The answers

There’s a lot here, Harry, but it’s pretty logical once you think about it in terms of signal flow. Let’s assume you weren’t using a loop switcher. Your basic signal flow would go: guitar, drives, amp input (before preamp), amp effects loop out (after preamp), delay, reverb, amp effects loop in (after preamp, before power amp). That’s what you’re doing when you use your amp’s loop from any normal pedalboard, without a switcher. When you add a loop switcher, observe the same signal flow by putting your amp’s preamp into its own loop…

Your fuzz is in loop 1, octave fuzz in 2, OD in 3, Phase 45 in 4. Loop 5 is where it gets interesting – this is going out to your amp’s main input, then back out from the preamp send. Your amp’s preamp is now in loop 5, so if you want it to be active, loop 5 on the G2 has to be on. Now let’s put your delay in loop 7 and the reverb in loop 8 (we have a plan for 6 in the next answer, as shown in the above diagram). G2’s main ‘Amp1’ output will feed the effects loop return of the amp. There may also be an argument for adding a buffer in the loop, depending on what your amp’s loop is like and the length of the cable runs. The G2 has in-built buffers, or you could add a separate one into loop 5 if necessary.

Again, this is no different from not having a loop switcher at this point: you’ve gone into your drives, out to your preamp, back out to your wet effects, back into the loop return. Exactly the same, except that with a programmable loop switcher you can now do everything with one touch…

…including switching your amp’s preamp out in favour of an external preamp such as any of the Kingsley valve pedals (there are two versions of the Page: one is a preamp, one isn’t). So here we’ve simply added the preamp into loop 6. It’s coming after your amp preamp loop 5, so is only hitting the amp’s power stage – crucially, before your wet effects and after your drives. You have the option of using your amp’s front end or not, a separate a standalone preamp, or one that can be cascaded after your amp’s own pre section. Have fun – some cracking tones in here!