The Effects order debate.

Bluetonic73

After an epic first post and not selling my pedals :-) I've decided to tidy up the board and nail it all down anyway. I'd like to ask some advice on the order the pedals should run in. I'm aware this can cause some debate, and much online contradicts itself?? The list of pedals is as follows, Boss Tu3, JD Wah, boss rc 3 looper, line 6 dl4, line 6 mm, hi tone blues o/d, Ibanez ts9, dr tone delay and boss tremolo. Any advice of order would be great fully received. Cheers

randomhandclaps

Pedals should always be chained in alphabetical order.  To be honest it sounds like crap but helps calm my OCD.

Personally I would go -

1. Tuner
2. Wah
3. hi tone blues o/d, Ibanez ts9 (Whichever you like)
4. Line 6 MM
5. Tremolo
6. Dr Tone & DL4 (Again whichever way you like)
7. Looper

Wazmeister

randomhandclaps said:

Pedals should always be chained in alphabetical order.  To be honest it sounds like crap but helps calm my OCD.

Personally I would go -

1. Tuner
2. Wah
3. hi tone blues o/d, Ibanez ts9 (Whichever you like)
4. Line 6 MM
5. Tremolo
6. Dr Tone & DL4 (Again whichever way you like)
7. Looper

I must admit, that did make me chuckle...

Bluetonic73

Great stuff, thanks

ICBM

I'd put the wah before the tuner if it sounds better like that - it sometimes does, try it - and otherwise agree with randomhandclaps... although if you don't get any overdrive from the amp, you may be better putting one of the dirt pedals (probably the Hi Tone) much later in the chain so you have the option of modulation, tremolo or delay either before or after dirt.

It's well worth experimenting as much as possible before finalising anything, especially with the dirt pedals where order makes the most difference.

Bluetonic73

Thanks I'll try that, I just thought the tuner would be best direct from the guitar, also I'd heard somewhere that the line 6's prefer to be in a certain way in order to work correctly

ThePrettyDamned

The correct answer is:

Tuner
Wah
Chorus
Distortion
Distortion
Distortion

Etc

Until you've ran out of distortion. Then you can hit the distortion channel of the amp (the other one is boring).

If you're feeling mental, put a delay in there somewhere.

ICBM

Bluetonic73 said:

Thanks I'll try that, I just thought the tuner would be best direct from the guitar, also I'd heard somewhere that the line 6's prefer to be in a certain way in order to work correctly

The tuner is definitely best before modulation, although they work fine after dirt pedals and can be useful to mute very noisy ones - but this one is buffered, which can change the sound of the wah if you put the tuner first. Try it both ways - you might prefer one way or the other.

I actually have my TU-2 as the last pedal before the amp - with all the modulation in the FX loop - on my main board... it just sounds best like that.

mike_l

the correct order is

guitar-pedal-pedal-pedal (etc) - amp

and in the fx loop

amp send-pedal-pedal (etc)- amp return

 

It really doesn't matter what goes where*, other than drive/distortion should not go in the amps fx loop, it could cause damage.

 

*so long as it sounds good

 

For the record, on my big home board I have chorus/phase/flange before my drive pedals, and delay in the FX loop

d8m

I always put my effects after my guitar before the amp.

:P

EricTheWeary

Tuner last is interesting. No good if you check it every 5 minutes like I do as you might not be presenting the clearest signal to it if the other pedals are on but I've read it described as the best place so you can use it as a trouble shooter for gigging. So, if you lose sound turn the tuner on to see if a signal is still coming through your pedals. If yes then its the amp, or lead out ,at fault and if no you can check guitar, pedals, leads in turn using the tuner to check what is/ not producing a signal.

ICBM

The tuner works fine if other pedals are on before it if they're not modulation. As long as it gets a note frequency it doesn't matter if it's distorted/wah'ed/EQ'd etc. (Although a Polytune might not like distortion.)

I think the reason mine sounds good at the end of the front chain is that it's a good buffer for driving the cable to the amp.

viz

randomhandclaps said:

Pedals should always be chained in alphabetical order.  To be honest it sounds like crap but helps calm my OC D

you mean CDO don't you?

DannyP

viz;215759" said:

randomhandclaps said:

Pedals should always be chained in alphabetical order.  To be honest it sounds like crap but helps calm my OC

D





you mean CDO don't you?

I don't have OCD.

I have Joyo Ultimate Drive.

Wazmeister

With regard to pedal order, i like to have at some point...

Delay > reverb > delay

It helps to create some interesting sounds

steamabacus

There is only one correct order for effects ...

"Everything before everything else"

d8m

Tuner>Dirt>Modulation>Delay>Reverb

pocus

d8m;216283" said:

Tuner>Dirt>Modulation>Delay>Reverb

MazzaG

Must be other people here who prefer Wah after distortion no?

ICBM

MazzaG said:

Must be other people here who prefer Wah after distortion no?

Sometimes. I generally like wah after fuzz too.

impmann

No right, no wrong... just opinion.

Experiment. Try odd stuff. Fuck shit up.

Unless you are chasing a particular (other person's) sound, do it your own way.