Line 'em up! Pedal chain order?

[Telenator]

OK, I checked the Boss website for their recommendations and learned a few things but I wanted to put this out to you guys too as I have often been surprise at the things I've read here by experienced players

I have the following:

1) Wah wah

2) TS-9 OD

3) KoT OD

4) GE-7 EQ

5) Chorus

6) DD-3 Delay

7) TU-2 Tuner

This is the order Boss suggests on their website with the exception that, if the EQ pedal were to be used to boost weaker pickups, or push the OD pedals a bit harder, then I should put it right after the Wah Wah, before the OD pedals. (this is exactly how I intend to use the EQ, as a light boost.

I have also read it's best to put the TU-2 at the end of the chain to "buffer" the signal.

Any thoughts on this stuff guys?

I am re-wiring my effects box to include the EQ pedal and wanting to get it right.

[Professor SourTone]

Originally Posted by Telenator

OK, I checked the Boss website for their recommendations and learned a few things but I wanted to put this out to you guys too as I have often been surprise at the things I've read here by experienced players

I have the following:

1) Wah wah

2) TS-9 OD

3) KoT OD

4) GE-7 EQ

5) Chorus

6) DD-3 Delay

7) TU-2 Tuner

This is the order Boss suggests on their website with the exception that, if the EQ pedal were to be used to boost weaker pickups, or push the OD pedals a bit harder, then I should put it right after the Wah Wah, before the OD pedals. (this is exactly how I intend to use the EQ, as a light boost.

I have also read it's best to put the TU-2 at the end of the chain to "buffer" the signal.

Any thoughts on this stuff guys?

I am re-wiring my effects box to include the EQ pedal and wanting to get it right.

I would put the tuner first in the chain. I think that's where a buffer is of most benefit too.

I don't use an EQ, although I have a few knocking around. It depends what you use it for - a boost, a shaper, or a bit of both. Experiment.

[theraygun]

yep, TU-2 at the beginning of your chain. You may have to put it after the wah depending on how picky it is. Also, you probably want the EQ before your drive pedals, unless you are trying to smooth out something eq-wise that the OD pedals add to your tone.

[FirstBassman]

You know, of course, that pedal order has been discussed a million times here and elsewhere.


In case you're interested, here is a little rundown from the May 2008 issue of Guitar Player:


http://www.guitarplayer.com/pop-up.a...ntent_id=84734

[bradpdx]

The Guitar Player article has it about right for most of us. I have followed that same prescription for years:

1. Boss CS-3 compressor
2. Boss CE-2 chorus (need to replace with phaser or something, I don't like chorus that much! It fills a slot.)
3. Boss OD-2 (rarely used anymore, also a placeholder for now)
4. RAT (early 1980s)
5. Ernie Ball volume pedal
6. Boss DD-2 (long delay)
7. Boss DD-3 (slapback)

Very flexible. For me, the 2 essential items are the delays and the volume pedal.

[Telenator]

Thanks guys. I know this subject has been brought up a bunch of times but each combination and type of use is unique and I have found that many people come up with different answers for to the same question with valid reasons for their answers.

I have already reconsidered my approach a few times based on what's here! Pedal boards can be a HUGE project to set up properly, but once they're done the rewards are incredible!

[rondillonmusic]

Put the tuner dead last. That's where the TU-2 buffer works best.

You should also not be lining up pedals according to some article. What sounds best to your ears? If you can't hear any tone suckage by putting the tuner first....then put it first. You're the one playing your rig...not us.

[bradpdx]

Originally Posted by rondillonmusic

Put the tuner dead last. That's where the TU-2 buffer works best.

Sorry, but that doesn't make sense to me. The point of the buffer in this case is to provide the guitar with a high impedance load that doesn't vary as the effects are used and drives subsequent effects from a low-z source.

An effects chain should generally start with a buffer. If that is a TU-2, fine. Also, the tuner will "see" a clear signal that is easier for it to lock on to.

My tuner is in a side loop prior to the volume pedal. I just turn my volume pedal all the way down to mute the signal while I tune.

[rondillonmusic]

Not to come off as a jerk...but I could care less what the purpose of a buffer is. Putting the TU-2 dead last will improve your tone. Try it. We could spend all day disecting what a buffer does....but at the end of the day it's where your pedal is in your chain that's going to matter.

I was a "put the TU-2 first" guy until I placed it dead last. You know what happened? I had more high-end, and my OD pedals opened up. It was a whole new world of overdrive. Most guys simply put the TU-2 first because that's what everyone else does, and they refuse to try it at the end.

You don't *need* a buffer. Unless you're running 2 50' instrument cables and about 30 pedals, you're not going to need a buffer. I got smart and dumped my TU-2 completly. Now I don't have any high-end roll off or "tone suckage" as some like to say.

So again...I say to the OP, try the tuner dead last and put the other pedals in an order that sounds good to your ears.

[Beatbx]

I'll bite:

Doobtone modded Crybaby wah
Ibanez LA Metal (for stun-gun effect)
Greer Sweetback Driver
Greer Ghetto Stomp
Boss Loop Station RC-20XL
Effect Loop Pedal connecting: Boss DSD-2 Delay, Boss DD-6 Delay, Ibanez Paragraphic EQ, Z.Vex Super Hard-On

I can't bring myself to include a tuner on the board. I keep an old Sabine with a three ft. patch cord on my amp and just unplug and walk over if I need to. I don't tune more than once a show anyway, if something goes wrong that's what a second guitar is for.

[bradpdx]

Originally Posted by rondillonmusic

I was a "put the TU-2 first" guy until I placed it dead last. You know what happened? I had more high-end, and my OD pedals opened up. It was a whole new world of overdrive.

That tells me that your OD pedals suffer from poor output stage design. Seriously. What you describe shouldn't be happening otherwise. The TU-2 is a better cable driver than your OD, which is why it makes them sound brighter. Hmmmm.... odd.

While I use Boss effects because they are convenient and super-reliable, they are not intended to be all-purpose buffers. One may easily design a dedicated buffer amp that is guaranteed to provide a flat response with plenty of headroom in order to more effectively drive a pedal board and/or cable runs. I have a couple of my own.

It is incredibly easy to hear the effect of cables on pickups - you don't need long cables to hear it at all. The difference between 10' and 20' is night and day with passive pickups, thus reinforcing the point of well-place buffers.

Of course, it all works passively as well and if that suits you, then fine and dandy. Most players have learned to live with the defects of passive pickup systems for decades, it's just a question of how you like to manipulate your sound.

[maestrovert]

Originally Posted by bradpdx

That tells me that your OD pedals suffer from poor output stage design. Seriously. What you describe shouldn't be happening otherwise. The TU-2 is a better cable driver than your OD, which is why it makes them sound brighter. Hmmmm.... odd.

i wonder....
The GP pedalboard cover story/article referenced above(May '08) on pages #78 & 80 of that issue states:

Originally Posted by GP May 08

"A buffer is often used as the first device on a board to get the signal from your guitar into good shape early on" agrees Michael Piera, " but that's a problem when using a vintage pedal like a germanium Fuzz Face, which needs to interact directly with your pickups for the magic clean up effect to occur when you roll your guitar's volume knob down, because the pickup and volume knob become part of the fuzz's circuit.
...../.....

Mebbe it's just me (an' it probably is too ) but this doesn't sound like it has anything to do with the "poor output stage design" of a pedal....
What am i not getting ? Seriously, Please enlighten me....

[Yoni]

Wah>TS9DX>BYOC Tremolo>CE5>Digidelay>TU2

Once I add a Univibe things are gonna get interesting...Before/after od? And a rat clone and fuzz box eventually.

[rondillonmusic]

I'm not trying to fight...trust me, but I don't get the poor output stage design. Here's a list of just SOME of the pedals that I've had running after the TU-2:

Budda Wah
Boss DD20
Line6 DL4
Ibanez Vintage TS808 RI
Big Box Rat
MI Audio Blues Pro
Mi Audio Crunchbox
Barber DIrect Drive
Barber LTD
Fulltone OCD
zvex Box Of Rock
BYOC Rat
Boss BD-2

Now, they we're all on my board at once....but there's no way that all these pedals, some of which come from some of the top pedal builders around, all suffer from poor output stage design.

Here's where I'm coming from: If I plug directly into my amp and have my tone, then place a truebypass pedal between my guitar and my amp, and still have that tone....then add the TU-2 infront of it, and experience a rolloff of the highs....then that means the TU2 is negativly effecting my signal.

I'm not the only one who's experienced tone suckage from the TU-2, or any Boss pedal for that matter. Boss pedals have never given my signal any brightness. Infact, it was always the opposite. The DD20 was even a very dark sounding pedal.

IMO, the bottom line is Boss buffers effect your tone. Some people can hear it, and others cannot.

[Tonemonkey]

So has any one here heard of a loop?

Buffers matter if you run a gazzilion pedals over 1 km of cable (thats hyperbole)!

I run:

Guitar> A/B box (with Tuner Mute) FX Loop ( Fuzzhead>BD2 Phat Mod> TS9> Java Boost) > Amp

Tuner is then out of the tone-suck equation.
If you run 10ft to your Pboard and 20ft to your Amp, buffers shouldn't be an issue. Especially as everyone tells me 80% of tone is in the fingers!

IMHO, of course!

[rondillonmusic]

Forget the loop. That means less space for pedals. I got smart and got a TB tuner.

[Telenator]

Well here's what I ended up with.

1) Wah wah

2) GE-7 EQ

3) TS-9 OD

4) KoT OD

5) Chorus

6) DD-3 Delay

7) TU-2 Tuner

I almost went crazy because after moving everything around, my KoT pedal started acting funny and would actually cut the volume instead of boost it! I tested all my jumpers after I soldered them and everything appeared to be fine but it just didn't sound right. After a process of elimination it became obvious that one of my jumpers was having an issue. Funny thing is, when I set the VOM on "ohms" the cable checked out fine, but if I set it to "Auto Range" the meter would then detect a low resistance short.

The set does indeed sound a bit brighter than it did before but I won't know the whole story til after the gig tomorrow night. We'll see.

[maestrovert]

Originally Posted by Tonemonkey

So has any one here heard of a loop?

yup, i have a Carl Martin Octa-Switch as a matter of fact...i use the defeat switch, but it does have a buffer built in....an' the Brother's entirely correct, it does take up a good bit of room !

[BritishBluesBoy]

Cool thread. I'm just getting into pedals for the first time, even though I've been playing since the 70's.

I seem to have jumped in feet first... Yikes! It's all a lot of fun, but am having issues with a lot of noise... Any suggestions?? Advice??

Here's what I've got:

1) Boss TU2 Tuner

2) MXR Super Comp

3) Boss GE-7 EQ

4) OCD OD

5) Boss TR-2 Tremolo

6) MXR Phase 90

7) MXR Boost/Line Driver

8) Micro Vibe

9) MXR Carbon Copy Delay

10) Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor

11) Boss RC-2 Looper


Cheers!

[Tonemonkey]

BBB

If that rig is you just getting into pedals...........!

Loads of individual or combinations of things could generate the noise. A major cause can be power supply. How do you power that lot?