Home › Forums › Tips, Tricks, Clips, and Pics › Before Or After
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November 3, 2008 at 4:16 pm #77245FUZZ (EHX Staff)Member
Before or After is a very interesting question when applying it to the order of FX pedals. This can be a major part of your sound or a major headache.
My answer is to Experiment… There is no “wrong” or “right” way to line up your FX pedals in series, but there are some useful hints that can help you avoid a an audible mess.
Please submit your ideas when hooking up pedals. The more you experiment, the more you can find out about yourself, sonically.
FUZZ
November 3, 2008 at 4:26 pm #86788electro-melxModeratorI agree, and it’s a question that gets asked over and over again..
what I tend to do it start with my ‘main sound’ dirt pedal, then I take another pedal, try it before and after, then take the next one and repeat…until I have them all done…it’s quite a slow process but it’s worth it and probably quicker than setting them up how you think they ‘should’ be ordered and then moving them all around until you find the order that works.
I suppose I go for the slow methodical approach and use my ears more than anything.
November 3, 2008 at 4:36 pm #86790FUZZ (EHX Staff)MemberIt’s a good idea to keep a Notebook around that is dedicated to your sound. For example, draw or write down your settings on your amplifier, FX Pedals, or anything else that has number value on it. Also the order of your pedals is a nice thing to write down and label it for each sound your going for. This way, the Dial Gremlins won’t chancge anything while you are sleeping….. they’re everywhere these days.
FUZZ
November 3, 2008 at 5:24 pm #86792Quote:It’s a good idea to keep a Notebook around that is dedicated to your sound. For example, draw or write down your settings on your amplifier, FX Pedals, or anything else that has number value on it. Also the order of your pedals is a nice thing to write down and label it for each sound your going for. This way, the Dial Gremlins won’t chancge anything while you are sleeping….. they’re everywhere these days.FUZZ
I think it was MING who mentioned a suggestion via the Harmony Central forums — we should consider posting “blank” pedal images, basically just the product screens — and folks could then print those, and jot down specific settings, and add whatever notes. Seems handy to me…
November 3, 2008 at 6:34 pm #86797Fender&EHX4everModeratorI spend a lot of time playing with pedal order. I have a general rule I setup by, but there are always exceptions to the rules, and those exceptions generally produce the most interesting results.
Compressors are tricky, because they also sound good at the start of the chain to help the tracking of the Pitch Shifters and the Filters. But I like how they smooth out the peaks in filter effects or deep modulation. They help with issues of overloading in The Worm, The Flanger Hoax, and the DMM. They also help with volume drop issues.
For standard, in-the-box functionality, I follow this chain:
Pitch shifting – HOG
Sustainer – vintage BlackFinger
Filters – Qtron+, Micro Synthesizer, Octave Multiplexer, PolyPhase, Tube Zipper, Zipper
Dirt – Big Muff Pi, Deluxe Big Muff Pi, Little Muff Pi, Hot Tubes, Germ OD
Wah – Muff Fuzz Crying Tone Wah
Compression – Black Finger (reissue), White Finger, Soul Preacher
Modulation – PolyChorus, PolyFlange, Electric Mistress, Deluxe Electric Mistress, Small Stone, Flanger Hoax
Tremelo/Vibrato – Wiggler, Pulsar, The Worm
Delay – Deluxe Memory Man, Stereo Memory Man (original)
Reverb – Holiest Grail, Holier Grail, Holy Grail
Equalizer – 10 Band Graphic EQ
Looper – Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai, 16 Second Digital DelayNovember 3, 2008 at 7:05 pm #86801CowbellMemberI’m always re-arranging my pedal order, sometimes I find interesting sounds that way.
November 3, 2008 at 7:12 pm #86803electro-melxModeratorI think the main problems come from
A: running multiple dirts (if you want to use more than one at a time) I always find that one way round they sound great the other way round not so great. if you are using more than 2 it can take a while to figure out the best order.
B: when you have pedals that only sound good first inline…I found the double muff to be like that, it can force you into putting a pedal where you might not usually.
C: when you have stereo pedals that you want to use in stereo but sound better when they are not last….a stereo phaser for example.
It’s things like this when you run into problems and why you can really reel off a ‘chain order’ for someone.
November 3, 2008 at 8:29 pm #86808Dr. MattModeratorEven though there are no “rules” i think it could be helpful to beginners to provide an order in which to connect their effects if they are completely lost.
So here’s my attempt at a rough guideline:
Noise Reduction
Volume
Wah
Compression
Overdrive
Distortion
Fuzz
Boost
EQ
Phaser
Flanger
Chorus
Delay
ReverbI’m sure someone else will have a different guideline which if anything just goes to prove that there is no right or wrong order to put your effects and just place them in whatever order sounds best to you
December 2, 2008 at 3:19 pm #87929boytbpcParticipantPedal order is always an interesting topic. Especially for effects noobs such as myself. I rearranged my board last night again and am much happier with the results.
The interesting epiphany last night was the Phaser/Flanger split. Phaser before dirt, but Flanger after delay. That way your dirt doesn’t get over powered by the phaser. And Flanger after delay is just a preference, so I can have flanged delays.
December 2, 2008 at 3:27 pm #87937electro-melxModeratorQuote:Pedal order is always an interesting topic. Especially for effects noobs such as myself. I rearranged my board last night again and am much happier with the results.The interesting epiphany last night was the Phaser/Flanger split. Phaser before dirt, but Flanger after delay. That way your dirt doesn’t get over powered by the phaser. And Flanger after delay is just a preference, so I can have flanged delays.
I always run my phaser before dirt…actually more specifically before high gain fuzz or distortion, I like it after low gain overdrives, but before high gain, so it usually ends up the filling in a dirt sandwich in my set ups.
December 2, 2008 at 3:41 pm #87946boytbpcParticipantI actually used your suggestion for pedal order off a thread I started in HCFX. It was a good starting point.
December 2, 2008 at 3:50 pm #87957electro-melxModeratorQuote:I actually used your suggestion for pedal order off a thread I started in HCFX. It was a good starting point.cool, at the end of the day only you will know what sounds right for the music you play….
my small stone sounds really nasty and grungy before my big muff, that suits me well…but i’m sure other people would hear it and just think….. :freak:
December 2, 2008 at 5:56 pm #88002Dr. MattModeratorQuote:Pedal order is always an interesting topic. Especially for effects noobs such as myself. I rearranged my board last night again and am much happier with the results.The interesting epiphany last night was the Phaser/Flanger split. Phaser before dirt, but Flanger after delay. That way your dirt doesn’t get over powered by the phaser. And Flanger after delay is just a preference, so I can have flanged delays.
I have my small stone in front of the amp but after the dirtboxes, usually. Most of my overdrive always comes from the amp – i might try it in front of my dirtboxes and compressor to see if i prefer it there though
December 2, 2008 at 6:21 pm #88014julianModeratorHere’s my signal path:
HOG (pitch shifter, don’t want anything before it to screw up tracking)
->
Frequency Analyzer (I think it sounds best before anything else with the exception of the HOG really- I don’t want it to ring modulate any additional sounds that are made by other pedals- resonance, grit, etc.)
->
Korg DT-10 (so I can tune my frequency analyzer if need be)
->
stereo pulsar (before my envelope filter so it can futz with it)
->
Subdecay Prometheus envelope filter/sample + hold filter- (after my HOG and my pulsar so they can futz with it, but before my fuzz so it can’t futz with it)
->
Little Big Muff- after everything that I want before it
->
DOD-250- after my LBM because it sounds better that way
->
Stereo Clone Theory- after my dirt mainly so it can split the signal. Otherwise I might put it before, because with dirt and chorus on I find that the signal is more dirty less chorusy with it before, which is how I prefer it. Or I could put it in my SMMH’s “loop”
->
So one out goes to my amp’s instrument channel
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other out goes to my SMMH
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SMMH- where it is so I can run it full wet and use a volume pedal to control the mix
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DOD FX-17- after the SMMH to control loop volume (also if I put FX in between I basically have an FX loop for my SMMH)
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that goes to my bass channelI want to build a pedal location switcher so that I can swap the order of my FX-17 and SMMH so then I can open and close the delay and have it trail naturally.
December 2, 2008 at 7:22 pm #88035electro-melxModeratorQuote:Stereo Clone Theory- after my dirt mainly so it can split the signal. Otherwise I might put it before, because with dirt and chorus on I find that the signal is more dirty less chorusy with it before, which is how I prefer it.I have mine before dirt, I wasn’t over keen on it until I swapped it around…then it was like wow, I love it!!!
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