Effects Chain

[Thunderbird]

Hi all,

I am a right newbie in the world of effects and have been putting together a cheap pedal board for myself and my son to use but the "effects chain" chain is confusing me a bit I am thinking of putting the gear on the board in the following way I was just hoping if you guys could advise me on a better way of doing it if you don't mind?.

start of chain. Joyo JT-55 tuner >> zoom B1 multi effect >> behringer ODB 400 overdrive >> Behringer Flanger UF300 >> Wah pedal (dont have yet) >> Behringer EQ700 >> Behringer Noise suppressor NR300. I also have a GLX limiter to go on but no idea where to put that.

The Zoom B1 multi effect is my sons but he will be using the board also so I thought it might as well go on there also?.I know they are all cheapish pedals but I think they will be OK for a starting point and the budget I have.

I hope this makes sense and I look forward to your replies,

Many thanks in advance

Edited May 21, 2013 by Thunderbird

[xgsjx]

There is no better/wrong way.
Playing about with the pedals & getting them in the order that makes the sounds that You like is part of the fun of having pedals.
I'd probably leave the suppressor & limiter pedals off & then see if you need them.

[dr Szelma]

I'd put wah first, overdive, and tuner .I would sell the rest as every single pedal is going to cause signal degradation (maybe keep the zoom in the effects loop), that's my advice anyway mate record your bass from the amp's DI output when there's no effect's chain and then compare it to how it sound's when you've got all the effects in the chain bypassed. what also makes a difference is what sort of leads are you using as they usually are cheap quality - somehow people tend to forget "you sound as weak as your weakest link sounds" rule...

Edited May 21, 2013 by dr Szelma

[Thunderbird]

[size=4]Okay thanks for the replies mates I guess I will just have to have a play with the "chain" Don't want to sell the pedals though I only just got them.[/size]

[xgsjx]

[quote name='dr Szelma' timestamp='1369122551' post='2084966']
I'd put wah first, overdive, and tuner.
[/quote]

My incline would be the exact reverse order, but neither is right. It's very subjective to what wah & dirt it is. Some folk on here prefer dirt after the filter, I tried it & the filter then does very little, whereas if I put the filter after the dirt, I can close the filter for a low end rumble & open it to add dirt.

I would keep the pedals to play about with & find out which ones you like & then at a later date, get better ones if you need to. I wouldn't use the FX loop for anything other than rack fx, but again that's one of those things that is upto how you want to sound. The send on most amps is a mix of clean & fx (though some amps are switchable).

+1 to having decent patch leads & power.

[uncle psychosis]

The "traditional" order is:

Wah - Dirt - Modulation - Delay/Reverb

Where you put things like compressors and limiters depends on what you want them to do. Personally I put them first.

However, there are absolutely no rules and you should try out different things to see what you like. Wah before distortion and wah after distortion both sound very different.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1369143386' post='2085363']The "traditional" order is:

Wah - Dirt - Modulation - Delay/Reverb[/quote]

Is it?

It makes more sense to put filters after distortion. The distortion will add more harmonics, giving the filter more interesting content to chew on.

Anyway, OP: Use your ears. Clearly you are going to get conflicting advice anyway.

[DiMarco]

Compression goes either at the front or the end of the chain depending on preference.
Basically for a good starting point the order of things is Tuner -> Octaver/Harmonizer -> Distortion/OD/Fuzz -> Filtering -> Modulation -> Delay/Reverb.

Filtering are effects such as an (auto) wah, Modulation effects are chorus, phaser, flanger etc.

Cheers, Marco

[uncle psychosis]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' timestamp='1369167100' post='2085805']
Is it?
[/quote]

Yes.

I'm not saying its the "best" order but if you google for "effects pedal order" most people suggest wah before overdrive. I suspect its because a lot of the classic rock guitarists like Hendrix did it that way.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1369171427' post='2085898']
Yes.

I'm not saying its the "best" order but if you google for "effects pedal order" most people suggest wah before overdrive. I suspect its because a lot of the classic rock guitarists like Hendrix did it that way.
[/quote]

The majority of bassists that I talk to do the same as me, Dirt then Filter. Not all, but most.

[Thunderbird]

[size=5]Its a bit complicated all this effects stuff but I have a good idea where to start now thanks I think I will just have to have a play.I have taken every ones thoughts on board and I think a good start point would be something like this tuner>> distortion >> wah >> Eq >>flanger >> noise gate >> limiter I know its going to be trial and error but I will see what happens and keep you posted.[/size]
[size=5]Thanks guys [/size]