Pedal Chain?

Pickups, pedals, amps, cabs, combos

Moderated By: mods

weeping_moon
.
.
Posts: 1401
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:44 am

Pedal Chain?

Post by weeping_moon »

How do you put your single pedals in a chain so it sounds good?
User avatar
benecol
Best Poster 2010
Posts: 8289
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:12 pm
Location: Westcountry

Post by benecol »

Let us know the pedals and we'll make some suggestions.
weeping_moon
.
.
Posts: 1401
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:44 am

Post by weeping_moon »

benecol wrote:Let us know the pedals and we'll make some suggestions.
okay.

crybaby wah-wah 535Q
seymour duncan pickup booster
behringer delay dd400
boss super chorus ch1
boss mega distortion md2
boss super distortion
boss ds-1
behringer compressor sustainer CS400
boss fender deluxe rverb fdr1
boss noise suppressor

many distortion pedals i know.
User avatar
Mike
I like EL34s
Posts: 39170
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Contact:

Post by Mike »

weeping_moon wrote: boss super chorus ch1
boss mega distortion md2
boss ds-1
behringer compressor sustainer CS400
boss noise suppressor
Throw those away.
boss super distortion
Sell this on ebay as it's incredibly rare. You'll make a million pounds.
weeping_moon
.
.
Posts: 1401
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:44 am

Post by weeping_moon »

Mike wrote:
weeping_moon wrote: boss super chorus ch1
boss mega distortion md2
boss ds-1
behringer compressor sustainer CS400
boss noise suppressor
Throw those away.
boss super distortion
Sell this on ebay as it's incredibly rare. You'll make a million pounds.
i meant turbo distortion. not super. i said wrong.
User avatar
benecol
Best Poster 2010
Posts: 8289
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:12 pm
Location: Westcountry

Post by benecol »

Right then - I'd start off like this (order reads guitar > amp):

crybaby wah-wah 535Q
seymour duncan pickup booster
boss ds-1
boss mega distortion md2
boss super distortion
boss super chorus ch1
behringer delay dd400
boss fender deluxe rverb fdr1

I'm less sure about where to put your noise compressor or compressor - not sure if you want to compress your signal before it goes into your distortion or after - I'd be tempted to stick it in between to get the best of both worlds, so maybe:

crybaby wah-wah 535Q
seymour duncan pickup booster
boss ds-1
boss mega distortion md2
behringer compressor sustainer CS400
boss super distortion
boss super chorus ch1
behringer delay dd400
boss fender deluxe rverb fdr1

You'll know better than me where your noise suppressor sounds and works best - maybe start off with it last in the chain and co from there? So...

crybaby wah-wah 535Q
seymour duncan pickup booster
boss ds-1
boss mega distortion md2
behringer compressor sustainer CS400
boss super distortion
boss super chorus ch1
behringer delay dd400
boss fender deluxe rverb fdr1
boss noise suppressor

That'll be a good starting point, but it's by no means definitive: for example, conventional wisdom would usually be to place your wah at the very start of your signal chain, but I like to sandwich mine between two distortions so it does crazy, nasty things. Also, I've placed your boost where you can use it to goose your distortions - move it towards the end of your chain for more a cleaner volume boost.

See how you get on.
weeping_moon
.
.
Posts: 1401
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:44 am

Post by weeping_moon »

benecol wrote:Right then - I'd start off like this (order reads guitar > amp):

crybaby wah-wah 535Q
seymour duncan pickup booster
boss ds-1
boss mega distortion md2
boss super distortion
boss super chorus ch1
behringer delay dd400
boss fender deluxe rverb fdr1

I'm less sure about where to put your noise compressor or compressor - not sure if you want to compress your signal before it goes into your distortion or after - I'd be tempted to stick it in between to get the best of both worlds, so maybe:

crybaby wah-wah 535Q
seymour duncan pickup booster
boss ds-1
boss mega distortion md2
behringer compressor sustainer CS400
boss super distortion
boss super chorus ch1
behringer delay dd400
boss fender deluxe rverb fdr1

You'll know better than me where your noise suppressor sounds and works best - maybe start off with it last in the chain and co from there? So...

crybaby wah-wah 535Q
seymour duncan pickup booster
boss ds-1
boss mega distortion md2
behringer compressor sustainer CS400
boss super distortion
boss super chorus ch1
behringer delay dd400
boss fender deluxe rverb fdr1
boss noise suppressor

That'll be a good starting point, but it's by no means definitive: for example, conventional wisdom would usually be to place your wah at the very start of your signal chain, but I like to sandwich mine between two distortions so it does crazy, nasty things. Also, I've placed your boost where you can use it to goose your distortions - move it towards the end of your chain for more a cleaner volume boost.

See how you get on.
im gonna try this chain:
crybaby wah-wah 535Q
seymour duncan pickup booster
boss ds-1
boss mega distortion md2
behringer compressor sustainer CS400
boss super distortion
boss super chorus ch1
behringer delay dd400
boss fender deluxe rverb fdr1
boss noise suppressor

thanks benecol!
johnnyseven
.
.
Posts: 3998
Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2007 2:42 pm
Location: London, England

Post by johnnyseven »

I'd advise putting your noise suppressor before your delay otherwise you may find that it cuts off your repeats.
dezb1
The Oppressor
Posts: 8293
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 3:59 am
Location: glasgow
Contact:

Post by dezb1 »

johnnyseven wrote:I'd advise putting your noise suppressor before your delay otherwise you may find that it cuts off your repeats.
That's what I was thinking.
XY
User avatar
Doog
mid-century modem
Posts: 23127
Joined: Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:49 pm
Location: London

Post by Doog »

Compressors generally go before your dirt pedals; compressing a distorted signal is pointless as it's already compressed to the balls. It might be kinda cool used after the wah as it'd make your clean wah-ing nice and level, smoothing out the spiky trebley peaks a bit. That said, I think the "standard" approach would be the following:

Guitar->

1) seymour duncan pickup booster
2) behringer compressor sustainer CS400
3) crybaby wah-wah 535Q
4) boss mega distortion md2
5)boss super distortion
6) boss ds-1

(generally put your lowest gain pedal first, so stacking the pedals up doesn't get crazy; running 'high gain' into 'low gain' can get a bit squashy and odd.)

7) boss noise suppressor
8) boss super chorus ch1
9) behringer delay dd400
10) boss fender deluxe rverb fdr1

->amp

Of course, whatever sounds best to you is "right". For instance, Tom Morello has all his effects in his amp's fx loop, placing his wah and Whammy after his distortion source, going against popular convention. BUT IT SOUNDS BRILLIIIIIIIIIANT
Last edited by Doog on Wed May 25, 2011 10:01 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
George
.
.
Posts: 20953
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2009 11:52 am
Location: UK

Post by George »

Compressor should be first as well, or straight after the wah. If you're compressing other pedals it'll sound liek shit.
User avatar
taylornutt
.
.
Posts: 4908
Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 5:04 pm
Location: Dallas, TX

Post by taylornutt »

Once you get the pedals laid out, just make sure and test them well to make sure all the pedals are playing nice together. Often changing the order of one pedal makes a huge difference. I had all my fuzz distortion pedals at the beginning of my chain and was getting some awful noise. My ECT was after my MBM Fuzzface and MBM Saltbreaker/Saltbooster pedals and simply moving the ECT before my MBM pedals removed the noise.

Most of your distortion pedals are Boss so you probably won't have a problem. Follow what the guys said before and you should be great.
J Mascis Jazzmaster | AVRI Jaguar | Tuxedo-stang |Fender Toronado GT |
Squier FSR Sparkle Jaguar | Squier CV Mustang |1971 Fender Bronco| Baja Telecaster |
User avatar
Haze
.
.
Posts: 4924
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:27 am
Location: Tulsa, OK
Contact:

Post by Haze »

No one has asked the only thing that matters with pedal order ad sound - how do you use the pdals together and what pedas do you tack/combine?
If you only use one at a time, you might as well put them in a hat and draw.
User avatar
Freddy V-C
NOD FLANGERS
Posts: 5591
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 4:55 pm

Post by Freddy V-C »

Haze wrote:If you only use one at a time, you might as well put them in a hat and draw.
Not necessarily, I pretty much only use my Effector13 2ADD on it's own, but it sounds awful unless it only has true bypass pedals in the chain before it. I think people were just trying to give weeping_moon an idea of the best order to put them in where they won't negatively affect each other. I do agree that how they're used is another important thing to consider though.
User avatar
Haze
.
.
Posts: 4924
Joined: Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:27 am
Location: Tulsa, OK
Contact:

Post by Haze »

True, when you take buffers into account you will have variances there as well then may need altering
User avatar
James
Nutmeg
Posts: 10645
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2006 6:15 pm
Location: Boxingham Palace

Post by James »

George wrote:Compressor should be first as well, or straight after the wah. If you're compressing other pedals it'll sound liek shit.
You're not compressing the other pedals. You're compressing the dynamic range of the signal at that point. It won't be very effective after a distortion/overdrive pedal because compressing the dynamic range is a big part of what they do. It won't necessarily sound like shit, though. Using a light overdrive it could even be better to have it after.
Shabba.
weeping_moon
.
.
Posts: 1401
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:44 am

Post by weeping_moon »

James wrote:
George wrote:Compressor should be first as well, or straight after the wah. If you're compressing other pedals it'll sound liek shit.
You're not compressing the other pedals. You're compressing the dynamic range of the signal at that point. It won't be very effective after a distortion/overdrive pedal because compressing the dynamic range is a big part of what they do. It won't necessarily sound like shit, though. Using a light overdrive it could even be better to have it after.
it sounds pretty good.
weeping_moon
.
.
Posts: 1401
Joined: Sun Nov 08, 2009 10:44 am

Post by weeping_moon »

Haze wrote:No one has asked the only thing that matters with pedal order ad sound - how do you use the pdals together and what pedas do you tack/combine?
If you only use one at a time, you might as well put them in a hat and draw.
tuner-->volume-->boost-->drive-->effects-->compressor-->amplifier.
User avatar
Doog
mid-century modem
Posts: 23127
Joined: Mon Apr 24, 2006 4:49 pm
Location: London

Post by Doog »

Haze wrote:No one has asked the only thing that matters with pedal order ad sound - how do you use the pdals together and what pedas do you tack/combine?
If you only use one at a time, you might as well put them in a hat and draw.
I'm pretty certain I did.
User avatar
Mike
I like EL34s
Posts: 39170
Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 8:30 am
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Contact:

Post by Mike »

Stoners man, it's in one ear and out the other.