What order should my effects pedals be in?

Conventional wisdom suggests that the ideal pedal order is wah/filter, compression, overdrive, modulation and pitch-based effects, delay, and reverb.

Which comes first overdrive or distortion?

Generally, your distortion, overdrive and fuzz effects pedals should go towards the start of your pedal chain as they have the greatest effect on the tone. Fuzz pedals should usually go first, followed by overdrive and finally distortion.

What goes first delay or distortion?

Generally, guitarists with an array of pedals like to put their drive pedals first. This includes your overdrive, distortion, fuzz, or boost pedals. Putting a delay pedal before distortion means that the echoes from the delay pedal would themselves become distorted, resulting in an unnatural and messy sound.

Can you use overdrive and distortion pedals together?

Yes, overdrive and distortion can be used together, this is known as gain-stacking (adding more than one pedal that adds gain). However, you need to properly dial in your controls to make the tone actually sound different.

Where should distortion be in pedal chain?

Pedals that amplify or add noise should go near the beginning of the signal path. This includes overdrive/distortion effects, compressors, and wah pedals. If they’re later in the signal path, they will amplify the noise of everything before them, which can be difficult to control.

Should distortion be in effects loop?

So if you decide to use the loop, what effects should you put in it? The general consensus is that time based effects (e.g. delay, flange, chorus etc) sound better in the effects loop whilst dirt effects (e.g. overdrive and distortion) and compressors work best in front of the amp.

How do I order gain pedals?

When stacking 2 pedals, remember that volume before dirt = more gain, where volume after dirt = more volume. Again, the 2nd pedal acts as a “gate” and dictates the overall volume. Cranking the output of the first pedal will push the input higher and clip the signal harder.

Does the order of guitar pedals matter?

The order of your pedals matter The order in which the pedals are set up matter because the signal is being processed multiple times if you have multiple pedals. A general rule of thumb is to first set your distortion and drive pedals first, followed by your modulation pedals like echo, chorus, flanger, tremolo, etc.

Where should whammy pedal go in effects chain?

Yup. In front of the amp, first in the chain. The basic rule is that time-based effects (chorus, delay, reverb, etc) go in the loop. The Whammy does pitch shifting and has a slightly funky bypass so…

How do you combine overdrive and distortion?

Tips For Stacking Overdrive and Distortion Pedals

1. When stacking 2 dirt pedals together, the second pedal in the chain dictates the overall tone of the stack.
2. Cranking the volume on the first pedal in the stack will not raise the volume, but will increase the clipping (gain) in the second pedal.

What is the difference between overdrive and distortion pedals?

Overdrive is mild/medium; distortion is spicier — and hotter! Another difference is this: while an overdrive pedal pushes your signal pretty darned hard, it doesn’t change your existing tone much. Distortion pedals, on the other hand, not only add more saturation (or spice), but they also tend to alter your sound.

How does guitar pedal order affect tone?

Each different guitar pedal order produces a varying result which impacts the way the effects interact with one another, and how they impact your tone. Tone is subjective, and there is no definitive right or wrong way to order your pedals in an effects signal chain.

Why does overdrive/distortion make my guitar louder?

Placing overdrive/distortion pedals later in the signal chain can increase noise as the noise of several effects chained together can add up, and any noise produced by other effects going into an overdrive/distortion effect will be boosted along with the guitar signal.

Should distortion pedals come before or after distortion?

Distortion pedals generally only target frequencies above a certain threshold. Low frequency sounds really messy when distorted so any pitch shifting that lowers the pitch should definitely come before the distortion to keep everything as tight as possible. 4. Overdrive / Distortion Pedals

When does chaos start in a guitar signal chain?

Every guitarist will move into using effects pedals in their signal chain, which is when the chaos starts. What the heck is an effects loop? Why is there more than one output on a pedal?