Where to put a wah pedal

[bryan the rocker]

Guys,


I have a dunlop 535q wah,

I sometimes place it after the distortion effect pedal,

Just wondering and asking the electronics gurus in this forum or any one.


Will it harm the circuitry of wah pedal or any effect pedal in the long run if you place high distortion signal coming from a distortion effect first, then through a wah pedal or any modulation effect pedal ?



I mean, the high distortion signal coming from a distortion pedal, then through a wah pedal


Will the distortion pedal place first in the signal chain

overload/harm the circuitry of the wah pedal/modulation pedal (ex. chorus,phaser,flanger pedals) in the long run ?



compared to a

guitar ----> wah pedal / modulation pedal---> then distortion pedal.


Are the wah / modulation effect pedals circuitry capable of handling high distortion signal coming through them from a distortion pedal ?


Last question

Are effect pedals circuitry 100% safe (no overloads/no harm in there individual circuitry) which ever order you put them in your signal chain ?




thanks.

 

[rashayritto]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

you CAN put your wah in front of the amp but really modulation effects generally need to go in the effects loop to be at their best. wah pedals are a good example of this. as for where it should be if you run it in front: wah into distortion is more subtle sounding, and distortion into wah is more dramatic....if i remember that correctly

running distortion into another pedal should cause no damage at all

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

I would not use a wah in a efx loop. Wahs act as envelope filters and need to be close to the front of the chain. Pre- or post-distortion is the user's choice. I have an overdrive before my wah, or I can use the wah into the LEAD CHANNEL of my Mesa amp--giving me both options.

Modulation effects (chorus, flanger, tremelo, vibrato, phasor) can go either in front of the amp or in an effects loop--depending on the effect you want. They need to be at the end of the chain--right before your delays and reverbs. A lot of effects pedals will distort if used in the amp's efx loop due to the high-level signal.

Good luck.

Bill

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

I have have drive pedal before and after my wah. I don't have any problems and it gives me a greater flexability

 

[rashayritto]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

I would not use a wah in a efx loop.

interesting. I always thought it was common to place a wah there. i like the wah after gain sound and since i use my amp's dirt channel putting the wah in the loop was a no brainer and i get the effect i'm looking for. i cant imagine why it would be wrong in any way

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

As far away from Kirk Hammett as you can :laugh2:

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

As far away from Kirk Hammett as you can :laugh2:

This is a "win" post if I've ever seen one

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

You can put it anywhere...running distortion through a wah is not gonan hurt it in anyway. I run mine before dirt pedals but thats me...

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

I have always ran my wah first in line right after my guitar....From there I'd go into my overdrive/distortion pedals....Time based/modulated effects pedals work best in the efx loop if your amp has one......Don't run a wah in the efx loop!

 

[phil_104]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

I run it right after my guitar (if you exclude the tuner). I keep my distortion, muff, modulations, and reverb after it. I have the same Wah as you do, and it works well.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

I like to go wah -> fuzz -> phaser -> distortion -> chorus/flanger -> delay -> reverb

Wah and Fuzz can sometimes act funny depending on other pedal's buffers. Phaser is very similar to wah, I like it before dirt, unless I'm specifically going for wild effected sounds. (Then I could go distortion -> tremolo -> phaser, etc.) Also depending on the tone I'm going for, flanger can definately be before gain, a la 70's flanger users like Gilmour and EVH.

But yeah, wah first. and any cascading order is fine, pedals are pedals, you won't damage any of them at instrument level signals.

 

[Robert S.]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

I am a guitar - wah - distortion - mod/delay kinda guy as well. I only run line level effects in my loops and if I have rack gear in a mono loop I use one of the outs of the rack units to feed a tuner.

 

[bryan the rocker]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

Are effect pedals circuitry 100% safe (no overloads/no harm in there individual circuitry) which ever order you put them in your signal chain ?


thanks for the replies

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

Are effect pedals circuitry 100% safe (no overloads/no in harm there individual circuitry) which ever order you put them in your signal chain ?


thanks for the replies

In all my time using pedals I've never seen any one pedal that wasn't completely safe with any other pedal in whatever order you wanted to run them in...it might not always give you the best tone but it won't hurt the pedals...

 

[thespricket]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

From what I've read, placing the wah first in chain is the way to go. Stevie has the right idea as well, placing dirt before and after. I run my amp dirty and place an OD after the wah as a boost, my wah sounds great to me.

but I would experiment man. do anything and find the best sound for you.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

This is why I've always loved this forum.Alot of great info!

 

[bryan the rocker]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

Thanks

Just making sure that my wah and my other pedal circuits are safe


thanks guys.

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

you CAN put your wah in front of the amp but really modulation effects generally need to go in the effects loop to be at their best. wah pedals are a good example of this. as for where it should be if you run it in front: wah into distortion is more subtle sounding, and distortion into wah is more dramatic....if i remember that correctly

running distortion into another pedal should cause no damage at all

I have never heard of anyone putting a wah in an effects loop. Furthermore, a wah is NOT a modulation effect. It's pretty much an adjustable band pass filter (a.k.a. an EQ pedal).

I guess you could put a wah in the effects loop, but I would only recommend doing that with a true bypass wah (i.e. NOT a Dunlop or a Morley). I have learned the hard way that effects with a crappy bypass kill your tone in the effects loop.

My wah (BYOC) is second in my chain after the volume pedal.

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

I have tried my Dunlop Crybaby from Hell in the loop of a few amps in the past and I didn't like it. The wah effect was way too subtle for my liking. In front of the amp I find you actually get a much more pronounced wah sound which is the entire reason I own a wah pedal to begin with. My effects chain is exactly as it's written in my signature.

That said, as always you can try it in the loop and decide if you like it better there or not. The order of effects won't do anything to internal components so all your pedals should remain in perfect working order.

 

[Dr.Mavashi]

Re: Where to put a wah pedal

My whah is after my TS9, and yes it a lot more dramatic and expressive on top my amp just giving a much better tone this way rather than keeping whah as first pedal in the chain. If you ask Rid, he will tell you that pedals were not designed for signal level they will get from the pre-amp vs instrument level signal. My CS-9 totally changes my tone in the loop vs being the last pedal after Whah and TS9, it makes my amp a lot more cleaner but the over all tone becomes really flat and sterile. My two cents.