Pedal chain and amp set up

[Craigster]

Hi all! 

Looking for some advice if any of you may be able to help. 

I'm a bit of tech novice and I wondered where I could get any tutorials on how to set up my pedals and whether or not I should or shouldn't put the signal through a std amp input or effects loop? 

I have a tuner, boss distortion, synth wah, octaver and delay / reverb. 

I'm clueless how to put them in right order and more importantly "why" also, should I use the effects loop on an amp and "why" I should do that. 

My experience / understanding of using this gear is limited, could use some sound advice. 

Thanks all, appreciate your guidance in advance 👍

[Jack]

I can say with some degree of certainty that the best place for your effects is in front of your amp. Normally effects loops don't suit pedals and vice versa. They're all expecting different levels and impedances and such. It can work great with certain rack units or multi effects units but for old school pedals it'll be better to go in front.

 

What's a bit more subjective is pedal order. No rules here unfortunately. If two pedals aren't being used at their same time then their order doesn't matter. If you plan on using some together then order is going to effect the sound. For instance, having an octave pedal create and octave then have that be distorted by the distortion will sound very different to the other way around in which the distortion creates loads of harmonics and flattened waves and the octaver has a lot of work to do trying to 'octave' them all.

Personally I'd go: tuner (first so that it's always getting a clean signal without you having to turn effects off to tune), octaver (wants a clean signal too), synth wah (I'd rather wah and octave than try to octave a wah as it'll confuse the octaver), distortion, delay. But that's just me. Other people wrong people will have different ideas and it's really up to you to see what works best.

[PaulThePlug]

Tuner on the way to the amp... as sometimes you can select a mute...

Effects usually in the loop..

Try say the distortion on its own before the amp, then in the loop...

Usually EQ, Sound Filters Distortion, Then Modulation Phaser Flanger, Then Time Reverb and Delay...

but with a delay, do you want the echos to sound the same? or try a modulation phaser or flanger after the delay, then the echoes will be different...

If anything is Stereo you can split up the routing...

Edited November 10, 2020 by PaulThePlug

[Doddy]

I always put my tuner up front in the chain so that it gets a clean signal, although I take it out if the chain using a tuner out on my volume pedal.

With effects, I generally put any synth pedals first because they need a strong signal, then octaves for a similar reason. I like the sound of envelope filters after my octave, so I put that next. I put overdrive/distortion/fuzz next, followed by any modulation (chorus/flanger/phaser). I put my delays and reverbs at the end.

So with your setup, I'd go Tuner> Synth Wah (if used as a synth)>Octave> Synth Wah (if used as a wah)> Distortion>Delay.  I'd choose the position of the synth wah based on what effect I would be using mostly. 

I never put any of my effects in an effects loop. I think pedals are usually better up front, while rack gear works in the loops. Also, it's more messing about and more cables to plug in.

The great thing with pedals is that you can swap them around to get the sound you want. All pedals react differently with each other depending on their position in the chain and how you play them.

[itu]

I like @Doddy 's basics. There is one exception that I want to point out: If your first pedal is dependent on the (bass') signal impedance, try it as the first one. I have heard this myself many times with OD/dist/fuzz as well as with some compressors. I do admit that the compressors are not the first units in my boards.

Compressor can flatten out the dynamics of the signal. You can drive the effects with a steady signal, when the comp is in the front. But you should try to listen to the effects when the comp is later in the chain. Your playing (signal peaks) affect the behaviour of the pedals. This may be good or bad depending on the effect (envelope, OD) and sometimes tracking (octaver, synth).

As there are opinions about the signal level of the FX loop, it is one place to do trials. Some effects like the possibly higher levels, some don't. Go ahead, you shouldn't be able to break anything.

If you love distortion, try a tiny bit of reverb after it.