Effects Chain/Order

[jbouche]

I am building a new pedal board, and I have some
questions. Should I put my wah pedal before my
compressor? I bought a Keeley compressor, and he
suggests putting the compressor after the drive pedal.
I'm not sure what this will mean to my overall layout or
how important it is to the overall sound. I also have an
A/B box that I had made for me that has a variable boost
on each channel. I was thinking of adding an EQ to my
board, but I'm not sure about it. Is the primary function
for most EQ users as a boost or as an actual tone
shaper. If it is for boosting purposes, I can save the
space. I have the following pedals to put on the board:

Wah pedal
Compressor
Blues Driver
Sparkle Drive
Octave
TC Chorus
Digital Delay
(considering adding EQ)

What is the correct order for these pedals?
I currently have them in the order that they are listed in.

Thank you,
Jay Bouche'

[genelovesjez]

I am definitely not the expert around here, but I believe the convention is: Wah, Compressor, OD, Chorus, Delay. Or is it Compressor, OD, Wah, Chorus, Delay? Now I'm not sure. I'm sure others here know for sure.

However, it’s all really subjective, depending what sound you’re going for. As far as the Octave, opinions vary: some say it should go first, since it needs a clean source to give a clean octave, while others simply like it somewhere else.

I’m sure Keeley knows what’s best for his famous compressor, but the conventional wisdom is that a compressor before OD/fuzz gives a "smoother" OD sound because the signal is already compressed, giving less variation to the signal going into the OD. The OD/Fuzz pedal compresses the signal somewhat anyway, so putting the compressor after the OD may not do much to the already compressed signal. I don’t use a compressor, so I don’t really know.

As far as EQs, a lot of people do use them for tone shaping, particularly with a fuzz pedal. I haven't tried, but it sounds like fun.

On my board, I go: Octavia, Wah, Fuzz, Vibe, Delay.
On the other hand, Jimi used to go: Wah, Octavia, Fuzz, Vibe. Stevie Ray, on the other other hand, liked his Wah after his Tube Screamer.

More than anything, I would recommend playing around with the order for a while BEFORE committing them to the board. If you’re using Velcro, nothing is carved in stone anyway. Also, do yourself a favour and use George L cables – they are your pedal board’s best friend.

Have fun!

[sshan25]

I have always put wah first, compression next, OD's then time based (delay, chorus etc.). If your using a lot of effects you should have a line buffer in there somewhere.

[The Snowman]

I don't use alot of effects but I do use Keeley's Compressor & his Modded BD2...definately follow his instructions with the compressor after the distortion...he's 100% right..I fought the issue many times with myself and friendsand after all is said and done...he was right...much better after...in fact, if you email him your effects chain , he'll give you the right order....great guy...good luck....don

[Tom P.]

Good info here....
http://users.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/fx-order.htm

[stratdev]

I also like my compressor (when I use one...rarely... an old MXR without the LED) after the OD.

I find the noise from the compressor disagreeable being overdriven. I get a much smoother OD sound following Don's order.

Hey Don...looks like ya live close. Hit the website below and check out the jams we run in Montgomery County. Come on out and play a bit with the 'Tumblers...