guitar tuner pedal image
Jesse
Ok I have a wah pedal, tuner pedal, noise reducer, delay, tremolo, chorus, overdrive, reverb, and phaser. How should they be aligned? Do I need a compression pedal, or eq pedal?
Answer
There is no one "right" way - but I'll tell you how I would do it, and why.
Generally speaking, most players would tell you to put pedals in this order
- Tuner
- Compression
- Then Dirt Boxes (Fuzz/ Overdrive / Octave splits /
- Then Volume/Wah
- Modulation Effects next
- Delay Effects Last
- Noise gate
- Amp
One thing you need but didn't mention is a "noise gate" - you put that LAST - right before the amp. Noise gates clamp off ALL hiss, hum, etc. when you're not playing. Professionals have quiet rigs and that's how you get one. You also need a volume pedal - at the beginning of the chain
Tuner - First. Right after your guitar. You want a pure signal here. Put it here so you can have volume pedal OFF and still have signal at the tuner.
Next are your Dirt Boxes
- Compressor
- Overdrive True overdrive needs to push the front end of the chain.
- Fuzz (for later)
-Wah-WAH
Next is the Wah. I like it here - some guys like it just before your dirt boxes. Personal choice, are you going to "Fuzz the Wah" or "Wah the fuzz" ? I think it sounds more interesting AFTER the dirt boxes.
- Volume Pedal Next - go buy a high-quality optical volume pedal - you'll thank me)
By putting a volume pedal here, you can accomplish a couple things - you can back off the volume knob of your guitar to drive the dirt boxes less... but then recover the overall volume after the dirt boxes. That lets you set up a more "fuzz" sound and back it down to "overdrive" without having to bend over and change the settings all the time.
Modulation Pedals are next :
- Tremelo
- Chorus
- Phaser (when you get one)
- Flanger (when you get one)
Delay Effects - Last.
- Delay
- Reverb
If you're not using the Effects Loop of your amp (or if you don't have one) - put the Delay next-to last, and the Reverb last before the noise gate or amp. Why? B/C you probably want to be able to delay all your other FX sounds in the chain. And by putting the Reverb last you can go from "Dry" delay repeats to "Wet" delay repeats. If you do have an FX loop -try putting the delay (only ) in the FX loop. That lets you control it separately
- then -
NOISE GATE
- then -
AMP
Some techs want the compression at the end of the chain.
RE: EQ. this is controversial, but let me give you some thoughts. If you hate the sound of your GUITAR, then put the EQ toward the beginning of the chain. That way the rest of the boxes "see" something different than the pure guitar signal. If the EQ can be switched in/out or has multiple presets- In this way you can also "fake" single coil-piezo - humbucker types of sounds.
If the rest of your gear has wrecked the sound of your guitar (try it straight in to your amp - no FX) - then put the EQ at the END of the chain- maybe before the delay/reverb, but after all the other boxes. EQ here is usually set up for the room you're in - and left alone. That way if one string is really "boomy" or "thin" - you can fix just that frequency for the night. I know plenty of guys who use BOTH kinds of EQ - one to trick out various guitar sounds at the front of the chain...and another just to correct room or gear issues at the end.
Finally -use the best power supply you can, the best (and shortest) cables, and keep everything neat and organized. Don't run power cords parallel with your signal cords - etc. That's how you control hum/hiss and other bad sounds. I'd MUCH rather have a better bunch of patch cables than another dirt box that sounds like all the others.
Hope this helps . I was gigging 6-nights a week with a large pedalboard back in the '70s and '80s- years before most guys were that organized. There's nothing carved in stone. You might wind up with one song where you need the pedals in a different order - you can do that too with creative use of some A-B switches. Much also depends on the type of music you're playing and the sounds you need.
One bit of advice - remember that your stuff will sound MUCH more nuanced in the recording studio than it ever will live. For playing gigs there is NO reason to have 8 different dirt boxes with just slightly different sound profiles. Nobody will be able to tell (or care) at some rowdy bar. Ditto for everything else - buy the best -quality pedals you an afford but keep it as simple as possible. Less to go wrong. Also - an iPhone or iPad today with the right pedal models makes a dandy "plan B"
Even if your amp were to crap out - you could go Guitar--> iPhone --> PA system and get by for a night or two if you had to.
There is no one "right" way - but I'll tell you how I would do it, and why.
Generally speaking, most players would tell you to put pedals in this order
- Tuner
- Compression
- Then Dirt Boxes (Fuzz/ Overdrive / Octave splits /
- Then Volume/Wah
- Modulation Effects next
- Delay Effects Last
- Noise gate
- Amp
One thing you need but didn't mention is a "noise gate" - you put that LAST - right before the amp. Noise gates clamp off ALL hiss, hum, etc. when you're not playing. Professionals have quiet rigs and that's how you get one. You also need a volume pedal - at the beginning of the chain
Tuner - First. Right after your guitar. You want a pure signal here. Put it here so you can have volume pedal OFF and still have signal at the tuner.
Next are your Dirt Boxes
- Compressor
- Overdrive True overdrive needs to push the front end of the chain.
- Fuzz (for later)
-Wah-WAH
Next is the Wah. I like it here - some guys like it just before your dirt boxes. Personal choice, are you going to "Fuzz the Wah" or "Wah the fuzz" ? I think it sounds more interesting AFTER the dirt boxes.
- Volume Pedal Next - go buy a high-quality optical volume pedal - you'll thank me)
By putting a volume pedal here, you can accomplish a couple things - you can back off the volume knob of your guitar to drive the dirt boxes less... but then recover the overall volume after the dirt boxes. That lets you set up a more "fuzz" sound and back it down to "overdrive" without having to bend over and change the settings all the time.
Modulation Pedals are next :
- Tremelo
- Chorus
- Phaser (when you get one)
- Flanger (when you get one)
Delay Effects - Last.
- Delay
- Reverb
If you're not using the Effects Loop of your amp (or if you don't have one) - put the Delay next-to last, and the Reverb last before the noise gate or amp. Why? B/C you probably want to be able to delay all your other FX sounds in the chain. And by putting the Reverb last you can go from "Dry" delay repeats to "Wet" delay repeats. If you do have an FX loop -try putting the delay (only ) in the FX loop. That lets you control it separately
- then -
NOISE GATE
- then -
AMP
Some techs want the compression at the end of the chain.
RE: EQ. this is controversial, but let me give you some thoughts. If you hate the sound of your GUITAR, then put the EQ toward the beginning of the chain. That way the rest of the boxes "see" something different than the pure guitar signal. If the EQ can be switched in/out or has multiple presets- In this way you can also "fake" single coil-piezo - humbucker types of sounds.
If the rest of your gear has wrecked the sound of your guitar (try it straight in to your amp - no FX) - then put the EQ at the END of the chain- maybe before the delay/reverb, but after all the other boxes. EQ here is usually set up for the room you're in - and left alone. That way if one string is really "boomy" or "thin" - you can fix just that frequency for the night. I know plenty of guys who use BOTH kinds of EQ - one to trick out various guitar sounds at the front of the chain...and another just to correct room or gear issues at the end.
Finally -use the best power supply you can, the best (and shortest) cables, and keep everything neat and organized. Don't run power cords parallel with your signal cords - etc. That's how you control hum/hiss and other bad sounds. I'd MUCH rather have a better bunch of patch cables than another dirt box that sounds like all the others.
Hope this helps . I was gigging 6-nights a week with a large pedalboard back in the '70s and '80s- years before most guys were that organized. There's nothing carved in stone. You might wind up with one song where you need the pedals in a different order - you can do that too with creative use of some A-B switches. Much also depends on the type of music you're playing and the sounds you need.
One bit of advice - remember that your stuff will sound MUCH more nuanced in the recording studio than it ever will live. For playing gigs there is NO reason to have 8 different dirt boxes with just slightly different sound profiles. Nobody will be able to tell (or care) at some rowdy bar. Ditto for everything else - buy the best -quality pedals you an afford but keep it as simple as possible. Less to go wrong. Also - an iPhone or iPad today with the right pedal models makes a dandy "plan B"
Even if your amp were to crap out - you could go Guitar--> iPhone --> PA system and get by for a night or two if you had to.
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