The Order of Effects by Pete Cornish

[Franz Jr.]

I see so many threads and questions regarding the order effects and how they should be placed. Well, I found a really good article by Pete Cornish, who along with Bob Bradshaw are affectionately known as the Chairmen Of The Boards, about the "best"way to position your effects. I'm not saying it is the correct way but it is very helpful. Check it!!

1. Filters - Auto wahs, envelope filters, ans other dynamically controlled filter effects respond to your attach, you don't want to limit dynamics with compressors and/or distortion pedals that reduce dynamic range. Most players put wah pedals first in the signal chain-mostly to come before distortion effects. (notable exception - Tom Morello)

2. Compressors - Compressors can raise the noise level of everything that comes before them, so they should as close to the beginning of the chain as possible.

3. Distortion/Overdrive - Distortion and overdrive pedals prefer to see an unmodulated signal and the harmonics generated by a distortion device bring richness to any chorus, phasers, or flanging effects that follow.

4. Modulation - Tremolo, chorus, phaser and flanger pedals fit nicely here, due to the aforementioned interaction with distortion boxes.

5. Volume pedal - In this position, the volume pedal allows you to maintain a consistent signal from your guitar to your distortion devices, and get full shred at low volume. However you'll likely want to place delay and reverb effects after the volume pedal to ensure their tails continue to decay after the volume is cut.

7. Delay and reverb - These effects come last in the chain, usually delay then reverb, because placing them before distortion pedals can trigger a jump in the ambient effect level whenever extra gain is engaged.

Like I said these are the words of a man who has been doing this a long time, and I thought it might help those new to the site or wanting some clarification. As always this is not for everyone and if you have a setup that works for you, awesome!!

Later
Brandon

[bmb73]

As a novice to effects, thanks for the article. Much appreciated.

[chuck norriss]

nice

[thatpatguy]

nice.. any chance you can link to the original article?

[silky smoove]

They left out octave devices. The analog variety of these (and any other analog device dependant on "tracking" the fundamental of a note) benefit, possibly more than any other pedal, in having a "clean" fundamental. My octave pedal is the first device in my chain after my tuner.

The comment about compression can be tricky. I've found that in a lot of cases, putting compression before an effect that alters the EQ will result in excess noise. I've read many times about the perils of EQ'ing a compressed signal and I've really found it to be true. For me, compression goes near the end of my board, with only reverb, delay and a direct box happening after it.

Overall a good article to serve as a starting point when setting up a board. Individual pedal choices, as well as bass and amp selection will be the final judge and experimentation will be the key to an end result that makes you smile.

[WJGreer]

Very helpful. This is one of the things I like a lot about the Boss GT-10B, though. I can arrange the effects in any order I like - and then have them in a completely different order on the next patch. And the next, and the next...

[mike salazar]

how about eq pedals such as the sadowsky pedal?
here's what it looks like now:
1. volume pedal
2. tuner
3. eq-sadowsky?
4. reverb

suggestions would be appreciated.

[kenstee]

Originally Posted by Franz Jr.

1. Filters - Auto wahs, envelope filters, and other dynamically controlled filter effects respond to your attach, you don't want to limit dynamics with compressors and/or distortion pedals that reduce dynamic range. Most players put wah pedals first in the signal chain-mostly to come before distortion effects.

Consider switching Phasers to this Group 1. Keeley and some others, advise putting them (or trying them) upfront. He views them more as frequency sweepers (like a Wah) than modulation (flange, chorus, etc.)

That said, the only rule is there are no rules. Mix it up and try everything in various positions.

[RCCollins]

I would tend to question #1 in the case of bass players. Many of us place filters after distortion - the ones built with envelope triggers allow you to retain your dynamics while filtering a dirty signal

[Franz Jr.]

Originally Posted by silky smoove

They left out octave devices. The analog variety of these (and any other analog device dependant on "tracking" the fundamental of a note) benefit, possibly more than any other pedal, in having a "clean" fundamental. My octave pedal is the first device in my chain after my tuner.

The comment about compression can be tricky. I've found that in a lot of cases, putting compression before an effect that alters the EQ will result in excess noise. I've read many times about the perils of EQ'ing a compressed signal and I've really found it to be true. For me, compression goes near the end of my board, with only reverb, delay and a direct box happening after it.

Overall a good article to serve as a starting point when setting up a board. Individual pedal choices, as well as bass and amp selection will be the final judge and experimentation will be the key to an end result that makes you smile.

I agree with the Octave being upfront, thats where mine stays.

As I said, it's just a point of reference and I love the options we have in the matter. Thanks for in the input

[Franz Jr.]

Originally Posted by thatpatguy

nice.. any chance you can link to the original article?

I'll see if I can dig it up!

[mike salazar]

hey franz,
how would you arrange: volume pedal, tuner, sadowsky preamp pedal, reverb?
Thanks!

[warwick.hoy]

Originally Posted by RCCollins

I would tend to question #1 in the case of bass players. Many of us place filters after distortion - the ones built with envelope triggers allow you to retain your dynamics while filtering a dirty signal

+1

They are certainly good guidelines to follow but I reached a point where the "rules" ceased to matter to me. It's all about experimentation and finding what works and sounds best to you.

IMO, YMMV, Yadda Yadda Yadda.

[Jumbotron]

Originally Posted by RCCollins

I would tend to question #1 in the case of bass players. Many of us place filters after distortion - the ones built with envelope triggers allow you to retain your dynamics while filtering a dirty signal

There lies the rub. I'm not so sure this list is great for bassists, for that reason, and also because it's often a good idea to put compression after the filter to tame spikes. For me, dirt--> filter--> compressor makes a lot more sense than filter --> compressor --> dirt.

[warwick.hoy]

I will say that I enjoy having an OD (set nearly clean with a slight volume boost) after my filter to help emphasize the character of the filter. As far as Compression? Mine is at the end of the chain. Any noise I find undetectable when I'm playing. It's the pauses in which I hear a slight hiss but I'm running daisy chains instead of isolated power.

I love the Octave-->Fuzz-->Filter order for synthy bass zounds.

[bassbrad]

I tend to agree with the placement order but it is always up to some experimentation. FWIW I prefer to put my beloved BassBalls after fuzz pedals, makes it a completely different beast. OC2 is close to the front while the UniBass is close to the end.

[superbassman2000]

Originally Posted by Franz Jr.

1. Filters - Auto wahs, envelope filters, ans other dynamically controlled filter effects respond to your attach, you don't want to limit dynamics with compressors and/or distortion pedals that reduce dynamic range. Most players put wah pedals first in the signal chain-mostly to come before distortion effects. (notable exception - Tom Morello)

The one exception is wah pedals, because you control the sweep. I can see what they are saying about autowahs, where your dynamics control the sweep, but a wah pedal doesn't require your dynamics to operate, so not only tom morello would be an exception, but so would everyone else with a wah pedal

[silky smoove]

Originally Posted by mike salazar

how about eq pedals such as the sadowsky pedal?
here's what it looks like now:
1. volume pedal
2. tuner
3. eq-sadowsky?
4. reverb

suggestions would be appreciated.

If you want the reverb and the Sadowsky unit to see different gain levels and effect things differently based on the gain, I would run:
tuner - volume - sadowsky - reverb

If you want the effect to always be the same, but just have different volume levels, I would run:
tuner - sadowsky - reverb - volume

[Vlad5]

and to add to all that... sometimes an octave pedel works best with a compressed signal, so putting a compressor before an octave is the best choice... sometimes. Example, EBS suggests that a compressor before their octave pedal may help in tracking.

[spiker]

I personally prefer my wah last in the chain - i can't stand the sound of wah going into distortion: I.e I prefer to wah my distortion, not distort my wah

Also, if you put a dynamic effect like a filter or wah before a compressor you will usually get a noticeable 'hmmph' when the compression threshold is reached, even at low ratios of compression....Just my experience. I also prefer a vocal-like effect to the wah sound (or any filter sound for that opinion), as i use filters to uniquely phrase & emphasise certain parts of the song and intentionally have them stick out more than my normal bass sound. Of course this depends on using the volume of each effect wisely.

From personal experience i don't think it's worth using unique sounds if you're sitting in the mix with everything else - i want them to jump out a bit otherwise it defeats the purpose of using a noticeable effect.

I'm Bass > TU-2 > Multicomp > VT > 105Q all the way !