PS-100 effects loop series or parallel

Stage & Studio Power Station PS-100
1

Hi,
I pre-ordered a Tone King Imperial mkII Preamp Pedal that I’l like to use as an additional preamp for my ‘59 Bassman reissue. According to their directions, it can be fed into a an effects loop and will they bypass the Bassman preamp when engaged.
Can I use the PS-100 effects loop to do this? The loop must be in series, not parallel to work. Which does the PS-100 have?

2

It is a series effects loop. You will need to either use the Fryette Cyclops to allow the switching between the preamp or the Bassman. Otherwise you will have to unplug the “amp in” on the ps100 and use the “line in” input for the preamp. Hope I am making sense.

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3

This is great! Thank you! If I buy the Cyclops, where would it go? Would it go before the Imperial in the effects loop?

4

It’s a whole process. I currently don’t have a use for one. I would only use a separate preamp if my main amp is down and I’m too lazy to retube it. So unplugging it from the amp in on the ps100 to allow preamp to take over is no big deal for me. In your case I recommend the cyclops. Also, get the foot switch for it so you won’t have to hit the center switch on cyclops to cycle between preamp and attenuated amp. There are videos to explain how to hookup as well as demos. Best of luck down your rabbit hole. We all have our own. Sometimes too many. :wink:

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5

Thanks. I ordered a Cyclops and a foot switch.

6

Hi,

I finally received my Tone King Imperial Preamp from Guitar Center after about a 4 month wait.

I connected it to my Fryette Cyclops and Fryette Power Station 100 in the following way:

  1. Preamp In from the Cyclops goes to the Input of the Imperial

  2. Preamp Out from the Cyclops goes to “To Amp Return“ of the Imperial.
    This seems to be not the correct way to connect them, based on Fryette YouTube videos, but it is the only way I can get the Imperial to work. If I connect to the “To Amp In” on the Imperial, I get no sound.

  3. “Amp Input” from the Cyclops goes either directly into my guitar amplifier inputs or my Twin City A/B switch.

  4. The remainder of the connections between the Cyclops ports and the Fryette Power Station ports our self-explanatory.

Has anyone else tried to connect an Imperial Preamp, Cyclops, and Power Station? If so, am I doing something wrong in step 2.?

Thanks,
Heath

7

Hi Heath,

Let’s get you up and running. It seems this preamp pedal works off of the “add an amp” type of system. So let’s get how you want to run this straight first.

1: Are you trying to run this with an external head or combo using the Cyclops to switch them?

If so, connect the “Preamp In” jack to the “input” of the TK Imperial Preamp. Connect the “to amp return” of the TK Imperial to the “preamp out” jack of the Cyclops. Plug your guitar into the Cyclops “Input” The Cyclops “Amp Input” goes to your amplifiers input. Your amp’s speaker cabinet output goes to the Power Station’s “Amp In” with the impedance set to match your amp.

Like the diagram below.

image
image1290×1364 164 KB

Make sure the Imperial is not bypassed and switch the cyclops to the preamp. You should have sound at that point. The Cyclops will switch between the two sources. You can change channels, turn the tremolo on, etc… on the TK Imperial, just don’t use the bypass function. There’s no need.

2: Are you just trying to use it as a preamp with the Power Station?

If you are just using the preamp and no other amplifiers:

Plug your guitar into the TK Imperial “Input”. Connect the “to amp return” of the TK Imperial to the Power Station “line in”. As long as you’ve got a cab, and the Power Station is on, you should have sound at that point.

If you’d like to run it a different way, please let me know and we’ll try to help you out.

Thank You,

Terry

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8

Hi Terry,

Thank you for your help. I am using combo amps. My goal was to bypass the preamp of my Bassman, for example, with the Imperial preamp using the Cyclops and Power Station 100.

I was doing what you outlined in your step 1 and it worked. My initial question was prompted because I was confused why I should not connect from the “Preamp Out” of the Cyclops to “To Amp In” on the Imperial, which is positioned directly below the input on the Imperial. However, based on your reply and the fact that the system is working, I was making the correct connections.

Thank you for your advice in your step 2. I don’t plan to use the Imperial without a combo amp, but I appreciate the information you gave me.

Thank you!

Best regards,
Heath

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9

Hi Heath,

It was a bit late here, so I tried to give you as much information as I could think of so you could get up and running. The cyclops is labeled for simplicity, but sometimes we are seeing totally different things on our other devices. Sometimes, I just need to see “input” and “output” in a world of “send of amplifier” and “to amp return”. It all can look like cuneiform after a while.

Let us know if you need anything else.

Thank You,

Terry

10

Thanks, Terry! I appreciated your help and clarification.
Best,
Heath

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11

Hi Terry,

I plan to get the Tone King Royalist when it is available.

If I want to run the Imperial and Royalist preamp pedals through my Cyclops and Power Station 100, would I just need to chain the out from one preamp to the in of another like two pedals on a pedalboard or would I need to do something different?

I presume that I could only us one preamp at a time (59 Bassman combo amp preamp, Imperial, or Royalist), so I’d have both the Imperial and Royalist on the preamp channel of the Cyclops and I’d just bypass one or the other Tone King preamps with their respective switches.

Would this plan work?

Thanks in advance for your help and I hope you’re doing well.

Best,
Heath