What’s the maximum number of pedals you would tolerate in a chain?

Fishboy7

I’ve been going through a cycle of building up a nice selection of pedals and them ditching them as they seem to take something away from the sound.  I assume this is signal loss due to passing through 7 or 8 different pedals and patch leads. 

 

So, what’s the maximum number of pedals you would tolerate in a chain? 

 

I’m thinking to restrict myself to just a few pedals or look into a switching device.    

 

Interested to hear your thoughts / advice on this , ….. 

stickyfiddle

Just get a buffer, then you can have *all* the pedals

jamesguitar

I run up to 11 pedals on my Pedaltrain Jr without any type of loop switcher. Obviously not the preferred method, but they’re all high quality pedals and almost all true bypass (which of course still isn’t perfect). I don’t question is too much as I’m happy with the size and weight of my board as well as having all the tonal options I need for 90% of jobs.

I have no doubt there would be a small improvement in overall tone if I were to run them all through a switching system, but the key thing is that I’m very happy with my sound as it is so can’t justify the extra weight and board size. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Johnnyseven

As many as will fit on my pedalboard!

I've had huge boards in the past and never had an issue with tone when running through loads of pedals. I'm not playing so much now so have a much smaller set up with only 9 pedals and it sounds good to me!

jamesguitar

I will add that my signal is very clean - I’ve never had any noise or hum issues and this is due to having decent power (can highly recommend the Truetone CS7 and CS12 power supplies as well as the CIOKS and GigRig supplies).

 I tend to run Fender style amps and use them as a clean platform with my overdrive and distortions etc coming from pedals, but back when I was using Marshall’s and Mesa amps for their amp distortions I used to notice tonal loss a lot more. Back then I was playing a lot more heavy rock etc, now I’m mainly playing Neo-Soul/R&B, Pop/Rock and jazz/blues etc. So my tonal requirements and experience may be very different to yours.

If you’re really noticing ‘tone loss’, then the GigRig Quartermasters are excellent and won’t take up much space on your board or complicate your setup too much.

Sassafras

As long as I've got amp reverb, I don't need any more than 4 pedals:
3 drive pedals and an AMT preamp.

Paul_C

currently . . . 20

english_bob

stickyfiddle said:

Just get a buffer, then you can have *all* the pedals

This, obviously.

Currently nine, but adding more shouldn't hurt. Good power and good cable help keep it quiet and transparent.

Fishboy7

Interesting. Hadn't thought of a buffer..... definitely preferable to a switching system

not_the_dj

Stick a Boss TU-3 at the start of your chain and don't worry about it.

Maynehead

Fishboy7 said:

Interesting. Hadn't thought of a buffer..... definitely preferable to a switching system

Last time I asked about buffers, someone pointed out that I already had a pedal on my board with a good buffer (EHX Soul Food), I simply had to enable it using a dip switch.

Unless all your pedals are true bypass only, chances are you already have a buffer!

crunchman

Maynehead said:

Fishboy7 said:

Interesting. Hadn't thought of a buffer..... definitely preferable to a switching system

Last time I asked about buffers, someone pointed out that I already had a pedal on my board with a good buffer (EHX Soul Food), I simply had to enable it using a dip switch.

Unless all your pedals are true bypass only, chances are you already have a buffer!

Any standard Boss pedal will be buffered.  If you have a Tube Screamer that will be buffered.  The Klon is buffered, as are most Klones e.g. the Soul Food.

A lot of delays and Reverbs are buffered but they tend to go at the end of the chain.  It is good to have a buffer near the start of the chain.

The Cornish buffer clone from Pedalparts is an easy build if you want to go that route.

Fishboy7

Hmm, I have a TU2 at one end and a Strymon Blue Sky at the other end.  So it seems I'm already buffered up..

Maynehead

Fishboy7 said:

Hmm, I have a TU2 at one end and a Strymon Blue Sky at the other end.  So it seems I'm already buffered up..

Well this is the problem you see... buffers will also alter your tone.

When I was doing some experiments with buffers, I noticed the following:

Taking a short lead from guitar straight into the amp as the control tone, I noticed that without buffers (all pedals in true bypass) I lost the top end chime in my tone. With a buffer, I got back some top end frequencies, but it still missed the very top of the chime, which gave the tone a slightly artificial edge.

I came to the conclusion that it was all a compromise. If you play mostly with distortion, you might choose to go the unbuffered route, as the reduction in top end might actually be desirable, as it can tame some of the fizz.

If you play a lot of clean/edge of breakup stuff, and must use pedals, I'd settle for a buffer, although no buffer will give you the natural ring of a guitar straight into the amp.

Teetonetal

honestly, you can worry far too much about this stuff.
Once had a board that had 15 or so pedals, 10 in front, 5 in the fx loop. Made the sounds I needed. Current one has 3 pedals with a boss es 5 all in the front. Makes the sounds I need.

Lestratcaster

I'm very simple when it comes to pedals, only the basics if using a 2-channel amp. Tuner, noisegate and an overdrive. Might have chorus and delay but that'll be about it.

VJIves

I didn't even feel like my board was excessive until I saw all the single digit numbers on this thread. Jesus.

dindude

If all true bypass then 4, max 5 I think. After that you need at least one well placed buffer, but I tend to limit myself to around 8 pedals max.

ICBM

Theory says that if you have more than about half a dozen true-bypass pedals you need a buffer, and if you have more than about half a dozen buffers then you need a true-bypass looper, so the maximum number of pedals is only limited by how many levels you want to take this to.

If you have 36 true-bypass pedals, run them in six buffered loops and put the whole lot in a true-bypass looper.

Six times that lot and you need another buffer...

zepp76

At the moment I only use one pedal, a Boss FRV-1 reverb into a JTM45 if I'm feeling fruity I might dig out my pedalboard that has three pedals, a Strymon Sunset, El Capistan and Bluesky. I have a load of pedals I just don't use anymore and should put them up for sale. It really was a revelation buying the Marshall, I just don't feel the need for any more pedals but I am a sucker for a bit of reverb (that's the Peter Green fan in me) and would love a Fender reverb unit, that really would be the icing on the cake!

crunchman

dindude said:

If all true bypass then 4, max 5 I think. After that you need at least one well placed buffer, but I tend to limit myself to around 8 pedals max.

This seems about right to me, although I currently have 11 pedals on my board.  A couple of them don't get used much and I could probably live without.