bassballs and volume drop...

[gfen]

So, a bunch of stuff came in the mail this week, and I very happily screwed together a pedal board from scraps, put all my new and old toys onto it and proceded to make large amounts of noise.

But, the thing that's driving me crazy.. I swear my Bassballs never dropped volume like it does.

I first had it running from bass->balls->OD, so I wouldn't have noticed a volume drop anyways. Each powered by it's own wallwart.
I then had it going through an LS-2, so split, the OD in one chain and the Bassballs in the other. Each powered by it's own wallwart.

Now, I have it more or less doing the same thing, but I've added a fuzz to the OD side and power the whole thing from a Voodoo ISO-5. I swear, it's quieter than before. Maybe it's not. I tried both a regular 100mA and the 400mA out, same results. I've tried it without the other bits, just bass->balls->amp, and it's the same drop.

So, am I crazy/unobservant or is it possible I broke something by moving things around?

 

[Planespotter]

Sometimes non true bypass pedals can interact with other non tb pedals in your chain. I'd try changing things around and see if that helps. Fwiw my vintage Bassballs has a huge volume boost when I turn it on.

 

[jloftin1]

It may be a phase issue. Try it in line and not in the ls-2.

 

[gfen]

It may be a phase issue. Try it in line and not in the ls-2.

I don't understand the black arts you spoke of, but your answer is correct. Figured that out on my own when I just moved it to the front, so it's now bass->ls2->(stuff)->amp, and it magically sounds as good as it did before.

I was happy to let this thread die, with my ignorant question, til you came along and so helpfully gave me the real answer.

FWIW, I do understand how speaker phase works, but I'm not so sure I grasp what "phase" is in this context. If I wanted it to have it in a loop in the LS2, would it be as simple as flipping tip/ring in a patch cord? I mean, that hardly seems right.

 

[jloftin1]

I don't understand the black arts you spoke of, but your answer is correct. Figured that out on my own when I just moved it to the front, so it's now bass->ls2->(stuff)->amp, and it magically sounds as good as it did before.

I was happy to let this thread die, with my ignorant question, til you came along and so helpfully gave me the real answer.

FWIW, I do understand how speaker phase works, but I'm not so sure I grasp what "phase" is in this context. If I wanted it to have it in a loop in the LS2, would it be as simple as flipping tip/ring in a patch cord? I mean, that hardly seems right.

Flipping tip and ring will just make you have no sound coming out as you will basically send all signal to ground.
My understanding is that it is very similar to phase issues with speakers. I have the same issues with my phaser when trying to blend it.
Some circuits by design flip the phase. It is not an issue when run in line but when blending can cause havoc. I get around this by using my comp or boost (which both flip phase) in the loop. I now just run it in line.
Some people use more sophisticated blenders that have phase switches to correct this.
If you still want to blend you need to find another pedal that Flips phase and run them together. My dyna comp does the job for me and makes my phaser sound much better.

Here is a pretty thorough list
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/list-the-pedals-that-invert-phase.796444/