Order of pedals question


Matt Warfront
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Joined: 01/25/03
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Matt Warfront
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Joined: 01/25/03
Posts: 11
02/22/2004 6:05 pm
Hey all, I have a question about the order of my pedals. I honestly never knew that the order you connect them in made a difference in sound; I would just plug them into each other as I would get them. I am a metal guitarist and play a Digitech Metal master (distortion), a Danelectro Cool Cat Chorus, a Dunlop 535Q wah pedal, and a Line 6 multi-delay. What order should I put them in for a good metal sound? Thanks a lot, take care!
# 1
TheWizard
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TheWizard
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02/22/2004 7:08 pm
I think the only thing that makes a huge difference is where u put the wah pedal and it should be the closest thing to your guitar

I have basically the same setup as you and I have it guitar > wah wah > delay > chorus > distortion > amp
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# 2
PRSplaya
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PRSplaya
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02/23/2004 4:04 am
i would suggest playing around with putting your delay and chorus effects in the effects loop of your amp. By doing that, the effects will get whatever sound the amp produces plus the effects before it, and process that tone. whereas placing them before your amp will effect whatever tone your guitar will produce before your amp has anything to do with it. Personaly, I like my delay effects before the amp, and the modulation type effects after the amp (in the effects loop). There's really no right or wrong way to set up a chain of effects, it all depends on what sound you like best. I've even heard of some guy's who are extremely anal about their tone putting an eq pedal befor AND after their distortion pedal AND putting one in the effects loop. Now that 3 eq pedals, all needing to be set up different, plus the amps eq. Now that's a little over the top for me. But, it all boil's down to what sounds best to you.
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# 3
Lordathestrings
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Lordathestrings
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02/23/2004 4:19 am
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# 4
Arpeggios From Hell
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Arpeggios From Hell
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02/24/2004 5:12 am
It is important that you loop your effects through the FX loop in your amp. What it does is put your effects right after the preamp circuit, and before the amps reverb.
Even if you go through the clean channel with a boss distortion pedal, it will sound clearer. The order of comp/eq/modulations does make a difference. I recommend this setup.

<--to FX LOOP send (to input)- {compressor} - {eq} - {DISTORTION} - {Chorus/flanger) - (Delay) - (reverb) (output of pedal)-->to FX LOOP return

I hope this helps you out.
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# 5
crazyguy
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crazyguy
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02/26/2004 11:05 pm
Try to think in terms of keeping your sound as clean as possible. I've found this is what works for me :
guitar > wah > comp > dist > eq > modulation > delay >reverb
Wah sounds different when placed after the distortion, but I prefer this way becouse it sounds sharper to me. Compression will make wah less aggressive, and will give you hard picking sound and sustain prior to distortion, and it won't amplify its noise. I found the best tone-shaping abilities with eq after the dist, since I use a Boss Turbo Overdrive and it has very little bass and plenty mids. Fine tune it on amps controls since sometimes modulation or delay (especially slapback) amplifies the tone or adds highs. Modulation (chorus, flanger, phaser...) produces the most dramatic effect when placed after the distortion. Putting delay prior to dist is just crazy for me, since it means that you distort what is sometimes a mess of delayed sounds, which results in a lot of noise and rubbing of different frequencies as in distorted chords. Reverb is self explanatory, I guess, and you probbably have it on your amp anyway. BUT, dont hesitate to experiment, chorus prior to distortion sounds very interesting, I've used it on occasions. And thats just an example.
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# 6
Tele Master
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Tele Master
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02/28/2004 10:02 pm
I wouldn't recommend putting overdrives/distortions after the preamp. They really lose their effect and aren't as punchy. Of course, it depends on the sound your going for.
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# 7

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