Need assistance in setting up my FX chain! - What goes where

[vaijem777]

Ok...I'm an analog guy, and am trying to re-vamp my pedalboard setup to attain maximum tone *Here's what I've got:

-Furman Pedalboard

-Ernie Ball Volume pedal
-Dunlop Copper Crybaby
-MXR Phase 90
-Voodoo Labs MicroVibe
-Fulltone Ultimate Octave
-Ibanez AD99 Analog Delay
-Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer
-Ibanez TubeKing tube overdrive
-Fulltone Fat Boost

-Boss TU-12 tuner (runing from Tuner out on volume pedal)

All running into a Matchless Chieftain 1/2 stack. *(Unless I'm using my Mesa Mark IV. *Then the two overdrive pedals are removed)

The chain that I've got going now sounds great, but...I just want to make sure that it's set up correctly. *I've never been good with getting pedals in the right order. *

Thanks!
Chris

[JayRobIBZ]

Hey.... i'm No expert.... but ill give you my input. Ill bet its alot like you run now!

-guitar
-Dunlop Copper Crybaby
-Fulltone Fat Boost
-Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer
-Ibanez TubeKing tube

-amp
Ibanez AD99 Analog Delay
Ernie Ball Volume pedal-
-Back to amp


as for the rest, Well, like i said im no expert. The setup that i listed is mostly how i have mine set up. And it sounds GREAT to me. I will post mine and maby you can return the favor and tell me how you would set it up! I'm always looking for better tone.

-MXR Phase 90 -
-Voodoo Labs MicroVibe
-Fulltone Ultimate Octave


JR

[JayRobIBZ]

in the midst of me typing this i accidentally hit ctrl-q and exited the window :| so here i go again.


guitar
VHT Valvulator
Dunlop MR. Crybaby Volume/Wah
Dunlop 535Q
Boss GE-7
Boss OD-3
Boss DS-1

To Legacy

Boss DD-3
Boss DD-5
Morley Little Alligator

Back to amp.


Yes since i use the VHT Valulator i can use two wah's and not loose any tone :biggrin: Its nice but i would rather have a Bad horsie instead of the Vol/Wah. aaaanyway... i wont go into detail on how i use everything.... too much to type!


JR

[rgr]

Hey Chris,

The way I would recommend setting up your pedals is like this:

-Fulltone Fat Boost (it will make a nice buffer for the other pedals)
-Ernie Ball Volume pedal
-Dunlop Copper Crybaby
-Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer
-Ibanez TubeKing tube overdrive
-Fulltone Ultimate Octave
-MXR Phase 90
-Voodoo Labs MicroVibe
-Ibanez AD99 Analog Delay

I like putting the volume pedal before the gain stuff, then you can ease into a singing tone or back off to get a clean sound. *I would also put the overdrive stuff before the modulation and delay pedals. *I have recently started using a delay pedal in front of my amp because I don't like carrying around a rack and sometimes pedal screw up your tone when they are in the effects loop if the signal is too hot. *I still like delay better in the loop but I'm learning to live with a drier sound. *

You have a lot of pedals in your chain, you will get some signal loss no matter what with that much stuff in there. *

I would also recommend putting a true bypass switch in the wah, they are notorious for sucking tone with the stock switches. *I did it to my Vox RI wah and it made a world of difference when the pedal was off. *Just take the wah out of the chain and you'll see what I mean. *

Give me a call and I can help you out with this if you need it. *I can order the switch from Mojo on my wholesale account if you'd like and you can bring the wah up and I'll even solder it in for you. *

Roger

[The Dark Wolf]

Vaijem777, I also second the setup info that rgr gave you. That is the great setup, esp. the part about the volume pedal. I like my volume control early in the chain, for the reason rgr gave (more subtle coloring of your gain-driven tone) and aslo for the fact that you are not typically cutting off the signal decay of your time-based effects. Cut the volume early, and the tail of the reverb, delay, etc. will still trail off naturally. If you find that running such a long signal chain sucks your tone, consider
1) getting Monster cables or their equivalent. You'll spend some bucks, but the gold is typically a better conductor, and alllows passing of higher frequencies with less degredation.
2) maybe a small DI box. Converting your signal to low impedance will make that puppy rip thru an effects chain a half-mile long like a hot knife thru butter.

[rgr]

Good cables are a worthwhile investment but I would recommend Geoge Ls over Monster, they sound as good are better and are easily customizable because they have solderless connection. *Not to mention I got to meet Mrs. George L and her daughter at NAMM, they incredibly nice, definitely worthy of my $. *I don't know if there are any dealers in the Denver area but I might be able to work out some deals with them if you are interested (or anyone else). *I bought a vintage red effects cable kit from them at NAMM and it is one of the best upgrades I have made to my pedalboard. *You get enough connectors for 5 cables and 10 ft of cable in the kit, that beats spending $20 each for 5 Monster 6" effects cables. *

Roger

[Sevenstringer]

Go with George L's cables....Sound great! As for wiring....Do what you like and what sounds best. There is no "Riht" or "Wrong" way to arrange the pedals in line.

[The Dark Wolf]

Well, this is TRUE, Sevenstringer... but for let's say what most would consider a tasteful? sound, effects do have a certain order. This problem sometimes with pedals and an amp without an effects loop. But any rate, consider this...

1. Signal ->
*A. Pre-EQ -> (optional)
2. Volume/Wah ->(Wah is a type of EQ essentially)
3. Gain based effects ->(overdrive, distortion, etc.)
...4. Pre-amp section ->(if an effects loop is present)
5. Post gain EQ ->(Again optional. Some like to place Wah effects here)
6. Modulation effects ->(Chorus, flange, etc.)
7. Time based effects ->(Delay, reverb, etc.)
...8. Power-amp section. Altho, to note, the BEST setup doesn't have ANY modulation or time effects until after the signal leaves the speaker. The distortion stages (1. Pre-amp 2. power amp 3. speakers) are left relatively unnaffected before appplying signal shaping. You essentially don't want any of your effects to be distorting, and if they are present BEFORE the power amp stage (Where, in a tube driven setup, some of the sweetest distortions lurk) the effects will be distorting along with the signal. Again, there is really no truely right or wrong setup, tho. If you're using a solid-state setup, well, then your gain will be derived from the pre-amp or a fuzz/distortion/modeler so, you have a bit more flexibility if you want to be ahem, "proper." Lol! Good success!