Placement of effects??

T

take2

New member
Can someone talk a little about the importance of placement of effects in terms of what effect should come before what? Also why do you prefer that particular set up?
I have an ME-50 that I run through the effects loop but than I also have a Duncan Booster Pedal, Marshal Jack Hammer, Marshal chorus, and a boss advanced eq running between the guitar and the amp in that order. I really like some of the sounds I am getting and I am frustrated with others so I am just looking for suggestions and preferences to try. Thanks!
BTW, I am not sure I could explain my frustration - I am just not getting it quite right thats all, so please preach away!
 
Re: Placement of effects??

Guitar -> Tuner -> Wah -> Overdrives -> Amp

Generally an EQ should be the last thing that hits the amp, that is if you're using it for a volume boost during solos.
 
Re: Placement of effects??

I use Morley Wah, Jekyll & Hyde Overdrive straight into the amp. Any delays and chorus I get from my Zoom 3030 run through the fx loop. You might want to consider putting the chorus in the loop. I find it muddies things up if you put it between guitar and amp if you use the amps overdrive.
 
Re: Placement of effects??

It's been awhile since I actually had a line of pedals in front of an amp, but when I did, I had a compressor first, then an EQ, then a phaser, then an octave divider. The distortion was handled by the amp itself and the echo was a tape echo in the effects loop.
 
Re: Placement of effects??

I heard that you should put a wah before everything else because it can pick up like the distortion from a pedal and stuff
 
Re: Placement of effects??

GandLMan said:
What tones dont you like the sound of?
Click to expand...

I am not sure its tone, but perhaps. I know the sounds I like when I hear them, I just have difficulty trying to get them - I would like to know a little more about how all these things interact so that I could be more directive about the sounds I am getting as opposed to just happening into the ones that I like - but then, maybe thats how it happens, I don't know.
I really like the sounds that Eric Johnson gets on his solo's, the balance of overdrive and delay, etc.
I don't know, like I said I am just trying to get more info/knowledge about it all.
Thanks to all so far!
 
Re: Placement of effects??

"common wisdom" seems to be wah/distortion/time-related, seasoned with "whatever works for you". If you have an effects loop, that may be the best place to put time-related effects like echo, delay, tremelo, etc.

This write-up may not be the gospel, but I hope it's helpful.

Chip
 
Re: Placement of effects??

Now guys, correct me if im wrong . . . alot of eric johnsons well balanced tone comes from the fact that his overdrive delays are placed on the tone after the mic, he mics his amps, which feed into a small board and it is at that point that he applies the delay. Once again though, he is a perfect example of following ones ear, typically I would say place your delay after your chorus in the effects loop. But Johnson sometimes has his delay before the chorus going into the front end of the amp, general rule of thumb is Tone before Time. So any tone based effects go before and time based ones, and typically, time based effects sound best in a loop, but then again, everyone's ears are different.
 
Re: Placement of effects??

I've got my gear hooked up in the following order:

Boss TU-2 tuner > Digitech Whammy > Dunlop Wah > Boss CS-3 compression > Boss GE-7 EQ > Ibanez TS9DX > Boss FL-3 flanger > Boss CH-1 chorus > Boss DD-3 delay > MXR EVH 90...

I run all this striaght into my amp. I don't like using the effect return for some reason. I also use my amp's distortion. I use my Boss GE-7 EQ to cut my signal, not boost it. It allows me to quickly switch to a quiet passage while still on a distortion channel. It makes it "quiet" in a way while still being a little dirty. For a boost I use the TS9DX. It adds just the right amount of dirty boost. The EVH 90 ended up as last on my chain, as I ran out of room for it. It still works and sounds fine at the end of my signal.

To summarize, there are no rules to the order of effects. Do whatever works or sounds best for you. I'm sure other guys here would take my rig and change it up a 100 different ways and would be able to achieve a different sound or to suit their style.
 
Re: Placement of effects??

take2 said:
Can someone talk a little about the importance of placement of effects in terms of what effect should come before what? Also why do you prefer that particular set up?
I have an ME-50 that I run through the effects loop but than I also have a Duncan Booster Pedal, Marshal Jack Hammer, Marshal chorus, and a boss advanced eq running between the guitar and the amp in that order. I really like some of the sounds I am getting and I am frustrated with others so I am just looking for suggestions and preferences to try. Thanks!
BTW, I am not sure I could explain my frustration - I am just not getting it quite right thats all, so please preach away!
Click to expand...

I have effects loaded into the front-end and after the pre-amp stage depending on the type of resonance I want to get from them...EQ is always the last entry in the chain and I tweak it for every effect mod group I'm using.

It's all about tailoring it to your needs and personally tone/style/gimmick :smoker:
 
Re: Placement of effects??

Sorry to throw this back in the mix but I just wanted to say thanks. Lots of things for me to think about and new directions to try.
Fresh Start, thanks for the write up - I am looking forward to checking it out - its too late to concentrate on it right now.
Thanks again, Peace
 
Re: Placement of effects??

lex666 said:
I've got my gear hooked up in the following order:

Boss TU-2 tuner > Digitech Whammy > Dunlop Wah > Boss CS-3 compression > Boss GE-7 EQ > Ibanez TS9DX > Boss FL-3 flanger > Boss CH-1 chorus > Boss DD-3 delay > MXR EVH 90...
Click to expand...

Holy crap that must be a tone suck and a half!
 
Re: Placement of effects??

I typically feel that something like a wah, deja vibe, whammy should go first -> overdrive/distortion -> chorus/delay/reverb/trem (should ideally be in the fx loop) -> tuner -> noise suppressor (last in a pedal line, last in a loop) -> amp

All my pedals sound and work great in this configuration and I've never noticed any strange interaction between my pedals.

Some of it is purely cosmetic. There will be some pedals, like the noise suppressor, that MUST be the very last thing before going into the amp. Tuners are impartial and will work fine no matter where they are in the signal path. I typically like the look of it at the end, but that's just me. Some like wahs later on in the signal, but most setups I've seen show it in front (so I figure there has to be some reason for it).
 
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Re: Placement of effects??

Yeah, some pedals like Octavers track better if you put them before everything else. Delay pedals also sound better when stuck at the butt end of the effects change, just as a general rule.

While I'm all for "Put them in the order that sounds right to you" you really need to consider what you're using the pedals for and what pedals you're using in combination with other pedals. For example, if you're using a phaser and a delay you must consider: do I want to phase my delay? or delay my phase? Do I want some dirt to my wah? That would mean the distortion or OD goes before the wah. Or do I want a clean wah signal? In that case you'd put the way before the distortion or OD. (If the phase and delay or wah and OD never meet, well, then it's truely up to you)

If you never use any of your pedals together it doesn't really matter where you put them, but if you want to get sounds on top of sounds do things the traditional way! Or, if you don't want the traditional way and would prefer to go for some Thompson-esque gonzo sounds stick the pedals in whatever order you think sounds craziest.


...by the way, a great resource for effects pedal related things is the "geekchat" forum at www.guitargeek.com. Post your rig (with pics if you like) and a "what order should I put these in?" question and you should get plenty of great answers.
 
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Re: Placement of effects??

Closed Eye - thanks for that suggestion!

Young Angus said:
Holy crap that must be a tone suck and a half!
Click to expand...

Does the guitar put in front of that effects chain make any difference?

Chip
 
Re: Placement of effects??

does order make any difference if you only ever use one pedal at a time? i dont think it does.....but i could be wrong. anyway its just cause i only have 3 pedals, and i never use more than one at any given time, so order probably wont matter. i got it guitar > rotovibe >phase 90 > wah > amp, mainly cause thats the order i bought them in (wah, then phaser, then roto). hell, 90% of the time i dont have the rotovibe in my chain for that matter
 
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