Help with effects order

[RhoadsScholar]

Hello gang,

I have been building up a pedal board. No effects loop, going into a tweed deluxe or deluxe reverb at the front end.

 

My effects are

WAH Pedal

Analog Delay

OverDrive

Distortion

Flanger/Chorus

Volume pedal (don't use it for effect, just to control stage volume and sometimes boost a lead)

 

Other than trial and error, what is the best Order of effects from the guitar as the input

through the pedal board, then out to the amp

[bgrand]

The way I would use them is: WAH > Overdrive> Distortion > Volume Pedal > F/C > Delay

The Wah could be placed after the distortion according to taste (actually everything could de switched around)

Sometimes if I´m using pedals that really clean up nice with my volume knob, I´ll put my Volume pedal first and use that as my "knob".

[212Mavguy]

There are going to be quite a few ways suggested, here's my .02.

 

 

Guitar>tuner>volume>wah>OD>distortion>Fl/Ch>AD>

 

The delay is the problem child, it's a time based effect that in conbent-ional thinking and hearing sounds better in an amp's effects loop than in front of an amp. So that is why it sits last.

 

I have had a personal revelation with a couple 60's vintage Lectrolab built amps of similar architecture, they love being hit with a strong clean boost into the front end at all times, then turn the volume knob way down like a master volume. Since you have a volume pedal, you can now use that to control your gain and volume, it can and should go clean to grind at least, if not downright screaming, and at a manageable volume overall. Cheaper than installing a PPIMV (Post Phase Inverter Master Volume) or other MV setup in your amp if your amp(s) currently has no master volume. Volume pedals utilizing a pot as the volume controller will tend to roll off the top end as volume is reduced from full unless a "bright cap" is placed across the pot's lugs. So I use a Hilton, no pot in it.

 

What I think is happening is that the first tube half that the signal hits gets knocked way up into distortion land whan that volume pedal gets mashed, that goes to the volume knob, but the dirt is already there whether the volume knob is set low or not. With the volume knob set low, every gain and amplification stage after that tortured first gain stage is cleanly amplifying that stage's signal, while adding harmonic content at every following stage until the signal hits the OT...

[big bob]

The way I would use them is: WAH > Overdrive> Distortion > Volume Pedal > F/C > Delay

The Wah could be placed after the distortion according to taste (actually everything could de switched around)

Sometimes if I´m using pedals that really clean up nice with my volume knob, I´ll put my Volume pedal first and use that as my "knob".

+1

[DetroitBlues]

Volume, wah, distortion, overdrive, chorus, delay. Rule of thumb is wah and volume are first as they alter the tones into gain pedals, chorus and flanger are modulation effects that usually sound better after the gain. Delay and reverb are last.

[Trouble]

Volume, wah, distortion, overdrive, chorus, delay. Rule of thumb is wah and volume are first as they alter the tones into gain pedals, chorus and flanger are modulation effects that usually sound better after the gain. Delay and reverb are last.

This is pretty much the way I'd run it too. You might try playing with the volume, seeing if you like it before or after the dirt, the same could be said for the wah although I've never put mine behind the drive pedals. You could also swithch the overdrive and distortion positions to see how they respond the best. I definately would try the dirt pedals both ways. Ie., overdrive into distortion and distortion into over drive.

 

All that aside the last two should be Chorus- Delay, in that order for the best results with those.

[DetroitBlues]

This is pretty much the way I'd run it too. You might try playing with the volume, seeing if you like it before or after the dirt, the same could be said for the wah although I've never put mine behind the drive pedals. You could also swithch the overdrive and distortion positions to see how they respond the best. I definately would try the dirt pedals both ways. Ie., overdrive into distortion and distortion into over drive.

 

All that aside the last two should be Chorus- Delay, in that order for the best results with those.

 

I used my overdrive as a clean boost for soloing too. By placing it after the distortion, turning the gain down and volume up on the OD helps it function like a clean boost.

[big bob]

You may want to try the wah just before the delay, some like the edge like it there... I believe Hendrix did as well.

[DetroitBlues]

You may want to try the wah just before the delay, some like the edge like it there... I believe Hendrix did as well.

 

They had Delay back then?

[big bob]

 

They had Delay back then?

 

Said like daffy duck "your dispicible"

[DetroitBlues]

 

Said like daffy duck "your dispicible"

 

[RhoadsScholar]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll be experimenting this weekend and share those results. lot's of good info here. It is appreciated.

[Trouble]

You may want to try the wah just before the delay, some like the edge like it there... I believe Hendrix did as well.

I've tried a lot of different overdrive and distortion pedals, while it doesn't seem to matter much with buffered pedals like Boss pedals and Tube screamers, true by pass pedals can respond differently according to placement. One of my favorite pedals is my Direct Drive, if I place it too far down in the chain, it sounds very weak and generic, my OCD doesn't seem to care where it goes. My fuzz works best first in the signal chain, the Rat sounds the same about anywhere.

 

I have a clean boost pedal after all the dirt so I understand what you are talking about, but some pedals are very sensitive to input signal so it's worth it to play with the order. The basic principal still works though, drive-modulation-time based effects.

[Bonefish]

If you have the Ernie ball VP, you may find it performs better if it has a buffer/non-true bypass pedal in front of it (less noisy and less tone degradation). Also, if it is an EB, don't user the tuner output on it as that can hurt your tone as well.

[Trouble]

Hey Big Bob just so there is no confusion I was responding to Detroit's post previously, I quoted you by mistake and looking back on it I'm sure at least someone though I was crazy. I am, but that's another story...

[GuitArtMan]

Other than trial and error:

WAH Pedal => Overdrive => Distortion => Flanger/Chorus => Analog Delay => Volume Pedal

[big bob]

Mine is chapenstein=>memory man=> soldano supercharger gto=>Demeter fat over driveulator=> cry baby

[koula901]

I'm redoing my pedalboard, now that I have a small volume and wah, I'm able to downsize. I've reordered the signal chain to:

1) Tuner, 2) low gain pedal, 3) high gain pedal, 4) fuzz, 5) volume, 6) wah, 7) Delay, 8) Myth Fx (has chorus/flange/reverb/tremolo/phaser).

 

Most people preceed their dirt pedals with their wah and volume, but with my wah and volume after the dirt, I can have the full fledged dirt sound but turn the volume down with the volume pedal. The wah doesn't fight with my high gain pedal this way, because it comes after. When I want to clean up the dirt for a rhythm sound, I do it with the volume pot on the guitar. This way, I have the best of both worlds, using Volume pedal for swells and to manage the overall volume, and the guitar pot to give me clean/crunch/high gain sounds.