Pedal Order

[jeremylangford]

I have 6 pedals and I am finally putting them onto a pedal board. The problem is that Im not sure what order would be best for them. I have no effects loop on my amp.

1)Korg Tuner (true bypass)
2)Modded ts9 Tube Screamer (true bypass)
3)Morley Volume pedal (true bypass I think)
4)Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler (true bypass I think)
5)Boss TR2 Tremelo (not true bypass)
6)Electro Harmonix Holy Grail Plus Reverb (true bypass)

Please help me out with the correct order

Thanks

[ashcatlt]

Not to be dismissive, but there is no correct order. The only way to know what's going to work best for you is by trial and error.

It really depends on a number of factors like the intended style, and what you've got on either side of the board.

[andy]

Ditto what Ash said.

However, there are some basic conventions which I will list here to get you started, and to understand why most people tend to order things a certain way. Assuming that you have a fairly clean
tone from the amp, the 'standard' suggestions would be...

1.Tuner- If it is true bypass it won't affect tone wherever you put it, but so it gets the clearest tone without having to switch other pedals off before use, first in line would make sense.

2.Volume pedal- Most players like the drive to reduce as the volume does, as this feels more natural to most, hence the volume pedal would be placed before the drive pedal. If you want to drop the volume, but keep the same level of drive, then place the volume after drive.

3.Drive pedal- For the clearest tone from drives, if that is what you are after, then after compression and volume effects, and before modulation and time based effect usually works best to most tastes, the reason being that the resultant drive tone is overdriven guitar, rather than overdriven guitar effects. Don't let that put you off trying overdriven guitar effect though!

4.Tremolo- Is this more volume based or more time based? Well it's a bit of both, so the above drive placement rule-of-thumb above doesn't really work with this one. However, before drive, the volume troughs with be cleaner than the volume peaks, after drive, a consistent sound will be 'trem'ed'. Off the top of my head, the second option is preferable, and given that classic Fender tremolos would naturally end up after a drive pedal, I would use that as my basis for after drive being the most common occurance of the effect.

5.I will put Delay then Reverb at the end. I thought of a few reasons, but I have scratched them for this main one- reverb before delay with result in the reverb itself being delayed, and overlaying itself, resulting in an inconsistent reverb pattern. Reverb after delay will give you a consistent reverb, applied to the original signal and delayed signals, which should feel more natural.

SO, if you are after a quick fix which is likely to give the clearest, most focussed tone for most styles of music, this should be a good way to go. Ash is quite right though, there is not right or wrong on this, just cause and effect (no pun intended). I have already made a few suggestions as to where you can try other things, but the trick is to try to know what sound you are really after, and always think about what each pedal is recieving from in front, and sending out after itself.

Oh, and have fun.

[crazymanandy]

Here's a webpage on effects order:

users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/fx-order.htm

Like the other guys said, there is not a set way to do it, but it's nice to have somewhere to start.

CMA

[newey]

Andy-

Some good suggestions, helpful as I assemble my first pedalboard.

What about chorus? I'm thinking that what you said about Trem would be equally applicable to a chorus effect. But that's just a guess.

[andy]

What about chorus? I'm thinking that what you said about Trem would be equally applicable to a chorus effect. But that's just a guess.

[/size]

You guessed right, and for the same sort of reasons mentioned above. Although, it is worth trying it the other way around, for the same sort of reasons mentioned above! I've always been happier with chorus after drive, anyhow.

So are you looking to expand your pedalboard already- last count was just few pedals you hardly ever use...

[newey]

I finally got the Godlyke multi power supply that MF had backordered for 3 months, so the board, such as it is, is up and running. But I've been busy at work and haven't had much time to play around with it.

It's currently set up: Dano Vibrato-›Boss Compressor/Sustainer-›DOD Chorus

There's 2 empty plugs for future expansion, and a OD pedal is on the Xmas list.

[andy]

Dec 9, 2008 20:40:47 GMT -5 newey said:

There's 2 empty plugs for future expansion, and a OD pedal is on the Xmas list.

Well, I'm sure Santa's noticed what a good boy you've been this year!

My new power supply came through too, so I'm just waiting for a pedalboard/briefcase type thing to arrive in the post and I'll be finalising my main board too. There is obviously some cosmic pedalboard vibe going round.