Pedalboard Order Part 3: Where does Wah, Delay, Compression, EQ, Reverb, Whammy and Loopers Go?

[@BenderIsGreat3464]

This helped so much, I'm just starting to get into using pedals and I'm going to start building my first board soon

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I'm glad it helped

[@StratsRUs]

Thanks for this.I been on Helix for a while and now going wild on a pedalboard build.Got Ring Mod, Wah , Whammy etc so got a bit confused !

[@AndrewMooreLearningLicks]

I was putting my polytune 3 at the start of my chain ⛓ and withvthe buffer engaged but I didn't notice a difference at all, then I was told by a friend to put it after my drive pedals but before mods delay reverb ... what an amazing difference it made I highly recommend everyone try it. 12 pedals on my board just for reference.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Interesting 🤔 I'll have to try it.

[@thislisa]

Really great vid. Thank you for the comparisons.

[@DIYguitarGuy]

Good comparison, but I didn't think the Whammy sounded that bad after drive. Also you can get interesting sounds if you put the Wah further down the chain, especially if you set it to high- or lowpass

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Yeah, the recording didn't show much difference with the whammy after, but in the room it lost some high end fidelity.

[@illiapastukhov8343]

whammy sounds more digital when it`s placed after drive. For someone it`s a good thing, for most people - it`s not. in my opinion

[@truthhurts79]

That's because you're deaf

[@patrickian8843]

@@JasonAyalaSpare That was my experience as well.

[@mikeroadblock]

Sweet rig. Thank you for the vid. I’m close to the same concepts as you for sure brother. I like to put strange delays in front of overdrives but not fuzzez. Haha eq at every stage can be fun. Cheers!

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Thanks Mike

[@daveeastcott9323]

Wah actually sounds better after distortion to me...I've just realised this is the Tom Morello sound. I think I just saw somewhere that he puts the wah in a separate loop...when I get some more pedals I will have to have a good play around.

[@scusemewhileiwhipout]

I wish you would have done a demonstration with the looper.

[@guitartonetopia]

Great video mate - would you put a buffer after a Whammy DT (has true bypass) and not before?

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I'd try it before and after to see which way I thought sounds best

[@XYz-vy7tr]

The problem is that you are putting at least 3 pedals (whammy, fuzz and buffer) as the first pedal in the chain. Doesn't really work like that you know...

[@2000WTube]

Can a buffered signal affect a whammy? I have a Strobo Stomp HD - Wah - Whammy - Compressor - ODs… I ask myself if the buffered signal of the tuner is a good idea at the start or not. Maybe it’s better to place the tuner behind the Wah?! I was told it should be the first pedal to receive the cleanest signal. But then we have a Wah and Whammy who also share those special needs. 🤔

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

If you have both probably the wah first, you probably would never use them together.

[@el_androi1203]

Video has been up for a while so I don't know if you will answer, but alas. I currently have a distortion pedal, a harmonizer (TC Quintessence) and a looper. I use a digital amp that has various effects built into it. Before I had the distortion pedal, I had no option but to run the harmonizer at the very beginning of the chain, using the distortion from the amp. This didn't give me the sound I was looking for, instead it just distorted the two signals that came out of the harmonizer and made them clash in the same way as when you just play 2 different notes at a time with no harmonizer. Since then I got a distortion pedal which I place before the harmonizer and now I get a sound much more similar to what I hear in harmonized guitar parts in songs which are meant to be played by two different guitars. I am just saying this because I am confused by how, at the beginning of the video, you say distortion should go after harmonizer.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

In general pitch effects should have an uninhibited signal, however, pedal order does come down to taste. If you like the distortion before, well that's your call.

[@patrickian8843]

I have a question about the whammy…do you use the wet or dry output?

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Wet

[@squidly1967]

Hi from one Jason to another ! Could you advise please. I am using a Line 6 Spider 2 Amp with a pretty basic FBV Express board with just channel switches and built in Wah ( or volume) pedal. I want to use a looper pedal and want to know where to place it ? Would it still just be after the board and before the amp ? Many thanks 👍

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

If you are using the on board fx then you should put it in the fx loop if the amp has one. If not, then have it last on your pedalboard.

[@TLS_RECORDS]

tuners 1st

[@u2acrobata]

Hello! Great vids ! ... this might sound a bit of a silly question ... but here it goes ... Buffer ... 1st in the chain ... will not have any "problem" with those "germanium fuzzes" you talked about ?!!! ... and with the example you gave with tht Whammy pedal ?! ... what i trying to ask is ... does a buffer (i have the TC Poly3) count as another pedal (with that incompatibilities issues with some pedals), or a buffer might not be consider a "pedal" in that context ?!!!! i'm afraid i might not being clear in my question, cause my english is not that good .. i hope i can be understood... eheheh :) thanks for the help Greetings from PORTUGAL Keep on ROckin rui

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Olá Rui! It's best not to think of a buffer as a pedal. It's simply a device that your signal passes through. As for running a buffer into a Germanium fuzz, I don't know, I never tried that when I owned a Germ fuzz. Remember, these aren't rules, they are guide lines. The best thing to do is experiment and see what you like. Thanks for your question (I hope this answer helped).

[@patrickian8843]

Although it’s difficult to tell any difference in the drive before or after with the whammy and wah pedal but, it’s a huge difference in the room.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

agreed

[@thislisa]

What if I am using a Joyo American preamp with a low gain setting... any thoughts? This is for when I have to go direct.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I'd put that after any other drive pedals, but before chorus/delay/reverb.

[@marshallpjesky3645]

Where would you put a Morley 2020 fuzz wah? I ordered one for my sister (bass player) and my wah instincts tell me that it should go at the beginning, whereas my fuzz instincts know that it should probably go AFTER her fuzz. Here are her pedals currently: Morley 2020 (Coming in a few days) Compressor (High quality, but I forgot the model) Big Muff Pi EHX Canyon (This goes last, obviously) Any advice?

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I'd also say near the start, but it's always worth experimenting.

[@thislisa]

Sorry to bug, but if I have an echoplexish mini-vibe pedal where should I consider putting that? It is a leave on all of the time because of the echoplex style benefit.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Hi Lisa, off the top of my head I would say near the start, because it warms up your tone. However, it would be worth trying it at the beginning middle and end to see where you proffer it.

[@thislisa]

@@JasonAyalaSpare Thank you, brother.

[@michaelanzelino5068]

In this photo, the Chorus is running in mono. Not stereo as you stated. Just saying.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I said that I could run it in stereo I didn't say I was running in stereo.

[@mikeroadblock]

Nice!!!

[@jayhawksoundthrow7503]

How do u power your pedals when you are having more than 10 peds? And how to avoid noise with your set up?

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I have 2 power supplies, 1 that provides isolated power for pedals that draw a lot of current i.e. Strymon pedals and a MXR brick supplying low current pedals i.e. overdrives.

[@jayhawksoundthrow7503]

@@JasonAyalaSpare thank you Sir. I get the idea. More rockin powers to you.

[@jkhjlkkljk]

would you put volume pedal before or after the whammy pedal?

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

After.

[@Paulmccarthy6801]

Wondering if you can help me out. I have a digitech trio plus and a bunch of guitar pedals hooked through that. Everything works great with my order. Now I just got a RC-202 loop station I would like to add to everything. Would you know where to put the loop station in the chain and how to even hook that in there. If you might know please let me know. Thanks. Love the channel.

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Hi Paul, I would use the looper after the Trio, so plug the looper in the amp or mixer output (depending which you use).

[@Paulmccarthy6801]

@@JasonAyalaSpare the way it’s hooked up is the guitar goes into the trio + guitar input the in and out of the pedals in the send and return on the trio then the trio+ has a mixer output which is going to my PA. Then it has a amp output which is plugged into my fender amp.

[@Paulmccarthy6801]

@@JasonAyalaSpare I believe the looper has a left and right input and a left and right output so would use all of these?

[@Paulmccarthy6801]

@@JasonAyalaSpare also I have a voice live 2 that I use with a cordless headset. From the voice live2 goes to the reciever then from there out to the PA

[@enriquerivera7147]

Saludos Bro, excellent video👍...👏! My chain starts: Fuzz, Auto-Wah, Wah Cry-baby, Buffer, Tuner, Acoustic, Octave, Compressor, Distortion, Medium Distortion, Bluedriver, EQ, Booster, Volume Pedal, Phaser, Flanger-Chorus, Tube Screamer Overdrive, Noise Suppressor, UniVibe, Tremolo, Delay-Eco, Reverb, Reverb, Looper, Buffer and then the Amp...😅 years in the making but finally it sounds amazing!

[@chancepantswindham7745]

A simple board is so much better

[@enriquerivera7147]

@chancepantswindham7745 That's the real deal bro! But this setting is for home studio...live scenarios this chain it's too much but that's the question: what stays at home and what I will need...John Frusciante, John Mayer and John Petrucci use a lot of pedals in comparison with SRV and Hendrix but...if they where playing today definitely they would use a lot of 🎸pedals too...

[@chancepantswindham7745]

@@enriquerivera7147 The other guitar player in our band has a wild board. like 30 pedals

[@rfelton77]

So I usually put my eq at the end of the chain. I recently started using an EQD Swiss Things, and I am not sure where to put the EQ....

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

It depends on what you're trying to do with it. Having it at the end is a great way of shaping your tone and fixing problem frequencies, especially live because every room is different.

[@rfelton77]

@@JasonAyalaSpare I've always kept it at the end of the chain.... I also use the Swiss Things for the ABY.... maybe run 2 EQs.... one to each amp.

[@chris4087]

@@rfelton77 ive found EQ best in the FX loop.

[@1loveMusic2003]

e lady sounds better in effects loop after gain stages to me anyways.

[@Alfredo78666]

The LUUUPAAA, here in latinamerica we use it to watch better:-7

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

¿De qué país latinoamericano eres?

[@Alfredo78666]

@@JasonAyalaSpare De Paraguay, en el corazón de Sudamérica! Saludos!

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

Hola mi amigo paraguayo!

[@christineblack4654]

you forget the noise suppression! like very important to know were to put this. your pedalboard is going to be noisy as f. lol

[@JasonAyalaSpare]

I'd have it near or at the end. If you're using the drive from your amp I'd put it in the FX loop.