Onboard effects loop, called “OBEL,” can sound intimidating for those who aren’t familiar. But really, it’s simple! Traditionally, the guitar sends its signal through the pots, out to your pedalboard, and to the amplifier.

A guitar equipped with an OBEL routing system has a slightly different signal path. Rather than going out from the volume pot on the guitar, to the pedalboard, to the amp, the signal leaves the guitar BEFORE hitting the volume knob. It travels down one side of a TRS cable, before “breaking out” to your pedalboard. Then, the pedalboard returns the signal up the other side (TRS). The signal then passes through the guitar’s volume knob, turning it into a master volume control.

This effect can be simulated by putting a volume pedal at the end of your pedalboard, but there are major benefits to having this control onboard your guitar, at the flick of your fingertips.

Now that you know what OBEL is, let’s talk about why. Dynamics is the short answer.

The longer answer is this: as musicians, we are human. We are not designed to play or listen to something at the same volume for hours. As guitarists, we often get criticized for being too loud, so our instinct is to turn down the amplifier. But by the second set, when the band is at its loudest moment, the guitar amp is too quiet. This is where the guitarist oftentimes goes to turn up the amplifier, but never turns it back down for the rest of the show, thus getting the reputation for being too loud…

Additionally, some pedals, such as an envelope filter, work best when the guitar volume is at max. What about drive pedals, where sometimes they are set perfectly for one song, but the next song it’s way too loud for what’s called for?

By using a buffer and allowing you to get full tone at all positions of your volume knob, and using an OBEL system on your guitar, with a HubBub breakout box on your pedalboard to keep things simple, you can avoid all volume complaints at shows. This system allows you to turn your amp to as loud as you’ll need it, and use your guitar’s volume control to match your band’s energy levels. If the drummer gets loud on the last song of the night, you will have the headroom to keep up, but can attenuate your sound during the quiet moments without sacrificing tone.

A buffer is not required for OBEL, but it is recommended. The impedance of your guitar signal needs to be low to avoid cross-talk between the leads in a TRS cable.

If you read through the “what” and “why” sections, you may be wondering where the HubBub comes into play with OBEL.

While integrating OBEL with your existing setup may sound like a nightmare, assuming you get it taken care of on the guitar end, now you’re faced with using a Y cable to your pedalboard, and a separate TS cable from your other guitar’s jack to your amplifier.

The HubBub breakout boxes allow easy switching between instruments with traditional electronics, and instruments equipped with OBEL routing. Featuring a send/return jacks to/from your pedalboard on one side, and conveniently labeled “OBEL/Guitar” jacks and a “to amp” jack, the HubBub will re—route your signal the correct way, depending on which setup you are using, at the flick of a switch or press of a button.