Pedal signal chain help!

[serizawa]

Hey guys, I just want to inquire about the order I should put all my pedals, since this is the first time I'll actually have a pedal board.

Also, are there any general rules of thumb I should follow when adding/subtracting some pedals from my setup?

So I'll list what I've got and what I'm planning on getting.

1) I'll be buying some kind of tuner, so I imagine this is first.
2) Digitech Whammy
3) Some brand of compressor
4) TC Electronics TC VII Phaser
5) Ibanez TS-7
6) Line 6 Echo Park
7) Vox wah / Crybaby


Also, are there any essential pedals I should have in order to really get the best out of my amp?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

You should put them in whatever order suits your needs...

If I were setting that up for myself I'd start like this:

Guitar---Tuner---Whammy---Wah Wah---Compressor---Tubescreamer---Phaser---Echo---amp

I'd see how that worked and make the needed changes but I imagine thats gonna work just fine for you...you might want to move the comp to after the Tubescreamer but I prefer it the way I have it listed for most situations.

 

[serizawa]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

Yeah, I was just wondering if having it a certain way would really benefit or hurt me, as far as signal path and all of that goes.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

the main thing is wah before or after od and compression and phaser before or after od and compression and which order the latter go in.
My preference would be phaser>wah>OD>compressor>other pedals although maybe a whammy tracks better first im not sure.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

I would have it go....

compressor--tuner--wah--distortion--phasor--(whammy)--echo park delay.

There might be better places to put the Digitech--check the manual or their web-site for more info.

Good luck!

Bill

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

Experiment and see what you like....Basically anything goes...

 

[phil_104]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

You should put them in whatever order suits your needs...

If I were setting that up for myself I'd start like this:

Guitar---Tuner---Whammy---Wah Wah---Compressor---Tubescreamer---Phaser---Echo---amp

I'd see how that worked and make the needed changes but I imagine thats gonna work just fine for you...you might want to move the comp to after the Tubescreamer but I prefer it the way I have it listed for most situations.

This is what I would do.

Off topic, but anyways : You need to post pictures of your CE22.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

As I mentioned in the other thread, I like phaser before distortion.

The best advice is this:

Plan a saturday to just mess around. Grab two boxes, and play with them in either order. Grab two other boxes and do the same, adding in additional pedals until you're happy. You'll probably want the tuner and whammy first and delay last, but all the others could be anywhere that gets the tones you want.

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

I would do something like this:

tuner --> wah --> Tubescreamer --> phaser --> whammy --> delay --> compressor

In general I find it works best to have all your distortion and similar effects first, and modulation like chorus and delay last. I can't comment on the whammy as I've never used one. Sometimes throwing modulation effects before distortion can sound really nasty (in a bad way) to my ears.

With the OD before the delay, if you play a note and have it echo, but then turn off the OD the repeats will stay distorted, whereas the other way around all your repeats would be clean.

You might also want the compressor to be the last item in the chain because that way all your processing is done before the dynamics get evened out and signal is sent to the amp.

All of us seem to have slightly different ideas on signal chains so like a few people have said, try out our suggestions but ultimately just experiment until you discover how each effect affects the others in a way you like.

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

So far everybody has given you different answers!!! There are rules of thumb, but it's your tone, so have some fun and experiment!!!

 

[serizawa]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

Yeah! The answers are all really different. But it would make the most sense to me if I put the delay last and the tuner first.

That's what I know for sure, as of now. Oh boy.

 

[baritone]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

You should put them in whatever order suits your needs...

If I were setting that up for myself I'd start like this:

Guitar---Tuner---Whammy---Wah Wah---Compressor---Tubescreamer---Phaser---Echo---amp

I'd see how that worked and make the needed changes but I imagine thats gonna work just fine for you...you might want to move the comp to after the Tubescreamer but I prefer it the way I have it listed for most situations.

This would be the standard way to do it. However, as others have mentioned, you are totally free to experiment. There are no real rules here.

 

[NevermindUs]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

the signal chain that works in my mind would be guitar-tuner-tubescreamer-wah-wah-whammy-phaser-compressor-echo.

i always thought that it sounded better to effect the signal which is the main one, being your distorted tubescreamer sound. the compressor would come later incase any of the other effects cause the signal to peak. the phaser and echo last because i like to echo the wah and whammy sounds, insted of applying those sounds to the echo.

if you use the tubescreamer as a volume boost,however, this would all change

 

[Aceman]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

OK - general rule....Comps/Wahs/distortions/EQ/phase-flange-chorus/delays/reverbs

Just for fun....

Splitter made up of two hard bypasses - one out to tuner, always on
other to fx

Next...AB box going...
A => Whammy then TS-7
B => [other distortion] and Vox wah
That way you can have wah/fuzz or fuzz/wah

Then back into a Y box into the amp

(if you have a loop, put these in the amp loop, else just last in line)

Then Phase
Then delay



1) I'll be buying some kind of tuner, so I imagine this is first.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Pedal signal chain help!

If it were my board, I'd do it this way:

1. Whammy
2. Wah
3. Compressor
4. TS-7
5. Phaser
6. Echo Park
7. Tuner

I like the tuner last because it mutes everything before it.