or master volume; when you bypass the loop with the switch on the back of the amp, the Channel, master controls become the final output controls and this will alter the drive and tone of the amp.


I'll double check, but I had the channel and master output set pretty much identically and, even if there was a slight difference in overall volume, there was a huge drop in high-end frequency and a notable alteration of the decay of notes when comparing the FX Loop to the Bypassed FX Loop tone. Also, I used the same settings and did the same comparison but with my Southampton Utility Knife in place of the GE-7 and didn't experience the same issue.


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## KoskineN (Apr 19, 2007)

I had similar issues with Boss pedals in the FX loop of my Roadster. I tried 2-3 pedals, including the GE-7, and it was tone suck fest. I moved to a MXR EQ, and it was much better!


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## Mike_Blaszk (Sep 16, 2021)

So the verdict is....User error on my part lol. I figured out that, for whatever reason, the connecting cables that came with my power supply needed to have quite a bit of force exterted on them when connecting to this particular pedals power jack until a 'click' sound was audible for a complete connection to happen. I guess I had, originally, just inserted the cable until I felt normal resistance and the lack of a full connection was what was causing the issue. Regardless, the pedal sounds and works fine and any "tone suck" that's occurring is extremely slight and what one would expect when using an FX Loop, generally. 

Sorry for creating an entire thread based on my screw up. But thank you everyone for the help and guidance.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

A little redface, but an embarrassed shrug is certainly a much simpler solution than some of the alternatives we were contemplating.

FWIW, I've had more than my share of boneheadedness-related malfunctions. I doubt your stack is taller than mine.


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## AJ6stringsting (Mar 12, 2006)

Mike_Blaszk said:


> So the verdict is....User error on my part lol. I figured out that, for whatever reason, the connecting cables that came with my power supply needed to have quite a bit of force exterted on them when connecting to this particular pedals power jack until a 'click' sound was audible for a complete connection to happen. I guess I had, originally, just inserted the cable until I felt normal resistance and the lack of a full connection was what was causing the issue. Regardless, the pedal sounds and works fine and any "tone suck" that's occurring is extremely slight and what one would expect when using an FX Loop, generally.
> 
> Sorry for creating an entire thread based on my screw up. But thank you everyone for the help and guidance.


It's great that you posted this, someone who has your problem will find their solution, because of your thread.


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