Pedal Board Troubleshooting

[Sweeneythebass]

Hey peeps, just throwing out some questions about pedal order etc.. I'm having trouble making my signal the same volume throughout my chain of pedals, the last pedal in the chain seems to steal all the volume (when i switch it on the volume is at a normal level, off and the signal is below normal volume).

iam currently running, Tuner- compressor-autowah-synth-pre-amp.

Ive tried switching the synth and pre-amp pedals over, again last pedal in the chain when on boosts signal to a normal level.

Any ideas?

[cheddatom]

When pedals are off, the level is "normal" and you should try to match the volume of when they're on to when they're off.

[Ghost_Bass]

Probably you are choking your signal with your compressor... check it's settings.
Do as cheddatom told you. Start from the first pedal and level your volume on and off in each pedal. Then try with more than one connected at the same time and repeat the test.
What pedals do you have? Are they true bypass? You could have a big signal eater in your board, the solution would be to replace it or get a signal booster pedal to sit before it. If you have guitar pedals you'll also get some significant singnal lost.

[Alien]

Better bet would be to put the compressor after the auto wah as the wah effect is controlled by the dynamics of your playing. Putting the compressor first robs some of this, so you don't get as much out of the wah as you could. Same probably applies to the synth as well. Try sticking the compressor at the end of your signal chain, see how that works out.

A

[cheddatom]

I know the lines are blurry, but I thought in general autowah was time based, as opposed to an envelope follower which is dynamics based.

No matter what order you have them in you should be able to achieve "unity gain".

Using a guitar pedal for bass can result in a lack of low end, but wouldn't usually result in a loss of level. There's nothing inherently quieter about guitar pedals.

[Ghost_Bass]

[quote name='Alien' post='847388' date='May 25 2010, 12:18 PM']Better bet would be to put the compressor after the auto wah as the wah effect is controlled by the dynamics of your playing. Putting the compressor first robs some of this, so you don't get as much out of the wah as you could. Same probably applies to the synth as well. Try sticking the compressor at the end of your signal chain, see how that works out.

A[/quote]

You're right, i use my comp in the end of my chain just because of the dynamics and even then i use the EBS to keep them coming out. I don´t like a very noticeble compression, just a limiter with the peak decay. The EBS is very good for that.

[quote name='cheddatom' post='847393' date='May 25 2010, 12:23 PM']I know the lines are blurry, but I thought in general autowah was time based, as opposed to an envelope follower which is dynamics based.

No matter what order you have them in you should be able to achieve "unity gain".

Using a guitar pedal for bass can result in a lack of low end, but wouldn't usually result in a loss of level. There's nothing inherently quieter about guitar pedals.[/quote]

Yep, i didn't explained myself well. The lost of lows you get from a guitar pedal will give you the sensation of volume lost cause you loose a big part of your sound's fundamental. Not realy means it will be lower, just less filling

[cheddatom]

[quote name='Ghost_Bass' post='847435' date='May 25 2010, 12:57 PM']Yep, i didn't explained myself well. The lost of lows you get from a guitar pedal will give you the sensation of volume lost cause you loose a big part of your sound's fundamental. Not realy means it will be lower, just less filling [/quote]

Ahh, I see, yeh.