Pedal order: WWYD?

B

BlindCowboy

New member
My pedals:

Jimi Hendrix Wah, EH Holy Grail, EH Big Muff Pi, Fender PT100 tuner, Vintique Volume Pedal, Boss DD-3 Delay, DOD Chorus, DOD Phaser. I've got a case full, but these are the only I really play with alot.

Before you ask:
I play country/rock. I play through a '65 Bassman head into a 212 celestion cab.

Fender Telecaster w/ Rio Grande Vintage Tele in bridge and neck.
Ibanez Artcore AF75DTOR: The orange hollow body.
Gibson Les Paul Studio.

Ok. So here's what i've been doing:
1. Tuner
2. Volume
3. Wah
4. Chorus or Phaser. I don't usually have both.
5. EH Holy Grail
6. EH BMP
7. Delay

A buddy of mine got to looking and commented that he put's his in a different order. I got to thinking. Sounds like a good question. What's ya'll orders?
 
Like anything else, it's largely a matter of taste and experimentation. Do what sounds best for you, but there are a few rules of thumb:

-Put distortion effects in the front of your chain. This is where the primary tone shaping is done and you generally don't want it colored by any other effect.

-Wah can come next. Unless you like having the volume pedal pre-distortion to control the level of gain, I'd try it here.

-Next comes your delay, chorus and phaser effects. Usually delay before chorus or phase.

-Then put the reverb at the end. In most combo amps, reverb is post eq and post preamp so it makes sense to put it at the end of the fx chain. So in your case I'd try:

1. Tuner
2. EH BMP ---These two can be swapped depending on desired gain effect
3. Volume ---
4. Wah
5. Delay
6. Chorus or Phaser
7. EH Holy Grail
 
I lifted this from the Keeley site, this is a general guide as to how I run my rig.....

Q: Is there a specific order my effects should go in?


A: Yes and no. There are some guidelines that can be followed to make sure odd things don't happen. There have been times when a compressor after a delay pedal or reverb unit has caused some bad (good?) effects, there have been brilliant moves to place effects in certain orders that break most rules, but below is a guideline I came up with and was published in Musician's Hotline Magazine. Nice things is it gives you a way, a phrase to memorize so that when you're on the road, you can get it right if you pick up a new effect.
Placing effects in a logical order will help! This list of effects order is just a general guideline. Some of the best and most unique guitar tones have been created by breaking the rules! You guys need a head start at good tone right?! A way to make life easy right?! I came up with a little phrase to help remember the order because even I forget. Ask yourself this when you wonder about effects order or placement: Which Chain Of Effect Pedals Makes Life Easy? All you have to do is remember this phase and which letter corresponds to which type of effect. Wah -> Which, Compressor -> Chain, Overdrive -> Of, EQ -> Effect, Pitch -> Pedals, Modulation -> Make, Level -> Life, Echo -> Easy. I like to see wah pedals and sometimes even phasers as the first effect after the guitar. We’ll call these Wah effects (yes even the phaser). Wah pedals boost a frequency you sweep to with your foot and phasers cut or notch a frequency that is swept to electronically. Distortion pedals make interesting response changes to the boost or cut from these sweep pedals. Compressors typically go next although I like them after distortion pedals in many cases if the compressor is clean and transparent enough. Compression after distortion has two effects that I really like. First, the noise floor is lower because the noise from a compressor isn’t being amplified and distorted by the overdrive pedal. Second, there appears to be more sustain. There is one draw back that some people notice and that is a darker, warmer tone. Some folks might prefer a more conventional, brighter tone. Next comes Overdrive or distortion. Equalizer pedals can go next. They are commonly used for a boost pedal if they can be turned on and off, or used to shape the tone of the distortion pedal. Pitch changing pedals, Vibrato for example; go next for the simple reason that many distortion pedals can’t handle the many pitches at one time. Try strumming a complex chord with your distortion pedal on, say a C7#9#11. Modulation effects go next such as chorus and flanging go next. Level pedals that control the volume go next in many cases. This would include tremolo, volume pedals (great at this point in the effects chain because it cuts all the hiss going to your amp), noise gates and limiters. Since compression is a limiter in many cases and this is why it works post-distortion by the way. Echo effects go last. These include delay and reverb. A sample effects board might contain these effects: Guitar -> Wah, Compressor, Overdrive, EQ, Vibrato, Chorus, Tremolo, Volume Pedal, and Delay-> Amp.


I do the compressor after the distortion pedals, and I dig the sound........real smooth. :)

Here's the way it looks.......although I've recently added a Boss CE-2 (Keeley modded, and a wah in the front of the signal chain (Also Keeley modded.)

IMG_0023.jpg
 
I like the wah before the distortion.

Personally I would put chorus before delay. Reverb right at the end.

I also have the PT-100 tuner and I find it sucks tone and sounds noisy, even when its off. I use a Boss LS-2 Line Selector to create whatever 2 effect loop chains I like, one of which has the tuner on it.

(Ps...I run a '66 Bassman through a 4x10, and a '72 Pro Reverb)
 
Guitar>tuner>volume>BMP>wah>chorus>Holy Grail>delay. Just my .02 :)




1. Tuner
2. Volume
3. Wah
4. Chorus or Phaser. I don't usually have both.
5. EH Holy Grail
6. EH BMP
7. Delay
 
Don't put the volume pedal before any of the fx except the delay and reverb.

If you put it before the chorus, distortion or etc., as soon as you reduce the volume with it you are also reducing the amount of signal you're fx have to work with and that will definitely change the tone.

Unless you want to thin out the tone with the volume pedal.

:eek:
 
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