Signal Path questions

[guitarSQUIRELL]

I am VERY new to individual effect pedals since be been using a processor since I've started playing guitar. Im blindly divining into this and hoping for advice. I've have been researching many board setups and found one thing in common, most all of the modulating effects go at the end of the chain, correct? This isn't my board yet. I'm making my own board, but, these are the pedals I'm looking at getting on the board. Any advice on pedal rearrange would be helpful. In this picture, the signal goes from the bottom left distortion box to the TC mini Spark on top right and then to the modulation.

 

[Shooter.556]

Re: Signal Path questions

My advice, look on the internet for a signal chain diagram of the person you're influenced by and start there.
It's basically a bunch of playing around and seeing what works best for you.
http://tightmixblog.com/how-to-order-your-guitar-pedals-for-killer-tone/
Check this link out. It goes into a pretty good discussion.
It works really well if you're trying to develop your own sound and not wanting to be like someone else which is my preferred method.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Signal Path questions

The rule is... there are no rules. I can tell you generally "why" people do things but there have very few things that "must" be done a certain way.

Sure you can take the punk way out and just copy someone elses lay out but then you wont understand why you like things a certain way.

If i was going to give any specific advice is put it together one piece at a time and take your time to figure out how a particular piece interacts with the other pieces on the board. You might find certain things are cool in some situations like having a distortion box that drives your compressor instead of always compressor first. Even having a modulation effect before dirt can be useful at times. Dont close your mind on it and figure out how each piece interacts with the others.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Signal Path questions

just a little thing....dont forget to leave room for the patch leads when you are planning your setup. The extra bit on the side or top of pedals really adds up.
For live work especially don't forget the old adage...less is more. Only pack on your board what is absolutely essential to get your musical message across, and never forget that the biggest parameter for changing tones is how you play the instrument. Often, too many gadgets can get in the way of that.

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: Signal Path questions

Modulation before or after depends on what you want the modulation to do or sound like. For example, if you put it before another delay unit, the sweep gets really rich and deep, but can be murky. But if you put it after, both the delay taps and the sweep stay 'clean' - meaning the effect of each in the mix is audible.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Signal Path questions

If i was going to give any specific advice is put it together one piece at a time and take your time to figure out how a particular piece interacts with the other pieces on the board. You might find certain things are cool in some situations like having a distortion box that drives your compressor instead of always compressor first. Even having a modulation effect before dirt can be useful at times. Dont close your mind on it and figure out how each piece interacts with the others.

Yes, this. Start with base tone, add variation, then add spice on the tone. If the Green Rhino is your base OD, and the DS-1 is your base distortion, see how they interact and where you want each (unless you will absolutely never use them together) then add in the boost to see how all three interact.

Personally, I'm a fan of phaser and chorus into distortion, but after is a very traditional choice.

Finally, if you only have the Mustang Floor and the boost, go slowly.... Don't shoot the wad and buy 11 pedals and a looper off the bat. Find the one OD that really grooves with your amp, then add the distortion, then the other effects and you prioritize. It'll help you really learn your rig by adding one piece at a time.

 

[GAS-a-holic]

Re: Signal Path questions

Yes, this. Start with base tone, add variation, then add spice on the tone. If the Green Rhino is your base OD, and the DS-1 is your base distortion, see how they interact and where you want each (unless you will absolutely never use them together) then add in the boost to see how all three interact.

Personally, I'm a fan of phaser and chorus into distortion, but after is a very traditional choice.

Finally, if you only have the Mustang Floor and the boost, go slowly.... Don't shoot the wad and buy 11 pedals and a looper off the bat. Find the one OD that really grooves with your amp, then add the distortion, then the other effects and you prioritize. It'll help you really learn your rig by adding one piece at a time.

^This

Take your time and figure out what works best with your amp, guitars and playing style. Using the wrong pedal into the wrong amp can sound terrible and any pedal can be dialed in to sound bad.

Figure out the most basic things you want first (OD, lod, delay, wah, etc.) and works from there - it's a lot less stressful than buying a sh*t ton of pedals and then realizing you really only need or use half of them.

 

[VinceT]

Re: Signal Path questions

I'm going to reinforce what others are saying here. Take your time to get to know individual pedals before you pile them all on the board together. There are good pedals here - several of which are on my main board - but their impact on tone is very dependent on position in chain AND settings. Looking back over the years, I would advise my younger self to get to know amp and overdrive as a single unit before adding anything else in, everything else is color on that base tone.


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[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Signal Path questions

Pedal design will also dictate board placement. Most pedals have side-mounted jacks with input on the right and out on the left. Placing them in a left-to-right layout in order of use will result in longer-than-needed cables to reach across from one output to the neighboring pedal's input.

Of course, if the board has a cable channel under the pedal board, it's not as much of a problem, except where cheaper cables may lose tone if they exceed 3" in length. If I were to build a board, I'd run them in order of use with the shortest cables, rather than grouping pedal types. But then, this is why I prefer racks, even if the selection is limited to one brand, and placement is set.