Understanding Pedal Order

What's the best order to place guitar effects on your guitar pedalboard? Why would you want to place one type of effect before another? Mitch Gallagher and Don Carr join forces to explain the thought process behind setting up your pedalboard.
Shop guitar pedals and effects here: www.sweetwater.com/shop/guita...
Skip to video segments with the links below:
Intro - 0:00
Conventional Pedal Order - :44
Pedalboard Overview - 1:20
Wah and Overdrive Placement - 2:54
Wah/Overdrive Playing Examples - 3:05
Compressor Placement - 3:39
Compressor Playing Examples - 4:21
Modulation and Overdrive - 5:08
Modulation and Overdrive Playing Examples - 5:23
Time-based Effects and Overdrive - 5:58
Time-based Effects and Overdrive Playing Examples - 6:21
Volume Pedal and Overdrive Order - 7:28
Volume Pedal and Overdrive Playing Examples - 8:10
Volume Pedal and Time-based Effects Order - 9:06
Volume Pedal and Time-based Effects Playing Examples - 9:42
Wrap Up - 10:51

[@pieterbc]

Note to self: Wah, compressor, gains, volume, modulations, time based stuff. 👍🏻

[@jacobl6572]

Exactly what works for me, with a buffer just after the wah.

[@rzk_audio]

I'll wire my board in the reverse of this one day just to see what happens...

[@relevantinformation6655]

Yep, but who can possibly resist moving them around and constantly noodling with them :)

[@rzk_audio]

@@relevantinformation6655 That's part of the fun!

[@stevehunt2705]

Idonttex.s0rry

[@MostlyTorso]

Very scientific, very professional. No showing off with useless guitar riffs, and everything is straight to the point. I love videos like this when I'm searching for information. Most people mean well, but are frustrating to watch. The guys/gals that made this video are pros--not just at guitars, but at making videos. Thanks, you guys.

[@sweetwater]

MostlyTorso Thank you for watching and for the kind words!

[@ToddtheExploder]

MostlyTorso I agree. Mitch G. is seriously knowledgeable. Read his book, In Search of Tone.

[@kingjangad]

agree..101%

[@adamhicks24]

That's SweetWater for you !

[@allboutthemojo]

@@sweetwater hi guys. Where should you put your volume pedal if you want to use it to make dynamic changes from say high gain to clean but you don't want to do it abruptly by hitting in chanel switch or clicking the distortion on/ off. Sort of like Adam Jones does it as just one example. He uses it to go from gain to clean and back without that sudden switch. Also to be able to use it for volume swells because controlling that with the guitar knob is not easy. Thanks

[@runlarryrun77]

Love this. "There's no wrong way to do this". That's the best way to approach pedalboards. A few people have seen pics of mine & been pretty pissy about my set up. I realised pretty quickly what they were effectively saying was "That's not set up like mine. You should set it up like mine". It works for me so it stays as it is until I want or need to change something.

[@KX5Kat]

True, it really depends on what your demands are, but for studio use, you're probably going to go with a pretty conventional setup.

[@marchebert9813]

If it sounds right it is right. That's really the main rule.

[@Nightdog1978]

Excellent info indeed. I'm a 67 year old professional musician and it's always good to look at how you do it and how somebody else does. No absolute right or wrong way! I also really appreciate the guitar player just showing us the sounds and not doing a happy dance all over the neck for us to show us what he can do. High praise to Sweetwater for this very informative video without any ego going on here! Thank You!

[@N00dleBandit]

Never heard the phrase "extra harmonic content" before, but I'm gonna start using it for everything I use now.

[@relevantinformation6655]

I love rediscovering pedals I bought in the 70’s , 80’s and 90’s that have been off the board and in storage, & dropping them back in- “hey, that’s why I bought that, must have been in my Robin Trower phase “ :)

[@ernestbuckley8671]

Mitch is amazing. Time & time again he teaches me something in a clear, no fuss matter. Don is also excellent. I saved this and will watch it several times as I build my first board. Thanks guys.

[@chuckkirkpatrick6712]

This is one of the best produced, well presented You Tube videos I have ever seen....and extremely informative and enlightening to one who has pondered the proper pedal order for years. Thank you gentlemen both!!

[@marsmediapro]

I absolutely LOVE Sweet Water's videos! This video is one your best! It really shows pretty much most of the parameters. Thanks, guys!

[@patrickcarroll1754]

Both Mitch and Don are great. Thanks for being awesome, guys.

[@LarryMar]

I wonder if people really appreciate the awesome reviews and advice Sweetwater gives?? I sure do, and they could easily do much less, but they don't and won't!!!

[@alansturgess1324]

Wow - so much info here I needed to watch it several times to get things into my head. Really excellent. I always find that Don's demos of guitars and FX are spot on and have often helped me make decisions about what or what not to buy or check out. Top man.

[@paulopris-sirca5120]

This types of videos for beginner/intermediate guitar players are great super helpful! Thanks Sweetwater!

[@smatlanta1]

This was the best and clearest treatment of this topic that I've ever seen. Thanks!

[@nazmoking3171]

This was a really good and educational video - much appreciated! I'm going to need to listen to it a couple more times to get the full understanding of what was happening. I wish there were more videos on this topic and I'd like to see more from you guys going into a little more detail if you're up to it.

[@garthosborn8400]

This is excellent. I took notes! I love how Don and Mitch do their demo videos. No excessive noodling - like Sgt. Joe Friday used to say..."Just the facts." This is just one of Sweetwater videos I have found to be clear and helpful. I'm a 65-year-old dude putting together my first serious pedalboard. I'll be referring to this and my notes often.

[@austinbrown4825]

This is a very professional, easy to follow tutorial on pedal board setup. Recently purchased a Boss GT-100 and want to start building custom patches on it; this video helped take a lot of the guess work out of things. Thank you!

[@maxrichter5603]

Let me do the math for You: There are 40320 possibilitys to place 8 pedals on a board.

[@thekingfish6296]

8!

[@putinpuppet2063]

I have 9 pedals.

[@thekingfish6296]

362,880 possible combinations, or 9 factorial.

[@PilferMusic]

the math is pretty simple

[@foghornnosehorn8383]

Dammit man I'm a guitarist not a mathematician!

[@eltigre8978]

Probably the best video yet on pedal order I've seen. Great job guys.

[@lar57jsy]

Good demo job as usual. I rely on you guy for reviews and demos. You do some of the best ones!

[@waynepalumbo8917]

I like that they are giving us an A/B and letting us hear what it sounds like, with a technical description of what happens to the sound vs saying "this is bad and sounds bad, this is good and sounds good". They give us a fairly objective description which is cool.

[@josephmccutcheon9037]

I love sweetwaters info videos. Legendary and simple to understand.

[@electraazteca6002]

Very well done very well spoken love the dialogue you guys did the job it helped a lot thank you very much Sweetwater

[@oddsock8748]

Amazing video, straightforward and made a lot of sense. Thanks a lot guys.

[@JonathanSayles]

Really informative. Haven't seen anyone else demonstrate pedals so well before.

[@maxduvall9055]

what I liked about this is you didn't talk forever but you explained what happened, you played the type of music you might hear with the proper effects, and you you didn't randomly play some pedals with the others, you did the ones that match so that you can hear the effect in its clearest form. very well done, very informative, thank you guys.

[@david135-6]

Excellent demonstration and explanation of some of the more perplexing challenges of placement

[@cpamiseso]

So, before or after is a consideration what you're trying to "effect" after all. To get this right, you need to understand the nature of your pedals so you can experiment effectively (what you had in mind = what it turns out). For example, that vol pedal before = guitar knob like, yet putting it after = master volume; and vol pedal is basically opens up or limiting the amount of signal coming in to the input of a device (amp, pedals, you name it). This video is really giving me that conclusion I can't get by watching other videos. Thanks Mitch, Don, and the video crews!

[@EarthToSean]

Great, straight-forward and informative video. Bookmarked this one to reference later!

[@demofactory]

Thanks for this guys!!! I've learned a lot from your instructional videos.

[@lukacapeta222]

Putting the wah after distortion and delay makes great effects too. Nice video!

[@karlficarotta]

Feels like I'm listening to sports commentary! So much knowledge from you both! Great video!

[@avgmaster1]

Very well done. If only everone who reviews pedals would use this format. Awesome job guys and Sweetwater ! !!

[@sweetwater]

😎👊

[@BrooksysBassCorner]

Fabulous video, really helpful. Thanks guys, great work! Nice one!

[@user-oz6yi1vz3z]

Very educational video! There's many informations about the basics of guitar effecting.

[@growlandroll]

This was very helpful, thank you!

[@TheZiZaZo]

This was a great presentation/explanation

[@shanbags76]

Great video, guys. Thanks for the ideas.

[@spartan8390]

I used this as my guide, amazing results!

[@FernandezCycles]

Even their voices sound perfect. Very cool video guys! Cheers!

[@RagdollOC]

Excellent demo.

[@TheTruth70777]

This very basic and very complete. Spectacular.

[@buzzcrushtrendkill]

Wow. Highly informative. Thanks.

[@ShawnShipstad]

Great video. Much to be learned. This is only scratching the surface.

[@truthfulrobot9295]

Awesome Video, very useful info. Thnx

[@stevefiorito5379]

Great video guys! I suppose that you could say that the more pedals you have, the more you have to think about pedal order. When I played for a living, I kept my pedal array very simple: Wah, Phase, Distortion & Echo. I could get just about any sound I wanted with those 4 effects. What I didn't have back in the 70s and 80s was an amplifier with effects loops. My working amp today has that, and that adds to the options. Your demo video really makes it obvious what position the pedals should be in ... at least to my ears.

[@76booge]

About to build my first pedal board, this was super helpful. 👌

[@Roysito]

Awake video! Thank you for the excellent work

[@TAkahashiryu]

One of the best, most useful, straight to the point and helpful videos I’ve ever seen. A lot of information, well placed and well explained. You guys are amazing professors!

[@andreguitarist]

You guys are professors! Awesome video and awesome instruction!

[@scottsigler]

Great video, very helpful.

[@lynyrddeville]

That may be a very simple pedalboard, but make no mistake, it is also a very excellent pedalboard. Those pedals are pretty choice! a few industry standards, a couple boutique pedals here and there, and a value choice wildcard (EXH wah), and voila! A pedalboard for all occasions! Well done fellas! Very informative too.

[@Tone-Oz]

great vid thanks for your expertise.

[@RajibDeyMusic]

This is very helpful to understand the pedal order.

[@MadmanDKDK]

Would love to see an updated version of this subject, with the introduction of what to put where if you also use the effect loop of the amplifier.

[@AlbertoMartinezDelRio]

Illustrative video. Thanks!

[@davidbakerscuba]

Great video, thanks!

[@drewa1999]

Excellent and clear(well, distorted too but..) info! Thanks SW bros!

[@Astronomater]

miku pedal always goes last in the chain.

[@777Yoni]

Obviously...and first...and in the middle. Stacked Mikus are the next logical step. Thanks for the excellent video.

[@npthedarkside27]

What do you mean by chain? You only need one pedal if you have a Miku.

[@Clodnesia]

Nathan Palmer not if you’re stacking multiple miku’s🤤

[@michaelmiller7909]

@Bill Primo the Joke Your head

[@Shadowrunner340]

@@michaelmiller7909 But of course, for those of us who DIDN'T know beforehand what a Miku pedal was, Bill's comment was the only one with any usefulness.

[@thatonetechyguy]

This is such a solid video.

[@jennyurshagen1988]

Nice job. i think this guy Daniel has a product that makes life easier!!

[@97warlock]

Exellant useful,clear info. THANX~

[@SjaakShirly6559]

I agree with Mostly Torso. Very useful information!

[@tuesdayzrain]

Great vid!

[@ethanol_oats7568]

VERY DIRECT! LOVE IT!

[@zeljkocar5181]

Thanks a lot.. This helped a lot with my dilemmas..

[@patulekos]

Nice video, thanks!

[@kimhansen6384]

Super video, changed some of my ´fixed´ opinions. Thank you!

[@MrMetz2112]

Man, I have a lot to learn! I just picked up a line 6 M5 and a OCD full tone as my first pedals from Sweetwater. I guess I will just play around with it and see how they sound.

[@stulora3172]

Great video, and kudos that you hold back on commenting on what is "supposed" to sound better. On my board as well as in your video, I like the wha to come after the distortion and the modulation (chorus, mostly) before. Luckily, tastes are different :)

[@Athenascars]

Thanks for this vid!

[@wisteela]

Excellent video. Subbed.

[@marotaylor2473]

Perfect video.

[@stefanhamilton8713]

Damn, awesome demo. Science!

[@christisgod3354]

Good stuff.

[@amphitheatre]

another good pedal vid from SW! i'm hoping you demo the new superego+ soon. pedal order is important but i find the "traditional" way works best. dirt > VOL > mod > time/space fx is how i have mine setup.

[@martinafan64]

Great video! Because of this video, now I know that the horrible sounds coming out of my amp have very little to do with my lack of talent and playing ability, and is most likely caused by incorrect pedal order! My rock star dreams can still come true if I just reconfigure my pedal board correctly! Seriously though, I think I'm gonna have to experiment with pedal order to try to get the best resulting tone. I configured my pedal board (about 10 pedals) based on what I read on the internet and based on the opinions of several "experts" at music stores. I was never fully satisfied with how everything sounded, so I'm going to switch the order of several pedals to see if I can come up with something better.

[@marsmediapro]

Great response! What order did you place your pedals in? I had to stop playing guitar for a minute (5 years), and have just recently begun playing every day. I dug out my pedal board, and noticed that a few were missing (In the "pedal hospital")- and now repaired, but I failed to leave a note where those pedals resided, plus, I just added the EHX Slammi, so, please share what you wound up with, ok? Thanks!

[@martinafan64]

I also had a long period of time (1989 - 2015) when I didn't play guitar (marriage & 3 kids will do that), and I couldn't afford pedals when I was younger. So when I started playing again in 2016, the world of effects pedals was very new to me. Even though I think my pedal board could still use some tweaking, I think I've got it sounding pretty decent now. Here's my setup: Guitar-->BOSS Noise Suppressor NS2-->VOX Wah-->BOSS Super Overdrive SD1-->BOSS Distortion DS1--> BOSS Mega Distortion MD2-->front of Marshall tube amp head (the 4 BOSS pedals are in the Send/Return loop of the Noise Suppressor since I've been told that 'noisy' pedals belong in this loop) FX Loop Send-->BOSS EQ GE7-->BOSS Super Chorus CH1-->BOSS Digital Delay DS3-->FX Loop Return I'll eventually remove the Mega Distortion pedal because I just don't like how it sounds, as well as the Wah pedal which I never use anymore. I'll also add a few more pedals to the FX loop such as BOSS Reverb & BOSS Harmonist Pitch Shifter. Will also add a Compression Sustainer, but can't remember if it goes in front of the amp or in the FX loop.

[@runlarryrun77]

Tip - try dropping a few of those Boss pedals & dropping in a few direct bypass units. Boss are great don't get me wrong, on & off I've used them & other buffered bypass pedals that are very similar for ages. Like yourself I recently got back into playing after years of not touching a guitar. I built a pedal rig entirely of Boss pedals or faithful clones of them & it sounded good. However in the last few months I took some of them out & dropped some true bypass units in where they were & the improvement in tone was incredible.

[@chipsterb4946]

This is one of the better presentations on pedal order I’ve found so far. BUT That’s not a pedal board. There’s no fuzz. I was surprised but really liked the phaser before the overdrive.

[@se7en5es]

thanks mitch!

[@welivebyvideo227]

AWESOME VIDEO. LOOKING FOR THAT ULTIMATE SUSTAIN

[@greatvanzini]

I missed this one somehow. Great discussion!

[@jeremyvoss9558]

These two are absolutely brilliant, very clear explanations!

[@jaychen2000metal]

Compressors help flubby high gain amps too. Just used a Keeley yesterday and i had to put it on layaway

[@garmond401]

Thanks 😁

[@mcd5778]

You guys rock

[@Zeal808]

Took me years to figure out move my distortion pedal after my wah. I was getting a boosted wah sound and couldn’t figure why it was so loud when I engaged it haha. So you get a more balanced volume when moving through the wah frequencies

[@ricksanchezito8972]

Sweetwater is the best!

[@dant6769]

So if you have the space, you could actually use two volume pedals, one in middle, one at end, for difference purposes? Very interesting. Thanks for the straightforward, quick explanation, guys!

[@praiseandworshipbooth2071]

thank you

[@joshonhisbullshit]

I’m left more confused and nervous lmao

[@Hrazoart]

Joshua Harrison start off with a couple of pedals and get familiar

[@MauFerrusca]

Maybe if you think about this this way: are you delaying your distortion or distorting your delay? And then, plug your pedals in one and then the other order.

[@ChiefGhoul]

Hope you figured it out! There is no right way, just what sounds good to you.

[@CollinMacQuarrie]

@@MauFerrusca The entire video summed up in one statement; thank you 🙏

[@1badsteed]

Wow! I had a Johnson Millennium JM250 modeling amp. Setting up the effects it would ask what order to put them in. I had no idea it had any different effect on the sound. I'd therefore like to apologize for the horrid tones I used to play due to lack of knowledge of the proper signal path!

[@jamiecockayne2892]

So professional and helpful!! Ive just started looking into pedal boards and this gave me the exact idea on what i need to do. Thankyou

[@Liteg0]

If I am not mistaken, there are (8! = 40.320) different possible routing options on that pedal board. So yeah, you've got some options there! If you include bypass you've got (1! + 2! + 3! + 4! + 5! + 6! + 7! + 8! = 46.233) different sounds you can produce before you start tinkering with the knobs.

[@clemcadiddlehopper5706]

Those Yamaha Revstars are AAAAmazing!

[@HistoriasFrenteAlFuego]

Thanks. 🙏🏻✅

[@mynmyself]

Id like to see how to stack different gain pedals. Apart from that, a great video

[@jayjayripoff]

On little thing for people to try, see what you think, but I put fuzz and distortion before my wah, then the lighter stuff after.... I found the wah has a much stronger effect, and seemingly bigger sweep, sitting after the heavier gain stages. :-) Enjoy (courtesy of a That Pedal Show episode, ;-) )

[@bigbossdeleon]

Can you guys make a video about powering up your pedals if the pedals have different voltage and current draw?

[@AimingWanderously]

Good vid. I don't think I could talk that fast if I was in a contest though.

[@richrico1]

Just a note: I have often heard/been told that, if possible, All distortion/gain pedals should always go directly into the front of the amp. And all modulation, time based, delays etc. should be run through the amp's effects send/return loop... This is how I run my rig and I am very happy utilizing this set-up.... Also remember, your order of pedal placement is always a personal preference... There really isn't any right or wrong here.

[@joshgreen4521]

Another note: the effects loop is only relevant to use if you are using gain from your amplifier.