Effects Chain....

CTC564 · #1 05-30-2011, 08:32 PM

I've never played through more than one effect before and now have 3 of them

I have an octaver a compressor and a envelope filter

How should they be hooked up??

From bass to....

Thanks in advance!!

Floyd Eye · #2 05-30-2011, 08:36 PM

Filter>Octaver>Compressor

Steveaux · #3 05-30-2011, 08:45 PM

Octaver>Filter>Compressor

Stick_Player · #4 05-30-2011, 08:46 PM

I'd prefer:

Filter > Compressor > Octaver.

Filter pedals can have different volumes depending on the settings. A compressor 'after' can smooth out these differences.

But... always experiment.

Floyd Eye · #5 05-30-2011, 08:49 PM

This is why I placed the compressor last. I'm sure it would work well that way too, but when I moved the compressor to the end of my chain I liked it a lot better. Of course I have a lot of other pedals, not just an octaver. In fact I don't have an octaver ( I wish I did) so I really don't know if it is something that needs a limiter after it or not.

bigchiefbc · #6 05-30-2011, 09:09 PM

As you can see already, there is no right answer. Try all 6 permutations and see which YOU think sounds most badass.

CaptainSir · #7 05-30-2011, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stick_Player

I'd prefer:

Filter > Compressor > Octaver.

Filter pedals can have different volumes depending on the settings. A compressor 'after' can smooth out these differences.

But... always experiment.

+1

general rule of thumb is

Tuner
Filters
overdrives/dist
compressors
modulation (flanger,trem,octave,reverb,ect)
time based
eq's/volume

i like putting my overdrive before my filters though

NoChi · #8 05-31-2011, 03:02 AM

Personally I would go octaver>filter>compressor . IMHO I don't think the octaver will track well if it is placed after the filter.

blastjv · #9 05-31-2011, 08:03 AM

This is funny. Fantastic demonstration of how useless it sometimes is to ask which order is "best". What is worthwhile is the information regarding the 'why' of each placement.

At the end of the day, though, it's only 3 pedals, not difficult for you to just swap 'em around and see what works best for you with the rest of your gear.

Anyway, here's some hopefully useful info (some of which is repeated from previous posts above):

Octave - most folks will place this as early as possible in the chain so that it gets the cleanest, most direct signal possible from your bass which helps it to 'track' what you're playing. Some people find that certain pedals before it will help present a stronger signal for the octaver to track, others find that certain pedals give the octaver too much 'stuff' and it will sound 'glitchy'...some folks think that the glitchy-ness is what makes octavers so cool.....as with anything, just depends what you like and what you're going for...

Filter - You usually want a strong clean signal hitting this, especially an 'auto' filter (as opposed to a wah with a pedal).

Compressor - You can put this early, to even out the signal hitting the other effects (this is how I have mine), or later to help control some of the dynamics created by your effects. I happen to prefer it early in my rig. I think it helps a little with giving the Ocvater a stronger signal, but have been told that it could also enhance harmonics and make it harder for the Octaver to track. I haven't found that to be a problem, but I understand the concern. I think most folks will tell you to put your compressor after the filter, since filters will make certain frequencies louder and the compressor will help control this. I like how out of control my wah can sound, so I don't worry about it.

Just some thoughts.....

-JV

CTC564 · #10 05-31-2011, 02:09 PM

Thanks to all for the replies...

Great info JV...big thanks

Is there any advantage in running your pedals through the amps effects loop??

blastjv · #11 05-31-2011, 05:08 PM

Of those 3 the only one that might possibly make sense in the loop would probably be the compressor, but as always...experiment!!!

-JV

RickenBoogie · #12 05-31-2011, 05:37 PM

forget the amps fx loop for now.

EighthNotes · #13 06-18-2011, 10:25 PM

Sorry to hijack and resurrect a slightly older thread, but I have a few questions pertaining to this as well.

My concern are effects sucking out some of my tone. Should I run the bass into the first pedal/stompbox, into a patcher, or into the amp directly and put all the FX into the effects loop?

**SVE** · #14 06-18-2011, 11:48 PM

As far as I know as long as the pedals are true bypass your good; although, I'm not completely sure.

StyleOverShow · #15 06-19-2011, 12:45 AM

I run a TU-2 tuner up front so I can mute the whole chain and tune/doddle in silence, and the volume pedal at the end with an out to a preamp-DI pedal.

My sequence is Octave (runs separately mostly), then combo Filter-Distortion (I run two, one Overdrive and the other Fat distortion (Pickle). That comes out to the Chorus and Phaser (and delay if I had one), as these pedals run with the filter, and sometimes alone. I run the volume pedal nearly last (on the left of my board becaues I'm right footed) this allows me to run effects and control volume. The last pedal is a preamp-DI output to cleanup and strengthen the output.

There are a million setups, which one works for you is the question.

Bassmike62 · #16 06-19-2011, 04:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steveaux

Octaver>Filter>Compressor

+1