I'm sick of all these threads asking how to set up their effects. So I thought I'd write an in depth guide.
Let me start by saying, there's no wrong order. But certain things will sound better in different places. Also, the order of your effects directly effects the sound of the next one. Wah before fuzz sounds completely different than wah after fuzz. See?
Here we go, from guitar to amp.
Compressor
I personally think ALL effects sound better if your signal is compressed first. Sure, having a compressor will even out volume spikes caused by a wah pedal or phaser. But if you can live with those spikes, place a compressor first.
Octave
Simple, they track better with a nice clean signal, the compressor helps with that. Also, octave down before your dirt pedals is amazing. No more explanation necessary.
Delay
Here's what sets me apart from a lot of people, I like delay early in the chain. For a few reasons. If you put a wah pedal before delay and use them at the same time, all the repeats quack. It's just obnoxious. If you place it before wah, phaser, flanger and OD you can get some very interesting sounds. Your wah, phaser and flanger with wah/phase/flange all the echos instead of just one note. It's very awesome. Also, if placed before dirt pedals, each repeat gets less driven because the signal to the dirt pedal is lower. Again, very cool. Everyone questions my reasons here, but after I explain people seem to understand.
Wah and envelope filter
This one is really up to you. I like my wah and envelope pedals before my dirt pedals. Less intense, not as quacky.
Tremolo
I don't know why, but it just sounds best here to me.
Fuzz and distortion
I like fuzz before overdrive. It's more like running a fuzz into an already overdriven amp. Again, just preference. There is an exception, if your fuzz/distortion has a blend, put it AFTER your overdrive. The way the clean signal from the blend is ODed and you still have your fuzz on top of it is amazing.
Overdrive
My reasons for placing OD here in the signal were explained above.
Equalizers
Placed here you can use EQs to fine tune your dirt pedals sound. Or just use them alone. Like cut highs for a less harsh and brittle sound, or boost mids to cut through better. Also, you can boost highs to give a flanger or phaser a better signal to work with. I've seriously considered building a treble booster into my phaser to make it more pronounced when switched on.
Modulation
Flanger, phaser and chorus. Way more pronounced and usable here. If placed before dirt it will kind of control the amount of dirt as the pedals sweep. Which can be kind of cool at times.
Volume
Simply lets you control the volume of everything.
Tuner
This either works at the beginning of your chain or at the end. Some people say it tracks better at the beginning. I say it's a load of **** and that it's fine at the end. You can use it as a mute switch to completely cut off any signal to your amp.
I hope this cuts down on the completely pointless and totally repetitive threads asking about how to set up your pedals. As always, experiment. But this can be used as a good starting point. I will add more as I think of it. Hope this helps some people.
