Best order for my pedals?

[jtkennedy182]

Alright pedal/amp gurus. I'm looking for help on which order to run my pedals and which ones should go in the loop. I understand that "there's no right or wrong" and I just gotta experiment, however I'd like to know more of the "why" behind a lot of recommended choices. Here's what I have currently

Boss TU-3 Tuner
Digitech Drop
Boss ST-2 Power Stack
Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Mooer Green Mile Mini OD
Boss NS-2 Noise Surpressor
Dunlop KH95 Kirk Hammett Wah

(my pedals are not in that order, that's just what I have.)

My amp is a Blackstar ID:260 with the effects loop activated. I typically play high gain music with EMG, Fishman, or high output passive Seymour Duncans. I'm looking for my distortions/ODs/EQ pedal to give me both a boost in tone/gain AND volume. I find that on a distortion channel my tone is already compressed so the level knob does not really add any extra volume. I also would like for my wah to be a little more drastic sounding; it's a little tame for my taste at the moment.

Again, I know that I just gotta experiment, but I'd appreciate any help on which pedals should be first for this effect or that effect, cleaner signal (currently thinking to use the Drop closer to the beginning of my chain rather than the end, and which should go in my loop.

Thank you in advance!!

Josh

[Aceman]

Re: Best order for my pedals?

OK - here we go!

Guitar > Boss TU-3 Tuner > Digitech Drop > Dunlop KH95 Kirk Hammett Wah > Mooer Green Mile Mini OD > Boss ST-2 Power Stack > Amp


In the loop
*Boss GE-7 Equalizer
**Boss NS-2 Noise Surpressor

Most of what you have are pitch or gain effects. They work best straight into the amp.
Tuner - just put it first
Digitech - it needs a completely unaltered signal to track the pitch and modify it best
Wah - I like Wah before Distortion, as I feel it is a more pronounced way. Distortion compresses the signal, and you get less "Wah" from a way when it's after distortion
Mooer then Power is because I like a boost into a distortion for stacking purposes. If you are using the Mooer for a solo boost, put it after the distortion on low dirt high output.


I say put the NS and the EQ in the loop. I'm assuming a serial loop. The EQ gives you global control of the sound, and the NS quiets everything, including the EQ. Use the EQ in the loop for the lead boost no matter what the sound; Grit, Distortion, or boosted distortion.

[dave74]

Re: Best order for my pedals?

You can also run the NS-2 first, then Ace's order, then from the EQ (in loop) back to the NS-2, then to the amp's return.

Some say the NS-2 is more effective and you get better tone hitting it twice,,,,,,,,,,I have no experience yet.

[Gtrjunior]

Best order for my pedals?

Ace has it the exact same way I do it too.

The only thing I might experiment with is the ns-2.
The ID series is a modeling/digital amp so I’m not sure just how noisy the drive settings are. If it’s a fairly quiet amp I might consider using the ns-2 to gate your drive pedals in front of the amp (again, depends on how much noise you’re getting from them.)

That said, I run my gate in my loop, so try both ways. Placement depends on what your noise makers are.

[Securb]

Re: Best order for my pedals?

Ace definitely nailed the traditional setup. Personally, I like the wah after the distortion/overdrive, my wah is the very last pedal in my signal chain. However, like Ace, I love boost into a distortion for stacking purposes. There is no right or wrong way to lay out your pedal board. I suggest you start traditional as Ace suggested then move things around to see how different pedals interact with each other.

One hard and fast rule I will suggest is the tuner is always first. If you have one of the other stomps on and active before the tuner, you will not get a true reading on the tuner. The can be catastrophic at a gig.

[Aceman]

Re: Best order for my pedals?

Yeah - I mean, I always put the "traditional" out there in response to these things.

I was, however, running a Flanger into distortion as the second pedal for the band. This Flanger sounded great that way - not so much in the loop.


Tuner/Drop is a pretty hard wired order.

But after that there are a few options:

EQ next after Drop to adjust the guitar only (especially if the pups need help!)
Or EQ after the Distortion to fine tune that sound followed by the NS to quiet down all that gain before it hits the amp.
And as Bruce mentioned, Wah pre/post dirt is a matter of taste.

[jtkennedy182]

Re: Best order for my pedals?

Thanks for all the help so far guys. I have some experimenting to do! Bear with me if this is a stupid question...what order would the pedals go to put the ones in the front or in the loop per Ace's recommendation? If I just wanted the EQ and NS-2 in the loop and the others in front I mean. My gain pedals (and EQ) can be a bit noisy when being stacked. My main distortion sound from my amp is pretty high gain and I for sure need the NS-2 in the loop to get rid of all the nasty sounds. I imagine there is an easy way to do this but I can't imagine it in my head currently (not at home with my rig). Again, thank you everyone who's helped!

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Best order for my pedals?

You’ll want your gate first in the loop. Otherwise a hard gate can chop off your reverbs/delay trails. Etc.