4&7 Cable Method With the ES8 (4CM/7CM)

INTRODUCTION

4CM allows you to insert your effects Pre or Post Preamp.This is only achievable on an amplifier
with an effects loop. An example of this would be, say you are using a delay pedal, a reverb
pedal, an overdrive and a chorus without the ES8. A lot of times the delay and reverb will sound
much better in the amps effects loop. This being that general audio signal flow guidelines place
effects in a certain order for optimal performance. This is not the law, as with anything creative it
is merely a guideline and a starting point. I will not go into it any further here as I will focus on
the ES8 and 4CM specifically. There are plenty of discussions on signal chain order available
on the internet, but generally it is as follows in the guitar world;

COMP->WAH->PITCH->MODULATION->OD/DIST->TIME BASED

For this example I will use the following effects:

Compressor(COMP), pitch shifter(PITCH), chorus(MOD), overdrive pedal(OD), delay
pedal(DELAY), amplifier preamp(PREAMP), power amplifier (POWER).

A preamp falls under the OD/DIST category and we can insert it into the ES8 signal chain like
so:

COMP->PITCH->MOD->OD->PREAMP->DELAY->POWER

THE CONNECTION

The preamp is the sound your amplifier makes and the power amp is the volume, this is the
most basic way I can explain this. The main thing to remember is that the preamp is now acting
like a pedal in your chain. The preamps input is the amp input and the preamps output is the FX
loop send on the amp. So if you relate that to any other pedal the “amp in” is the “in” on the
pedal and the “out” of the pedal is the “send” on the preamp or “FX send”. In order to separate
the preamp we introduce 4CM. To put the preamp in the ES8 we will need to make the following
connections.

Loop send -> Amp input and then... Amp FX Send -> Loop Return

The loop you use is irrelevant here, however generally it is best to use the Volume loop as it has
a ground lift possibility. This will help if there are any gnasty hums or ground loops and we will
get to that later.
The next connection you need to make other than the guitar to the input of the ES8 (I forgot to
mention earlier, I feel I shouldn’t need to but I will just so it is covered) is the ES8 output. Before
running 4CM you ran the output of the ES8 to your amps input. Now you want to use the
amplifier part of the amp and not the preamp so you plug the output into the amplifiers FX loop
return.

Bingo, you are now connected in 4CM and are ready to tighten up that tonescaping goodness
that the ES8 provides the freedom to take advantage of.

Structure and placement

For the sake of simplicity let's place the pedals in some loops on the ES8 and start to work on
setting up the ES8 for use in 4CM.

Loop 1: WAH
Loop 2: COMP
Loop 3: PITCH
Loop 4: MOD
Loop 5: OD
Loop 6: DIST
Loop 7: DELAY
Loop 8: REVERB
Volume Loop: PREAMP
Output: POWER

Remember the order I mentioned above in the introduction? It looks similar to the layout here
right? That’s because that is exactly how I have laid this out here. An empty template patch in
the ES8 will have the volume loop deactivated. If you plan on using your amp in 4CM I would
strongly advise creating template patch and copying it across your banks so you have a good
starting point for building patches.

You will need to activate the volume loop in the ES8 for signal to pass through so on the ES8
press:

EDIT->PATCH->LOOP ON/OFF

Scroll across to the “V” and make sure it is on. Now save the patch and copy it across your bank
as I suggested. (Trust me it is worth it!)

Ok so the signal is passing through the ES8 now and it sounds no different to when you were
plugged into the front of the amp as you were before and you ask yourself what is all the fuss
with the 4CM about? I just wasted two extra cables! That is because without rearranging the
loop order you are exactly as you were before. This is where the ES8 works its magic.
Let’s change the loop order to match that signal flow I was mentioning earlier.

In the ES8 you will need to press EDIT then scroll to PATCH and then LOOP STRUCTURE.

It will then look something like this:

L:-V-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

You will need to change the order so it looks like this:

L:-8-7-V-6-5-4-3-2-1

In this second order you have moved the delay and the reverb behind the preamp and into the
amps effects loop where they really belong. (Unless you are EVH running the Echoplex in front
but that comes down to taste and preference)

Now turn on the delay and reverb and you should hear a significant difference. Your delays will
be much crisper and reverbs more verby.

7CM 7 Cable Method

In order to do this in 7CM (two preamps) you simply do the same as mentioned above with
another loop or you can use a stereo loop in the ES8 however I find this is best saved for a
reverb or delay pedal. You will need to add a mixer and pan the preamps left and right be sure
not to run them in to one another.

Be careful when using 2 amplifiers, you can quickly run into noise issues. An easy way to get
around this I found was hooking up one of the amps with the EbTech Hum Eliminator. There are
other products out there, this is just the one I used.

Another thing for the 7CM I found was I like one MIDI controllable distortion in front of both
preamps and my main setup for 7CM was only for the ping-pong delay and rotary sounds so I
found myself using that pedal always in front of them. I decided to save myself using 3 loops
and jammed both preamps and the distortion pedal into one loop. I used an ABY box to help me
get there and turned the pedal on and off via MIDI with the ES8. The signal looked like this:

Loop 7 Send ->in DIST out->ABY in/ out L preamp 1 in/out - Loop 7 return L
out R Preamp 2 in/out - Loop7 return R
This is not the ideal way to do it but it really worked for what I needed at the time perfectly.
It really depends on what you are trying to achieve with the 2 amp setup.

Final tips and Conclusion

There are many ways to attack your setup but the 4CM basic method is as I have explained
here. For those of you using MIDI controllable delays and reverbs in the fx loop you can always
save space by placing them between the output of the ES8 and the FX return on the amplifier.
As they can be controlled with MIDI if you are not moving them then this is a really good way to
save space in the ES8. It also allows you to save the loops in the ES8 for some analog pedals
that don't have these capabilities and you will be able to use the ES8 to bring them in and out.

This document will be continued in the future, discussing gates in the 4/7CM method but for now
I will leave it here. Hopefully I have given you a starting point and a clear understanding of the
4CM so that you can incorporate it in your own way. If you have any questions please just ask
and I will be happy to help where I can.

Cheers,

Eggy

Written by Adam Whiteman 2020 for my fellow Boss ES8/5 users